How to Find It? EU documentation: perspectives from a research library

Abstract

The current digital environment has profoundly shaped EU information and documentation publishing and distribution models. Notwithstanding the effort made by EU institutions to improve accessibility by setting up more user friendly databases and public registers of documents, getting to the right EU documents still proves a difficult and sometimes impossible task. The authors of this paper will provide an account of the current difficulties that academic researchers and more advanced users are encountering with regard to access to EU (legal) documentation by providing examples of research queries conducted between 2015 and 2016 for which the European Documentation Centre at the European University Institute was consulted. And in particular, the outcome of online searches and/or online requests made on behalf of researchers on research queries such as: documents relating to the external action of the European Union, European Commission documents relating to International Cooperation and Development policy instruments, European Council rotating presidencies documents etc. Based on their findings, the authors introduce key recommendations to the EU institutions to improve the process of access to EU legal documentation.