Czech Libraries and
Librarianship: An Oregon
Librarian's Perspective
Richard Sapon-White
September 23, 2005
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Overview
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An Introduction to the Czech Republic
Czech Libraries – A Brief History
Teaching Cataloging
A Prague Pictorial
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The Czech Republic is NOT…
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Chechnya
Part of the former Soviet Union
Czechoslovakia (ceased to exist in
1993)
It IS…
 The Czech Republic (aka just “Czech”)
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Czech History in a Nutshell,
Part 1
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900s–1600s
1600s–1918
1918 – 1938
1938 – 1945
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1948 – 1989
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Czech Kingdom
part of Habsburg Empire
Czechoslovakia
Czech and Moravian
Protectorate
Czechoslovak Socialist
Republic governed by
Communist Party
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Czech History in a Nutshell,
Part 2
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1989
uprising initiated by student
demonstrations toppled communist
regime
Slovakia broke away from
Czechoslovakia
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1993
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1993-present: Czech Republic
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Libraries under Communism
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Closed-stack libraries the norm
Limited access for certain materials
Acquisition of imprints from outside the communist
bloc limited
Libraries poorly funded, limited education of librarians
Publication of books and periodicals tightly controlled
by the government
Underground publication of “samizdat” literature
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Czech Libraries Today
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Increasing numbers of open stacks
Establishment of continuing education
programs for librarians (especially by Národní
knihovna České republiky – National Library
of the Czech Republic)
Many homegrown subject heading and
classification systems
Lack of shelf listing procedures – use of
accession numbers
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20th Century Czech Cataloging
History
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Prussian, German and Soviet Cataloging rules
prior to 1983
ISBD adopted in 1983
ILS implemented in late 1980’s: CDS/ISIS
(free from UNESCO)
Developed own national exchange format in
1989: MAKS
AACR2 and UNIMARC adopted 1994,
translated into Czech in 1996
Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) in 1999
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Czech Library Education
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Charles University, Prague – BA, MA,
PhD
Higher School of Information Services,
Prague - BA
Masaryk University, Brno – BA, MA
Silesian U. of Opava - BA
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Ústav informačních studií a
knihovnictví (UISK)
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476 students
15 faculty
$1000 budget for supplies, computers,
faculty development, etc.
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Teaching at Charles
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4 month Fulbright Fellowship to teach in
English at Charles University
Institute of Information Studies and
Librarianship (UISK)
2 elective courses:
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Subject Analysis
Metadata for Description and
Retrieval Of Online Resources
13 weeks, one session per week, 90
minutes per session
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The Classes (cont.)
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Initially 5 students per class
Eventually, 3 students in Subject
Analysis, 2 in Metadata
A combination of lecture, discussion, inclass exercises, homework
Demonstrations of
 Classification Plus and Cataloger’s
Desktop
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Various digital collections and metadata
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scheme home pages
The Students
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Bright, eager to learn, attentive
Excellent English skills
Completed all assignments on time
(mostly)
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Subject Analysis
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Emphasis on U.S. methods and
principles
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
– the most widely-known thesaurus in the world
and the basis for numerous other thesauri
Library of Congress Classification – instructive
to look at a highly enumerative classification
scheme (unlike Universal Decimal Classification,
which has enumerative and synthetic elements)
Subject authorities and cooperative
cataloging, including SACO
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What I learned from my Subject
Analysis students
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Norms for US library culture are the
exception in the Czech Republic
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Open stacks and browsing
Classified collections
Classified collections according to a widely
used classification scheme
Shelflisting of library resources based on
main entry
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What I learned from my Subject
Analysis students (cont.)
Be careful “translating” examples to the
Czech Republic
Good Example:
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Ticonderoga, Battle of, N.Y., 1758
changed to
Austerlitz, Battle of, Czech Republic, 1805
Bad Example:
“Assign subject headings for a regional archive in
Ostrava”
Answer: There is no regional archive in Ostrava.
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What I learned from my Subject
Analysis students (cont.)
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Aspects of American culture may be
unknown in the Czech Republic
Example: Classify a book that is a list of baby
names from the Bible.
Oops! Students classed in BS576 – Biblical
names
(should be CS2377 – forenames [including
lists of children’s names])
Baby name books don’t exist in Czech Republic
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Metadata for Description and
Retrieval Of Online Resources
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Created course in line with report “Cataloging
and Metadata Education” by Ingrid Hsieh-Yee
Text: Metadata Fundamentals for All
Librarians by Priscilla Caplan.
Various metadata schemes (AACR2/MARC,
DC, EAD, TEI headers)
Issues: crosswalks and interoperability,
authority control, administrative metadata,
training
Learning opportunity for me
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What I learned from my
students in Metadata
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Students will participate in class
discussions if you are patient
Students will read assigned articles and
do homework if it becomes clear that
they are expected to do so
Students can perform well on written
exams even if they have little
experience with them
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The Surprising Month of May
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Scheduled classes on May 4, 11, 18, 25
(final for Metadata)
Cancelled class on May 4: conference in
Liberec, family illness, study tour
Cancelled class on May 25: Inforum
conference, vacation
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Other professional activities
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Weekly meetings with Dr. Barbora Drobikova
Monthly UISK staff meetings
Visits to Jewish Museum Library, National Archives,
Protestant Theological Library, National Library,
Strahov Monastery Library
Project at Jewish Museum Library
Lecture to professional librarians at UISK on the
changing nature of catalogers’ work
Lecture to US librarians/library students on teaching
library science at Charles University
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Other professional activities
(cont.)
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Inforum Conference
Multiculturalism and Libraries Conference
Pamoja (international information flow
simulation game) at the Multicultural Center
of Prague
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Interesting Observations on Life
in the Czech Republic
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Sometimes “no” means “yes”
Say “nashledanou” to others sitting in the ER
waiting room
A load of laundry takes 3½ hours and shrinks
clothes while turning them blue
The English-language video store also sells
Skippy peanut butter, maple syrup and tortilla
chips
It is very hard to say goodbye to Prague
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Charles University, Jinonice
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My Office
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Martin Soucek & Richard Papik,
Colleagues and Friends
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Café Louvre
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Pamoja
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Astronomical Clock
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Děkuji za pozornost!
(Thank you for your attention!)
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