Museum Library Research Articles

A.L. Shanyavsky University at the Dawn of Library Education in Russia

The article considers the activity efforts of L.B. Khavkina aimed to organize the first library courses in Russia, operated at A.L. Shanyavsky Moscow City People’s University. L.B. Khavkina first raised the question on organization of short-term library courses at the third All-Russia Congress of Technical and Vocational Educators in 1904; however, the project had not been implemented. In 1911, the Congress on Library Science and Services adopted the resolution that emphasized the need to train students in library science. After several unsuccessful attempts to organize courses for librarians, L.B. Khavkina appealed to A.L. Shanyavsky University Council, having secured financial support from philanthropist N.A. Shakhov. As a result, the Courses started in 1913 and operated until 1920, the last year of existence of A.L. Shanyavsky University. L.B. Khavkina developed all curricula and programs of the Library Courses, basing on rich experience of Russian and international library studies. The courses maintained an extensive correspondence with foreign libraries and received their donations of books, journals and teaching aids. Under the auspices of the Courses, the teachers and students operated the library museum that presented the advanced experience and best practices, both Russian and international, in library studies and services. The article describes the features of the teaching and learning process, facilities and student composition of the first library courses in Russia. The author describes the changes in the student body, the content of programs and equipment of courses with arrival of the Soviet power.

Fates of the Old Czech Annals [Text F

The collection of Hussite chronicles called Old Czech Annals contains more than thirty manuscripts some of which have been left out of the research spotlight. One of them is the Czech written text F (called “of Stockholm”) from the second half of the 15th century, currently stored under the signature G 10, no. 432 in the Moravian Municipal Archive in Brno, nevertheless, until 1878, it had been held in Stockholm as a spoil. The text F describes the course of events on the Czech territory from the years 1393 to 1453. Particular emphasis is laid on the events taking place during the Hussite revolution (after 1419) narrated, from the perspective of moderate Utraquism, by an anonymous Prague chronicler. Even though he, in his descriptions, consciously evades to include his evaluation of the events, striving for being an objective and impartial, unbiased observer, it is possible, at times, to read his attitude and opinion from his language rendering, which we instantiate with citations from the manuscript. A copy of the manuscript was acquired during its brief borrowing from Sweden to Prague in 1819 by Václav Hanka (1791–1861), a prominent representative of the Czech National Revival. The copy is stored in the National Museum Library, signature III F 9.

Alcoholism and Social Evils in 19th century Sri Lanka: Some Insights from Contemporary Sinhala Poetry

A campaign to outspread the use of alcohol was considered by colonial rulers as a way of enrichment, and they strove to popularise it in every possible manner. This approach resulted in an increased demand for alcohol from workers, while the profit from these ventures enriched a sector of the indigenous population. ‘Fleecing the last penny’ seemed to be the foundation, on which the colonials based their economic policy. As was traditional amongst the colonial elite, alcohol and beer were served at celebratory functions. Some groups in the society and social workers opposed to the increased use of alcohol amongst the population and objected via public protests, but the government considered this as a source of increased revenue. Popularising alcohol would steadily lead to disastrous social consequences. Aim of the present study is to find whether a directlink prevailed between heavy drinking and violence. To realize this objective, this research study utilisedprimary and secondary sources from original booklets written on the subject obtained from Sri Lankan Museum Library, National Archives in Sri Lanka, and London British library. Data analysis and other collected information revealed a direct link between the increased use of alcohol and violence, which led to a radical change in the society.Key words: Alcohol, Violence, Printing, Poet

Future strategic considerations and development priorities for national museum libraries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the main strategic considerations facing the libraries of national museums over the next decade, and to examine anticipated future service and resource development priorities.Design/methodology/approachAn explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was undertaken, consisting of a quantitative research phase followed by a qualitative phase. An online survey was sent to the head librarians of two hundred national museum libraries for the quantitative phase. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with the head librarians at seven national museum libraries for the qualitative phase. The survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the interview data were analysed through use of recursive abstraction. Mixing of the data occurred following the qualitative phase.FindingsNational museum libraries are facing a complex array of future challenges and opportunities as a result of a rapidly changing socio-technical landscape, evolving organisational needs and priorities and ongoing operational constraints. The main strategic considerations for many national museum libraries relate to their preparedness for these issues, and their ability to deliver services and resources that are relevant, required, and responsive to the future research needs of internal and external users. It seems likely that development priorities will focus on consolidating high impact services and resources, whilst also expanding provision into new areas that have the greatest potential for growth.Originality/valueThis study identifies issues of strategic importance for national museum libraries and examines the main priority areas being considered by museum librarians as they prepare to develop their libraries into the third decade of the twenty-first century.

