IFLA Journal 31 No.2 2005 · The article by Jens Thorhauge, ‘New Demands – Old Skills. A...

CONTENTS

Editorial: Northern HighlightsLis Byberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

A Voyage Through the Norwegian Library Landscape and Some Challenges on the HorizonLeikny Haga Indergaard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

The Nordic Countries: cultural and library cooperationAsbjørn Langeland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Library Development in the Electronic Environment: Iceland 2005Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

New Demands – Old Skills. A strategy for bridging the competence gap: building competencies in a dailyworking contextJens Thorhauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

The Manuscript and the Internet: digital repatriation of cultural heritageIvan Boserup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

How do Politicians and Central Decision-Makers View Public Libraries? The case of NorwayRagnar Audunson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Collaborative Information Literacy by GovernmentAnne Kauhanen-Simanainen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Together We Shape Better Libraries: the Swedish Quality Handbook ProjectChristina Jönsson Adrial, Johan Edgren, Jan Nilsson and Susanna Månsby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Nordic Networking: cooperation in Nordic LIS researchNils Pharo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

REPORTICABS – A New Approach to International CooperationRenate Gömpel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

NEWS (with separate Table of Contents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

ABSTRACTS 212 — SOMMAIRES 213 — ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN 215 — RESÚMENES 217 —219 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Notes for Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Ρефераты статей

IFLAJOURNAL

Official Journal of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions

Volume 31 (2005) No. 2, pp. 129–222. ISSN 0340-0352 SAGE Publications

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IFLA JournalOfficial Journal of the International Federation of Library Associations and InstitutionsISSN 0340-0352 [print] 1745-2651 [online]

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Editorial Committee

Ramón Abad Hiraldo (Chair),Biblioteca Universitaria de Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]

Charles Batambuze,National Library of Uganda, Kampala, Uganda. E-mail: [email protected]

Lis Byberg,Faculty of Journalism, Library and Information Science, Oslo University College, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]

Heinz Fuchs,Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

Yoshitaka Kawasaki,Professor, Library and Information Science, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Japan.E-mail: [email protected]

Ludmila F. Kozlova,Department of Foreign Library Science and International Library Relations, Russian State Library, Moscow, RussianFederation. E-mail: [email protected]

David Miller, Levin Library Curry College, Milton, MA, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Víctor Federico Torres,Biblioteca Regional del Caribe y de Estudios, Universidad de Puerto Rico, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Maria Witt,14, rue Thèophraste Renaudot, 75015 Paris, France, E-mail: [email protected]

Nancy Gwinn (Chair, Publications Committee, ex officio),Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Chevy Chase, MD, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Stephen Parker (United Kingdom) (Editor, ex officio)

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Lis Byberg

This issue of the IFLA Journal will focus onlibraries in the five Nordic countries – Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – toprovide the background to the World Libraryand Information Congress, 71st IFLA GeneralConference and Council, in Oslo in August2005.

Although there are many differences, there arealso strong similarities between the librarysectors in the Nordic countries, namely:

• a strong ICT focus• strong involvement by local and central

government• strong views on the importance of infor-

mation sharing, equal access to informationregardless of age, language and habitation.

This issue opens with Leikny Haga Indergaard’sarticle: ‘A Voyage Through the NorwegianLibrary Landscape and Some Challenges on theHorizon’. This is a broad presentation of mostaspects of the library scene in Norway, the hostcountry of this year’s IFLA conference. Shepoints out that Norway has a well-developedlibrary system, where libraries are part of a jointnetwork forming a local, regional and nationalstructure. The aim is to offer members of thepublic a good library service throughout thecountry, regardless of their place of residenceand the resources of their local library.

In ‘The Nordic Countries: cultural and librarycooperation’, Asbjørn Langeland gives an intro-duction to the formalized Nordic cooperationthat is organized through the countries’ parlia-ments and government bodies. The speciallanguage situation and the challenges regardingthe different countries relationships with theEuropean Union are also covered.

