Editorial 2021/2
Dear Friends,
Our winter number could be called the research and survey issue. Three articles are directly devoted to its organisation and subsequent evaluation, work that is without doubt well worthwhile, and which leads us to think about what these surveys can and have shown us, and in what direction they could probably lead. We devote altogether 39 pages to them, that is, more than one third of the whole issue.
So we let us examine the content of our issue. The first overview introduces us to the world of information architecture, above all of documents to whose definition several theoretical approaches lead. The text, divided into four, provides an explanation of the meaning itself of the theory of documents; an overview of past research trends (represented especially by two personalities – Paul Otlet and Suzanne Briet); and of current research trends, based on philosophy and linguistics. Theories and concepts from informational science are presented, focusing on processing bibliographic checks, information architecture and information management.
The first survey with whose results we present you is one focusing on the prestige of librarianship as a vocation in comparison with other selected professions, on the image of the libraries in the eyes of the Czech public, their credibility as institutions and their credibility as information institutions, and on the credibility of the information sources that the libraries provide, together with their role in the community. The respondents’ replies brought many interesting facts to light, as we can read for ourselves.
In another contribution, this time from Slovakia, the author enters the field of academic and professional communication in the form of the publication of academic and professional works of a different perception of the role of the author during publication. It deals mainly with the agenda of the evidence of publication activity and explains the importance of the standard taxonomy CRediT.
Another contribution tells us about a donation made this year to the Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books of the National Library of the Czech Republic.. It consists of fifty early printed books and books from the nineteenth and twentieth century in the literary bequest of the recently deceased husband and wife, the doctors František and Milena Kornalík. The origin of the collection is however earlier and we can trace it to the parents of the above mentioned owners. The collection contains not only medical literature and literature on the natural sciences, but also religious writings, the works of classical authors and much else. It is interesting that the earliest book dates from 1536, and the most recent book was published possibly between 1901 and 1906. Among the most interesting volumes we should mention the bundle bearing the rubber stamp of the Freemasons’ Lodge– Bibliothek der Vereinten Logen zu Rostock and consisting of three alchemists’ works. The Kornalíks’ books will be processed by experts and made available to readers in the study room ORST NK ČR.
We follow it with a report from a qualitative research survey, Readership in a time of Pandemic. The research focused on the media behaviour of the Czech population over the age of 15 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. In this survey, parents of children aged 6–19 answered questions about their children's online education and leisure time. Did the children read more, or were they at the computer at their chosen time? What did the children miss the most? The article sets out the conclusions of the investigation.
Traditionally, our journal brings the results of another survey of the wages, age and educational structure of library staff, conducted regularly since 1998. The surveys are repeated at five-year intervals and make it possible to monitor changes in the staff structure in libraries. For example, the age, gender and education of library staff, their language skills, loyalty to the institution, etc., as well as the need for the retraining of library staff, the distribution of individual positions, salaries, etc. are ascertained, which vary as required. This time, these were questions identifying the most popular topics for the education of librarians.
We are also happy to include in the pages of our magazine - in the form of a profile - congratulations to Professor Jele Steinerová on her birthday. We thank her on behalf of the editorial staff for the work she has done for our magazine and for the great cooperation, and we wish her good health and much professional success.
We have two book reviews for you this time. The first is from Richard Papík’s desk and draws attention to the Slovak monograph Od vyhľadávania informácií k objavování nových znalostí (From the Search for Information to the Discovery of New Knowledge). Let us therefore continue to search for and discover new information and knowledge.
The second review (author Anna Machová) tells us about the publication Brána moudrosti otevřená: Knihy a knihovny broumovského kláštera (The Gate of Wisdom Open: Books and Libraries of the Broumov Monastery); and not only about this publication, but also about other things resulting from several years of work on an extensive research task including research into the Rajhrad Monastery book collection (both belonging to the legacy of the Benedictine order in our country), and other activities.
The issue concludes with the traditional sections: Tips from the Library of Library Literature, through which we try to present to you new and interesting titles that have enriched the collection of this unique professional library. News from foreign library literature is presented in articles from the French magazine Ar(abes)ques, published by the French university bibliographic agency Abes. The articles in this issue focus mainly on the agency's services to libraries (eg to facilitate the creation of authority records), and on changes to library catalogues in general, on the topic of interconnected and large data (related to the so-called bibliographic transition - bibliographic transition). They also deal with the topics of open access and open science and the possibilities and results of cooperation between university libraries and consortia with other libraries, in particular with the French National Library (co-creation of data at national level), etc.
On behalf of the editors, thank you all for your cooperation. I wish you good health and happiness and I look forward to your contributions. I would like to remind you of the deadlines of the Library: knihovnické revue https://knihovnarevue.nkp.cz/terminy and Knihovny plus https://knihovnaplus.nkp.cz/terminy.
Have a wonderful 2022!
Renata Salátová
překlad: Barbara Day
