1951 The Estonian Agricultural Academy was established based on the three faculties of the Tartu State University: Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary. The library of the Estonian Agricultural Academy was founded in December 1951 located in the city center of Tartu, Ülikooli Street 14. The Tartu State University handed 24,919 volumes of books, magazines, and abstracts of doctoral dissertations (defended in Germany in the field of agriculture from 1918 to 1941) to the newly established library. The first head of the library was Aino Mattisen (until 1964).

 

1954 The library moved into the Estonian Agricultural Academy main building, Riia Street 12.

 

1955 The collection and cataloguing of students’ thesis and lecturers' research papers were initiated.  An archival fund was established.
 

1959 The first bibliographic service techniques were introduced. The newsletter bulletin was started.

 

1960 Cataloguing on the typewriters began.
 

1961 Librarianship courses for the students began.

 

1962 The first position of head of the department was created to manage both cataloguing and bibliographic work. The bibliography of lecturers' publications was initiated. The exchange of scientific publications with other research institutions was started. There were 198 exchange partners in the USSR, 28 in the socialist countries, and 38 in the capitalist countries.

 

1965 Vaike Linnasmägi became the director of the library. Due to the inventory, the library was closed for two months.

 

1966 The library was awarded with the category III across the Soviet Union and the number of staff increased to 15.

 

1967 The newspaper "Agricultural Academy" began to be bibliographed.

 

1968 The department of the bibliography was established.

 

1969 In January, the first branch of the library was opened in the Betooni 3 dormitory. The selection of reference works, newspapers, and magazines, but also study literature and diploma theses were moved to there. The number of staff increased to 20. A reader's ticket was introduced.

 

1976 In line with the directive of the USSR Minister of Agriculture, the EPA library was appointed as the instructor of the agricultural libraries of the USSR and the library became the central agricultural library of the republic.

 

1979 In May, the branch of the technical literature was opened on the first floor of a new tower dormitory. The reading room from dormitory Betooni 3 was also moved to the 16th floor of the new dormitory. The bibliography department started conducting annual memory tournaments.

 

1980 In March, the fiction branch was opened in the dormitory of Betooni 3 (Tuglase 7). The funds department was established.

 

1981 The information department was established.

 

1982 The new library branch was formed in the building of the newly completed Faculty of Forestry and Land Improvement.

 

1984 On August 15, the director Vaike Linnasmägi resigned. Over the next six years, the library was headed by seven people.

 

1990 The library was awarded with the category II across the Soviet Union. The library could use the surpluses of its payroll to pay performance salaries. On June 6, Tiina Tohvre became the head of the library (first acting director, then deputy director).

 

1991 The Estonian Agricultural Academy (EPA) was renamed the Estonian Agricultural University (EPMÜ). Development directions were renewed, there was a transition to a new study organization. Old textbooks turned out to be largely inappropriate and outdated. To make room for new books the obsolete literature was written off.

 

1992 The bibliography and information department were merged into the reference bibliography department; brigade work was terminated. The number of employees was reduced from 40 to 26. The fiction branch located in the Tuglase 7 dormitory was liquidated and literature was brought back to the main collection. A new branch of veterinary literature was established in the study building of the newly completed Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. On October 12, the library became a member of AGLINET, which is an organization that unites European and American agricultural libraries.

 

1993 On March 9, the library became the official entry center for FAO AGRIS / CARIS in Estonia.

 

1994 In September, the library received its first computer. In December, the reader service was started for reading CD databases.

 

1995 In the line with the Regulation No. 5 of the Minister of Culture and Education of the Republic of Estonia 5 (19.01.1995), EPMÜR was named as the central scientific library in the field of agricultural sciences. The computer network was set up in the library.

 

1996 The library joined the Estonian Library Network Consortium (ELNET Consortium) as a founding member. The new main building of EPMÜ (Kretzwaldi 64) was built and all subdivisions located in the previous main building moved to Tähtvere. The main collection of the library remained in the house returned to the Defense League. The livestock literature was moved to the building of the Institute of Animal Husbandry of Estonian Agricultural University and merged with the faculty library.

 

1997 In the spring, the library as the last subdivision of EPMÜ moved to the study building of the Faculty of Forestry and Land Engineering (Kreutzwaldi 5). The library was merged with the branch council there. In the guidance of the ELNET Consortium, a unified library software INNOPAC (USA) was purchased with other Estonian research libraries.