My aim for the rest of the articles is to give you arepresentative view of what is going in the librarysectors in the Nordic countries, without necess-arily aiming for any completeness of coverage.

The ICT focus is very strong in our countries.This is clearly shown in the paper by Sigrún

Klara Hannesdóttir, ‘Library Development inthe Electronic Environment: Iceland 2005’,which describes how, despite having a popu-lation of less than 300,000, Iceland not onlypublishes more books per capita than any othercountry, but access to the Internet is almost uni-versal. The article by Jens Thorhauge, ‘NewDemands – Old Skills. A strategy for bridgingthe competence gap: building competencies ina daily working context’, describes a nationalprogramme for the upgrading of Danish publiclibraries’ knowhow in the area of ICT and dis-cusses whether this strategy has been success-ful. In his article, ‘The Manuscript and theInternet: digital repatriation of culturalheritage’, Ivan Boserup presents three projectsbased on international cooperation. Two ofthese projects are Nordic, the first being toestablish a common digital archival catalogueof Icelandic medieval manuscripts and thesecond a digital copy of the oldest manuscriptof the law code of Jutland.

Politicians are important for libraries, both asdecision-makers and users of their services.Ragnar Audunson’s article, ‘How do Politiciansand Central Decision-Makers View PublicLibraries? The case of Norway’, is a study ofNorwegian politicians’ views of public libraries.He has had a number of qualitative interviewswith Norwegian Members of Parliament andrelates this to his earlier quantitative study oflocal government politicians’ views on the sameissue. Anne Kauhanen-Simanainen’s approachin ‘Collaborative Information Literacy byGovernment’ is the exact opposite. She pointsout that in Finland government information isvery easily accessible, but asks how the govern-ment obtains information about its surroundingsbefore making decisions. Even if many infor-mation professionals offer services for decision-making, their role has to change.

The quality of services to the public is of greatimportance to libraries. Several studies on thetopic have been carried out in the Nordiccountries. In the article, ‘Together We ShapeBetter Libraries: the Swedish Quality Handbookproject’, Christina Jönsson Adrial, Johan Edgren,Jan Nilsson and Susanna Månsby present a

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EDITORIALNorthern Highlights

Copyright © 2005 International Federation of Library Associations &Institutions (www.ifla.org). IFLA Journal 31(2): 131–132.ISSN: 0340-0352. DOI: 10.1177/0340035205054876

Swedish study involving 50 libraries and basedon performance indicators.

For library development to be successful, edu-cation and research is necessary. In ‘Nordic Net-working: cooperation in Nordic LIS research’,Nils Pharo presents a project on postgraduatetraining within the Nordic library schools. Thisis a good example of how smaller countries cancome far by using each other’s expertise.

It is almost impossible to give a completeoverview of the library activities in all Nordiccountries in an issue like this. But I sincerelyhope that it will give you a picture of a regionwhere cooperation, in many areas based ona common heritage, has proven fruitful. Thelibrary sectors in our countries are in a dynamicphase. We hope to show you more of this inOslo in August, so I look forward to seeing youthere!

Editorial

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In 2005 Norway celebrates its centenary as an independentnation. The country has about 4.5 million inhabitants and isknown for its beautiful natural scenery, its oil and fishing indus-tries and for winter sports.

Norway has long literary traditions. We have efficient anddynamic library institutions and many new and exciting writersnow being published.

Norway is divided into 434 municipalities and 19 counties con-taining a total of 892 public libraries and 19 county libraries. Thereare fewer than 5,000 inhabitants in 241 of the municipalities.

The country has five universities, 52 colleges of higher educationand a total of 336 special libraries. The National Library ofNorway, founded in 1815 as part of the University of Oslo, didnot become an independent institution until 1989.

The National Library will celebrate its reopening in Oslo duringIFLA 2005.

The Library Landscape: A Survey and a Brief History

Norwegian libraries can trace their history back to the 18thcentury, the most important foundation stones being the RoyalNorwegian Academy of Science Library in Trondhjem (Trond-heim) and the Deichmann Library in Christiania (Oslo).

