The ELTE Museum of Natural History celebrated the 20th anniversary of its exhibitions on the 17th of June 2022. On the occasion of the jubilee, a festive toast was given by university leaders, as well as former and current staff members of the museum.

The ceremony opened with a tour of the cultural treasures in the collections. Some special artefacts were on display, including the skull of Béla Macsói, a prince of the House of Árpád, which was discovered in 1915 during the excavation of the Margaret Monastery on Margaret Island in Budapest. The wounds on his bones suggest that the prince was the victim of a crime of particular cruelty. The 100-year-old rare book of the Mathematics Collection, the collection of mathematical problems for the Matriculation Examination published in 1893, and the Pallasite meteorite from space, which came to our University in 1781 with the mineral collection of Archduchess Maria Theresa's eldest daughter, Archduchess Anna Maria, laid the foundations for our current mineral and rock collection.

The Rector of Eötvös Loránd University, Dr. László Borhy, emphasised the importance of preserving and enriching this unique collection, while expressing his thanks and appreciation for the dedication and exemplary work of the museum staff. Dr. Erzsébet Harman-Tóth, Director of the museum, considers the institution as the leaven of the university community, which is uniquely able to combine the scientific and educational activities of the university.

The University Library and Archives of Eötvös Loránd University continued to receive significant support from the Foundation for the University Library in 2021, with funds raised from various tenders, charitable donations and a percentage of personal income tax donations to help the continuous development of services.

Some of the events planned for 2021 were unavoidably cancelled due to the pandemic. A series of autumn events, including the Researchers' Night and the Autumn Festival of Museums, have already taken place, making our museum documents, scientific collections and cultural assets available to a wide range of people, in the spirit of public education, public use of our collections and awareness-raising.

A particular success was the Cultural Heritage Days, held on the 18th of September 2021, featured a calligraphy workshop, book presentations, guided tours of our Eötvös exhibition, guided visits to our restoration workshop, library tours, craft activities, presentation of the Dante Codex, concerts by the Korossy Quartet, a group of students from the Budapest Festival Academy, and by the Duo-Perpetual. During the festive book adoption ceremony, a speech was given by our book-adopter, Pascale Andréani, Ambassador of the French Republic to Hungary. The event was supported by the Foundation, the "Thank you, Hungary!" programme and the Municipality of Belváros-Lipótváros, Budapest V. district.

The amount won by the Belváros-Lipótváros Municipality of Budapest's 5th district was used to purchase the restoration and binding materials – ingres cardboard, photo cardboard, mondial canvas – necessary for the conservation of the collection.

The Bethlen Gábor Fund Management Ltd. National Cooperation Fund, has contributed to the competent management and efficient running of the Foundation's day-to-day affairs. The grant also helped to finance the Foundation's administrative tasks and travel expenses for administrative meetings.

With the proceeds of the grant, the Foundation supported the production of a representative annual wall calendar for the University Library, which presents some of the outstanding tangible cultural heritage of Eötvös Loránd University. The grant also helped to replace the specialised restoration chairs needed for conservation and restoration work, as well as the old work tables in the restoration workshop, which were in poor condition. The grant has enabled further technical improvements to be made, the purchase of a roll-up and a lectern to promote our institution, as well as the expansion of our comfort and protocol services.

The University Library Foundation provides significant support for the library's conservation activities. You can now contribute to the preservation of our cultural heritage, digitisation, free access to information, the acquisition of modern technology and the continuous improvement of our services. For more information on funding opportunities, please visit our website.

Foundation for the University Library

• 1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.
• (+36 1) 411-6738
• E-mail: alapitvany@lib.elte.hu
• Tax number: 18121362-1-41
• Account number: 12010532-00120645-00100003

Object of the month – Aureus of Nero 

The coin was minted by the infamous emperor Nero (54–68 AD), the last member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. It was under his rule in 64 AD that two thirds of Rome were engulfed by the flames burning for 9 days.

The reconstruction of the city, the military campaigns in the East and the extravagant lifestyle of the emperor were all extremely costly, therefore Nero turned to a drastic, but well-known measure. He decreased the weight of the gold coin by 2% to 1/96 Roman pound (7.39 g) and the weight of the denarius to 1/45 pound (3.4 g), as well as its silver content to 93.5%. The aureus in the Coin Cabinet of the Eötvös Loránd University was minted after the monetary reform according to the new, reduced standard. This monetary measure was also mentioned by the contemporary Pliny the Elder, who met his fate at another infamous event, the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 AD that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Written by: Dr. Lajos Juhász

ELTE Institute of Archaeological Sciences

On the 2nd of June 2022, the ELTE University Library and Archives hosted an Israeli delegation from the Libraries and Information System of Bar-Ilan University, in cooperation with the Head of the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

In line with Eötvös Loránd University's strategic goal of internationalisation, our institution is committed to international exchange, sharing of good practices and continuous service improvement to increase library users' satisfaction.

