STUDIES
The ecology of tertiary-level LIS programmes in Hungary
KISZL Péter
The library is an open system in constant interaction with its environment. This phenomenon often induces a series of profound changes within and outside the librarian profession, especially considering the present, rapidly developing user needs related to infocommunications. The librarian profession is expanding all around the world; new roles and jobs so far considered atypical are now emerging, as the research horizons of library and information science also keep widening. Faced with these multifunctional expectations, members of the library network cannot operate without librarians, and educational institutions cannot function in isolation from librarianship either. The paper analyzes recent environmental impacts affecting university-level library education in Hungary, and introduces its current system and framework, as well as the directions for its development. Modernization efforts at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest are discussed in greater detail. The paper evaluates how higher education responded to disciplinary and interdisciplinary competence development, in particular the efforts aimed at enhancing the synergic relationship between theory and practice; the elements of dual training (carried out jointly with the librarian profession); and the opportunities for student co-operation. The paper also examines the results of library and information science research supporting innovation. Based on statistical data, areas for intervention are identified which could lead to an increase in interest in library and information science studies and the librarian profession, and to a decrease in the number of those leaving the field. The study offers a complex view of not only tertiary-level LIS training, but also of the organically related Hungarian librarianship in early 2020, in an international context.
Keywords: Curriculum; ELTE Faculty of Humanities Institute of Library and Information Science; LIS education; LIS school; Social needs
Conference and feast. 4th Real library – library reality conference at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
FODOR János
The conference on library science and LIS education, organized bi-annually since 2013, has become one of the most significant professional events in the field of library and information science in Hungary. At the event, held on 26-27 November 2019 more than fifty invited contributors shared their views and research findings with more than two hundred participants. The lectures of eminent scholars and renowned representatives of Hungarian librarianship helped to rethink the challenges of the future. PhD students as candidates to become future researchers were also present. The faculty of the Institute for Library and Information Science reported on their extra-curricular research. The first day of the conference focused traditionally on the analysis of the state of library and information science and tertiary education. The picture of the outcomes and challenges of training was complemented by an instructive exchange of experiences between nine professional partners of the Institute. On the second day, the panorama of library and information science was enriched by a preview of ongoing research: faculty members and PhD students spanned the entire, interdisciplinary spectrum of library science: from book history to artificial intelligence, from equal opportunities to the concept of smart libraries. The programme included a festive commemoration of the start of university-level library education in Hungary 70 years ago, with an exhibition. Christine Mackenzie, President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), in her video message, drew attention to the tasks of society in preserving cultural heritage, emphasizing the validity and importance of the profession’s exciting, creative mission in reflecting on technological and social changes.
Keywords: Conference proceedings; ELTE Faculty of Humanities Institute of Library and Information Science; Librarianship; LIS education; LIS school; Research in library science
Civilians in research – citizen science in libraries
GAÁLNÉ KALYDY Dóra
The Open Science Movement is currently gaining ground. At the 2019 LIBER (Association for European Research Libraries) conference, a new working committee has been formed to explore the role and potential of special libraries and university libraries in citizen science, and to offer guidance to libraries on best practices in this field. The author, as participant in the work of this working committee, defines the concept of citizen science and provides good examples. She also explores the resources and opportunities that libraries already have for connecting to citizen science projects, as well as the expected benefits.
Keywords: Citizen science; Communication with users; Information services to research; Publishing; Research and special libraries
With smart libraries for smart communities
Kovácsné Koreny Ágnes
The vision of the Smart Budapest project includes, as a horizontal objective, the creation of a smart city with high-quality and efficient public services which are accessible to all, on equal terms. Providing access to information is also part of public services. Presenting the model of the smart city, international trends and best practices from abroad, the study underlines the key role of the smart library as an information hub, and analyzes its role in developing smart cities and smart communities.
Keywords: Development plan; Communication with users; Information technology; Public libraries; Services; Smart libraries; Social requirements; User needs; Hungary
WORKSHOP
Our cultural heritage, the internet
LATORCAI Csaba
On November 14, 2019, a workshop was organized at the National Széchényi Library under the title „404 Not Found – Who preserves the internet?”. It was opened by Csaba Latorcai, State Secretary for Administrative Affairs at the Ministry of Human Resources. In this study, based on his greeting words, he briefly reviews the efforts made in Hungary and abroad to preserve the Hungarian digital cultural heritage, as well as the various phases of the work carried out at the National Széchényi Library. He outlines the process from recognizing the importance of long-term preservation of digitally created cultural goods, through formulating a proposal for setting up the Hungarian Internet Archive and conducting a feasibility study, to implementing a pilot project. He underlines the need for legislation on web archiving, and for a government decree about the details. By 2021, the national library is expected to provide harvesting, cataloguing, long-term preservation and archiving of Hungarian-related web content. The achievements will contribute to and enrich Hungarian cultural heritage.
