Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 420-2-3

Title

Open Publications

Date(s)

1969 - 1991

Description Level

Series

Context

Archival history

The series offers a kind of typology of TK/MKI publications, rather than the full list. Periodicals available at OSA in digital or paper form, even if incomplete, are highlighted.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

The TK/MKI's publications were never available commercially, and could only be read in the Institute's library by its employees and a narrower professional audience. Nearly twenty publication series were launched and closed at different times, and went through numerous name changes. The numbering of publications was neither unified nor consistent: most series did not appear periodically, some were renumbered each year, while others used continuous numbering. The publications differ from one another not only in terms of form, but also content, quality and size, since each was intended for a different 'target audience'. In 1987, the collection entitled The TK Publications Repertoire, 1969-1986 was published which, like its predecessor four years earlier, provided the most comprehensive information to date on the Institute's publishing activities. The Repertoire is unique in that it contains not only daily newspaper items running for a few pages and multi-volume academic conference studies, as well as academic foundations and international media statistics collections, but also data on confidentially-handled, secret materials, from which readers at the time could at least learn the titles of such documents. The 'Studies, Reports, Statements' series existed throughout the duration of the TK/MKI, and publicized the Institute's research findings. For the first nine years, works were published under the title 'Studies' (with a pink cover and a window cut out in which the name of the author and work were inserted), and from 1978, regardless of content, under the title 'Studies, Reports, Statements', and to a higher production standard (black letters on a green cover). Over the two decades of the Institute's existence, it published 248 works in this series by 200 authors, most of whom were staff members. 'Studies, Reports, Statements' cannot be regarded as a periodic publication, since an average of 10-12 volumes appeared each year, although the actual number could vary widely: in one year, only 6 titles were produced, while another year saw 28 publications in this series. The first publication period dealt with public opinion and media research, while in the later period, as public opinion research became more and more high-profile, analyses of public perceptions and public opinion dominated the series. The 'Bulletins' series consisted of those texts, analyses, translations and summaries whose scope was not consistent with that of the 'Studies, Reports, Statements' series, or whose quality did not reach the standards of the 'Methodology' series. 'Bulletins' provided brief information on events in the Hungarian and foreign media world, relying mostly on foreign dailies and weeklies, magazines or professional journals, and for Hungarian events, on instant reports and research preliminaries. Numerous genres and issues appear in the 'Bulletins', from novelties, points of interest and sensations from the international media world, to high-quality analyses. However, the series was only produced during the first ten years of the Institute's existence, and was discontinued on the grounds that it did not conform to a clear genre of publication. The series published a total of 553 publications, most of which drew from TK/MKI employees' work. Over the period of the Institute's existence, three book series were launched: 'Professional Library' (later 'Membrane'), 'Courses' and 'Program Monographs'. A total of 60 volumes were published in the high-quality 'Professional Library'/'Membrane' series: two-thirds of its contents were written by Hungarian professionals, the remaining one-third by foreign experts. The Institute's management aimed for this series to launch a forum for communications researchers in Hungary: professionals working in mass communications and well-known social scientists reflected on events in the Hungarian media world, such as anniversaries and celebrations. At the same time, the series also published the most important foreign mass communications literature. Over a period of 18 years, 33 volumes appeared in the 'Studies' series, which originally intended to support radio and television employees' training in the form of handbooks, and which later expanded to include numerous academic works and collections of texts. The 'Program Monographs' series consisted of nine volumes, each of which introduced one Hungarian Radio or Hungarian Television program, its production, problems and the everyday life of media workshops. After 1990, the TK/MKI's publishing activities were continued in part by the MTA-ELTE Communication Theory Research Group.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

No documents were destroyed, extra copies are donated.

Accruals

Not Expected

System of arrangement

Publications will be included in the OSA Library data base.

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

No special restriction applies

Conditions governing reproduction

Az OSA Archívum kutatótermében az anyag oktatási és kutatási célokra digitálisan másolható. A digitalizált kiadványokról másolatot készithető.

Languages

Hungarian

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

The physical condition of publications is good, digital files have been preserved.

Description Control

Archivist's note

April, 2013.