La misión en las bibliotecas nacionales europeas. Análisis y pertinencia Mission statements in European national libraries. Analysis and relevance

This work analyses the published mission statements from 28 European national libraries on their websites. The aim was to determine the degree of implementation and dissemination of the texts defining the essential nature of those organisations, as well as any convergence/divergence among them. The methodology used includes the search and reviewing of the mission statements published on the websites of the national libraries in 49 European countries, their analysis according to criteria of location and presence of features proposed by experts for the writing of this type of documents and, finally, the evaluation of the results. This analysis revealed that the national libraries show a clear interest in publicising their mission, which in most cases address the most relevant aspects of their purpose, although this not always translates into a relevant statement, both in content and drafting. Convergence among all the statements analysed has to do with the safeguard of the patrimony, its conservation and preservation.

mission; european national libraries; assessment; functions; websites; transparency; web sites; information; innovation; world

La misión en las bibliotecas nacionales europeas. Análisis y pertinencia Mission statements in European national libraries. Analysis and relevance Articles