 

1999 Together with other member libraries of the ELNET Consortium, a common information system INNOPAC was introduced. Entries for incoming books were entered into the electronic and card catalogues. Library participated in the compilation of the Estonian Subject Thesaurus (EMS).

 

2000 In the spring, the main collection and the technical branch were moved to the main building. A local library network was created and it was connected to the EPMÜ intranet and the internet. No new entries to the card catalogues. The library became the depository library of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

 

2001 In the spring, the branch of the veterinary literature and in the autumn the branch of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine were liquidated. In the winter, the books of the library of the magazine "Eesti Loodus" were transferred. Participation in ELNET consortium retrospective projects. Access to foreign magazines ordered in Estonia via the Internet was guaranteed.

 

2002 The library received its budget for the first time. Participation in ELNET consortium retrospective projects. The library got its website.  

 

2003 Wireless internet connection (WiFi) was installed in the library. A fund survey was conducted. The cooperation agreement was signed with Hansapank for the purchase of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and manuals in the period 2003–2006.

 

2004 With order no. 89-k of the Government of the Republic of Estonia of 12 February 2004, the Library of the Estonian Agricultural University was named as the research library until 24 September 2007. In August, the library switched to an electronic lending system. The barcode reader tickets were introduced.

 

2005 On November 27, an amendment to the Universities Act entered into force, by which the name of the Estonian Agricultural University was changed to the Estonian University of Life Sciences. University decided to build a new main building, where the location of the library was also planned. ID card software is installed into the reader computers. The printing and copying center was set up in the reading room. In 2005-2007, The Mellon Foundation supported the purchase of user licenses for the JSTORE Biological Science collection.

 

2006 Participation in the construction process of the new main building and library. The library got a new website. The new university insignia was introduced. The reader service got an ID card application.

 

2007 In March-April the library moved to the main building of the university (Kreutzwaldi 1A). The library was opened on May 2. With the directive of the Minister of Education and Research (June 26, No. 600), the library was approved as a research library until 31 December 2011. The full texts of the dissertations to be defended were made available on the library`s website. Public procurements were held for the purchase of research periodicals and databases. An annual cooperation agreement was signed with Hansapank for the purchase of study literature.

 

2008 Estonian research and archive libraries passed the audit by the National Audit Office of Estonia (Acquisition of research and archive libraries). The library started with the topic and personal exhibitions.

 

2009 Work in the new database of Estonian articles, ISE (Index Scriptorum Estoniae) began. The university participated in the quality assurance process during which the self-assessment took place as a pilot project. Pilot use of the DSpace repository.

 

2010 As part of the quality assurance process quality assessment took place at the university. The library started to enter the books purchased by the structural units of the university in the e-catalogue ESTER. The library implemented the DSpace repository. The beginning of the exhibition of the works of Estonian artists in the library premises was started.

 

2011 According to the directive of the minister of education and research (No. 623 / 3.08.2011 "Appointment of research libraries") it was determined that the library will perform the functions as a research library until 31 December 2016. Library compiled/organized and designed the jubilee exhibition of the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The celebration of the library's 60th anniversary.

 

2012 It was decided to preserve all the theses defended in the Estonian University of Life Sciences in the digital archive EMU DSpace.

 

2013 The opening hours of the library were extended to 7 pm on business days and 2 pm on Saturdays.  The new version of the library website was created. A web-based course "Introductory course: information retrieval and the use of databases" was developed for students.

 

2014 Cloud printing service was implemented. In July, the e-catalogues ESTER Tallinn and ESTER Tartu were merged into one e-catalogue ESTER. In October, the new Sierra library software system was introduced.

 

2015 Seminars and short courses for dissertation supervisors were organized. Gate library was opened and an information kiosk was implemented. As a member of the DataCite Estonia consortium library became responsible for DataCite and DOI services at its university. A web-based shared calendar was implemented to improve the information flow inside the library. The open repository was reorganized and switched to a science-based placement. The database trials were obtained without intermediaries.
 

2016 Kersti Laupa and Heli Viira participated in the 11th International Digital Curation Conference "Visible data, invisible infrastructure" in Amsterdam as representatives of the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The structure and design of the digital archive DSpace were changed. According to the directive of the Minister of Education and Research (No. 1.1-2 / 16/282 "Appointment of research libraries for the period 2017-2021"), it was determined that the library will perform the functions as a research library until 31 December 2021. The celebration of the library's 65th anniversary. No new entries to the Estonian article database ISE.

