AZ ORSZÁGOS SZÉCHÉNYI KÖNYVTÁR ÉVKÖNYVE 1994-1998. Budapest (2000)

I. Az OSZK 1994-1998-ban - Az Országos Széchényi Könyvtár kiadványai 1994-1998 - The Activity of the National Széchényi Library in the Years 1994-1998

One of the factors attracting them here is the well selected reference library of 70,000-80,000 volumes kept up to date and available on the open shelves. This is very convenient for the students but it increases crowding - especially during the examination periods - and disturbs the researchers who want silence and calm and so prefer to use other libraries. These proportions must definitely be changed in the future, keeping in sight the scholarly nature of the library. While there was an increase in the use of material that could be shown (the volume of requests for documents from the stores), in many cases the use of material on the open shelves made this unnecessary. The Special Collections had a large number of readers, despite the revision of holdings. This was due in part to the fact that there were many exhibitions in the library and elsewhere during this period (e.g. on 1848/49), creating an increased demand in the Manuscripts Collection and the Collection of Graphics and Small Prints. Other collections also received numerous enquirers and researchers. During the five years they recorded close to 41,000 users and the number of units used exceeded one million. The central information service received 550-600 written requests a year, although this was fewer than in the previous three years. However, within this total there was a considerable increase in the number of requests received from abroad which rose to 40-60%. In many cases entire bibliographies had to be compiled to meet the requests and in other cases a comprehensive collection of material and data was needed. This work was increasingly assisted by the group formed at the end of 1993 with the aim of collecting and using documents electronically. Its tasks included carrying out information activity based on electronic documents which, thanks to the network link and the appropriate documents greatly accelerated and developed the work done with traditional aids. The special collections also carried out extensive information activity. They all received numerous requests relating to their particular fields. This was due not only to the special nature of their collections, but also to their experts who are equal partners of Hungarian and foreign researchers in the different fields. Some of the special collections gave written information in 150-200 cases a year and the others also handled a comparable volume. In all collections there were many cases of information provided in person. Storage By the end of 1998 the stores were entirely filled. Emergency measures were required to place new material, e.g. foreign unbound newspapers are placed in temporary store in the vicinity of Budapest, and various other arrangements have been made. Most of the special collections are also full, so the librarys storage problems could only be solved by obtaining or building new stores. The preparatory work for this is already underway. Preservation and conservation Preservation of the holdings was carried out in all fields systematically, efficiently and on a high standard, through the collective work of a number of departments and based on a survey conducted in 1994. Besides binding unbound newspapers and periodicals in the stores, the librarys bindery repaired and restored books damaged through use and replaced bindings. The newspaper restorers repaired and restored old material before transfer to microfilm and also repaired damaged documents from the special collections. The department also carries out research work so that it is able to perform its task on the highest level. Microfilming has been carried out for decades now, mainly so that the original series of old newspapers can be withdrawn from use. In addition, staff members travelling abroad make microfilm copies of Hungarica not in the collection of the national library. The preservation and conservation sections worked in close co-operation. Their normal work schedule has been interrupted in the past two years by the microfilming of the Hungarian material of Radio Free Europe, but arranging and preserving this material was more important than anything else. 191