Teaching about e-books at the University of Wrocław
In between October 3rd and 7th
I have travelled to a beautiful city of Wrocław that has a rich history and
intensive cultural life. It also has a respected University continuing the
traditions of several old universities of Europe.
Swedish
School of Library and Information Science has been in contact with the Institute
of Library and Information Science at this University for some time. We were
meeting at the international conferences and worked on some similar research
topics, especially, the ones related to the libraries as a part of book market
and the largest customer group for book producers. Thus, the Erasmus contract
signed by us in spring of 2018 was a logical extension of our earlier
participation. The collaboration within Erasmus programme has started right
away. This term we have accepted one student, Piotr Czapla, from the
Institution of Library and Information Science and I have travelled to Wrocław to give lectures on e-book
distribution channels and library work with e-books.
The University is situated in several parts of the town but the Institute of Library and Information Science is housed in the very centre of the city under to the Mathematics Tower and next to the Meridian line drawn by Professor Longinus Anton Jungnitz in the 18th century.
As the Polish universities start the study year in October,
I was teaching during the first week of this study year. The students, coming
fresh after summer vacation, were happily filling the classrooms not only
during the weekdays, but also on Saturday. This is a huge sacrifice on the part
of the university teachers to work during weekends with correspondence students
who can only attend lectures when they are free from work. As they are coming from
all over Poland it is inevitably the free days that have to be used for
teaching them.
I must acknowledge that though it was the very start of the
study year, the students were quite attentive to the lectures given in English
and some were posing intelligent and interesting questions. It turned out that
only about one per cent of them have ever read an e-book as their University
Library is not providing access to any digital textbooks or monographs, only to
the article and journal databases. Buying reading devices is quite expensive
and the habit of reading on smart phones has not yet formed among Poles. As in
Sweden they prefer printed books, but are quite interested in the possibilities
of electronic ones.
The issues of library work with e-books seemed to them a
very innovative experience and they were eager to discuss the situation in
Polish public and university libraries, some exhibiting a very good knowledge
of library work and conditions in of licencing electronic resources. All in
all, I have met one Bachelor’s students group and two Master’s level (first and
second year). It was interesting to compare the situations with e-books not
only between Sweden and Poland, but also between Poland, Lithuania, Croatia and
some other countries. This knowledge we have acquired through common research
projects, but it seems like teaching students can also become a source of
learning about one’s own research topics.
I was also engaged in a seminar with the researchers of the
Institute. They were interested not only in our research projects, but also in
the conditions of funding research, organization of studies and their content,
the implementation of Bologna programme in Sweden in general and at the
University of Borås in particular. Our experience with distance education
interested the teachers and the general resource allocation to courses as well
as management of staff was of great interest. Some of Swedish procedures and
regulations are obviously more difficult to implement (and maybe not necessary
at all), but others were deemed as useful and practical even in Polish
circumstances.
Besides the work, which was quite intensive during the week,
I also managed to look around Wrocław. I would be urging my colleagues to go there to
get useful professional experience, but also to visit a wonderful concert hall
called Music Forum, the Centennial Hall that is on the UNESCO World Heritage
List, the beautiful Opera house and the Old City, which has been completely
reconstructed after the World War II.
The citizens of Wrocław seem to be eager to
demonstrate and raise their voices in protest and I have participated and
witnessed several public demonstrations for the rights of homosexual people,
against the corruption and even against keeping dogs on chains.
The city is eager to attract tourists to visit it and some artists have created an attraction - gnomes of the city, which are scattered in different places. The rumour says that there are more than 300 of them. Most can be located using a special map that is sold at tourist information places. Looking for gnomes is also a favourite entertainment of local children. The one on the picture is driving at the entrance to a church.
Elena Maceviciute
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