Library History Research Articles

Documenting Classification Systems: A Case Study and Considerations

There is little literature on documenting the correct application of classification systems. This paper seeks to remedy this gap by describing how Northeastern Illinois University created documentation for their implementation of system that describes Illinois State publications. We recommend creating documentation that is flexible, accessible, and user-oriented. Flexible documentation not only facilitates changes to the documentation, it also allows librarians to take advantage of other uses of this documentation. In our case, the process of documentation produced a near complete listing of Illinois publications and provided the basis for a structural history of Illinois government. Documentation of classification systems not only improves library work, but also assists in preserving artifacts of library history.

Book Review: Narratives of (Dis)Enfranchisement: Reckoning with the History of Libraries and the Black and African American Experience and Narratives of (Dis)Engagement: Exploring Black and African American Students’ Experiences in Libraries

Book Review: Narratives of (Dis)Enfranchisement: Reckoning with the History of Libraries and the Black and African American Experience and Narratives of (Dis)Engagement: Exploring Black and African American Students’ Experiences in Libraries

The experience of iconological interpretation of Internet memes (based on the material of "quarantines" from the collection of social cartoons of the Center for Social and Political History of the State Public Historical Library)

The experience of iconological interpretation of Internet memes (based on the material of "quarantines" from the collection of social cartoons of the Center for Social and Political History of the State Public Historical Library)

Buttered Bagels

Buttered Bagels

Книги из Софийской библиотеки в собрании кирилловских книг Российской государственной библиотеки

The article tires to identify early printed editions from Novgorod churches and monasteries as part of the Russian State Library (RSL) collection. It shows the way they got to the RSL and provides a method for their attribution. In the XVIII century, the books were collected in the St. Sophia Cathedral library in Novgorod. In the middle of the XIX century, some of them were brought to the library of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. In the 1870s, the idea of exchanging book duplicates between the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev’s Museums arose. It was supported by His Eminence Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, Novgorod and Finland Isidore. In 1874, the Rumyantsev’s Museum received 126 books. Among them, there were books from the Kirillo-Belozersk Monastery, the Sofia Library and some items of an unknown origin (without owner's signs). The article shows the methodology and process of attribution the books from Novgorod monasteries and churches based on the study of owners’ signs (for example, dedicatory inscriptions, authographs and other notes) taking in account the history of the Sofia Library collection. There were some contributions from the nobility, for example, D. M. Bashmakov, a statesman of the 17th century; or Princess Natalia Kirillovna, a mother of Peter I, who made a donation to the Novgorod Convent of Great martyr Euphemia the Glorious. This fact allows us to look at the history of monastic libraries in a more detailed way exploring their parts. The attribution of the books of Novgorod origin at the RSL collection illustrates the research method for regional Cyrillic book collections, which for the most part remains unexplored.Keywords: the early Cyrillic printed books, the Sofia Library, Novgorod Books, editions of the Moscow Printing House, the history of libraries, St. Petersburg Theological Academy, monastic and church libraries, books of Ancient Russia, regional collections of old printed books.

MENGUNGKAP MISPERSEPSI SISWA MADRASAH ALIYAH ATAS TUDUHAN NEPOTISME TERHADAP KHALIFAH UTSMAN BIN AFFAN (644-656 M)

The learning process at the Madrasah Aliyah level which is based on the 2013 Curriculum is carried out using teaching material books provided by the government. One of them is the Student's Book of Islamic History and Culture for Class X Students of Madrasah Aliyah. Unfortunately, in discussing the history of accusations of nepotism against Caliph Uthman bin Affan there are still articles that need further explanation. However, the fact is that this discussion point is often ignored, causing misperceptions among students, even after graduation. This study uses historical research methodologies and library research studies. This study is also part of the study of the history of the Islamic world to complement and dig deeper into the accusations of nepotism leveled against Caliph Uthman bin Affan in the class X MA SKI book which is the background to the emergence of misperceptions among students. Several student books compiled by the Ministry of Religion became the main reference to be later clarified with various other sources such as works by Khalid Muhammad Khalid and other works. Based on the results of the study, Uthman bin Affan did not commit nepotism without certain considerations so that the act of nepotism that he did was considered something that was permissible in Islam. Starting from here, the role of the government, schools and students themselves is very important to prevent the emergence of misunderstandings based on strategies related to textbooks

The last Mohican of the Soviet library science. (On the occasion of the 90-th Anniversary of Professor A. A. Khalafov)

