• Home
• Board
• National Contact Persons
• National Backgrounds
• Progress Reports
• Conference Reports
• Discussion List
• International Cooperation

The changing role of the manuscript librarian, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2003

Conference Report

Wednesday 05-03-2003

Thursday 06-03-2003

9.00	Coffee
	Session 1+2: sub thema: organisation
9.30	Session 1 The internal organisation/position of the manuscript department Chair: Dr. Eef Overgaauw, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin) Speaker 1 Anton Korteweg. Director of the Nederlands Letterkundig Museum Korteweg started with the statement 'labeling and sorting out brings peace of mind to well-organized people'. The Dutch Literary Museum had a strong focus on classic cataloguing virtues. In most cases consultation of the collections is only allowed after a written permission of the heirs of the author, which is needed until seventy years after her or his death. Enlarging the collections by purchase is quite difficult with a modest budget for acquisition of 50.000 euro. Therefore Korteweg changed his policy. He learned to know his market and made many acquaintances within Dutch literary circles. Nowadays, many writers bequeath their literary legacy to the Letterkundig Museum. Download Korteweg's paper Speaker 2 Mrs. Leslie A. Morris, curator of Manuscripts in the Houghton Library (Harvard) The Houghton Library is part of Harvard University Library and holds approximately ½ million rare books and more than 10 million manuscripts. Houghton's mission is to support teaching and research by faculty and students within the Faculty of Arts and Science. The major change that computer technology has brought is the demand for an electronic manuscript catalog. Harvard is very much a latecomer in creating digital library resources. It has superb paper-based collections, and does not really need to rely on digital copies. Morris is concerned that the library will become so caught up in the perceived necessity, and glamour, of creating digital surrogates of these primary materials that they will lose sight of the fact that it will continue to be necessary to acquire original materials today to preserve for future scholarship. Download Morris' paper
10.45	Coffee
11.15	Session 2 The role and the responsibility of the manuscript librarian towards external tasks e.g. experience with exhibitions. Chair: Dr. Bernard Meehan Trinity College Library (Dublin) Speaker 1:Stephen Hartog, senior curator of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage Hartog deals with loan exhibitions of manuscripts: the responsibility of curators related to the needs of the public. His main aim is to give his collections on loan, to museums, Ministers and embassies. His institute deals with 500 requests a year, dispersed over 2,500 locations. The workflow is supported by a collection information system, which makes loans traceable during the entire process from request to invoice. Hartog has delegated many responsibilities to his staff. They stand in direct contact with the customers so that the needs of the customers can effectively be matched with the conditions the material requires. Download Hartog's paper Speaker 2: Dr. Beth McKillop, Korean Curator/Exhibitions Officer Asia Pacific and Africa Collections, The British Library (London) In 5 years time the British Library has given more than 2,000 items on loan to 243 exhibitions world wide. Digitisation of the collections increases interest and demand, but the rising costs of transport and especially insurance may be a problem. Hot topics in the department of oriental manuscripts are religion (islam) and colonisation, because of the growing political interest in 'outreach' and cultural diversity. Still, scholarly needs are at the core. The task of the curator is to check the aim of the requests for loans and to see to the observation of the regulations concerning the handling of manuscripts. Unfortunately, requests have to be declined if the applicant cannot meet the (safety) standards the BL demands. Download McKillop's paper
12.30	Introduction to the Nederlands Letterkundig Museum Anton Korteweg, visit to the museum Lunch
	Session 3+4 sub theme: collaboration
14.00	Session 3 Collaboration in external projects Chair: Dr. Chris Coppens University Library (Louvain) Speaker 1: Dr. Zdenek Uhlir National Library (Prague) The information and communication technologies initiate methodological changes in manuscript studies. A narrow material conception of manuscript librarianship, as hitherto had been worked out by the tradition, has proven insufficient in this new environment. It has become an inseparable part of the work of a manuscript librarian to fill the originating electronic and digital environment with historical and manuscript material. Therefore many international and supranational projects have been set up. This inevitably leads to re-formulating the tasks of the manuscript librarianship as a profession. The interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary character will become a substantial aspect of the manuscript work and study. Download Uhlir's paper Speaker 2: Dr. Jutta Weber Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin) Weber discusses cooperation in external projects and focuses on the questions: when, who, what and why? The answers help to overcome possible disadvantages of cooperation: overhead, lacks of (management) structures, bad financial preconditions and conflicting interests. As a conclusion Weber states that external cooperation certainly can have added value, if you: check your market set priorities secure the continuity of the products after the project has ended Download Weber's paper Speaker 3: Consortium of European Research Libraries Having successfully built the Hand Press Book File, now CERL is developping a Manuscript File. CERL proposes these principles: No limit on data size Variety of formats allowed (EAD, XML etc) Allow search for both manuscripts and prints at the same time Allow search in particular individual databases Keep input required of participants low CERL pursuits cooperation with other projects like Malvine and Kalliope. Read further on the CERL website.
15.15	Tea
15.45	Session 4 The intended or unintended steering by financing (for instance: the consequences of participation in external projects). Chair: Dr. Anders Burius, Royal Library (Stockholm) Speaker 1: Dr. Bettina Wagner, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn-München) In 2001 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) had a budget of 1,205 M€ to support 25,000 projects. Approximately 25 M€ was spent on library projects, mainly on information systems. DFG Libraries has contributed to the centralisation of cataloguing in Germany and the development of cataloguing standards. Computerisation, political and social changes have caused institutional changes. Therefore the DFG stimulates new concepts of access to manuscript collections. Important aspects are: WWW-accessibility Integration of primary and secondary sources Complete coverage Differentiation in levels of description (inventory versus in-depth) Scalability Download Wagner's paper Speaker 2: Dr. André Bouwman, University Library (Leiden) The Leiden Special collections department has 4 curators (2.5 fte). They spend most of their time on cataloguing and user services, rather than acquisition and preservation. The changing role of the manuscript librarian involves both intended and unintended steering. Intended are: shift from project execution to project management, deliberate choice of projects and the use of external funding to support regular tasks. However, more projects means less flexibility of the staff, more overhead and temporary projects may cause discontinuity. Projects might keep you from dealing with top priorities and therefore they have to fit in a long-term programme. Download Bouwman's paper
17.15	Reception in the Meermanno Museum