Millikin & Lawley version of John Snow's chloroform inhaler.

Millikin & Lawley version of John Snow's chloroform inhaler.

The Act of Nrima in the Jaka Prucul’s Text

This article examines the concept of nrima behavior in the text of Jaka Prucul PBA 204, which is a collection of Library Museum Sonobudoyo Yogyakarta. The text was written in 1865. The text is about the journey of life of Jaka Prucul who seeks wealth with all kinds of work, including rice field work, housekeeping assistant, herding goats and cows, making straps, weaving, even stealing and robbing. The analysis of the study in this article uses interpretive and qualitative methods with objective shortcuts. In the text teaches moral values of behavior to the people of Java. In connection with the purpose of life in the world and the hereafter, Jaka Prucul always begs the work of Jesus Christ. Jaka Prucul does all kinds of work with a happy heart and never complains. The nature of acceptance is taught in Javanese culture to the community ie nrima ing pandum. The benefits of this study are expected to provide an overview of the attitude of nrima, and can add reference to research literary works of Java. The results of the study conclude that the elements of nrima attitudes are contained in the Jaka Prucul text which is still relevant today. One of the contributions to local genius is the nrima behavior depicted in Jaka Prucul’s text.

Name Change in the Javanese Cultural System in Serat Tata Cara Nipun Tiyang Ngluwari Punagi

This paper discusses the text of Serat Tatacaranipun Tiyang Ngluwari Punagi PBC 17 collection of Library Museum Sonobudoyo Yogyakarta. Mambahas customary law practice in villages in Karaton Surakarta. This study aims to reveal the mystical side of the text of Fiber Tatacaranipun Tiyang Ngluwari Punagi. This manuscript tells Rara Suparti who later renamed RadenRaraSuparmi for being sicks. This research uses interpretative and qualitative method with shortlist objective. The theoretical benefit of this research is to become an information booster for further studies. The practical benefit of this research is in the form of knowledge for the general public to know the mystical events of renaming the Javanese environment. The name renaming is one of the mystical events in the Java environment of the manuscript Serat Tatacaranipun Tiyang Ngluwari Punagi.

Kearney, Patrick J., and Crawford, Neil J. The Private Case: A Supplement. Notes Towards a Bibliography of the Books that Used to be in the Private Case of the British (Museum) Library. Berkeley, CA: Ian Jackson, 2016. 148 pp. $35.00. (ISBN: 978-1-9447-6932-1).

Kearney, Patrick J., and Crawford, Neil J. <i>The Private Case: A Supplement. Notes Towards a Bibliography of the Books that Used to be in the Private Case of the British (Museum) Library</i>. Berkeley, CA: Ian Jackson, 2016. 148 pp. $35.00. (ISBN: 978-1-9447-6932-1).

Evaluating User Experience and Access Data to Reveal Patrons’ Print and Digital Serials Preferences

ABSTRACTThis article presents user experience data collected through surveys and interviews at an art museum library to offer a comprehensive picture of a diverse population of patrons’ print and digital access preferences for serials. The results of this study show that the line between digital and physical research preferences is incredibly nebulous, as patrons who start with digital sources often print out a copy for taking notes, and patrons who begin with physical resources often make a digital copy for future reference. Patrons do not necessarily prefer one format over the other in all cases, but rather realize that each new project requires a customized approach to research. This type of user experience data informs library services and empowers librarians to curate access to electronic and print serials in response to patrons’ specific research habits, impacting collection development, acquisitions, and outreach efforts.