The founder of library science in Azerbaijan “The founder of library science in Azerbaijan”, Abuzar Aly oglu Khalafov was born on December 25, 1931, in the village of Jil, located on the territory of Goych in Western Azerbaijan. In 1938–1945 he studied at a seven-year general education school, in 1945–1946 he worked on the collective farm named after Ali Bairamov. From 1950–1955 he studied at the library department of the Faculty of Philology of the Azerbaijan State University. Over the years, he worked as a teacher, senior lecturer, associate professor at the Library Faculty. In 1961 he defended his candidate’s thesis on the topic “From the history of librarianship in Azerbaijan” (1920–1932)”, and in 1975 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “From the history of librarianship in Azerbaijan” (1933–1958). In 1978 he became a professor. These works, being significant and relevant, reflected the dynamics of the development of librarianship in Azerbaijan. He scientifically substantiated the goals and objectives of library activities, and carefully studied its pressing problems, and proposed his own ways to solve them. Abuzar Khalafov was the first to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences in library science. The authors emphasize the role of the prominent scientist in the scientific, pedagogical and cultural life of Azerbaijan by providing numerous examples. Abuzar Khalafov devoted seventy years of his s life to the librarianship of his country.

Peer reference and the out-of-the-building experience

PurposeThis article conceptualizes essential keys to the future of peer reference in academic libraries as extrapolated through the dual lenses of academic library history in the United States of America and recent experiences of a peer program with prospective and actual out-of-the-building experiences.Design/methodology/approachA 30,000-foot historical view of the dispositions of space in academic library buildings, collections, spaces, technology and reference provision is integrated with a description of the responses and insights of a peer reference program during the program's prospective and actual out-of-the-building experiences. These components are then analyzed to extrapolate keys to peer reference provision in any learning environment.FindingsPeer reference is a natural extension of the Learning Commons model as developed in many academic libraries. To find optimal success in leveraging the benefits of peer-to-peer learning, program coordinators should keep in mind the social aspects of peer learning and intentionally articulate a framework for service delivery that best matches the modalities of providers, patrons and the information environment. In reviewing training and service practices, coordinators should be particularly on guard for any bias due to traditional reliance on the affordances of a library building and/or physical service point.Originality/valueThis article founds its conclusions in regard to the future of peer reference by contextualizing the evolution and future of such programs in the wider historical context of academic library dispositions of space in support of learning. It proposes a conceptual framework for intentionally matching the modalities of providers, patrons and the information environment.

Lost to Memory and Invisible Stories: Reflections on the Australian Library History Forums 1984–2019

ABSTRACT By using the Australian Library History Forums (ALHF) as a lens, this paper will explore library history research in Australia and examine the value of the history of libraries and the library profession. The paper aims to encourage reflection on Australian library history – or library history in general, speculate on its value, consider the gaps in Australian library history, and advocate and encourage the exploration of these gaps. By examining the interests, priorities and values reflected in the ALHFs over time, the paper will reflect on what Australian library history has to say about collective professional and community memory, community and professional values as reflected in these histories and about changing perceptions and understandings of libraries, collections, and the place of libraries in communities. A challenge will be made for those interested in the histories of libraries and librarianship to uncover and to tell these untold stories.

Listening in the Field: Recording and the Science of Birdsong by Joeri Bruyninckx

