Background
In October 2014 Linnaeus University was awarded a grant for the cataloguing of the Husén Collection at Linnaeus University Library. The application for funding was made after Linnaeus University had been asked and had accepted to receive Torsten Husén’s private working library which had previously been placed at Stockholm Institute of Education. The collection comprises approximately 4500 volumes and reflects substantial parts of educational research and reform politics of the latter part of the 20th century. A considerable need existed for a complete cataloguing of the material in order to increase the availability and use of the collection. Linnaeus University applied for and received funding for this work.

Cataloguing the Husén Collection
Carrying out the project
The practical work of cataloguing and making the Husén Collection available began in May 2015 and was completed in June 2016. A local subject term has been added to the catalogue entries to facilitate the search of all titles in Libris and in the local library catalogue. This subject term is “Husénsamlingen”. Any loose appendices have been left in the books. A local note at the holding information in Libris provides information about appendix types such as letters, newspaper clippings, sheets with personal notes or copies of journal articles.
Three staff members worked on the project with a total of approximately 2 ½ working days per week. They catalogued an average of 360 books per month. In June 2016,  the results of the project were presented to interested staff at the library.

The results
The total collection of 4402 books is now available for studies and research. It is both physically available at Linnaeus University in Växjö and registered in the national catalogue Libris. The books are available to researchers from all over the world through interlibrary loans. Since many of the books are old and fragile and some contain loose material, we have decided that they will only be available as reading room loans. The search term “Husénsamlingen” in Libris will result in all titles within the collection.
The languages of publication are 85% Swedish and English; the remaining 15% of the publications are mainly in German, French and the Scandinavian languages.
The years of publication extend from 1866 to 2009. However, the main part of the collection dates from the 1960s and 1970s. The collection covers a large variety of subjects with a main focus on schools and education; these titles amount to almost 50%.
The remaining part of the collection consists mainly of books about psychology and social studies. The statistics in Libris also reveal  that nearly 10% of the Husén Collection consists of dissertations mainly in Swedish and English.
16 % of the collection had not previously been registered in Libris. These 725 titles are predominantly foreign and are now registered in Libris with Linnaeus University Library as the only holder.
One aspect that makes the collection completely unique is the material that Torsten Husén has left in the books. This material can be in the form of letters from the author, newspaper clippings or reviews of the book. Approximately 8 % of the books contain such material which is indicated with a note at the respective catalogue entry.

Following up the project
Linnaeus University intends to create a website with general information about the Husén Collection. Existing Husén bibliographies will be digitalized and become searchable on this website; in this way all of Husén’s own publications will be searchable. Some of Husén’s articles that have previously been published for example as offprints will also be digitalized and available in full text on this website.
In order to spread further information about the Husén Collection and the cataloguing project, we plan to contact SWERA (Swedish Educational Research Association) about the possibility of informing about the project in the their journal.