Assessment of indoor air environment of a Nigerian museum library and its biodeteriorated books using culture-dependent and –independent techniques

The surface-associated microflora on four deteriorated historical books kept in the library of a Nigerian museum were studied to identify microbial communities present, determine potential biodeteriogens and evaluate microbial aeroflora as a putative source of contamination. The application of culture-independent and -dependent techniques identified members of Actinobacteria, Bacteriodetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria as bacterial colonizers of the volumes, with Bacillus, Stenotrophomonas and Variovorax as the dominant genera. The fungal community belonged to Ascomycota with Aspergillus and Penicillium as the prevalent taxa. The retrieved microorganisms included some species that had never been detected on documentary heritage, though they have been found in association with soil particles and insects. Cellulolytic screening assay ascertained thirteen bacterial and six fungal isolates as potential biodeteriogens of the said documents. The higher microbial build-up on the discoloured areas compared to the control areas of the books highlighted microorganisms as a cause of the deterioration. The airborne microbial population, determined with passive sampling, revealed the microbial cell density to be higher in the rainy season than the dry. This is the first report on the use of both genetic fingerprinting and traditional methods in a biodeterioration study of books in Nigeria. The findings of the study should be taken into account to ensure the proper preservation of written heritage.

MUSEUM EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGICAL MATERIAL IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE EUROPEAN COMENIUS REGIO ARCA.DIA.LOGUE PROGRAM: THE CASE OF TÉRIADE’S “27 GREAT ARTISTS’ BOOKS”

The cultural heritage of a museum, regardless of that museum’s size, is unique and richly deserves to become known to the public in general and the student community in particular. The purpose of the present publication is to showcase “27 Great Artists’ Books,” which is but one of the many treasures of the Tériade Collection housed in the Stratis Eleftheriadis Museum–Library in Mytilini, the capital of the island of Lesvos, Greece. More specifically, it seeks to promote the art videos which were designed and created on that seminal segment of the Tériade Collection within the framework of the European Program Comenius Regio Partnership ARCA.DIA.logue (2013–15). What is more, those art videos constitute the foundation of the present proposal which discusses a didactic approach addressed to European Secondary Education students. That approach comprises three stages and is indicative only: teachers may give it the shape that best serves the needs of their classes under their tutelage.

From the History of the Library of Bohuslav Dušek

The article works with sources concerning the history of the library of Bohuslav Dušek (1886–1957), a bank clerk and a collector of books and art. Dušek built his library, comprising more than 3,000 volumes, from the beginning of the 20th century. Despite changing state regimes, he kept it until his death. His second wife, Hermína Dušková (1910–2012), organised the library and donated it in 1977 to the National Museum Library. The personal archival collection of Bohuslav Dušek, deposited in the National Museum Archives, provides as-yet unpublished information on the development of the library and its owners as well as on the process of the handover of this unique collection to the National Museum Library.

ВОСПИТАНИЕ ПАТРИОТИЗМА И ТРАДИЦИЙ НАРОДНОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ

This article outlines the cultural and educational role of the library and patriotic education of the younger generation through the formation of spiritually-moral principles and environmental awareness. Describes the traditional attitude of the Altaians to nature, family, ethical and moral rules of life. In detail the results of the library. The material is arranged in sections: Teaching activities; Library museums; Library names; Patriotism and love through ecological education. The section «Patriotism and love through ecological education» includes an overview of the most important events held in 2017 - the Year of ecology.

The museum libraries on Madrid's Golden Triangle of Art (2005–2015): New spaces for new services

The Prado-Recoletos axis is the main historical boulevard in Madrid, which contains the most important concentration of art museums in all of Spain: the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Museo Nacional del Prado and the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. In the last years, they have undergone extensive renovation. The different renovation projects can be used to examine how museum libraries today juggle the needs of their users while addressing the challenge of providing the services of a modern research library. The new State Museum Libraries Network (BIMUS) has been an important factor in this development.

Listy Ludwika Krzywickiego do żony z Londynu (1895)

The article examines the letters of Ludwik Krzywicki (1859–1941) – Polish sociologist, a socialist movement activist and a community worker to his wife Rachel, nee Feldberg (1863/4–1924). The letters were written in London in July and August 1895 when he did research in the British Museum Library. They show that mid-90s of the 19th century were the time when Krzywicki made a final decision to dedicate himself to academic work and to start research on his monumental book – Horda pierwotna ( Primordial Horde ), published posthumously as Pierwociny wiezi spolecznej ( The Rudiments of a Social Bond ).

Special features of building special libraries’ information resources

Main trends in developing special libraries’ information resources are characterized, in particular, those of art and museum libraries, libraries of higher art schools. The projects for generating information resources undertaked by these libraries are discussed. User inquiries are analyzed; stages of information services development are compared. Modern online-services: “Ask-a-bibliographer”, e-mail inquiries, Internet-based services, subject databases are illustrated by the examples of the databases: M. Fokin Archive, Sketch collection, The Artist, Russian Drama, Modern Dramatic Art , etc. The author concludes on the demand for building integrated digital resource of the libraries, museums, and art schools.

