Rózsa György (szerk.): The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1826–1976.

III. Special collections - Archives of the Academy

The microfilm collection has an important role in the increasing of the Library's stock. By means of exchange or purchase it can obtain microfilm copies of manuscripts and rarities that cannot be loaned. Between 1953 and 1975 the Library has acquired 2 600 microfilms from 110 cities abroad, either in the form of purchase or on an exchange basis. A great number of these microfilms comprise manuscripts and works of literary history, linguistics, history, history of music and culture related to Hungary. At the end of 1975 the microfilm collection contained more than 15 000 items. Considering that every film is copied for the purposes of reading and lending, the number of microfilms preserved is twice that mentioned above. In the microfilm reading room of the Department the users may read their own microfilms besides those of the Library. The collection of master-negatives contains an interesting source of the history of sciences, i.e. portraits of the Academy's members, writers, poets, reproductions of paintings, manuscripts, objects and buildings. Since its establishment the laboratory has dealt with orders for microfilms and photocopies. It accepts orders for microfilms, 35 mm type reproductions, making roll-films and sheet-films, and their enlargements in different sizes. The other group of the Department of Reprography is the Xerox Service, set up in 1968. At the beginning it worked with one machine, at present with several ones of heavy-duty type. On the one hand its task is to serve the Library by producing electrostatic-copies from books and periodicals for the Library's users, on the other hand to copy documents for the central administration of the Academy. The electrostatic-copies given at reduced prices to the institutions, members, scholars and scientists of the Academy have become an essential condition of scientific work. They make possible the better exploitation of foreign specialized literature, the decreasing of their parallel acquisitions, expediting library administration. With its annual output of more than 1 million copies it is one of the largest document copying services in the country. Archives of the Academy The Archives of the Academy have been functioning since 1964 under the resolution no. 48/1963 of the Academy's Presidium. The resolution was a direct consequence of the historical tradition that the Academy itself preserves and reposits archivalia and documents related to its important efforts in science policy, scientific, cultural and science organization activities. The Presidium set up the Archives as an independent department of the Library of the Academy. Its tasks are to preserve recent scientific documents, picture and voice material of the Academy's central administration and institutions, which are of historical value, to process the above material, and to perform the related administrative function. The preserved material is made available for scientific research and