Reviewed by: Listening in the Field: Recording and the Science of Birdsong by Joeri Bruyninckx Rachel Mundy (bio) Listening in the Field: Recording and the Science of Birdsong By Joeri Bruyninckx. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2018. Pp. 256. Listening in the Field offers a narrowly focused and deeply researched history of sound recording's impact on avian bio-acoustics from 1880 to 1980. The book examines a century of recording technology used to document birdsong in the United States and Europe, with analog sound recording at its center. No mere historical surveyist, Bruyninckx takes his reader from songbird research into much broader questions about how data gets made, and how and when technology is part of that process. [End Page 243] Starting with music notation and moving through magnetic tape recording, Listening in the Field explores the study of birds through the lens—or rather, filter—of a century of analog sound recording. Bruyninckx starts his story in the phonograph era and concludes it with the advent of digital sound recording in the 1980s. The result is a compact, linear narrative about the science of birdsong that parallels developments in analog audio technology. Yet in addition to exploring the history of avian bioacoustics, Bruyninckx uses that history as a case study in the interplay between sound and sight as scientists standardize and debate what evidence should sound and look like. These topics are structured through five chapters and a conclusion that explore the relationship between avian bioacoustics, sound recording, and visual evidence. Organized chronologically, the pages traverse technologies of sound transcription that range from musical notations of birdsong in the 1880s to printed spectrographic images in the 1970s. Chapter 1, "Eavesdropping in the Wild," lays out the structure of the book and frames its central question, "What does it take for an ephemeral sound, a faint cry, to be registered under the unsympathetic circumstances of field research, and to be recognized as an object of scientific evidence?" (p. 3). Chapter 2 turns to the experimental transcriptions that shaped studies of birdsong from the 1880s until the 1930s. While this topic has been analyzed elsewhere by authors such as Emily Doolittle and David Rothenberg, Bruyninckx contrasts it with the "sterile" aesthetic that emerged with mobile sound recording equipment in the 1930s (ch. 3). The third chapter incidentally includes a wonderfully detailed history of Cornell University's avian bioacoustics program and sound library. In chapter 4, Bruyninckx explores the criteria dividing amateur from professional listeners in "citizen science" programs like Cornell's, and in chapter 5, he demonstrates the negotiation between aural and visual media that characterized "professional" ornithological uses of the sound spectrograph. It is in the fifth chapter that Bruyninckx hits his stride as a historian of science, drawing out the ambiguities that characterize the making of science through the story of the sound spectrograph, a mechanical ear that supplemented human listeners in avian bioacoustics. Bruyninckx shows how ornithologists who adopted the tool balanced quantitative data with qualitative decision-making about what counted as a phrase, a syllable, or a song. While the book lends itself to cumulative reading, this is a chapter that would be particularly well suited as an excerpt for interested readers in the history of science, sound studies, or related fields. As a study in evidence, the book shows how "scientific recordings were never only scientific objects." Any reader interested in birdsong will be delighted by the depth of historical research in this book. At times, I wished its analysis of evidence did more, particularly as this deconstructive trope has been applied elsewhere in science and technology studies with more attention to social context. That "something more" begins to emerge in the [End Page 244] conclusion, however, which notes that the "noise" that is routinely removed from bioacoustic recordings of birds is, in fact, an important fact in birds' lives, one with substantial ecological and environmental implications. Listening in the Field is one of the best books of its kind, exploring an engaging and timely topic with a winning combination of focused research and pointed insights to show us the best of what the history of science has to offer. It will be a welcome read...

Enhancing Hungarian students’ English language skills on the basis of literary texts in the three-dimensional space

In our paper we introduce a bilingual language learning material developed in the framework of the so-called three dimensional virtual library model (3DVLM). This model inspired by the history and organization of the famous ancient Library of Alexandria forms the basis of the virtual library project which started about eight years ago as part of the Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom) research. The current version of the 3DVLM uses the excellent 3D features of the MaxWhere Seminar System which makes it suitable for both individual learning and classroom use. In the following, we would like to introduce first the basic framework of our development, then describe in detail the data structure and organization of the developed bilingual language learning material. The basic idea of the material is to present selected phrases and contexts from classical literary works in English and from their parallel translations in Hungarian in order to improve both the language skills and background knowledge of Hungarian language learners at an advanced level. We found that using web technology was especially useful for developing the language learning material and the developed hypertext structure formed a scale-free network of interconnected nodes.

Early Modern Sovereignties: Theory and Practice of a Burgeoning Concept in the Netherlands. Erik De Bom, Randall Lesaffer, and Werner Thomas, eds. Legal History Library 47. Leiden: Brill, 2021. x + 310 pp. €141.

Early Modern Sovereignties: Theory and Practice of a Burgeoning Concept in the Netherlands. Erik De Bom, Randall Lesaffer, and Werner Thomas, eds. Legal History Library 47. Leiden: Brill, 2021. x + 310 pp. €141.

Susa Young Gates: Daughter of Mormonism

Susa Young Gates: Daughter of Mormonism

Research and Exploration on the Optimization of the Completion System of the History Library Group of Colleges and University

This paper first analyzes the commonness and current problems in the systematic construction of the university history museum, and then, combining with the experience and practice in the systematic optimization construction of the university history museum in our college, focuses on the conception of the content setting and spatial hierarchy optimization of the history museum, as well as the specific construction organization and working mechanism. It provides an example and reference for the systematic optimization and construction of history museums in other universities.

