Some recent developments in British academic libraries and their implications for the geographer

Abstract

Rising costs of staffing, materials and accommodation have had serious implications for the quantity of stock and quality of service available in university and polytechnic libraries since the early 1970s. Fortunately, various technological developments have worked to counter this deterioration. Increased automation and cooperation between libraries have increased efficiency in acquisitions, cataloguing, loans and inter‐library loans systems. More libraries are offering on‐line information retrieval services. Attitudes have also changed and librarians are keener to promote library use by means of instruction, publications and publicity. Despite these developments some problems remain unchanged.     

达斡尔族民间节日及其特色

达斡尔族主要分布于内蒙古自治区、黑龙江省和新疆维吾尔自治区.据2000年第五次人口普查统计,其人口有13.2万多人.在长期的社会历史发展进程中,受生产生活、人文环境、社会经济因素等方面的影响,达斡尔族的民间节日与其它传统文化一样,不可避免地发生了某种程度的变异.在此,我们对达斡尔族民间节日的内涵及特色,作一介绍.     

小型图书馆的发展问题探讨

阐述了小型图书馆在藏书管理、服务模式、人员编制、经费投入等方面的现状,根据其优势和面临的困境,提出相应对策.在加强科学管理,完善基础建设,注重人才培养等之外,还要拓展服务空间.随着数字化、网络化进程的发展,图书、情报、档案一体化是小型图书馆发展的必然趋势.而各种文献信息的数字化是一体化的前提和关键.在一体化的基础上,以单位科研项目、研究人员为本,对文献信息进行深层次开发,提供高效、创新的知识服务,是提升小型图书馆服务功能的重点.     

Political Aspects of Poverty,Income Distribution and their Measurement: Some Examples from Rural Java

… with a rule and a pair of scales, and the multiplication table always in his pocket, Sir, ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you exactly what it comes to. It is a mere question of figures, a case of simple arithmetic. Mr Gradgrind in Dickens's Hard Times. Research has indicated that in rural areas, the income of the poor has increased faster than that of the rich … in 1967, 9 out of 10 Indonesians lived below the poverty line; in 1970, 8 out of 10, and in 1976 only 3 out of 10. This means the benefits of development are being distributed … How do we react to these figures? One may still suggest various reservations concerning the indicators of increasing equality. For example, it should be made clear to the layman to what extent the poverty line standard based on the World Bank research is sufficiently valid and objective to be used as a measure and a guide for Indonesian society. We also need further clarification of the more rapid income increases among the poor compared to the rich in rural society. For according to other research, they say that the gap between land-owners and labourers is also increasing. Kompas editorial, 18 August, 1977, Jakarta (translated).     

Debating Some Past and Present Research Frameworks and Methodologies in History on Places and their Peoples in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Histories regarding places and their peoples in South Africa can be traced to the early days of History being practised as an academic discipline. However, practising this form of history under (and outside) the flag of regional history was formalised only in the mid seventies, while informalised research practices in the field continued as methods complementing various schools of thought. Narrowly perceived local histories were considered as inclusive of the formalised and informalised regional history practices as knowledge contributing towards a broader understanding of a (geographically defined/ politically demarcated) region. Of interest is not only the historiography in this field (of which a few pointers are shared in this discussion) but some of the frameworks and methods to research and to record regional histories that have been used in the past. Equally of interest are the ways in which these frameworks and methods are still applied and thought of as dynamic and progressive to assist the historian to progress towards producing and packaging research as part of a comprehensive, all inclusive approach in creating knowledge as regional history studies. In South Africa, an extensive debate on how regional history studies should be broadly defined and understood when undertaking research, still falls short. This is due to the variety, diversity and complexity of knowledge contributing to the pool of information that should be packaged as regional history studies. To contibute towards a framework of understanding and packaging knowledge in this field of meaning to regional history studies, the reader is further exposed to an extended structure of perhaps understanding and doing research in this field: a field that has always been regarded as having the potential to be both integrative and multidisciplinary by nature. Yet its integrative analytical abilities also rest on the outcome of narrow-defined histories done on spaces and places before it is possible to embark on bigger research analyses in, for example, the spirit of modern social history applications to regional history studies. This discussion on ways to understand the limited past and present of regional studies (historiographically and methodologically) in South Africa is offered to encourage further debate.     

Cultural sustainability as a strategy for the survival of museums and libraries

Cultural sustainability has become a growing priority within sustainable development agendas, and is now often depicted as a fourth pillar, equal to social, economic, and environmental concerns. Museums and libraries play a unique role within cultural sustainability by preserving their communities’ heritage. However, sustainability policy and research within these sectors still tends to focus on the social, economic, and environmental pillars. This article provides a critique of sustainability policy and research for museums and libraries. It argues that more explicit coverage of cultural sustainability is required to not only improve the contributions of museums and libraries to cultural sustainability, but also to provide an increased understanding and appreciation of the value of these institutions necessary for their continued survival.     

新世纪省级公共图书馆的变革与发展

随着现代通讯技术和计算机网络技术的发展,数字图书馆成了省级公共图书馆今后发展的必然趋势。只有发展成数字图书馆,省级公共图书馆才能赢得新的生存空间,才能实现文献资源的真正共享,才能为本省乃至全国的经济文化建设作出应有的贡献。     

Strategies for public libraries in the 21st century

Abstract: Taking our reference point from the French cultural sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's idea of the Social field, in this paper we will seek to identify and discuss a number of characteristics which define the public library. As changes within the public library system are often instigated by external factors we will place special emphasis on an analysis of the status, which the library holds in society. On the basis of the above we will, while concluding, put forward our idea of strategies needed to make the public library visible in the 21st century.