The University of Oslo was founded in 1811, giving us our firstuniversity library.

The Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen was our nationallibrary until 1815, when the University of Oslo assumed responsi-bility. This remained the situation until 1989, when the NationalLibrary became independent of the University of Oslo Library.

Norwegian libraries and librarians were influenced by the ideasof modern librarianship in the United States, and these ideas hada breakthrough around 1900 with the library reform with openaccess.

Education for librarians started after World War II. Previouslymost of the qualified Norwegian librarians had received theirtraining in either the USA or England.

In 1913 the Norwegian Library Association was established as aninstrument for library policy and critical input and cooperationwith the government. From the beginning the library associationhas been an instrument for developing library policies for the wholelibrary community and for all types of libraries.

Leikny Haga Indergaard

Leikny Haga Indergaard isDirector, Department of Strategyand Planning, Norwegian Archive,Library and Museum Authority.She has been Director General ofthe Stavanger Public Library andCultural Centre and CountyLibrarian in Rogaland. She hasworked in university libraries,public libraries and countylibraries and has been projectmanager for several cultural andlibrary projects, most recently asproject manager for Stavanger’sbid for the title of EuropeanCapital of Culture 2008. LeiknyHaga Indergaard is a member ofthe National Organizing Com-mittee for the World Library andInformation Congress: 71st IFLAGeneral Conference in Oslo,Norway. She is also a member ofthe IFLA Standing Committee forLibrary Services to Children andYoung Adults 1997–2005.

133Copyright © 2005 International Federation of Library Associations &Institutions (www.ifla.org). IFLA Journal 31(2): 133–145.ISSN: 0340-0352. DOI: 10.1177/0340035205054877

A Voyage Through the Norwegian LibraryLandscape and Some Challenges on the Horizon

The Norwegian Library Landscape

In the modern library landscape there has beencooperation between public and researchlibraries. But traditionally Norwegian librarieshave been divided into two sectors; public andschool libraries on the one hand and pro-fessional and research libraries on the other,until the Storting decided to establish the Nor-wegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority.

Public Libraries

For more than two hundred years Norway hashad a public library system open to all. The firstreading societies (Leseselskap) were establishedin the 18th century and were founded on thebelief in knowledge and reason fostered by theAge of Enlightenment. By 1840 there were 230public libraries in Norway.

Libraries were granted financial support fromthe government as early as 1851. The firstLibrary Act was passed in 1935, but it was notuntil after World War II that the municipalitieswere obliged by law to maintain public librariesand to provide sufficient means for their runningcosts.

Norwegian public libraries are owned andfinanced by their owners, the municipalities andthe counties. The Norwegian Library Actdecrees that libraries are for everybody and thatthe service to the public shall be free of charge.

The Library Act requires all municipalities tohave a public library with a professionally quali-fied chief librarian. All public libraries must bepart of the Norwegian library network and co-operate in joint activities, such as interlibrary

lending. The Norwegian public libraries are bytradition well developed and well equipped.They are built on the Anglo-American publiclibrary tradition.

The Norwegian public library landscape isundergoing considerable change. During the lastdecade about 30 branch libraries have beenclosed down each year, reducing the number ofpublic libraries from 1,184 to 892. During thesame period there has also been a reduction inlibrary purchases on a national basis from EUR4.1 per inhabitant to EUR 3.4. Nevertheless, thepublic are using libraries more than ever before,with figures showing a rise in both visits and bor-rowings. Public libraries are undergoing changeand renewal and the differences between themare widening.

Statistics

As of 1 January 2004 there were in all 892 publiclibraries, their collections amounting to a total of22 million units. In 2003 borrowings amountedto 24·8 million, which represents an average of5·2 units per inhabitant. Books account for 74percent of all borrowings, the remainder beingmusic, video, talking books, etc. The number oflibrary visitors was 22·9 million.

