IMPROVEMENTS effected in the administration of French municipal libraries in the past few years are mainly due to the untiring and vigorous efforts of the librarians, who have…
Abstract
IMPROVEMENTS effected in the administration of French municipal libraries in the past few years are mainly due to the untiring and vigorous efforts of the librarians, who have exerted themselves to the utmost to develop the institutions of which they are in charge, and to increase their usefulness and to obtain for them the funds which the public authorities hesitate to grant. At Havre, for example, the hours have been considerably lengthened, the reading room being open from half‐past nine in the morning to eleven at night. So great has been the response of the public to this encouragement that the municipality has been obliged to recognise, by an increase of credits, the value of the service rendered. Elsewhere, branches for the general reading public have been created in addition to the reference library. Thus at Rouen, a branch which has proved to be of the utmost service has been founded in the suburb of St. Sever. Other libraries, as that of St. Die, have supplemented the reference rooms intended for more scholarly readers by a room for the “general reader”; or have organised, as at Tours, a lending service. In this last named town the lending service has since last year been placed on a payment basis; but far from diminishing, it has prospered the more.
LES bibliothèques françaises se trouvent encore trop sous l'influence des conditions matérielles où les a laissées la guerre, pour qu'on puisse passer sous silence les difficultés…
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LES bibliothèques françaises se trouvent encore trop sous l'influence des conditions matérielles où les a laissées la guerre, pour qu'on puisse passer sous silence les difficultés qu'elles ont éprouvées. Un certain nombre d'entre elles ont vu leurs collections partiellement ou mme totalement détruites; c'est le cas de la bibliothèque universitaire de Nancy, des bibliothèques municipales de Lille, d'Arras, de Mézières, de Noyon, de Reims, de Réthel, de Saint‐Quentin, de Verdun, pour ne citer que les plus importantes. Il a fallu construire de nouveaux édifices et remplacer les volumes; c'est un travail de longue haleine, mais il commence à toucher à son terme. A Reims, la bibliothèque est rebtie, sur ses rayons ont pris place 66,000 vol. au lieu des 125,000 qu'elle possédait auparavant; de mme à Arras 1,200 manuscrits sur 2,500, 21,000 vol. sur 49,000 ont été sauvés; la bibliothèque de Réthel se relève de ses ruines, celle de Verdun est achevée.
THE Advocates' Library, the greatest of the Scottish Libraries, has been offered to the Government, largely owing to the fact that the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh has found…
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THE Advocates' Library, the greatest of the Scottish Libraries, has been offered to the Government, largely owing to the fact that the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh has found it too great a burden in these expensive days. The Secretary for Scotland has answered the offer by what is, for the present, more or less a refusal; but he has offered a grant of £2,000 a year, and has intimated that government control and support of the library are to be desired when national conditions permit. It is most unfortunate that the offer had to be made at the present time, when expenditure on education and culture is attacked daily; especially when the fact is remembered that the Advocates' Library is able to exact a very large tax from authors and publishers and ought certainly to be a “public library” in the old sense of the phrase. The Advocates' Library has certainly been available to all genuine students quite freely, but not by the same right that a Londoner may use his British Museum. It is manifestly unfair, too, that a body which numbers only 400, which we understand the Faculty of Advocates to do, should be expected to maintain what is equivalent to a Scottish British Museum Library. We trust, therefore, that the hope expressed in varous quarters will be kept in sight and realised later, when Scotland has got over her astonishing— for her—crusade against education.
