Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
44
JolantaTalbierska
notingthatsuchawell-preservedcopyinanaltarbindingofconsiderableartis-
ticvalueisagreatrarity.
Aferthematerialhasbeensystemisedandanalysed,thecollectionmustbe
studiedinthebroaderperspectiveofthehistoryofcollecting(local,i.e.national,
butalsoEuropean)andhistoricalbookcollections(local,European).Itisnot
enoughtomakeadetaileddescriptionorreconstructionofahistoricalcollec-
tion(alistofobjectsthatareofennon-existent,lost,dispersedasaresultof
sale,war,etc.,studiedonthebasisofownershipmarks-iftheyexistandhave
beenidentified,preservedarchivalmaterials,inventories,visualdocumentation,
suchasphotographs,butalsodrawingsorprints).Tisstageisonlyastarting
pointforformulatingmoregeneralconclusions.Whenconductingscientific
research,wealsohavetorefertothetheoryofthediscipline(ordisciplines),
adoptitsmethodology,andusethetoolsneededforanalysisandtodrawcon-
clusions.Otherwise,ouractivitieswillbenothingmorethanpurelytechnical,
organisationalwork.
Itshouldbeclearlyemphasisedthatthetypeofcollection,andaboveall,
thequalificationsofthestańworkingwithspecialcollectionsatagiventime,
arenotalwaysconducivetoscientificresearch.However,researchworkseems
obviousandnecessary,inparticularinthecaseofcollectionsofhighhistorical
and/orartisticvalue.
12
Althoughonecanalsoimagineamodelinwhichthecol-
lectionisarepository,andtheresourcesaremadeavailablealmostexclusivelyto
researchersandexternalusers.However,theintentionaldepreciationandmar-
ginalisationofsystematicstudiesinanacademiclibrary,sometimesevenhin-
deringtheconductingofresearchbyitsstań,aswellasdeprivingitofresearch
positions(theexistenceofwhichinunitswithoutfacultystatuswasallowed
bytheActonHigherEducation)isadangerousphenomenon.
13
Inthoselibrar-
iesthathaveexcellentcollectionsandhighlyqualifiedstań,itwillresultnotonly
inthelossofmotivation(stimulatingprofessionaldevelopmentofemployees)
butalsotheconstantloweringofthelevelofbasiccataloguingandinformation
servicesprovided,andinconsequence,thelossofprestigebytheinstitution.
Suchasituationisunprecedentedinmodernlibraries(academicornational)
intheworld,whereownresearch,profileddependingontheresourcesandstań,
isaconstantandveryimportantelementoftheiractivity,asisthepromotionof
uniquecollectionsandstudiesinpublications(cataloguesofcollectionsandexhi-
bitions),throughlecturesorseminars,temporaryexhibitionsorvariousshows
(educational,strictlyscientific,artistic,etc.).Virtualexhibitions(recentlyforced
bythepandemic)areonlyasubstituteandpossiblesupplementtotherealones.
12Jazdon,op.cit.,pp.158-162.
13
Iamfocusingonacademiclibrarieshere,althoughtheproblemalsoconcernsothercultural
institutionswithdińerenttypesofcollections.
