Abstract:
"Introduction
The year 2013 marks several anniversaries:
– 90 years since the beginning of library science education in Sofia University
St. Kliment Ohridski;
– 60 years since the opening of the specialty Library Science and Bibliography
in the University;
– 20 years since the revival of the library specialty and the creation of Department
of Library Science, Scientific Information and Cultural Policy
at the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia University.
During these periods of time, enduring traditions have been formed in the research
field of library sciences in Sofia University. Over the years, eminent Bulgarian
scholars have worked in this field, and have left a lasting mark as teachers,
public figures, and tireless promoters of culture, higher education, and library
studies in our country. Among them we should specially point out the vivid academics
of an earlier period, Academician Stoyan Argirov, Prof. Todor Borov,
Assoc. Prof. Elena Kirova, Senior Lecturer Bozhana Troyanova, and others.
In 1993 the Department of Library Science, Scientific Information and Cultural
Policy was set on a new basis within the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia
University, and the specialty library science was restored; with this, the traditions
of our predecessors have been continued and enriched. Today the Department
conducts and develops research related both to well-established and to topical
scientific trends. Due to the specifics and limited use of the Bulgarian language
in the world of communications, the research activity of the staff of specialists
working in the Department is not well known outside our country. Colleagues
abroad may judge of our work by separate publications in international conference
proceedings and publications, as well as by our participation in notable international
events conducted over the years. Of these events we will point out the
following:
– The conferences held under the motto GLOBENET, organised five consecutive
times in the period 2000-2008 jointly with Emporia State University
(USA), The National Library Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and the Union of Library
and Information Workers (renamed Bulgarian Library and Information Association
in 2008). In this period of time, over 500 library and information specialists,
experts, scholars, and students from more than 50 countries have taken part in
these scientific forums.
– The participation of the Department in the association of universities, including:
Hanover (Germany), Deventer (the Netherlands), Warsaw (Poland), Vilnius
(Lithuania), and Saragossa (Spain) under the European Union programmes.
– The annual student seminars held under university partnerships, etc.
The present collection aims to present to a wider international audience and
on a systematised basis some of the research efforts of colleagues from the Department
of Library Science, Scientific Information and Cultural Policy
In selecting the works to be included we have sought a balanced encompassment
of a wider range of problem areas. The emphasis in our choice has been on
texts that give overviews of the development of the department and of thematic
currents elaborated and studied in it. The compilers believe that, as this edition is
only a first attempt, future compilations will undergo corrections and will expand
their range.
The collection justifiably begins with the study by Assoc. Prof. Tatyana
Yanakieva entitled The Establishment and Development of Library and Information
Science Education in Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridsky. Specifics
and Integrity of the University Curriculum. The topic of the study are
issues related to the establishment, development and tasks of library and information
education in Sofia University as a specific model of higher education. According
to the author, the model of education in library and information sciences
(LIS) has been shaped by the respective paradigms predominating among the
academic community in various stages of the development of this education. The
debate on library education in Bulgaria began back in the late 19th century, and
the place of this discipline was then sought within the framework of history and
philology studies. The university’s project envisaged that the training of students
for work in libraries and archives should be done in the form of a specialisation
in the Faculty of History and Philology, a specialisation that would build upon an
educational basis in the human sciences. In the second half of the 20th century library
science became a separate specialty within the faculty. A specialised chair,
or department, was created as well. By this act, higher education in library science
acquired official status in Bulgaria, and the graduates of the specialty would
be able to find their professional realisation in the scientific libraries. During the
1960s new transformations were made in the educational model in view of training
professionals for the needs of the science and technology information system,
an objective that required double academic training – in some specific branch
and in library science. The specialty in Sofia University was restructured as a
specialisation with profile “Scientific Information”. Post-graduate specialisation
and requalification courses were organised, conducted by a joint Scientific and
Methodological Centre for training of professionals in the field of scientific and
technological information, a centre formed by Sofia University and the Central
Institute of Scientific and Technological Information (CISTI). The new paradigm
of LIS education was shaped at the end of the 20th and beginning of 21st century.
The independent specialty Library and Information Science was restored in 1993
and affirmed its place within the academic community by its study plan aimed
at achieving the goals of education within a university framework, and envisaging
interdisciplinary synthesis and mobility of the teaching staff in order to attain
higher professional standards. Tatyana Yanakieva demonstrates that the new
paradigm is focused on integrating Bulgarian LIS education into the European
educational area and on the free movement of teachers and students. According
to her, a flexible study plan has been created, which includes new obligatory
subjects that expand the range of professional competencies of the graduates of
the three educational-qualification degrees (EQD) established in response to the
changing information environment and new demands of users in the 21st century.
The high quality of LIS education in Sofia University has been confirmed
by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency. The teaching staff in the
specialty has won recognition within the professional community of the country.
Separate staff members have been elected as leaders of the Bulgarian Library and
Information Association (since its creation in 1990 until 2002) and as members
of the Association’s Board of Managers (since 1990). The qualities of the staff
as experts are displayed by their contribution to creating a modern legal regulation
in the LIS sector (the preparation of a new Legal Deposit Act for printed and
other editions, 2000, and the Public Libraries Act, 2009), by their participation
in specialised scientific councils awarding scientific degrees and titles, in international
professional organisations, and in national and international projects.