Dainos by Martin Ludwig Rhesa and other Lithuanian Heritage in Moscow

The State Public Historical Library of Russia is storing some significant 18th and 19th century Lithuanian publications related with Prussian Lithuania. They include a copy of the first edition (1825) of the first collection of Lithuanian folk songs Dainos oder Litthauische Volkslieder (en. Dainos [lt. Songs] or Lithuanian Folk Songs) by Martin Ludwig Rhesa (1776–1840) which used to belong to one of reviewers of this publication. On the grounds of the provenience inscriptions, the article is striving to establish the former owners of the copy of the first ever Lithuanian collection of songs and to discuss some of the Lithuanian culture publications related with Prussian Lithuania stored at the Russian Historical Library. The full list of the Lituanistics related publications and their library classification sygnatures are presented in the Annex to this article.

How librarians and firefighters built a special library in Champaign, Illinois, USA: a community informatics story

PurposeThis paper aims to understand how a special library helped firefighters in Illinois navigate the digital revolution by evidencing the elements and forms of work that made its innovative services possible.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine the history of a special library through a community informatics lens, drawing from sociomaterial perspectives to highlight forms of work often invisible in digital innovation. Data was collected through documentary revision, oral histories and semi-structured interviews. Deductive-inductive coding and constant comparative analysis was used in the analysis.FindingsA historical narrative of the library between 1990 and 2021 highlights three sociotechnical innovations that assisted firefighters through the digital revolution: the facilitated collection, the co-created collection and the inside-out library. To develop these innovations the library drew from institutional relations, personal relations, grants, labor, knowledge of firefighters and technology. Various forms of articulation work brought these elements together to create innovative services.Originality/valueThe role of special libraries in addressing the digital divide has not been sufficiently detailed so far; this paper is a contribution in that direction. It also has practical value for professionals working in specialized libraries and information centers.

EDUCATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN INDEPENDENT UKRAINE (1990-yy.)

At the end of the article, a retrospective analysis of the educational and educational activities of public libraries of Ukraine in the 1990s of the 20th century was carried out against the background of problems and values, development and priorities of the society at that time. Changes in library legislation, types and types of libraries, content and structure of their activities, processes of creation of a number of national libraries, development in the last decade of the 20th century were studied. modern library system of Ukraine, initiation of active formation of electronic libraries and resources. As part of the contemporary reform of the country's socio-political life, the peculiarities of stimulating readers' interest in national culture and socio-political life, the initiation of publication of textbooks and study guides on librarianship, the integration of traditional library technologies with the creation of new information models of social development, the use of Internet technologies in librarianship. An analysis of the main directions of research into the history of librarianship and libraries in the context of the socio-cultural development of Ukraine in the 20th century was carried out, including the study of the history of public libraries of various cultural centers, societies, and educational institutions. Among the forms of organization of educational and educational activities of public libraries at the turn of the 2000y., the following are highlighted: art exhibitions, literary salons, book presentations, readers' conferences. The methods of educational and educational activities of public libraries in the 1990s include: library debates, use of library posters, reading aloud, literary quizzes, role-playing and intellectual games, trials with elements of theatralization of literary works, book discussions, family reading, etc. It is proved that in the development of educational and educational activities of public libraries of Ukraine at the end of the 20th century, the main characteristics were, on the one hand, a fundamental transformational restructuring of library work based on the revival of national ideas of enlightenment and education in independent Ukraine, and, on the other hand, stagnation of library work in this historical a period caused by the economic crisis in the country, rising prices and inflation.

