User:Dhidri/sandbox

The purpose of this sandbox is to compile potential reference sources for my nation report on Albania. Sources are listed below with appropriate sub headings.

Albanian Library History

 * Bufi, Z. (2001). The challenge of organization {i.e. organizing} the research service and the library of Albanian assembly. INSPEL, 35(2), 113-119.
 * "The Library of the Albanian Assembly was established on January 1992, as part of the administration of first pluralist parliament that came out of first free and democratic elections held in Albania," (p. 113).
 * The U.S. Congress Task Force provided the library with "equipment and software, and the staff training," as well as the Central European Parliaments (p. 113).
 * Library objectives are: "... to make the parliamentary deputies and their staff aware of its services and facilities, and to encourage library use," (p. 114).


 * Buzo, T. (1995). Planning library buildings in Albania. Library Management, 16(8), 33-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129510098110
 * The National Library: Founded in 1917 with only 3,000 books. Until 1922, the growing collection moved from different sites and the National Library was established. (p. 33).
 * The collection grew to 15,000 books in 1946 and was moved to Tirana in the building of a former lieutenant of an Italian King of Albania (p. 33-34).
 * The National Library moved again in 1966 with a collection of 450,000 items to a different location in Tirana. It remains there today (at the time of article publication - 1995). By 1995, the collection of the National Library amassed to 900,000 items. The library is actually two buildings. "The old collection of foreign books (acquisitions up to 1966) and the technical department did not move," after 1966 (p. 34).
 * Public Libraries: Between 1929-1940 public libraries were first introduced in Albania. The "Carnavon" Library in Tirana was built in 1929 and later destroyed during World War 2. What remains of the collection resides with the National Library. Until 1940, other public libraries were created across Albania in Korça and Elbasan (p. 35)
 * Between 1950-1965 the Albanian government started an initiative to create a public library network across Albania. They repurposed domestic properties acquired by the state during World War 2 to turn into libraries. Although some still stand today, they were not properly converted to store and manage collections, and a law for restoration of property meant the original owners of the properties could reclaim their buildings (p. 36).
 * Between 1969-1980, the Albanian government built libraries across the country. Previous libraries suffered as they repurposed buildings that were not appropriate for housing collections ("poor repair... humidity and bad lighting."). They were built for closed access at first but eventually transitioned to open access for the public (p. 36).
 * Domi, E. (2011). The national library of Albania: Tradition and modern vision. Alexandria, 21(3), 15-24.
 * The National Library: Founded July 10, 1920 (disparity with Buzo (1995) but preparations began as early as 1917 with the Literature Commission, which was an Albanian-Austrian institution founded in Shkodër (northern Albanian city). A month after Tirana was declared the capital of Albania, the Minister of Culture ordered the collection held at Shkodër to be moved to Tirana (p. 15).
 * By the end of World War 2, the National Library had moved from different locations and was eventually split between two buildings in 1966,where they remain today. The main building and the Annex remain under the authority of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports (p. 16).
 * The National Library is the "oldest state institution in Albania,". The mission is "to collect, process, restore, preserve and to make available to the public the written cultural heritage of the Albanian people," (p. 16).
 * The collection is estimated to hold over 1 million books, periodicals, maps, atlases, microfilms and other library materials (p. 16).
 * It wasn't until the 1990's that computers were introduced to the National Library in an effort to encourage digital literacy and collaboration. The National Library "is open to all citizens of Albania over 16 years old, as well as to foreigners with residence in Albania and users from all over the world," (p. 20).
 * "Since 1969, the National School of Librarianship has been functioning regularly at the NLA. The two-year school for librarians is the only one in the country to provide librarians with knowledge and information," (p. 22). "In 2009, for the first time, the University of Tirana in collaboration with NLA began to offer Master Studies in Library and Information Science," (p. 22).
 * Domi, E. (2015). Albanian libraries in a changing society. Library Trends, 63(4), 647-662. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0025
 * Albanian libraries date as far back as the Middle Ages, even surviving Ottoman rule (pp. 647-648).
 * "Similar to other Eastern European post-communist countries, the primary political, social, and economic changes that have occurred in Albania over the last twenty-two years have had a dramatic influence on the country’s society and its national library system," (p. 648).
 * "As a country with no democratic past and no experience as an information-based society, providing open access to all citizens has become one of the most important priorities in everyday library work," (p. 648).

Albanian History

 * Hayden, R. M. (2006). Albania today: A portrait of post-communist turbulence. Choice, 44(1), 175.https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400847761
 * Before communism ended in Albanian, it "was the most isolated and least developed country in Europe, and the strictest communist regime this side of North Korea," (p. 175).
 * Young, Hodgson, J., Young, N., & Bland, W. B. (1997). Albania. Clio Press.
 * Albanian history dates as far back as the 5th century BC, "... which has been dominated by invasion and occupation," (p. XVIII).
 * Albania fought back against Ottoman Empire invasions in the 14th century under an army raised by Skanderbeg (Skënderbeu in Albanian), a notorious war leader and figure in Albanian history. His symbolic red flag with a two-headed black eagle became Albania's national flag in 1912 with the country's independence (p. XIX).
 * The country was under a communist regime under Enver Hoxha spanning from World War 2 until his death in 1985. In 1990, "...government opposition parties were legalized and the next day the Democratic Party, the first Albanian opposition party since the Second World War, was created. Albania was the last country in Europe to enter the post-communist era, just as in 1912 it had been the last to emerge from Ottoman domination," (p. XX).