Social Responsibility of Science - a program of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education implemented at the Wrocław University Library

Under the Social Responsibility of Science program announced by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Wroclaw University Library received funding for the implementation of two projects in the module: Social Responsibility of Science - support for scientific libraries, entitled: Silesiaca and lusatica - dissemination of unique journals of the Wroclaw University Library and Book collection of the Potocki family from Krzeszowice. Development of the WUL's computer catalog.

Both projects will be realized by employees of the University Library in 2023.

The goal of the first of them is selection and computer processing of 160 unique titles of periodicals from the Silesian-Lusatian collection, including such as: Katolik: pismo poświęcone nauce, przemysłowi, zabawie i wiadomościom politycznym (Mikołów 1868-1931), Niderslezje (Wrocław 1948-1950), Ober-Lausitzer Anzeiger (Rothenburg 184201851) or Ober-Lausitzer Beobachter (Seidenberg 1850-1852).

The special value of the collection is evidenced above all by its historical provenance. The basic scope of specialization of the Silesian-Lusatian collection was designated just after the war, during the organization of the collections of the post-war University Library. The collection was to cover the regained territories - the whole of Silesia. From the collections secured in Wroclaw after World War II, collections regarding Silesia were extracted, including old prints and manuscripts. Over time, the collection was expanded thematically with prints about Lusatia and in Lusatian languages. Within the collection, there is also a unique and historical collection of prints about Wroclaw and old dissertations of the University of Wrocław, on various topics. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the collection, it is defined as a resource of Silesiaca, Lusatica and Silesian Polonicas. This collection, thanks to the dissemination of information about it, will become an element supporting interdisciplinary scientific research focused on the issues of the past and the social, cultural and economic development of the south-western part of our country. The possibility of using such an organized material base by obtaining information about it will create conditions for all interested users for research with exceptional workshop values. Particularly noteworthy are periodicals from the first decades of the 20th century, often unknown and not widely used. Today, the WUL's Silesian-Lusatian collection is used not only for scientific research, but also contributes to the implementation of cultural, social and economic goals in Silesia and the entire country.

The goal of the second project is the computer processing of 1,200 items that are part of the historical collection of the Potocki family from Krzeszowice. These books were published from the beginning of the 19th century to the 1940s. The collection of the Potocki family from Krzeszowice, currently dispersed in various library, museum and archive institutions, is an example of a very well-preserved Polish pre-war aristocratic collection. It was built by the family for over more than a century, i.e. from 1822, when the Krzeszowice line of the Potocki family emerged, until 1946, when the collection was taken over by the state. In the years 1948-1949, part of it was given to the Wroclaw University Library. Other fragments of the collection are stored in the National Library and the Jagiellonian Library. The themes of the collection are very diverse, reflecting the interests of the owners, their travels and fascinations, as well as the political situation of the time. Over the years, the collection was enriched by gifts received by its owners and deposits from the resources of friendly collectors. In this collection are included items from such diverse fields of knowledge as medicine, science, religion and philosophy, animal breeding and law. The books that made up the Potocki collection were published in various places - both in Poland (Krakow, Lviv, Vilnius) and abroad, for example in Paris or Vienna. It is worth mentioning that this collection, expanded by successive generations of the family, almost fully preserved its integrity until the outbreak of World War II. The collection is of great historical and cultural value, and can undoubtedly be considered a model example of Polish 19th-century collecting. Examples of publication titles from the collection include: Zdanie sprawy z czynów Komitetu Narodowego Polskiego od grudnia 1831 do maja 1832. Paryż 1832, O głównych zagadnieniach poglądu na świat/Wojciech Gielecki. Kraków 1916, Nasze uzdrowiska czyli Stacye klimatyczno-lecznicze/opisał dr Michał Zieleniewski. Kraków 1839.

The activities undertaken so far by the University Library to increase access to information regarding Library's collections have already brought measurable results, introduced information about many valuable sources of knowledge into the global scientific circulation, and the work undertaken in the projects described above will certainly contribute to their expansion. Thanks to ministerial funding under the Social Responsibility of Science program, it will be possible to carry out both tasks, and information about 160 titles of unique journal publications from the Silesian-Lusatian collection and about 1,200 titles of unique works from the collection of the Potocki Family from Krzeszowice will be published in the scientific circulation.

Examples of publications qualified for projects within Social Responsibility of Science: