Five years have passed since Helen R. Tibbo and Lokman I. Meho conducted their study exploring how well six Web search engines retrieved electronic finding aids based on phrase and word searches of terms taken directly from the finding aids. This study similarly seeks to discover how well current search engines Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search, AOL Search, Excite, and Ask Jeeves retrieved finding aids chosen at random from 25 North American primary source repositories. In March 2005, approximately 27% of repositories listed at the “Repositories of Primary Resources” web site had at least four full finding aids online, a substantial increase from 8% in 2000. This study affirmed phrase searches yielding better retrieval results than word searches. Encouragingly, the retrieval rates for phrase and word searches within electronic finding aids were approximately 20% higher than Tibbo and Meho’s findings despite the existence of several billion more World Wide Web pages in 2005.

This paper examines stereographic images as scholarly resources, and begins with a brief history of the stereograph. A discussion and review of the literature related to the stereograph as well as the preservation of photographic objects follows the introduction. In addition to the literature review, collections of stereographs at four repositories were evaluated for usability: The Keystone-Mast Archive at the University of California, Riverside; The Eliot Elisofon Archive at the Smithsonian Institution; the George Eastman House; the Library of Congress. The paper ends with suggestions for future work with the stereograph, in order to facilitate access and use by researchers.

My master’s thesis is a study of acquisition of photographies during 1958-2008. The questions I proceed from is what patterns lies behind the Royal library's acquisition of photography and how the process of acquisition looks like. The theoretical base which I lean on consists partly of a problematization of the process of cultural heritage and partly of organizational theory. The problematization of the process of cultural heritage is my foundation of this essay. My starting point is that the Royal library make a choice when they collect material to be a cultural heritage and the memories gathered for future generations. I used organizational theory to find answer to how the collection been gathered through studies of the organizations interaction with the members of the organization, the process in the organizations, like goals and policy, and the organizations interaction with other organizations. I used case-study as my method. I interviewed most of the chiefs who were in charge of the unit during the period 1958-2008 and worked through journals of acquisition, annual reports, letters of regulation, exchange of letters and other in-house material. My results are that the acquisition of photography follows the Royal library's acquisition of picture at large. The culture heritage that the library collect for future generations is based on the content rather than the form of the material. This aspect was founded early in the creation of the library and has kept its status as a guiding line ever since. The main categories of collection are based on the motif of the photography and are the following; portrait, topography and events. Events is a new category but a sequel of an old category, historical wall chart. The material that the photographies are made of has varied but the majority have been photographies on paper. Gifts and purchases have been the most common ways for the library to collect photographies. Gifts have been treated differently through the years, from the beginning all gifts were received and the library asked actively for special gifts, later the library decided whether or not they should accept a gift. The policy from both the library and from the government have been vague, but lately they have been working on a new and more detailed policy from 2008.

The crux of the research problem for this study pertains to the fact that, as the world moves towards a digital age, it is imperative that we gain insight into the current copyright laws which govern the transferring of music from the old analogue form to the new digital formats. In terms of the research problem, this study explores the South African Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978 as it pertains to the transferring of sound recordings from analogue to digital format. The study also examined digital copyright laws for sound recordings in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia as well as major copyright conventions and treaties as these international copyright laws impact on the South African situation, especially in terms of reciprocity. Furthermore, the study addressed the issue of balancing the rights between copyright holders and the public good in the preservation and dissemination of knowledge in the digital age. The study employed methodological triangulation which included a literature search, a questionnaire and informal interviews. The population constituted 16 music librarians and two legal librarians who were surveyed. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed. Considering the size of the population (18) the results of a self-administered questionnaire were analysed using a calculator. Data collected for the informal interviews was analysed qualitatively. The study revealed that music librarians in South Africa are not well-versed in South African copyright law, especially as it applies to sound recordings. Guidelines, based on the South African Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978, and specifically for South African music librarians, have been formulated concerning both print and the actual sound recordings. It is important for the music librarian to take note that the composition of songs in a sound recording has an individual copyright that is separate from the copyright of the sound recording. Further copyrights can also exist in, for example, the sleeve of an album. It is anticipated that the guidelines will give clarity to music librarians on South African digital copyright legislation with regard to sound recordings. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

This work, by causing the dialogue between the private library and the university library, to propose an acquisition and management of private collections policy and a model contract for the donation of private collections to the libraries of the Federal University of Santa Maria. To do so, is used the analytical-comparative methodology to explain the concept of special collections, exemplifying some universities that guard private collections in their various characterizations, and types of management applied to these collections. It discusses the importance of the development of collections in university libraries, with emphasis on the evaluation and selection of books received in donations. Debate the institutionalization of private bibliographic collections in universities seeking to list the various issues that need to be studied in order to be able to effect such a process. As a result of the analysis, it proposes a policy of evaluation and selection of bibliographical works received in donation, listing criteria that guide the reception and technical treatment of the material. Also, it guides the importance of the analysis of the biography of the donor when a whole particular collection is received. Due to the relevance of this study and the complexity of the incorporation of private libraries in university libraries, it was necessary to prepare a proposal of donation contract so that the Federal University of Santa Maria can receive private collections that deals with property and rights issues and make it public for research. / Este trabalho, ao provocar o diálogo entre a biblioteca particular e a biblioteca universitária, propõe uma política de aquisição e gerenciamento de coleções particulares. Propõe um modelo de contrato de doação de acervos particulares às bibliotecas da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Para tanto, na fundamentação da construção do produto, utiliza-se a metodologia analíticocomparativa para explicar o conceito de coleções especiais, exemplificando algumas universidades que fazem a guarda de acervos particulares em suas várias caracterizações, e tipos de gestão aplicados a estas coleções. Discute a importância do desenvolvimento de coleções em bibliotecas universitárias com ênfase na avaliação e seleção de livros recebidos em doação. Debate a institucionalização de acervos bibliográficos privados em universidades procurando elencar as variadas questões que precisam ser estudadas para que se possa efetivar tal processo. Como resultado da análise, propõe uma política de avaliação e seleção de obras bibliográficas recebidas em doação, listando critérios que orientam as formas para o recebimento e o tratamento técnico do material. Ainda, orienta sobre a importância da análise da biografia do doador quando se tratar de uma coleção particular recebida no todo. Devido a pertinência deste estudo e a complexidade da incorporação de bibliotecas particulares em bibliotecas universitárias, fez-se necessário elaborar uma proposta de contrato de doação para que a Universidade Federal de Santa Maria possa receber acervo particular que atenda às questões de propriedade e direitos de uso para tornar públicas as obras para a pesquisa.