National statistics on cultural activities in themunicipalities indicate that libraries are the mostfrequently used institution. The statistics for2003 for public library visitors show an averageof 5 visits per inhabitant. Users are now offeredfree access to the Internet by 99 percent ofpublic libraries.

Mobile Library Services

For more than 50 years Norway has organizedlibrary buses as a supplement to the ordinarypublic libraries. Borrowings represent about 3percent of the national total. In 2003 there werealtogether 35 such buses and one library boat.The majority of these mobile services operate insparsely populated areas of the country.

School Libraries

Book collections in primary schools have been astatutory requirement since 1827. These collec-tions are intended to provide pupils with booksfor leisure reading and also to be an integral partof the school’s pedagogic activities. Since 1985the law has required also pupils in secondaryschools to have access to library services. Many


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Figure 1. The Tønsberg and Nøtterøy Library.Photo: Cedric Archer.

smaller municipalities have established acombined school and public library.

County Libraries

There are 19 county libraries in Norway. Theirtask is to provide municipal public librarieswithin the county with advice and measuresaimed at improving skills and qualifications.County libraries play an important role in thenational system of interlibrary lending. Severalcounty libraries also run special services, such asmobile libraries.

County libraries vary a great deal, but they areall small organizations carrying out on anational basis some 170 man years’ work.Counties, and therefore also county libraries, arein a process of change, since consideration isnow being given to the creation of largerregional units.

The Norwegian Library Landscape:Academic and Research Libraries

Academic and Research Libraries

Norwegian academic, special and researchlibraries represent a total of 336 units. In recentyears many of the smaller public and privatespecialist libraries have been closed or amal-gamated into larger units. Statistics show 19million books and journals and 11 million regis-tered digital documents. In 2003 the librariesachieved a total of 4 million loans, 408,000 of

which were interlibrary lending. Six millionvisitors were registered.

Challenges for Academic and ResearchLibraries

Academic, special and research libraries areundergoing change and many smaller librariesare being closed. The transition from printed todigital material is speeding up with the lattershowing a 30 percent increase last year. At thesame time this changeover to electronic materialraises a number of other questions, such as aneed for greater information literacy, filingproblems, alternative forms of publication, copy-right clarification and work under licence.

Specialist and research libraries are experiencinggreater pressure with regard to interlibrarylending, partly as a result of smaller libraries beingclosed down but also because of increaseddemand from public libraries arising from distancelearning students making use of their local library.

One way forward lies in greater coordinationbetween different specialist libraries and alsobetween public and specialist libraries. Trials arebeing conducted with regional networks, such asthe project initiated by the counties of Østfoldand Oppland.

During the last 2 years specialist and researchlibraries have also registered a 20 percentincrease in the number of visitors, but there areincreasing differences in the services they offer.National demands and infrastructure are topicsof discussion when the competitive advantage ofan institution having its own library comes intoconflict with national interests.

Universities and Colleges of Higher Education

In this educational sector there are five universitylibraries, six libraries attached to colleges ofscience and technology, two art school librariesand 25 libraries within the various state collegesof higher education. Libraries are also to be foundin a number of private institutions offering highereducation, such as the Norwegian School ofBusiness Management. The educational sector is,however, undergoing considerable change andseveral colleges of higher education are in theprocess of achieving university status.

The vast majority of universities and colleges ofhigher education, together with their libraries,are state run and therefore subject to

A Voyage Through the Norwegian Library Landscape

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Figure 2. The Tønsberg Library. Photo: CedricArcher.

government legislation. The library’s organiz-ational character can vary from institution toinstitution. Further legislation is now beingdrawn up and will create a comprehensive frame-work for officially recognized higher education.

Academic and research libraries naturally havestaff and students as their main target group butthey are also part of the nationwide librarynetwork. An ever increasing share of librarysector resources is being devoted to electronicmaterial, mainly in the form of databases andjournals, but gradually also electronic books.These resources are available to users in theirown workplace and specialist libraries are con-tinually facing new challenges with regard to theuse of these services.