In her study, T. Yanakieva also discusses the expectations for the future of the
specialty. She further points out that at the beginning of the second decade of
the 21st century, the specialty LIS in Sofia University is determined to develop
e-education in Sofia University. The project Perfecting and Developing the Internal
System of Electronic Distance Training in the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia
University St. Kliment Ohridski, is headed by a member of our department; this
project testifies to the authority gained by the specialty and its successful integration
into the community of university specialties in our field.
In his study The Library. A Journey through Time, Prof. Aleksander
Dimchev has set himself the task of thinking about the future of the library
against the backdrop of the transformations it has undergone in different periods
of history. Using an untraditional approach, the author has attempted to leaf
through the past history of libraries, to seek some of the reasons why changes
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must be made in the conception of libraries, in the role they play in society. By
using analogies, by retracing the traditions and the new challenges, the author
seeks to find orientation points and to identify the trends in modern development
of libraries. Today, in the time of globalisation, there is a clash of many different
views on the role of libraries today and in the future – views ranging from the
skeptical, which foresee decline, to those convinced that a renascence of libraries,
of their role for the benefit of people and civilisation, is forthcoming. The
author elaborates and expands the thesis that the mission and functions of the
library are certainly defined by the social context and public expectations. The
role of libraries has evolved and been different in the different periods of history.
Under certain circumstances they have lost their autonomous function, but have
again been recognised in other periods or ages, or been further developed in new
aspects of their functions. As times change, the very conception of the library,
of its functions and mission, is re-evaluated. In the last two decades the new
technologies have had a more serious impact on libraries than any other factors
have in past centuries. ICT is bringing about serious changes in communication
channels in various public spaces. We find ourselves at a crossroad as regards
the place and influence of libraries with respect to: knowledge and information
streams; the change of carriers of information; users’ attitudes; storage of, and
access to, knowledge resources in the global world. We are moving in a “universe
of knowledge”; as a result of dynamic changes, today this universe is facing the
challenge of rediscovering, of breaking a trail leading out of uncertainty to new
models of stability and adaptability. In today’s hectic world, we are compelled to
rethink the meaning of libraries. What is important today is the idea that they are
valuable for people, that they have a role to play and are evolving. The author of
this study has tried to address the question as to what we are expecting the library
to be in the future, against the backdrop of past achievements, accumulations, traditions,
developing global trends, the dynamically changing technology, amidst
the uncertainty and unpredictability of the modern world?
The issues of current national bibliography of Bulgaria after World
War II, its development and transformation are discussed in the study by
Assoc. Prof. Nina Shumanova. According to the author, the social, political, and
technological changes that took place in the 1980s in Bulgaria resulted in significant
transformations in the notions about the nature of our national bibliography,
in its paradigm, in the deeply rooted stereotypes prevailing in this area. In this
context the author has traced the main aspects of the development of Bulgarian
current national bibliography, including legislative, institutional, theoretical, and
technological. The major changes during this period are identified, that have impacted
on the technology of modern bibliography processes and on the responses
of the professional community in this connection; these changes are related to:
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the range of recorded documents; bibliographic description; the completeness of
the elements of bibliographic record; semantic analysis; access to the available
information; subject cataloguing; reference tools; automation of activities. According
to N. Shumanova, the developments observable in contemporary Bulgarian
current national bibliography demonstrate its capacity to adapt, its openness
to modern models, its good theoretical school, its sufficient organisation experience
and highly qualified staff; all these are a good precondition for its attaining
a firm position as a modern information system.
The topic of bibliographic activity in this collection continues in the text
by Head Assistant Prof. Milena Milanova, concerning the functionality of
national bibliographic record. It discusses access to information in modern information
society. According to M. Milanova, the unhampered access to information
directly influences the building of well-functioning systems for exchange
of bibliographic information. A way of achieving such a system is provided by
the study of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) on Functional
Requirements for Bibliographic Record. A specially important problem
is how far the results of this IFLA study are applicable to Bulgarian cataloguing
practice. By ensuring such applicability, we will achieve well-functioning
national bibliography databases and electronic catalogues, and will provide unhampered
access to the information that users require. By constructing a comparative
table between, on one hand, the data elements that provide a basic level
of functionality of bibliographic record and, on the other, the data elements in
bibliographic record envisaged in various software products currently applied
in Bulgaria, the author attempts to present and analyse the present condition of
national record in our country. She has sought correspondences with the IFLA
study in order to identify the change that must be made in the national record so
as to ensure its functionality.
The second part of the article deals with compatibility of exchange of bibliographic
information and the international standards and rules in this area.
The author analyses the problems in asserting the following ideas: the change
in world practices of cataloguing have been particularly intense in the last few
decades. International organisations and committees on development and maintenance
of cataloguisation are constantly devising and perfecting approaches,
methods, and schemas for rapid, good-quality, unhampered cataloguing and access
to information resources at world level. IFLA has reworked and created a
new standard for bibliographic record of all categories of resources – ISBD Consolidated.