 

2017 The structure of the library staff was reorganized according to the areas of activity. The all-inclusive search solution EBSCO Discovery Service was implemented. The first DOI (Digital Object Identifier) was given to the research work of the Estonian University of Life Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.15159/EMU.1. New logging options for the e-catalogue ESTER: ID card/Digi-ID, Mobile ID, and the TAAT service. An online registration opportunity was created. A complete inventory of the library's collections was carried out. From September 1, the card payment terminal was introduced for paying for library services. Tiina Tohvre was recognized with the Order of the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The open archive EMU DSpace was merged with the Directory of Open Access Repositories (Open DOAR).

 

2018 Automatic archiving of digitally signed registration forms was implemented in the document management system. The library website got new content and look based on the design of the university's website. The first dataset was archived in the digital archive EMU DSpace https://doi.org/10.15159/phytop.1. The mobile display of the e-catalogue ESTER was introduced. The first seminar for the researchers, "Managing scientific data, how can I benefit from it?", was held. The 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia was celebrated by handing over to Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon the Natural History Handbook “Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière” (1747-1841) and other rare books.

 

2019 On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, 100 articles written in Estonian and by researchers and lecturers of the Estonian University of Life Sciences were published digitally in EMU DSpace (EV 100). New logging option for the e-catalogue ESTER: Smart-ID. EMU DSpace was merged into the registers of open access repositories Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR), OpenAIRE, and the Estonian search portal E-varamu. The database of Estonian articles ISE was transferred to the library software system Sierra.

 

2020 Karin Naruskov, the information specialist at the Estonian University of Life Sciences Library, defended her Ph.D. thesis entitled  „The perception of cyberbullying among Estonian students according to cyberbullying types and criteria“ in the field of pedagogy. Due to the coronavirus, the library was closed for two months. Contactless web-based lending and return systems by using Omniva parcel machines were introduced. Web-based course "Information and library skills" was developed for international students. An online booking system for consultations was implemented. CLEVERON parcel machine was procured to expand the possibilities of contactless services at the University of Life Sciences.

 

2021 The library was kept open during the health crisis. The new statute of the library was confirmed. Digital archive EMU DSpace was upgraded to the 6.3 version. In June, EMU DSpace items with the links to the full texts were indexed in AGRIS. The library celebrated its 70th anniversary. Karin Naruskov participated in the university-wide seminar where distance learning experiences were shared. She talked about her e-courses and teaching in the Covid-19 period. Library staff participated in several collaborative projects. A new spatial plan was implemented.

 

2022 The structure of the digital archive EMU DSpace was adjusted to the new structure of the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The Estonian Quality Agency for Higher and Vocational Education recognized the online course "The Library and Information Skills" created by Karin Naruskov with a quality mark. Search-engine EBSCO Discovery Service was updated. Karmen Kalk, the information specialist at the Estonian University of Life Sciences Library, defended her Ph.D. thesis entitled "Using blogs to promote and predict reflection during teaching practice and induction year" in the field of pedagogy. The CLEVERON parcel machine software was updated. On November 8, the library became a member of LIBER, Association of European Research Libraries.

 

2023 A self-service machine was purchased to provide more flexible services. The Estonian University of Life Sciences celebrated the 105th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia in the library by recognizing researchers. On March 9, at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kersti Laupa made a presentation Teadusandmete haldamisest ja avaldamisest. On March 21, Li Seppet gave a presentation The digital archive EMU DSpace within the data management course "Repository and HPCs in Estonia" organized by ELIXIR-Estonia. On March 27-29, Kersti Laupa participated in the EBSCO Academic Advisory Board Meeting in Amsterdam. On May 5, Kersti Laupa made a presentation "Open Science services at the Estonian University of Life Sciences" at the seminar "Open Science and Data Management - Mandatory and/ or Beneficial?". EMU DSpace was merged into the DART-Europe E-thesis portal.

 

2024 In recognition of our data submission throughout 2023, AGRIS recognized the digital archive EMU DSpace with the "Seal of Recognition for Active Data Provider of the Year 2024". We celebrated the 15th birthday of the digital archive EMU DSpace. On April 8-10, director of library development Kersti Laupa participated in the EBSCO Academic Advisory Board Meeting in Viin. Digital archive EMU DSpace was upgraded to the 7.6.1 version in May 10. One of the authors of the new Estonian University of Life Sciences Guidelines for writing and formatting final theses is information services specialist Karin Naruskov.