Keywords: Collection interest; Conference; Preservation; Web; Web archive; Hungary
Novelties from the web archive of the National Széchényi Library
DRÓTOS László
The article presents the achievements in the year 2019 of the web archiving project launched in 2017 at the National Széchényi Library, as well as plans for the medium term. The introduction discusses the peculiarities of the web as a medium worth to be preserved. The article describes the contents of closed and public archives, the activities related to dissemination and education, as well as the international context.
Keywords: Development plan; Digitization; National library; Preservation; Web archiving; Hungary
Problems of providing metadata for websites
ILÁCSA Szabina
It is the aim of the web archiving pilot project of the National Széchényi Library to lay the ground for a future national internet archive. This includes establishing how to catalogue this resource type. The task is not easy. The descriptions should reflect the unique nature of this resource, while be interoperable with the descriptions of traditional library resources. This article summarizes ongoing work to restructure and enrich the current metadata structure of the web archive.
Keywords: Computerised cataloguing; Electronic materials; Web
noWebarchive
HOLL András
Preserving the cultural imprint of society is neither possible, nor desirable in whole: selection is unavoidable. More and more information is found on the web which is a volatile media. Web archiving is unavoidable – but the author argues that the information we want to eternalise should be treated as follows: be put to a proper format (e.g. a book, printed or digital), stored in a repository or a database. Long term preservation aspects of repositories and databases are discussed too. Finally, when we resort to web archiving, the content producer should co-operate with the web archiver, and the information needed for proper archiving (including licences) needs to be embedded into webpages.
Keywords: Accessibility; Collection scope; Electronic materials; Preservation; Web
FROM OUR PAST
A belated and subjective book review: History of the National Széchényi Library, 1802–1867 by Jenő Berlász
HELTAI János
The Széchényi Ferenc commemorative medal, a decoration founded by the National Széchényi Library, is awarded each year at the library’s foundation feast in November. At the celebration, the awardee of the medal in last year delivers a speech. In 2019, the presentation was given by Dr. János Heltai, researcher of the Department of Research into the History of Books and Culture. He praised the activities and personality of his teachers, the outstanding representatives of the national library and library science (Jenő Berlász, Ferenc Hervay, Gedeon Borsa, Béla Holl, and – from among the staff members – Judit Vásárhelyi). Based on a book by Jenő Berlász he briefly reviewed the conditions at the times of founding and early operation of the Hungarian national library, recalling the activities of the founder, Ferenc Széchényi, and of the prominent staff members continuing his work in developing the library.
Keywords: History of libraries; National library; Hungary
OUTLOOK
Ten years of the strategic collaboration of German libraries in digital preservation
Zarnitz, M. – Bähr, T. – Arning, U.: Ten years of strategic collaboration of libraries in digital preservation. LIBER Quarterly, 29 (1), pp.1–22.
(Summarized by Katalin Bognár-Lovász)
The study focuses on an increasingly important and urgent task of the digital era, on digital preservation. As the number of digitized and digitally created materials and objects is growing exponentially, and the accessibility of these resources greatly depends on their publisher, libraries are becoming aware that they are obliged to preserve the materials and objects of digital literature within their scope, and should ensure their use in a changing technical environment too. This activity is a rather resource-intensive and complex task which can be implemented in co-operation with other libraries. The cooperation of German special libraries with national responsibilities in the field of digital preservation, started in 2009 with a pilot programme is one of the most successful co-operation initiatives among German libraries. One of the three information centres provides central tasks as a host, and although other libraries use the same system, they manage their work processes themselves. The study describes the system developed during the ten years of joint work, highlighting the benefits, difficulties, methods and organizational solutions of the division of labour, as well as the synergic impacts which derive from working in a network, co-operation with external partners and from the opportunities of specialization.
Keywords: Co-operation; Digitization; Preservation; Special libraries with national responsibilities; Germany
BOOK REVIEWS
An innovative book about innovation laboratories
Mahey, M. – Al-Abdulla, A. – Ames, S. [et al.]: Open a GLAM Lab. Digital Cultural Heritage Innovation Labs. Doha, Book Sprint, 2019.
(Reviewed by Tibor Koltay)
Keywords: Digitization; Library of the future; Development plan; Review
FROM LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE JOURNALS (Abstracts)