On the occasion of the meeting of the University Heritage Coordination on the 9th of June 2023, we hosted the employees of the licensed Hungarian university museums.
The meeting was opened by the Director General of the ELTE University Library and Archives, Dr. Kulcsár Szabó Ernőné Gombos Annamária, who outlined the beginnings and achievements of the ELTE University Heritage Coordination.
Krisztina Dezső, museologist at the University Library and Knowledge Centre of the University of Pécs, presented the University History Collection of Pécs, which has been operating as a museum of public interest since 2010. The presentation explained in detail the development and composition of the collection, the advantages and disadvantages of the electronic registration system introduced a few years ago, as well as the virtual exhibitions and university history tours, which are very popular among university citizens and the general public.
The Director General of the Miskolc University, Library, Archives and Museum, Attila Szendi, presented the history, the rich collection and publications of the Miskolc University Museum dating back to the 18th century, highlighting the diversity, interdisciplinarity and tangible, real value of the objects and documents preserved in the public collections.
Adél Váradi, museologist at the Hutÿra Ferenc Library, Archives and Museum of the University of Veterinary Medicine, described in detail the development of the collection, the large-scale exhibition on the history of the university before the Second World War, and the composition of the collection and permanent exhibitions after 1980.
The museologist of the ELTE University Library and Archives, Georgina Schlay, traced the history of the development of the University Historical Collection from 1911 to 2023.
The highly informative and colourful presentations highlighted the diversity of museum collections at universities in Hungary, their organisational and operational differences, as well as common points and common challenges that are worth reflecting on and discussing together.