Photographic catalog of the Old Prints Department – so called zero's collection
The Old Prints Department of Wroclaw University Library has four complementary alphabetical catalogs:
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Photographic catalog of old prints 16th - 18th cent. (fully subjected) [Enter] [More information]
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Temporary photographic catalog of old prints 16th - 18th cent. (partially subjected) [Enter] [More information]
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Photographic catalog of the Old Prints Department – so called zero's collection [Enter] [More information]
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Catalog of former Library of Grammar School in Brzeg [Enter] [More information]
For complete information regarding old prints's collection it is recommended to combine search in WUL's Online Catalog (OPAC) with four digitized catalogs.
Photographic catalog of the Old Prints Department – so called zero's collection
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So called zero's collection is an unofficial name of the collection, whose call numbers begin with the digit "0" (zero). Made available in the form of digitized cards, so called zero's collection's catalog complements information regarding WUL's old prints collection.
Content
So called zero's collection consists of approx. 40 thousand items. The vast majority of these are eighteenth century prints, although there are also many earlier works. The collection is not only very diverse in content, but also the provenance, including inter alia a large number of works from the libraries: Yorcks of Olesnica Minor, Czocha Castle and the Upper Lausitz Scientific Society. In the collection are present numerous prints, which origin cannot be determined.
So called zero's collection is a part of the prints from the Silesian restricted collections, which were last to be merged into the Library's collections. Mainly eighteenth-century prints from the restricted collections were stored in piles at the Music Hall of the University almost to the end of the sixties of the last century. Only then they were transported to the Library's building at Św. Jadwigi 3/4 St. and placed on the shelves (it lasted until 1975).
In the course of sorting out and photographing prints were given registration numbers, starting with the digit "0". Eventually, during the cataloging procedure, these numbers were to be replaced with the correct call number.
Due to the size of the collection (approx. 40 thousand items) it was impossible to process it quickly. To allow users access to the collection, the decision was taken to sort out and digitize existing photo cards, and the original registration number considered as a valid item's call number.
Description
The collection was cataloged in a very simplified form. Catalog card, which is a photocopy of the item's title page, is supplemented with written in pencil subject heading: author's name or title. Numbers on the right side of the catalog card are a call numbers of the items, ranging from 01 to 054799.
Other bibliographic data (format, year and place of publication) are not included on the catalog card, even if that information is not present on the photocopy of the title page. There is also no information regarding number of volumes or coverage in case of multi-volume publications or periodicals.
Cards are sorted in alphabetical order, bearing in mind that in the case of the title headings, they are sorted by first word (excluding article), and not, as in the rest of digitized catalogs, noun grammatically superior.
This means that, eg. item with the title: Berliner Beyträge zur Landwirtschaftswissenschaft, call number 049686, will be placed under subject heading BERLINER, and item with title Der Mann, eine wöchentliche Sittenschrift [..], call number 044601, under subject heading MANN.
Additional personal and subject headings are not used, their occurrence is sporadic.
Part of the prints from the zero's collection is gradually cataloged in electronic form and full description of processed prints is available in the online computer catalog (OPAC).