From an old sound recording to a new species in the genus Horatosphaga (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea: Phaneropterinae: Acrometopini)

Among insects, Orthoptera are a group famous for communicating by sound. This is especially true for bush-crickets (or katydids; Tettigonioidea). All acoustically active species produce sound by rubbing the fore wings (tegmina) against each other, using a stridulatory file situated on the lower side of the left tegmen and a scraper formed by the inner edge of the right tegmen (see e.g., Ragge &amp; Reynolds 1998). Bush-cricket species of the tribe Acrometopini often have complicated stridulatory files and also complex songs, as shown in a recent study (Hemp et al. 2017). During the preparation of that paper we discovered a sound record of a species of the group taken on 16th March 1972 by the entomologist David Hollis in Angola as part of the multi-disciplinary entomological South Western Africa Expedition (for more details see Lane et al. 2011, Pethers 2016). Hollis (principally a hemipterist) published several papers on different groups of insects (see http://bionames.org/authors/David%20Hollis; incomplete), including Orthoptera (see Ingrisch &amp; Willemse 2004). The sound recording was deposited in the British Museum (Natural History) Library of Recorded Insect Sounds, and was later made openly accessible in the BioAcoustica repository (Baker et al. 2015). Hollis had found the animal at light, recorded it on the same day singing on a bush, and brought the specimen (together with two conspecific males) to the Natural History Museum (NHM), London. Here it was later identified as Horatosphaga ?stuhlmanni (Karsch 1896) by D. Ragge, the curator of Orthoptera at the NHM at that time. Under this name (Horatosphaga ?stuhlmanni) the song was described in Hemp et al. 2017. Horatosphaga males are fully winged while females are flightless and plump; sexual dimorphism reaches its extreme form in this group of species. Species of this genus are mostly recorded from open grasslands in savanna habitats up to montane elevations (e.g. H. heteromorpha, Hemp 2013).

The Private Case: A Supplement. Notes towards a Bibliography of the Books that used to be in the Private Case of the British (Museum) Library. Comp. by Patrick J. Kearney and Neil J. Crawford.

The Private Case: A Supplement. Notes towards a Bibliography of the Books that used to be in the Private Case of the British (Museum) Library. Comp. by Patrick J. Kearney and Neil J. Crawford.

Exhibition Policy of the National Museum 2017−2020

Abstract The National Museum (NM) is preparing several temporary exhibitions in all of its buildings, along with preparing new permanent exhibitions in the New and Historical Buildings. All parts of the National Museum are incorporated in the preparation of new exhibitions, i.e. the Historical Museum, Natural History Museum, Czech Museum of Music, Náprstek Museum and the National Museum Library. In 2017, these exhibition projects are: Light and Life, Masaryk as a Phenomenon, and Indians. In 2018, the National Museum will present the Czech-Slovak / Slovak-Czech exhibition, which will reflect the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, together with selected moments of Czechoslovakian history and the relationship of these two nations. 2019 could bring the opening of the grand Egyptology exposition Sun Kings and also new Natural history expositions. The remaining permanent expositions should be opened in 2020. The exhibitions in this period will likely recall some important anniversaries (1620, 1920). In future years, the renovation of the Czech Museum of Music and Náprstek Museum will take place.

The Small Easy: Budget-Neutral Digital Projects at Small Libraries

Small museum libraries with one or two staff members are inspired by the large-scale digital projects of bigger flagship institutions. How can one translate this inspiration to action with small means and few staff? Over the past year the Menil Collection Library has embarked on small-scale digitization projects that are budget-neutral but provide access to information and resources generated by the museum that were previously found only in the archives. From repackaging born-digital gallery guides and ephemera to capturing and cataloging finding aids and foundation documents, library staff are beginning to make the entire exhibition history available globally for the first time. Full surrogates of some Special Collections materials are now part of the scholarly record as well. This has not only made valuable information more accessible but also helped raise the library’s profile within the broader digital initiatives of the museum.[This article is a revision of a paper presented at the “Digitization and Preservation” session at the ARLIS/NA conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in February 2017.]