The Eötvös Loránd University Library and Archives – University History Collection has become a museum institution of public interest by the decision of the Minister of Culture and Innovation.

The ELTE University Library and Archives has been regularly collecting and keeping together the University History Collection since 1985, preserving valuable objects and relics of the history of Hungary's largest and oldest university, which are also part of our national cultural heritage. Their preservation and accessibility provide an opportunity to promote the social use of the university heritage, to incorporate university legacy into education, and to use the university heritage for knowledge transfer, scientific and educational purposes.

The idea of establishing a university history museum at Eötvös Loránd University, founded in 1635 by Péter Pázmány, was first mooted more than a century ago. To realise our goals, in 2022 our institution created a permanent exhibition on the history of the University entitled Book, Robe, Science. The strengthening of our museum activities within the legal framework will contribute significantly to increasing the accessibility of the University's historical heritage. More information about our outreach programmes is available on our website. Our conservation and preservation work can be supported through the Foundation for the University Library.

The Archives Publication of the Year award, established by the Association of Hungarian Archivists, can be applied for in several categories every year. This year, László Szögi's publication „Peregrinatio academica. The history, size and trends of Hungarian university visits abroad 1150–1919" was awarded third place in the category of professional publications.

Object of the month – Drawings and notes made at the Eötvös Collegium by Dezső Pais

Dezső Pais was born in Zalaegerszeg in 1886, and he attended secondary school in Zalaegerszeg, then graduated as a teacher of Hungarian, Latin and Greek at the Budapest University as a member of the József Eötvös Collegium.

His years at the Collegium were decisive for him. Until 1911 the Collegium had been working in the spacy flat assigned to them in the building of the Kerkápoly Foundation at Csillag Street. Dezső Pais remembered: ”Before, during and after my membership the Collegium was situated under 2 Csillag Street, today Pál Gönczy Street. The neighbourhood: the Central Market Hall with stores, shops, warehouses for exotic fruits, carts, trolleys, porters, mongers, noise, smells, with a bakery at the court, and the constant concert of the baker’s men, etc. – it was not the most comfortable and attractive dwelling and living area. A group of withered and not really exhilarating trees thriving in the tiny ground surrounded by the block bordered by the Csillag – Pipa – Vámház – Lónyay Streets added a certain scenic element to the youth moving up and down the open corridors, and using the air for breathing, and conversations not always of high standard. And this building at Csillag Street, or rather a part of it, with its narrow rooms and undecorated walls, with its in many ways ugly and disturbing environment offered a home, where it was possible to work as much as one could, a home providing ample possibilities for satisfying the emotional needs of the youngsters in the institution – as a powerful refutation of Taine’s milieu theory which we were very interested in at that time.” [Source: manuscript of an interview with Dezső Pais in 1971, ELTE University Library and Archives, University Archives, 404.a.]

After his gradua­tion he had engaged in research in linguistics at the archives of Zalaegerszeg, then he became a grammar school teacher in Sopron, Cegléd and finally in Budapest. From 1924 he was teaching at the Hungarian Royal Péter Pázmány University. He worked as a teacher of the Eötvös Collegium between 1933 and 1937. From 1937 till 1959 he was the leader and professor of the Department of Hungarian Linguistics. From 1928 he was a co-editor, and from 1943 the only editor of the journal entitled Magyar Nyelv (Hungarian language). He served as a member of several committees affiliated with the academy, the university or the ministry. He dealt with almost all branches of linguistics, however, his favourite fields were the etymology and history of words. It was him who systematised the theory of Hungarian onomatology. The interpretation of language relics was another field he was active in. He was not only transferring the intellectual heritage of his predecessors to his students, but established a school as a scholar and a teacher as well. He died fifty years ago, on the 6th of April 1973.

Written by Krisztina Tóth

Translated by Éva Orbán

At the first quarterly report of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee 2023, the leaders of the working groups reported on the results of the past quarter, ongoing work and changes.

During the meeting, the results of the macro-environmental analyses for the new strategy of the University Library Service (ULS) were presented by the group leaders and representatives of the groups. The Committee approved the content of the economic, legal, political, social, technical and technological analyses.

The evaluation of the Quality Improvement Report and the Non-Compliant Services reports were completed with the assistance of the Quality Coordination Working Group. The Accessible Libraries Working Group has been enriched with new members. The group plans to organise a sensitisation training on autism in early summer.

The analysis of the 2022 Student Needs and Satisfaction Survey, compiled by the Primary Research Working Group, has been made available in the EDIT institutional repository. The questions of the 2023 survey on library services have been finalised in cooperation with the ELTE Quality Office. A comprehensive staff survey was conducted at Eötvös Loránd University at the end of 2022. The aggregation of the survey results and data forwarded by the ELTE Quality Office is ongoing. A questionnaire for the survey on the use of electronic content has been developed, with the aim of mapping the internet search habits of students, faculty and researchers, as well as the satisfaction, expectations and needs related to the electronic content currently available at the University.

The Process Management Working Group is responsible for standardising the tasks in the Terms of Reference. The Green Library Working Group is working on the development of a virtual green library, which will be made available on the website. Green awareness training is planned for the autumn.

The Communication Working Group has provided information on the tasks and achievements of the working groups through our website, newsletter and short film entitled 3 months – 3 minutes, and contributed to the success of the preparation and administration of the K21 reporting days meetings.

Library managers met six times online in the first quarter to discuss, amongst other issues, the reports of the libraries, the RFID purchases, the communication policy, training plans, assimilation documents, service improvements targeted to improve student satisfaction and performance evaluation.

An update on the achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee and our new developments will be posted on our website soon.

Bloomsbury Publisher has offered a two-month trial access to EISZ member institutions that is available between the 1st of April and the 31st of May 2023.

The three history databases are accessible from the ELTE internet network and via VPN for remote access.

The following databases are available during the trial access period:

BLOOMSBURY CULTURAL HISTORY

BLOOMSBURY HISTORY: THEORY & METHOD

BLOOMSBURY MEDIEVAL STUDIES

All three databases are included in the EISZ 2024 offer.