Object of the month – Commemorative medal of the Eötvös József Collegium

The Eötvös József Collegium was founded in 1895 in order to improve teacher training in Hungary. We chose a commemorative medal made in 1945, for the 50th anniversary of its existence, as the object of the month.

The image of the obverse shows a female figure flying a bird and Dezső Keresztury's motto: "THE SPIRIT IS FREE TO SERVE" On the left side of the image is the maker's mark. Pált Pátzay. On the reverse is the inscription in Latin: "IN MEMORIAM SOLLEMNIUM SEMISAECULARIUM COLLEGII A JOSEPHO EÖTVÖS NOMINATI MDCCCXCV MDCCCCXLV "

In an interview, Dezső Keresztury, director of the Collegium (1945–1948), said the following about the history of the motto on the medal:

"We were preparing for the collegium's 50th anniversary, I led it - I could do it then, I had so much influence - I minted a commemorative medal. And this commemorative medal was made by Pál Pátzay: a female figure standing in a strong, almost stormy wind, sending a dove or a bird into the wings. And for this there was also a need for some kind of caption, and then I put it this way: "the spirit serves freely". Of course, at that time quite a lot of people took this from me in a bad name, because the public perception of this issue was different... The sound of the words was different."

Source:

• „Szabadon szolgál a szellem” Keresztúry Dezsővel beszélget Tóbiás Áron. Honismeret, 22. évf. 1994. 6. sz. 44–46.
• A Báró Eötvös József Collegium hivatástörténete 1895-1950. Vezető és forrásgyűjtemány az állandó kiállításhoz. Szerk. Horváth László. Budapest, 2017. 199.
• Prohászka László: Az Eötvös József Collegium Pátzay Pál készítette jubileumi emlékérme. Az Érem, 73. évf. 2017. 1. sz. 28-31.

Compiled by: Attila Boda, Georgina Schlay

The ELTE University Library and Archives hosted a delegation from Ningbo University on the 9th of July 2024.

The Chinese delegation took part in a guided tour of the library, a guided tour of the Copernicus Memorial Exhibition and a Chinese-themed book presentation to foster international cultural relations. In the spring, the Tienji Library and Museum, also in Ningbo, shared their history and collections in an online discussion. The institutions remain committed to deepening international and inter-institutional cultural relations and cooperation.

The training of secondary school teachers began at the Faculty of Humanities of our university in the mid-19th century. Candidates had to pass an examination before the Secondary School Teachers’ Examination Board, set up in 1862, to obtain their teaching diplomas. The Commission functioned until 1949.

During this period, almost 17 000 students from all over the country passed the examinations. All the examination registers in the Commission's archives between 1864 and 1949 have been catalogued and the database contains the names of the students who sat the examinations, their degree, the date of the examination and the archival reference of the register. The database is here available.

At the second quarterly report of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee 2024, the leaders of the working groups reported on the results of the past quarter, ongoing work and changes.

The University Library Service (ULS) Quality Improvement Report and the Non-Compliant Services Report were completed and approved. The Accessible Library Working Group has reviewed and modified the Guide to Facilities and Rules for Serving Readers with Disabilities in ULS Libraries. The document has been uploaded to EDIT and is now available to all ULS librarians. 

The Primary Research Working Group has started to evaluate the data of the 2024 Student Needs and Satisfaction Survey provided by the ELTE Quality Office and is continuously revising the text on surveys in the Quality Handbook. The Process Management Working Group has also made suggestions for the Library Process Control chapter of the Quality Handbook and will hold a meeting to discuss the modification of the Process Management and Process Audit forms.

The Communication Working Group provided information on the tasks and achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee through our website, newsletter and short film entitled 3 months – 3 minutes, and contributed to the success of the preparation and administration of the K21 reporting days meetings. The Green Library Working Group has continued a review of the environmental awareness survey.

The library leaders held five meetings in the second quarter to discuss, among other things, the new communication strategy and the ULS-CHANGE newsletter, the current tasks of the EISZ 2025 order, the schedule for uploading theses from the previous academic year to EDIT and related tasks, and the development of the new thesis repository. The leaders reviewed and updated their library assimilation documents and attended a two-day leadership training in mid-May. The ULS Strategy Workshop took place on the 18th and 19th of June 2024, during which the mission statement and vision of the ULS and the tasks related to the strategic objectives were finalised.

An update on the achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee and our new developments will be posted on our website soon.

Oxford University Press welcomes all interested parties to the following English-language webinars. Webinars are free to attend, but needs registration.

Oxford Art Online
July 2, 2024 (Tuesday), 13:00-14:00 CEST
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Oxford Music Online
July 3, 2024 (Wednesday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
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Oxford Medicine Online
July 5, 2024 (Friday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
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Law Migration on Oxford Academic
July 18, 2024 (Thursday), 12:00-13:00 CEST
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Research Journey across OUP’s Resources in the Fields of Politics, and Business and Management
July 23, 2024 (Tuesday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
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Oxford English Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries Online. What is the difference?
July 24, 2024 (Wednesday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
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