The series of programmes organised for the Israeli delegation was joined by Polish staff visiting our library in the frame of Erasmus+ Programme. The international exchange included a guided tour of the library, a restoration workshop and book presentation of our relevant museum pieces, a presentation of our library services, databases, EDIT-repository and service developments.  

Members of the Israeli and Polish delegations also gave presentations on their library services, innovative ideas and solutions, as well as on the management of the epidemic situation. The round table discussion also included a joint exchange of views. The institutional partners participating in the programme are also open to probable further cooperation.

On the Night of Museums we open our restoration workshop to get an insight into the work of restorers.

Behind the scenes you can learn about preserving our valuable documents and experience how a sewing frame can be used in bookbinding. All visitors are welcome! For more information, please visit our website or the Night of Museums’ homepage. You have also the opportunity to support the University Library and Archives through our Adopt a Book program!

Guided Tour in the Restoration Workshop:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

25/06/2022, Saturday – 19:30–20:00

25/06/2022, Saturday – 20:30–21:00

25/06/2022, Saturday – 21:30–22:00

25/06/2022, Saturday – 22:30–23:00

25/06/2022, Saturday – 23:30–24:00

On the Nigth of Museums our guided tours focus on the history of the University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University. The library palace was designed by Antal Szkalnitzky. Up-to-date technology of the time was used for ventilation, heating and illumination.

The tour will take you through the entrance hall decorated with sgraffiti to the reading room with figures on its ceiling which symbolise sciences and arts. Besides the magnificent art and architecture of the Reading Hall of the University Library and Archives, you can also see an oil-painting of the middle-aged Franz Joseph I. by Mór Than. Our librarians will tell you the secrets, and show you the hidden nooks and crannies of the library.

Join our library tour! More details about our programmes are available here and on the Night of Museums’ homepage.

Guided tours:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

25/06/2022, Saturday – 19:00–19:30

25/06/2022, Saturday – 20:00–20:30

25/06/2022, Saturday – 21:00–21:30

25/06/2022, Saturday – 22:00–22:30

25/06/2022, Saturday – 23:00–23:30

EISZ and Taylor & Francis will host an online webinar for researchers working in the field of social sciences and humanities on June 13th. The aim of the 60-minute lecture is to demonstrate the benefits of open research and publishing in the field of humanities and social sciences.
 

Date: Monday, the 13th of June, 11 am CEST

Presenter: Katherine Burton, Humanities Portfolio Development Specialist, Taylor & Francis Group

Agenda

• Overview of Open Research
• Introducing an Open Research model
• Data Sharing for Social Science and Humanities
• Increasing Credit and Transparency
• Q&A

Registration

The Library Café on the 26th of May 2022 was a success. In the Boardroom of the ELTE University Library and Archives, staff members from Romania, Italy and Croatia visiting our library during the Erasmus+ Programme gave a presentation in English about their library and their work to the librarians of the Eötvös Loránd University Library Service. 

Besides the international exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing, it was an opportunity to discuss good practices and possible future ideas and solutions to increase library users' satisfaction and continuous service improvement. In line with ELTE's strategic goal of internationalisation, the participants are also open to probable further cooperation between the institutions.

In our training room, which was opened in 2016, we replaced the desktops with modern laptops and increased the number of workstations, with ten students and one teaching notebook available. 

Our classroom is primarily a platform for dissemination, teaching and scientific research, occasionally also serves as a venue for scientific conferences and commemorations.

An interactive whiteboard, inaugurated last year, is used for events and teaching.  

On the 13th of May 2022, two new publications of the University History Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Primate Archives were presented in the Reading Hall of the University Library. Both volumes deal with the lists of the students of the higher education institutions operating in Nagyszombat (Trnava). The first book, which contains the lists of students of the early period of our university, was presented by István Fazekas, head of the University History Research Group. He emphasized that the volume may have been published by accident, as for a long time we had only fragmentary information about the students of the early years of the university, as the relevant registers were burned in the National Archives in 1956. In 2006, during the relocation of the Primate’s Archives, censuses were found containing the lists of students of the seminars at the University of Nagyszombat (Trnava). Thanks to these registers, the list of humanities and theology students who visited our university between 1635 and 1777 is almost complete. The volume contains the names of 9567 students, of whom 2598 graduated from both faculties, 2720 studied only theology, 4192 studied humanities only.

The university moved to Buda in 1777, but theological education continued in Trnava until 1850. The list of students of the priest training institute operating here is contained in the second book presented by Krisztina Tóth, head of archives.

The authors of the volume, Adrien Kmety, Júlia Varga and László Szögi, as well as the director of the Primate Archives, András Hegedűs, also gave a short presentation at the event. The volumes could be purchased at a discounted price at the event.