Árbók Landsbókasafns Íslands - Nýr flokkur - 01.01.1982, Page 107

ENGLISH SUMMARY
107
Landsbókasafnið 1981 [a reportl. Landsbúkasafn Islands. Árbók. Nýr flokkur 7(1981).
Rv. 1982, pp. 95-104.
Accessions. At the end of the year, the nuniber of printed books in the National
Library was, according to the accessions catalogue, 360,676 volumes, the annual
increase being 4,506 volumes. A great number of books were given to the library or
acquired through exchanges (cf. a list on pp. 95—97). While the catalogue ofdoctoral
dissertations that appears in this volume was being compiled, numerous dissertations
by Icelanders were acquired by the library, many of them presented by the authors.
Department of Manuscripts. The total number of catalogued manuscripts was at the
end of the year 13,405. Many manuscripts were presented to the National Library
during the year (cf. pp. 97-101).
National Department. A committee worked on adapting the MARC system for Ice-
landic conditions (ís-MARC). This will make possible the computerization of the
cataloguing of foreign as well as Icelandic literature in Icelandic libraries.
Department of Foreign Literature. Accessions to the Department of Foreign Literature
have grown fewer in recent years due to inílation and a tight budget. Thirteen research
libraries are now taking part in the union catalogue offoreign acquisitions published
by the National Library.
Exhibitions. An exhibition was opened in May, commemorating the 150th anni-
versary of the birth of Steingrímur Thorsteinsson, the poet, as well as the 200th
anniversary of the birth of his father, Sub-governor Bjarni Thorsteinsson. Works by
and about Daniel Willard Fiske were exhibited on his 150th anniversary in November.
The Cornerstone of the New National and University Library Building. OnSeptember23, the
cornerstone of the new National and University Library building was laid by the
President of Iceland. At the ceremony an address was given by the National Librarian,
who is the chairman of the building committee, and the Minister of Education made a
speech. Seventy-five years ago, on September 23, the first Icelandic Minister laid the
cornerstone of the present National Library building.