The steering committee of the Anglo-American Rules of Bibliographic
Record has developed entirely new rules for the description of bibliographic objects
and has created a new standard of Resource Description and Access (RDA).
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The appearance of new standards has led to changes in the MARC formats, the
metadata schemes, and information retrieval languages.
The article by Prof. Ani Gergova, entitled History of the Book as a Research
Field: From the Second Half of the 20th Century Until Today, introduces
the reader to the theoretical issues connected with the history of the book.
This scholarly field has been present in the world of science for more than two
centuries. In the author’s words, in the second half of the 20th century, when this
field of study has been striving to achieve clarity in its theoretical formulations,
certain objective social changes related to ideas and technology are bringing about
its “progressive expansion” into a science. On the basis of a brief retrospective
overview of the main trends by regions and countries, the author argues that history
of the book should assert its place in research. According to Prof. Gergova:
1. The theoretical self-reflection of history of the book on its own scientific
framework helps enrich the methodology and methods in various other disciplines,
including culture studies, medieval studies, sociology and anthropology,
literature, socio-esthetics, textology, etc.
2. The author examines the long transformations at civilisational level, the
most recent of which is the current change that is taking place as a result of increasing
informatisation and communication. It is important to remember that the
book and written communication are a historically invariable factor of building
and preserving identity at personal, social, national level, while the unity of human
existence also requires variety, multiplicity, a combination of the traditional
and the innovative.
3. In simultaneously using the different communication means, the people
who create and use electronic texts are in need of criteria of their quality and
value in order not to lose the authenticity of documents and fall victim to manipulations.
The enormous available fund of books from the past displays and asserts
enduring human values in the everyday life and way of thinking of people in all
parts of the world. It is the mission of book historians to establish the basis of
culture and the necessary tools for the future knowledge society.
The concluding part of the text informs the reader about Bulgarian book science
and specifically the history of the Bulgarian book.
In his study Prof. Simeon Nedkov presents the rise and development of
art museums. Chronologically they were the first precursors of museums in general,
the modern cultural institutions that safeguard, preserve, and exhibit our
cultural heritage. This is quite understandable, as ancient state rulers amassed
treasuries of works of applied art crafted out of gold and precious stones. In ancient
temples, the gifts presented to the gods by worshippers were kept in special
repositories, which were a kind of treasure house of art works. Gradually people
became aware it was necessary to preserve and hand down to the next generations
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the achievements in pictorial and other arts. Thus the foundations were laid for
the prototypes of modern art museums. The author traces the emergence of pinacothecas
and glyptothecas in Antiquity, and then analyses the conditions under
which art galleries first appeared during the Renaissance. Further, he discusses
the kunstkameras specific to the German states. During the age of absolutism,
rulers’ collections were created, on the basis of which the major museums were
established in the 19th century, such as the Louvre, the Hermitage, and the Prado.
The author has aimed to present a comprehensive picture of the creation and
growth of some of the most popular and visited art museums in the world today
By her article Head Assistant Prof. Elitsa Lozanova-Belcheva makes the
connection between library studies and the topic of electronic government. Her
article is entitled An Analysis of E-Government Through Edwards’ SHEL
Model and the Role of Libraries for Communication Between Citizens and
the Public Administration. In it the author focuses on the characteristics of egovernment
and the various aspects of its study: theoretical, empirical, methodological.
She has adapted and used the theoretical-methodological SHEL model
(Software-Hardware-Environment-Liveware) in order to analyse e-government as
a complex of mutually connected components. This model was first introduced by
Prof. E. Edwards in 1972; using several interconnected components, it offers criteria
for assessment and analysis of production processes in a given organisation.
The second part of the article deals with libraries and their role in e-government,
more specifically with the need for new information services and new
competencies. Here Elitsa Belcheva concludes that the participation of citizens
in e-government is a fundamental condition for its successful implementation,
but that such participation involves several basic problems: 1) Lack of places of
public access to a computer and Internet, 2) the need for citizens to have information
competence (information literacy), 3) the presence of various factors leading
to so-called digital exclusion, etc. According to the author, since public libraries
today are perceived by people as centres for access to information, it would be logical
for libraries to be a solution to many of the listed problems. They provide free-ofcharge
access to computers and the Internet, offer a variety of information services to
users (including e-services) and can conduct training in information literacy.
The present collection is meant for lecturers, experts, researchers, and
students interested in the research fields it is devoted to.
We, the authors, would be happy to receive our colleagues’ comments, remarks,
recommendations, and opinions regarding the texts and issues discussed
in this book.
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We would like to extend special thanks to Prof. DSc Dimiter Denkov, Dean
of the Faculty of Philosophy, for initiating the idea of publishing this collection,
and for providing financial support for the idea’s actualization.
The collection is also dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the creation
of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, the oldest and most prestigious
higher education school in Bulgaria, an anniversary that we celebrate in the
year 2013 as well.
Sofia, May 2013 Compiler,
Prof. DSc. Alexander Dimchev