Friday 07-03-2003

9.00	Coffee
	Session 5+6 sub theme: tasks
9.30	Session 5 1.The training of the manuscript librarian 2. The role of the manuscript librarian in the education esp. in the university courses and programmes Chair: Dr. Ad Leerintveld, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (The Hague) Speaker 1: Dr. Eef Overgaauw, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin) Overgauw provides an overview of the German system for educating librarians. Most librarians receive a general, non-academic training. There is a post-graduate training for superior librarians in Munich, which takes two years: the first year in Munich and the second year training on the job. Candidates are selected by the librairies themselves. Though the system seems rigid it has its benefits: graduates are competent and motivated and since all librarians have received the same training regardless their department there is a common understanding of each other in the organisation. An introduction into the system (in German) Speaker 2: Mrs. Mura Ghosh, Manuscript Studies Development Librarian, University of London Library, manager project The Manuscript Studies Portal Much has changed: the information environment, the expectations of our users and our professional philosophy. The University of London Library's mission is to support scholarship and innovation to advance research and learning in the University of London, regionally and worldwide. The role of the manuscript librarian has changed irrevocably. Our challenge is how to combine the traditional and new role in a professional profile. Download Ghosh's paper.
10.45	Coffee
11.15	Session 6 The changing tasks of the manuscript librarian 1. Seen from the point of view of a manager 2. Seen from the perspective of a user Chair: Dr. André Bouwman, University Library (Leiden) Speaker 1 (user): Dr. Paul Hoftijzer, Scaliger Institute, Leiden University Hoftijzer goes into the changing role of the librarian from the user's perspective. Formerly, users needed to show a hand-written permit to gain access, nowadays they consider access to the collections as their right. Now is a watershed: libraries have to adapt otherwise they will lose their customers, but libraries are not particularly good at changing. They tend to be too inward looking. If they want to survive, they should take this advice: Break down walls: get out and listen to your users Share your knowledge Promote the 'historical experience' of handling the manuscripts Download Hoftijzer's paper Speaker 2 (manager): Dr. Martin Bossenbroek, Head division Collections & Information, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (The Hague) Bossenbroek compares manuscript librarians to foresters. They both face the conflict between preservation and access, they have precious and irreplaceable trust and the necessity to foster public awareness. It is both a benefit and a pitfall to know your collection well. A good guide knows his way, but also knows that others do not. So make electronic catalogues, link them to other systems and promote the use of your collections. Download Bossenbroek's paper
12.30	Lunch
13.00	Depart for Leiden
14.00	Tour in the Bibliotheca Thysiana and visit Leiden University Library
16.30	Closing meeting Dr. Els van Eijck, Dr. Anders Burius There is so much to do: our daily work, building up knowledge of the collections and answering new challenges. However, a modern manuscript librarian is a manager that has a feeling for vision, policy and marketing. Evidently we all have the same problems but we still lack coherent solutions. That is where the LIBER expert group of Manuscript Librarians comes in. We should focus on three themes: User orientation: who are they and what are their needs? Knowledge management: how to bridge the gap between traditional and new tasks? Crossing borders: how to connect the European heritage in a modern multidisciplinary approach? Working groups should investigate these three topics and present their results on the next LIBER manuscript meeting. We hope to meet you there! Download the conclusions of the closing meeting
17.15	Reception

Saturday 08-03-2003

10.30	Dr. Jos Biemans will prepare an exhibition around the Amsterdam manuscript collection and delivers an introductory talk to that. There will be also a tour to the manuscript department
12.00	Lunch in the Amsterdam University Library