A Well-known Bibliographer, Librarian, Teacher and Historian – Taisiia Kivshar

The aim of the article is to highlight, summarise and evaluate the contribution of Professor Taisiia Kivshar to the development of bibliological science and education in Ukraine, her pedagogical and social activities, based on a critical analysis of professional publications. The research methodology involves the use of research tools of socio-communicative, systematic, and historical-genetic approaches, which made it possible to determine a complex of factors that influenced the formation of the scientific outlook and professional qualities of the professor. The author of the article also applies historiographical, source studies, analytical, comparative, and bibliometric methods. The scientific novelty consists in identifying the main periods of the formation of Kivshar’s professional worldview, an objective assessment of her contribution to the development of bibliological science and education in Ukraine, the facts and sources of the professor’s biographical and scientific heritage are introduced into scientific circulation, her contribution to bibliology, library science, the history of Ukrainian bibliology, the development of modern librarianship and Ukrainian library biography is scientifically substantiated. Conclusions. About 250 scientific publications of Kivshar on the issues of the history of Ukrainian bibliology, the history of library and book science, library biography, biographies of the founders of scientific thought, as well as the social functions of libraries, the relationship between library and book studies, etc. are a notable achievement of the professor. She succeeded in substantiating certain trends in the book publishing business of Ukraine in the post-war period, introducing into scientific circulation numerous important facts from the history of book and library studies, replenishing the source base of Ukrainian bibliography with documents created both on ethnic lands and outside their borders, and publishing the names of scientists and scientific works banned by the Soviet censorship, as well as trying to determine the contribution of each individual to the development of individual components of bibliology, book studies, library studies, bibliography and spread this knowledge among the professional community. A certain achievement of the professor can be considered the identification and substantiation of library biography as an independent direction in the composition of special biography and library science, the definition of its tasks and substantiation of the development trend in the history of librarianship in the 20th–early 21st centuries. The coverage of the pages of the biography of Ukrainian women outside the borders of Ukraine, the definition of their role in preserving national identity in a foreign language environment, their patriotism and intelligence are also of interest. Kivshar devoted a significant part of her life to pedagogical work, teaching students, postgraduates, and researchers the basics of organising and managing librarianship, encouraging them to study the history of Ukrainian book publishing and librarianship, to familiarise themselves with the main milestones in the history of domestic book culture, the analysis of Ukrainian bibliology, taking into account the achievements of domestic humanities.

On the Way to the Digital Transformation of Library and Information Activities

The article presents the review of the monograph “Transformation of library and information activities under the influence of the digital environment” (2021), prepared by the team of authors of the Kemerovo State Institute of Culture and the V.D. Fedorov State Scientific Library of Kuzbass. The review reveals the content of the monograph — the trends in the development of library and information activities in the context of digitalization; transformation of local history library services in the electronic environment; user service by means of multimedia; promotion of reading of young people in the conditions of digitalization; virtualization of methodological support in libraries. The chapters of the publication, based on the results of serious research by the authors, show the trends of transformation of library and information activities. The content of the monograph is based on the analysis of existing experience, the disclosure of the characteristic features of the problem, its solution and prospects. The book has an extensive reference apparatus. It is recommended to make the monograph more accessible to users in the digital environment.

ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF SIMBIRSK PROVINCIAL BOOK DEPOSITORY TO PRESERVE THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF SIMBIRSK-ULYANOVSK VOLGA REGION IN THE 1920s (based on the materials of Simbirsk newspapers)

The year 2022 was declared as the year of cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia by the President of the Russian Federation. Objectively, this idea is relevant for the Middle Volga region, which has always been a multinational and, as a result, multicultural region. We consider the library to be one of the most important institutions preserving cultural traditions and historical and cultural monuments both on a national scale and in Russian regions. A rich history of Russian libraries has long attracted the attention of researchers of Russian culture. The focus of the author’s scientific interest in this article is the libraries of Simbirsk–Ulyanovsk Volga region, as a significant part of the Middle Volga region, in the territory of which a variety of peoples have lived from time immemorial (the Russians, the Chuvash, the Tatars, the Mari, the Mordvins, etc.). The first public libraries in the region appeared in the early XIX century. By 1917, many large book collections belonging to the Simbirsk nobility had been preserved in the region. Groundbreaking changes in socio-economic and political life in the country, which took place after the nationwide military victory of the Bolsheviks, led to serious changes in the cultural life of the Middle Volga region. So, in 1921, the Provincial Book Depository was established in Simbirsk, which later became one of the largest centers in the Volga region to preserve the richest cultural heritage of the peoples of the region. What kind of institution was it? How did it appear? The author explores the peculiarities of the process of the emergence and formation of Simbirsk provincial book depository. In the presented publication, the author actively uses Soviet newspapers published in Simbirsk after the end of the Civil War in Russia. Referring to the sources of the 1920s covering the events of those years, he tells about the little-known aspects in the activities of the Soviet culture new organization, in particular incoming new books and other valuable cultural materials. At the same time, the contacts of the book depository with Pushkin House (in the present – the Institute of Russian Literature under the Russian Academy of Sciences) in Petrograd are particularly noted. The article places emphasis on the role of such prominent bibliographers of the 1920s as N.N. Stolov, M.G. Medvedeva, M.D. Belyaev and A.S. Polyakov in the formation of the book depository in Simbirsk. Conclusions are drawn that the educated cultural institution primarily considered itself the heir of Karamzin and Goncharovskaya public libraries, which had a rich long-term history. Creation of the book depository undoubtedly gave a powerful impetus to the cultural, spiritual and scientific development of Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk Volga region in the 1920s, preservation of the cultural heritage of its peoples.