STUDIES
Libraries and COVID-19. Pandemic and infodemic
BÓDOG András
This paper summarizes the effects of the first wave of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and infodemic on the library field, based on library literature and news published during the pandemic. In addition to describing the outbreak and spread of the epidemic and its direct library-related impact in detail, the paper presents the information activities of the Hungarian Library Institute, and the trends of library services during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the basic tasks of reopening libraries. Government measures are summarized, so as to comprehensively understand and analyze the impact of these completely unexpected tasks incumbent on libraries. Digital library services, built over the years, have recently undergone a major ordeal, with most events being organized in cyberspace. Long before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the challenges of fake news was already considered a global task by libraries. Their tools include user training, objective information, and the publication of credible sources. The effects of the economic crisis caused by the epidemic are also detrimental to libraries.
Keywords: Electronic library; Co-operation; Fake news; Health reference; Library institute; Reader services; Services
Results of the My library programme implemented within the Museum and
library developments for all project
FARKAS Ferenc
The paper summarizes the achievements and lessons of the My library programme implemented within the Museum and library developments for all project, supported by the European Union, and carried out in the period February 1, 2017 through January 31, 2020. The author – professional leader of the project – describes the objectives related to the development of library services supporting learning, the main activities and their results. He presents the wide-ranging cooperation of the actors of the library system to achieve project goals, partnership levels, provides a detailed overview of how the 40-member national library consulting network was established, and describes its activities. The study provides an insight into the work of professional workshops operated in the framework of methodological developments; into the national, representative research initiatives on reading and library use in various phases of the project; and into other professional surveys conducted using the DigComp framework. Within the project, 90 model programmes supporting learning were also prepared for libraries. The author presents the methods used during the design of the model programmes, related professional trainings, events, and methodological publications. The study places special emphasis on the presentation of monitoring activity to follow up, among others, on the implementation of model programmes. The review of this unprecedented national project in the Hungarian library system ends with a description of communication activity and the promotion campaign of libraries and reading which was an important part of the programme.
Keywords: Experts; Extension training; Library use; Methodological work; Museums; Public libraries; Reading survey; State support
Building a digital collection with Omeka:
a possible answer to the provision of digitized materials in libraries
NAGY Dóra – NAGY Gyula
There is an increasing demand from the users of public collections to have access from home and via the Internet to the materials preserved there. For this, the technical adaptation of digitization itself is an essential, however, insufficient step. Scanned materials have to be transmitted to users – following substantial post-processing – by means of a framework system, in a most convenient form possible, and in a user-friendly way. This study shows a feasible solution for this task: the Omeka open-source software package. Omeka is primarily used around the world for providing image-based content. At the same time, various plugins enable its wider application, for the provision of text, audio and video materials etc. The plugins, which can be installed optionally, make extra features possible, such as crowdsourcing functions, a map view, annotation of images, and creating virtual exhibitions. According to the examples shown, Omeka can offer a comprehensive solution for a wide range of public collections (public and academic libraries, museums and archives) to provide their locally digitized materials properly.
Keywords: Digital collection development; Digitization; Electronic library; Images; Omeka open-source software package; Provision of digitized materials; Software
WORKSHOP
The quality of research data
KOLTAY Tibor
This paper begins with a brief description of the changes that our views on the nature of data and information have gone through. It is stated that the main stakeholders of data quality are researchers, but it is also important for funding organizations and scholarly publishers, as well as libraries. The management of research data aims to provide high-quality, accessible, and reusable data. Ensuring data quality is also part of data literacy which is closely linked to information literacy. The study describes the nature of trust which is one of the most important quality characteristics. There are several other attributes of data quality that can be grouped differently. There may be external characteristics, such as its fitness for purpose. Nonetheless, digitized objects also have intrinsic values, including accuracy, objectivity, and credibility. Among the contextual quality characteristics we find relevance, added value, and completeness. Timeliness and volatility (rapid obsolescence) also can be related to temporality. Mention may also be made of completeness, comparability and originality, as well as a number of other features that can be grouped in varied ways. Approaching big data can be done similarly to the ways how we treat data in general. However, their incomplete and often uncertain nature negatively affect quality.
Keywords: Data processing; Information literacy; Information services to research; Research; Researchers; Services
FROM OUR PAST
Early years (1869–1887) of the Library Committee of the House of Representatives
JÓNÁS Károly
In 1868, the Hungarian House of Representatives decided to set up a library for the representatives to support legislative work. The House of Representatives elected a Library Committee to organize this library, which worked in three-year cycles till 1887, thereafter in five-year cycles. The Committee – whose tasks, rights and obligations were prescribed by the Rules of Procedure – performed leading-managing functions, took a stand in all important professional and economic issues, and monitored the implementation of rules and tasks it had prescribed. The Committee was obliged to report to the House about its own activities, as well as about the activities and use of the library. The study explores the first 20 years of the history of this body having operated for 80 years. The Library of the House of Representatives started operation in 1870, and developed since, under the name Library of the Hungarian Parliament, into one of the biggest research libraries in Hungary. The Library Committee of the early years has had significant merit in this accomplishment.
Keywords: Library history; Library of the House of Representatives; Library of the Hungarian Parliament; Hungary
OUTLOOK
In the wake of the Norwegian miracle, or how the first digital national library
in Europe was created
RADÓ Rita
Of the European national libraries, the Norwegian National Library is the first to fully digitize its collection. The author presents the strategic guidelines and processes that enabled this grandiose plan to be carried out, and helped to make the Norwegian National Library a modern digital national library. The concept of the Norwegian Digital Library was formulated in the early 2000s. In order to achieve the optimal solution, technical, financial and legal conditions had to be met at the same time, for which the library had received appropriate political support. The Norwegian National Library plays a central role in the government‘s national strategy for the preservation and dissemination of national cultural heritage. The library’s strategy includes as a priority to establish the feasibility for the digitization of materials, to prepare work processes, and to digitize them. This study reviews relevant documents, the guiding principles of the digitization plan, collaborations, and also copyright issues. Due to its design, flexible and rapid adaptation to change and collaborative practices, the Norwegian model can be an example to follow for public collections.
Keywords: Digital collection; Digitization; Electronic library; Norway
BOOK REVIEWS
Information literacy and libraries in the age of fake news
AGOSTO, Denise, E. (ed.). Information literacy and libraries in the age of fake news. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, cop. 2018.
(Reviewed by: Márton Németh)
Keywords: Fake news; Health reference; Information literacy; Services; Book review