Messages of the history of reading TÓTH Gyula Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. In
his essay the author deals with human factors of the library: readers
and different forms of reading. The books on the history of reading, by
Roger Chartier and Alberto Manguel, published at the turn of the
millennium in Western Europe, brought a revelation, because they have
directed attention on a way of research into reading which is
independent of the issues of writing. In the past millennia, always
aligning to the needs, mankind has created many ways of reading. The
revolutions of communication – i.e. the „switch” from rolls to codices,
then from codices to printed books, or from printed materials to
electronic formats – always started by questioning the old rule. New
formats came up as a replacement, an improvement, and resulted in their
own „genres” only later. The literacy of new eras has always combined
the old with the new. In our days, in the information age, new,
corresponding reading methods and techniques have evolved again, which
make us reconsider the role of reading both in cognition, and in
learning. The history of reading points out for us rules that are valid
not only in reading and communication, but in accessing and managing
knowledge, in learning and thinking as well. Many issues of library
history must be reconsidered too in the context of the history of
reading. Today education must – in co-operation with libraries – convey
new reading forms, such as non-linear (electronic) reading, browsing
and scanning reading, reading and interpreting image and text together,
the use of electronic search tools, critical thinking on information
from combined searches, etc. The symbolic interpretation of information transfer VÖRÖS Klára Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. The
study is interpreting the process of information transfer as a symbolic
object, because its relation-character makes it appropriate for
symbolising human relations as well. The term ’symbol’ is used as in
the anthropology of Geertz, and is seen as a cognitive tool for
interactions in the library or related to the library. In the
information transfer, under any ICT condition, there is a relation, a
problem, a task, an apparatus and a symbolic background involved. This
symbolic environment is analysed by the study in the segment of
structural space, text space, semiotic space, relational, mediation and
moral space. The most important findings are that the information
transfer in the structural space makes up a hierarchical organisation,
where a logical sequence predominates. The elements of information
transfer have a function in the structure as a whole, and are factors
of the relational system determined by the whole. Information transfer
and its outcomes are semiotically seen as a useful text holding
information. To every information transfer belongs a cognitive meaning.
Information transfer is a complex of meaning: it is an organised,
analysable, and a meaning-creating activity. As a semiotic process it
means, that both partners in the process, the librarian (the mediator)
and the user (asking for information) will become subjects of
interpretation processes, and in both parties meaning-creations are
being fulfilled. The question „what does it mean to be a good
librarian” is also an ethical problem. The library is becoming from a
mechanism to a space full with energy while solving its societal tasks,
and the content of its activities and services changes from working to
a metaphor through human relationships. Five Hungarian search engines: precision and recall TÓTH Erzsébet Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. The
study presents the findings of an empirical analysis which has compared
the retrieval effectiveness of Hungarian search engines. Precision and
recall measures express mostly the effectiveness of information
retrieval systems, therefore the author analysed the relevant Hungarian
search engines on the basis of these two attributes. In the examination
of precision she considered only the first 60 hits for the queries, and
analysed precision from the aspect of usage (usage meaning how many
relevant web pages were retrieved to various queries by the search
engines in the first, second, and third 20 hits. The examination of
recall was done on the basis of relative recall known from literature.
Altogether five Hungarian search engines were analysed: AltaVizsla,
Heuréka, Origo-Vizsla, Kurzor and Góliát. Queries were executed with
these search tools in Hungarian on five topics. János Szentmihályi Centenary SZABÓ Sándor Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. The
author recalls the memory of János Szentmihályi (1908-1981), one of the
greatest personalities of the Hungarian bibliography and library
science, a professor at the University of Budapest. Szentmihályi began
his career in the reader services department of the University Library
in Budapest, later he worked for the National Széchényi Library. He has
acted as a faculty member for almost 25 years at the LIS department of
the Eötvös Loránd University Budapest. Many generations of librarians
have learnt from him the basics of the bibliographical and reference
work. His main fields of research were the theoretical issues of
national bibliography and the control of hungarica literature. He
edited Hungarica Külföldi Folyóiratszemle (a quarterly registering
current Hungarian publications abroad). As a bibliographer he called
attention to the theoretical and practical problems of bibliographies,
and was interested in the issues of scope and completeness in
collecting bibliographical data. As a professor he took part in shaping
the librarian career and in the activity of the FID (International
Federation for Information and Documentation) Training Committee as
well.Round table on the future of LIS education in Hungary Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. A
round table session was organised on August 26, 2008 by the University
of Debrecen (Department Library and Information Technology) for LIS
departments in Hungary, which led to releasing a joint statement
summarising in 14 points higher education’s main tasks for the future. MESSAGES FROM THE PAST… The Journal Népművelés (1906–1918) on libraries in the first two decades of the 20th century, Part 1 SONNEVEND Péter Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. During
the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918) Hungarian
librarianship had originally only one professional journal, Magyar
Könyvszemle (f. 1876). In 1906 a new journal has started under the
title Népművelés, a journal for education and culture, edited by the
mayor of Budapest, Ödön Bárczy, a researcher in pedagogy, Ödön Weszely,
and an author, Ödön Wildner. The articles related to librarianship have
not yet been explored within the rich subject offer of the journal. The
journal was very popular with intellectuals and has made them, first of
all teachers, aware that Hungary needs better libraries, and the
reports about good examples from abroad may serve as a good starting
point. After describing the first period of the journal and the
editors’ principles, the author analyses the first year’s
library-related topics: modern public libraries (with outlook to
France, Germany and the UK), school libraries, reading lists for young
people, and quotes from the articles published between 1907 and 1910. FROM ABROAD HILLENKÖTTER,
Kristine: A virtual special library for book history, library and
information science from Germany (Translated by Lajos Murányi) Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. A
new portal was presented at one of the sessions of the German Library
Association’s conference in Leipzig in April 2007, as part of a DFG
project, built up in co-operation by five partners for researchers,
students, librarians and interested laymen. DÉVAI Péter: A new library journal for the profession: Journal of Web Librarianship Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. The
Haworth Press started in 2007 a new journal that publishes material
related to all aspects of librarianship as practiced on the World Wide
Web, including both existing and emerging roles and activities of
information professionals in the Web environment. The review describes
the first issue of the journal in detail. BOOK REVIEWS A
new LIS handbook from Italy Biblioteconomia: guida classificata.
Diretta da Mauro Guerrini. Milano, 2007. (Reviewed by Anikó Dudás) Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4.Search! How Google and its rivals rewrote the rules of business and transformed our culture?
BATTELLE,
John: Keress! Hogyan alakítja át kultúránkat, üzleti életünket a Google
és az internetes keresés? Budapest, 2006. (Reviewed by Péter Dévai) Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. An etiquette for librarians FODOR Péter – HAVAS Katalin: Könyvtári etikett. Budapest, 2007. (Reviewed by Gabriella Szabó) Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. Honoured librarians 2005–2008 (compiled by Gyula GERŐ) Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 54. 2008. no. 4. FROM FOREIGN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION JOURNALS