Who we are ?
The OCA library gathers three libraries in the field of Astronomy and Earth Sciences :
Nice Mont-Gros library
- founded in 1881 by Raphaël Bischoffsheim,
- specialized in Astronomy and related disciplines,
- with a rich 19th-century collection of books and journals.
Nice Valrose library
- since 2008
- specialized in Astrophysics
- affiliated with the Lagrange laboratory
Sophia-Antipolis Library
- founded in 2012, it gathers the collections of 3 ancient libraries
(Villefranche-sur Mer library ; ancient Sophia-Antipolis library ; Grasse library) - specialized in Geophysics and geodesy
- affiliated with the Geoazur laboratory
Missions
- The three OCA libraries support the research and teaching activities of the Observatory.
- In cooperation with others library networks, each OCA library provides access to materials and information, together with assistance and training in location and use of these materials.
Key figures
- Public reception : 3 reading rooms (211 m2) - 38 seats (35 dedicated to work group - 3 individual offices) .
- Collection (oct. 30 2025) : 27648 titles (periodical titles 2170)
- Communication : 1 unique portal to access resources and services - 1 newsletter "Biblionews" - 1 email address for all the requests (biblio@oca.eu)
Partenerships
Since many years, the OCA library has been developing partnerships to facilitate access to electronic resources and the documentary holdings of its members.
- All the OCA laboratories have the right to access the online resources of BibCNRS portal via their specialized institutes, INSU or INSIS.
- The OCA library is member of the Université Côte d'Azur 's libraries network.
- Since 2016, the OCA library register its collections in the UniCA catalog and the SUDOC national catalog.