There is not much to say about the exchange activities of the FDS before the First World War. Its own journal, which was a prerequisite for permanent exchange rela-tions, did not appear until 1904. This meant only a decade to organise exchanges before the war divided the international scientific community.
The members of the FDS established personal contacts with Scandinavian col-leagues – they participated actively in the meetings of the Scandinavian Dentists Association.647 The formal communication channels with Nordic dental societies were created soon after the founding of the FDS. In 1893, it decided to inform the dental
646 1895 Société d’histoire de Léopol to the FAS. Archive of the FAS. Fa 11, p. 5; 18 December 1897 Redakciâ ežegodnika Tobolskago Gubernskago Muzeâ to the FAS. Archive of the FAS. Fa 12, pp.
114, 315; 18 December 1910 Museo Nacional, Santiago to the FAS; May 1911 Obˆsestva Tolstovskago Muzeâ to the FAS; 27 October 1912 Desevyj satiričeskyj narodnyj Žurnal” Ostrâk” to the FAS. Fa 17, pp. 309, 419, 526; [Undated] Redakciâ Žurnala Mir” to the FAS; 6 December 1913 Tajny Žižni to the FAS. Archive of the FAS. Ea 3. NBA Archives.
647 Sivén 1943, pp. 79-80.
societies in Sweden, Norway and Denmark of the elections of its officials in its annual meetings.648 The Swedish Dental Association responded by sending greetings and sometimes it donated its publications as well. In their festivities, they used to toast their Finnish colleagues and inform the FDS of this honour by sending a telegram.649 Telegram greetings and occasional publications were received also from the Norsk tannlægeforening (the Norwegian Dental Association) and Dansk tandlægeforening (Danish Dental Association).650At the jubilee meeting of the tenth anniversary of the FDS, some new societies, such as Odontologiska Sällskap i Stockholm (Odontologi-cal Society in Stockholm) and Göteborgs tandläkaresällskapet (Dental Society of Gothenburg), entered this telegram circle by sending congratulations.651 The idea of exchange was for the first time presented in 1900, when recently founded Christiania Tandlaegeselskab (Dental Association in Kristiania) sent its rules and requested the proceedings of the FDS – obviously not knowing that such a publication did not yet exist.652
The publication of the Proceedings did not lead to any exchange initiatives in the FDS. The journal was meant more for the use of the members of the society than for international distribution. From 1896, the society had subscribed to some cen-tral foreign journals in its library.653 In addition, it received book donations from its members and sometimes from publishers.654 These acquisitions may have been considered sufficient because no one in the society was advocating exchange. The first offers of exchange came from Norway and Sweden. Doctor Johan Brun wrote the FDS in January 1910, suggesting exchange with the Odontological department in the University library of Kristiania (Oslo). At the same meeting, a letter proposing an exchange between the Proceedings and Odontologisk tidskrift was read. The society decided to respond that the Proceedings was not a periodical publication. They sup-posed, in all probability, that an irregularly appearing journal could not be exchanged for a regular one.655 However, after considering the question of exchanges over a year, the FDS decided to accept Brun’s proposal and in the future send the Proceedings to the University library of Kristiania.656
The distribution list of the Proceedings was settled after another year, at the April meeting of 1912. The society decided to send its journal to honorary and
correspond-648 Minutes of the FDS 29 May 1893 § 4. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 2. NARC.
649 Minutes of the FDS 12 February 1894 § 2; 30 April 1894 § 2; 25 November 1895 § 3; 28 Sep-tember 1896 § 5; 30 November 1896 § 2; 27 SepSep-tember 1897 § 4. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 2. NARC.
650 Minutes of the FDS 29 October 1900 § 5; 28 January 1901 § 4; 30 September 1901 § 11. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 2. NARC.
651 Minutes of the FDS 16 April 1902 § 3. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 2. NARC.
652 6 January 1900 Christiania Tandlaegeselskab to the FDS. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 27. NARC.
653 Annual report of 1910 mentions nine periodicals, mostly from Germany, Austria and Nordic countries. Minutes of the FDS 30 March 1896 § 3; 5 February 1900 § 7; 2 December 1905 § 18; 3 De-cember 1910 § 6. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 2. NARC.