The aims of this annual review of the literature were set out at some length in the first article in the series (Aslib Proceedings, vol. 5, no. 1, February 1953, pp. 27–39), but…
Abstract
The aims of this annual review of the literature were set out at some length in the first article in the series (Aslib Proceedings, vol. 5, no. 1, February 1953, pp. 27–39), but for the benefit of those who have not seen that paper, and also for others who might like to be reminded of the limitations of the series, it is proposed to recapitulate briefly the main points. This series is intended to assist those who need some guidance in selecting from the mass of literature now being published on librarianship and documentation those items most likely to be of assistance in planning and organizing their own work. It is particularly designed for the relatively inexperienced worker, whether special librarian or information officer, working in a small organization without the assistance of more experienced colleagues. Consequently, all theoretical discussions, however important, have been ignored unless it has been felt that they can be of practical assistance in solving day‐to‐day library problems, and descriptions of the practice of large general libraries have been omitted unless it appears that they are capable of adaptation to other conditions. Moreover, since the series is not intended to be used as a bibliographical tool (this purpose being adequately served by existing bibliographies) but as a guide to current reading, no attempt has been made to restrict the list to work actually published during the year under review, but it is hoped that the list is representative of items likely to have been received in British libraries during 1953. Every endeavour has been made, however, to see that the articles in the series shall between them cover the whole of the literature adequately and that no important items are missed.
Dans la décennie qui précéda la guerre, la documentation avait fait en France de tels progrès qu'on avait vu se transformer les méthodes traditionnelles des dépôts de…
Abstract
Dans la décennie qui précéda la guerre, la documentation avait fait en France de tels progrès qu'on avait vu se transformer les méthodes traditionnelles des dépôts de conservation. Cette situation de la documentation française n'avait pas été sans susciter une vive émulation à l'étranger, comme en témoignent les travaux des congrès de Paris en 1937 et d'Oxford en 1938 pour ne parler que de ceux‐là. A la veille de la guerre, la France possédait une fédération, l'Union Française des Organismes de Documentation, fondée en 1932, et un organe de direction, le Comité Français de la Documentation, qui fonctionna dès 1938, et qui fut reconnu officiellement par arrêté du Ministre de l’Éducation Nationale en date du 24 juillet 1939. Ce Comité avait adhéré à la Fédération Internationale de Documentation de La Haye en 1938.
AT the Exeter Conference, Dr. Kenyon, in his presidential address, touched upon an aspect of library work in such a manner as found a ready agreement in my mind as to its…
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AT the Exeter Conference, Dr. Kenyon, in his presidential address, touched upon an aspect of library work in such a manner as found a ready agreement in my mind as to its importance and far‐reaching effects. His address was based upon the solid ground of the public utility of libraries, and he proved, right to the hilt, the necessity of the advancement of the library movement on wide lines.
WE give space this month to practical library binders to describe their work as they see it. Such an arrangement will commend itself to our readers, we hope, as there is no more…
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WE give space this month to practical library binders to describe their work as they see it. Such an arrangement will commend itself to our readers, we hope, as there is no more present question with the librarian, and especially the public librarian. Since the war the quality of book‐papers has been such that binding has become the most formidable item in his annual budget except salaries and new book purchase. The cases in which publishers issue their books used to give about 60 issues before re‐binding was necessary; now they rarely give half that number. Binders have shown considerable ingenuity in discovering new methods of sewing, lining and strengthening, to meet the perishable qualities of the paper. Whether they have succeeded or not librarians may judge. The ideal binding for a reference book is an imperishable one; for a lending library book one that lasts in pleasant complexion just as long as the paper holds together. Anything less or more appears to be uneconomical.
“The organisation of any library depends on the men and women who work there. They have a very important job. They are the indispensable middle‐men of culture and science, and in…
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“The organisation of any library depends on the men and women who work there. They have a very important job. They are the indispensable middle‐men of culture and science, and in opening this library we ought to remember that its success will depend on them as much as on what is in it.”—The Duke of Edinburgh, opening the Scottish Central Library on November 5th, 1953.
Summary The International Federation of Library Associations (I.F.L.A. and F.I.A.B. in English and French respectively) and the International Federation for Documentation (F.I.D.…
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Summary The International Federation of Library Associations (I.F.L.A. and F.I.A.B. in English and French respectively) and the International Federation for Documentation (F.I.D.) each have a committee on professional training. Unesco wants to promote co‐operation between these two committees. This preliminary report states the F.I.D. position.