"The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of the position, value, and limitations of audio-visual materials in the pharmaceutical type of special library having membership in the Science-Technology group of the Special Libraries Association. The author has a natural interest in the pharmaceutical industry by association first with the production area and later with the pharmaceutical library of one of the members of the group. Interest in the audio-visual field was quickened by study while at library school, with realization of the implications of audio-visual endeavor for science and the technical library"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "January, 1954." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: John W. Mitchell, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-76).

This exploratory and qualitative study examined the appraisal practices of archivists in university special collections, including how archivists define appraisal, decide what to keep and discard, apply a collection policy in their decision process, and contend with problematic aspects of the practice. The first part of this study examined the special collection policies of member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries in the United States. The collections' policies were analyzed using content analysis. The second part of the study explored the results of semi-structured interviews with archivists who conducted appraisals for their university special collections. Interview transcripts were analyzed using open coding, a method taken from grounded theory. The study found that appraisal is a complex, deeply interpersonal, and emotionally demanding task. Two central themes that emerged from the research were the significance of donor relations and the central role of collection policies. This study has several implications for the archival field. First, it found that archivists did not believe they were using any theory in their appraisals. However, the archivists were engaging in archival theory such as using a collection policy. This suggests a disconnect between education and practice. Conversely, the central role of the collection policy indicates that the field places more emphasis on this dimension. This study also found that the relationship between donors and archivists can be more complex than the literature suggests.

The aim of my master’s thesis has been to examine the situation of the price lists in the National Library of Sweden, in Uppsala University Library and in the Nordiska Museet Library. The starting point was that the institutes have been operating within different institutional practices. These operational differences between the institutes have affected the collecting, the organizing and the accessibility to the information of the price lists. My master‘s thesis is based on Birger Hjørlands theories of domains and knowledge organization. The main sources of the information in the thesis are interviews conducted with informants within these three institutes. The findings of the study show that the main differences in how the institutes have been organizing the price lists, results from the different assignments the institutes have in collecting the material. Based upon the facts that have emerged in the interviews, some general and some specific problem areas have been highlighted. These problem areas have been discussed in the thesis and possible solutions in how to proceed have been presented.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out a domain analysis of Section for Maps and Pictures at Uppsala University’s Library and investigate its business, collection and knowledge organization. Birger Hjørland’s socio-epistemological domain analytic paradigm is applied. As methods, Hjørland suggests eleven approaches, and from them he emphasizes especially the importance of the historical and epistemological approaches. In this paper three questions are analysed. The first one concerns how the business at this section is managed; the second concerns the collection’s material types and its historical background; the third one concerns metadata used for cataloguing in the picture database and the reason for the delay to establish such a database. To answer these questions, notes from interviews, observations, study trips and documents about the section were used as primary sources. Observation, comparative method, interview, analysis of document and domain analytic method were used as methods to collect sources and perform the analysis. The analysis is focused on library and information scientific aspects. The study proves that Section for Maps and Pictures’ knowledge paradigm origins in library tradition, its perspective and principles, and is furthermore influenced by international and national decisions, outlines and needs. It states that cataloguing and digitalizing of collections at this section follows the international standards. As one of Sweden’s leading institutions for cultural heritage, Section for Maps and Pictures contains a large amount of unique and various cultural property. Section for Maps and Pictures is currently making progress to make their valuable collection accessible by Internet. This step is considered as a significant contribution to stimulate user-friendliness, education, preservation of materials and even democracy. This paper is published as a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Die SLUB Dresden verfügt über zahlreiche Titel zur Technikgeschichte und beginnt mit Unterstützung der DFG die Digitalisierung ausgewählter technikhistorischer Schriften aus dem 19. Jahrhundert. Diese werden frei im Netz angeboten. Bis 2011 werden so 3 500 Bände der Erscheinungsjahre 1801 bis 1870 digitalisiert und erschlossen. Auch die Digitalisierung der wichtigsten technikgeschichtlichen Zeitschrift des 19. Jahrhunderts, „Dinglers polytechnischem Journal“, ist als Kooperationsprojekt von der Humboldt-Universität Berlin und der SLUB abgeschlossen. Damit wird auch das Sondersammelgebiet Technikgeschichte an der SLUB Dresden wesentlich aufgewertet.