654 Sivén 1943, pp. 47, 108-111.
655 Minutes of the FDS 31 January 1910 § 5, 7. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3.
NARC.
656 Minutes of the FDS 27 February 1911 § 3. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3.
NARC.
ing members, the central medical libraries in Finland, Scandinavian dental societies and the central dental societies in the big civilised countries.657 This list was not very ac-curate, but other mentions on exchanges indicate that the distribution was not very wide. In 1913, the FDS announced that it would send the Proceedings to the journal Danske Tandlaegebladet,658 and a few months later, it accepted the exchange proposal of the Odontological Society in St. Petersburg.659 In 1914, an exchange with Norske Tandlageforening (the Norwegian Dental Association) was announced.660 In the de-scription of the library, written in 1917, the beginning of the exchange activities is dated 1914, and the following journals are mentioned as exchange:
Svensk tandläkaretidskrift � published by Svenska Tandläkaresällskapet Odontologisk tidskrift
Norske tandlaegeforenings tidende
Tandlaegebladet � published by Dansk tandlægeforening661
Svenska Tandläkaresällskapet (Swedish Dental Association) had not previously been mentioned as an exchange partner, but probably the exchange relation was a con-tinuation of a long term relationship and gift-giving. The other three exchanges were announced at the meetings. However, the first partner, the Library of the University of Kristiania, was no longer in the list, neither was the Odontological Society of St. Petersburg which had, in the meantime sent the journal Zubovračebnyj věstnik (Dental Bulletin).662
Four functioning exchange relations in ten years are not very much. Obviously, the exchange was not especially appreciated as a means of international networking or as an acquisition method for library. Unlike the other societies under study, the FDS did not discuss promoting exchange activities, neither did it proudly introduce new exchange partners in the annual reports. The general passivity in this field cannot be explained by ignorance since the exchange practices were well known to those older members who had participated the work of the Medical Society.663 In 1910, the library of the FDS was moved to the Library of the Scientific Societies, where information on exchange practices was certainly available.664 Neither can it be explained by a
657 Minutes of the FDS 29 April 1912 § 9. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3. NARC.
The citation in Swedish: centralföreningar af tandläkare i de större kulturländerna.
658 Minutes of the FDS 27 January 1913 § 6. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3.
NARC.
659 Minutes of the FDS 27 October 1913 § 6. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3.
NARC.
660 Minutes of the FDS 29 September 1914 § 2. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3.
NARC.
661 Koncept till en uppslagsbok beträffande FTLSs verksamhet under åren 1892-1917. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 12. NARC.
662 Annual report of the FDS 1913. In FÖRHANDLINGAR 13 (1914), p. 110; annual report of the FDS 1914. In FÖRHANDLINGAR 15 (1915), p. 76.
663 In the 1880s, the Medical Society of Finland had about 20 exchange partners. See Krogius 1935, p. 126. European and American medical libraries had established international exchange pro-grammes since the 1840s. See Richards and Moll 1982, p. 369.
664 Minutes of the FDS 31 January 1910 § 3. Archive of the FDS. 630:145. Kotelo (Folder) 3.
NARC.
strictly nationalistic attitude, considering that the society participated actively not only in Scandinavian but also international organisations. It sent representatives to the meetings of Fédération dentaire internationale which was founded in 1900, to represent the dental profession and to facilitate the exchange of information among dentists worldwide. In 1914, it was admitted to the membership of this organisation.665
It is obvious that the members of the FDS did not consider the exchange of publi-cations necessary. As most members were practitioners without interest in academic research, they were satisfied with the journals subscribed to the society library and presentations of foreign literature and technical innovations published in their own Proceedings. In comparison with archaeologists, botanists and zoologists, who needed comparative material from a wide area – or typical humanities scholars who appeared to have a voracious appetite for books – the information needs of dental practitioners were different – at least more practical. Another reason for the passivity was that the FDS was in close co-operation with Scandinavian dental societies. They held con-gresses regularly, edited journals together and formed personal friendships. Although this fraternity was restricted to Scandinavian dentists, it widened the field as much so that the members of the FDS did not feel isolated. Toasting colleagues overseas and informing them of this distinction by telegram was, presumably, a more entertaining way of networking than the laborious task of sending of books and journals.