Hungarian institutes abroad and their libraries 2.
In this last part of the series the activities of the following institutions are described: the Hungarian Institute and Library, Paris (STREHO Istvánné); the Hungarian Academy and its Library, Rome (HUSZÁGHNÉ KELECSÉNYI Ágnes); the Hungarian Cultural Centre, Prague (ÁGH András — GÁLOVÁ, Dana); the Library of the Hungarian Cultural, Scientific and Information Centre, Moscow (MÁRHOFFER Józsefné); the Hungarian Cultural and Scientific Centre, Helsinki (NYIRKOS lstván). (For part 1 see vol.1. /37./ 1991. no.4.)Preserving Hungarica collections.
MISKA János
After identifying the types of materials on Hungarians living in Canada (printed works, archivalia and other data) the author describes the activities aimed at preserving them, adequately processing them by documentation and at making them retrievable. He suggests that Hungarian and Canadian researchers should establish a professional commission to coordinate and manage this work. He feels it necessary to set up a national archival database.
It is worth speaking about. The Library Supply Agency has become an independent enterprise.
GYORI Erzsébet
In December 1990 the Chamber of Libraries and Information Institutes set up a commission to analyse the situation of library supply in Hungary and to make recommendations on establishing an organization which would better serve the interests of libraries. The library supply in Hungary, which has been centralized since 1952, was reorganized several times, but the solution most favourable for libraries could not yet be found. In November 1991 a new, independent state enterprise separated out from TÉKA under the name Könyvtárellátó Vállalat (Library Supply Agency). Some of the problems waiting to be solved: the affairs of the real estate must be settled; part of the imports specialists joined the limited company organized from TÉKA’s former staff; the bindery for libraries wound up some years ago is lacking etc. There is a need for a strong, well-operating organization, which will keep in mind the interests of libraries and the aspects of the market. The editors of the acquisition aid Új Könyvek (New Books) will try to provide information of full value for libraries from the manuscripts and imprimatur copies, i.e. prior to publication. The same refers to the distribution of and information on records and cassettes published in Hungary. It would be useful if the Könyvtárellátó undertook the distribution of library software, widened the choice of furniture which is at present poor and expensive, updated the catalogue of library forms etc. Another aim is to turn the new enterprise into a share company, and to have it headed by a board of specialists in library and economic affairs.
Market report, or alternative opportunities of acquisition.
FAZOKAS Eszter — KAPOSVÁRINÉ DÁNYI Éva
Now that the monopoly of former large enterprises has ceased in distributing imported and Hungarian books, and new solutions have not yet become clear, librarians have difficulties in getting information. The authors try to give an overview about potential sources of acquisitions. They made interviews with the representatives of 12 firms about present services. Among those interviewed were the old-established enterprises and their renewed successors, newly established importers, the representatives of large foreign firms in Hungary, and ventures engaged in distributing Hungarian books. It is characteristic of the market situation in Hungary that a number of changes have happened even during sending this manuscript to the printing office. The authors encourage acquisitions librarians to avail themselves of the opportunities which are advantageous for libraries.
“The stem and the branches.” Knowledge organization and syntax. A review of Tibor Horváth’s thesis for candidate’s degree.
DARÁNYI Sándor
The reviewer explains the thesis citing the most significant chapters, thus making a wider circle of librarians (especially those in education) acquainted with this yet unpublished work. It is the essay’s aim to prove that the index entry — besides providing criteria for subject access — is able, by the syntax, to synthesize indexing terms into a higher-level unit, which means at the same time a concise reproduction of the original publication’s message. Prior to describing the importance of syntax, Horváth defines the main tasks of classification, the pyramid of knowledge serving the systematization of disciplines, the role of new structures (cybernetics, communication theory, semiotics) in modelling knowledge, the facet systems, and the role of quantation, of heuristic information and of classification without a precedent.
Subject authority control in an online catalogue for periodical articles and in the subject indexes of the printed versions.
TAR Katalin — NOVÁK István
After a brief introduction to the basic problems of subject searching in online catalogues the authors present their solution to subject authority control in the Library Science Library’s online catalogue MANCI. The authority control of terms is based on a machine-readable database created from the Library’s printed thesaurus using the Micro-ISIS package, as well as a simple thesaurus software written in the ISIS-PASCAL language. Relying on the relations of the descriptors in the thesaurus database a reference-selecting program has also been written, by which the see and see also references are automatically selected from the thesaurus records and inserted into the subject index files, produced periodically from the MANCI database.
Principled considerations for the establishment of community centres in small towns.
N. NAGY Katalin
According to political declarations in Hungary today, after the change-over to parliamentary democracy, the adult education based on quasi-cooperation of unequal partners, directed from above and from outside, is over. The legal regulations of culture, however, still include the priorities of the central state power. The essay seeks an answer to the question: what opportunities for thinking and what scope of action are open for the specialist in this transition period with uncertain consequences. The author is looking for the ordering principles in the operation of cultural institutions of self-governments (public libraries, houses of culture) which are actually “dying” between old and new ideals. She takes the view that the community centre relying on the theory of open education and organized around library activities is one of the institutions which can be for the local communities the scene and inductive force of real social action, corresponding to the needs of democracy. The professional level of the institution’s work should be measured by the standard of service.
The information needs of pedagogues in a vocational secondary school.
KOLOZS Barnabásné
The author made an interview by questionnaire among the pedagogues of a large vocational secondary school about their information needs. The findings indicate that pedagogues have the greatest need for information related to the subject they are teaching, and the second greatest need for pedagogical information. They satisfy their needs for special literature first of all in the school library, which is, however, able to meet just half of their demand. The pedagogues of today’s Hungarian school system, which is coping with the troubles of transformation, would require a much higher-level literature supply than the school libraries most used by them can provide.
About the publications of the European Communities again.
PROHLE Éva
The author is one of the heads of the Library of the Hungarian Parliament. In her view a statement of Sándor Szalay (Könyvtári Figyelo, vol.1. /37./ 1991. no.1. pp.38-44.) related to EC-publications was insulting for the Library of the Hungarian Parliament. Her remark can be summarized as follows: The Library of the Hungarian Parliament makes available and accessible all EC materials related to law and politics, but disregards the vast amount of ephemera. It would be necessary to convene a national meeting where those interested could decide to what extent they are able to deaf with EC-publications.