The Library as a Centre of Learning

Greater investment in research, new teachingmethods and reforms in further education haveincreased the demands on academic and speciallibraries.

The introduction of Quality Reform influencespedagogic development and promotes pro-fessional cooperation within institutions. Manyeducational organizations have established theirown centres of learning, making the library aphysical, integral part of study work. Libraries inthe higher education sector, however, haveacquired greater resources and increased influ-ence in recent years as a result of Quality Reformmaking them more important to their respectiveinstitutions.

BIBSYS

BIBSYS is a shared library system for all Nor-wegian university libraries, the National Libraryand a number of college and research libraries(in total about 100 libraries).

The infrastructure made available throughBIBSYS enables students and researchers tosearch their libraries’ holdings and order loansand copies from their web browser. They canalso perform a search in many national andinternational databases via a common interface(Zsearch) and send loan requests and copyorders to their own library. In addition it ispossible to follow links from many of these data-bases to the electronic version of the document,if the user’s institution subscribes to such aservice. BIBSYS, which was established in 1972,is based on cooperation in cataloguing. The cost

of running the system is shared by the participat-ing libraries.

The National Library

The National Library is one of the centralcultural institutions in Norway. Its primaryambition is to be the best source of documen-tation on Norway, the country, the peopleand Norwegian society. The tasks of theLibrary include the development, preservation,


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Figure 3. The National Library of Norway. Theautomated Repository Library. Rana. Photo:Kjetil Iversen.

conservation and presentation of the collectionsof the Library based on the Legal Deposit Act.The National Library aims to collect all types ofinformation produced from different types ofmedia. The National Library of Norway islocated in Oslo and in Rana.

The history of the library dates from 1815 whennational library functions were carried out bythe University of Oslo Library. Since 1883 acurrent national bibliography has beenproduced. In 1989 the Rana Division of theNational Library was established and givenresponsibility for the administration of Nor-wegian arrangements for legal deposit. In 1992the Norwegian Parliament decided to establish aunified, selfcontained National Library with itsmain office located in Oslo.

The Oslo Division was established in 1999,taking over the national functions and collec-tions from the University of Oslo Library.

The National Library has the most completecollection of books published in Norway andalso foreign books about Norway. The Librarycurrently receives one copy of each documentcollected by legal deposit (except for motionpictures, videos, and broadcast material) andpurchases foreign language translations of Nor-wegian literature and documents publishedabroad relating to Norway and Norwegians(Norvegica extranea). The Library holds uniquemanuscript collections of Norwegian authors,composers, scientists and politicians and otherimportant special collections of music, theatrematerial, maps, photography, posters, etc.

The National Library prepares the NorwegianNational Bibliography and offers a wide range ofbibliographic services and products. The Library

is responsible for the Norwegian Union Cata-logue, which provides access to the collectionsin 400 Norwegian libraries. It also operates theNordic/Baltic Union Catalogue of Periodicals(NOSP), giving access to serial holdings in 900libraries in the Nordic countries and the Baltic.In total more than 60 different databases areoffered through Internet services and CD-ROMproducts.

By means of exhibitions, publication activities,cultural programmes, interlibrary loans andexchange activities the collections are madeknown to a wider audience. It also serves as apublic academic library and centre of excellencefor the study of Norwegian culture.

One of the main responsibilities of the NationalLibrary is the administration of the NorwegianAct of Legal Deposit. The present legal pro-vision came into force in 1990. This Act hasgiven Norway one of the most comprehensivesystems of legal deposit in the world. In accord-ance with this law the National Library, RanaDivision currently receives books, serials, news-papers, microforms, photographs and electronicdocuments. The National Library is also respon-sible for the legal deposit of radio and televisionbroadcasts and receives a preservation copy ofsound recordings, videos and films. Bothprinted and audiovisual media are stored underone roof in longterm storage vaults, mined outof solid rock in the mountain. These mountainvaults contain four floors with 45 km of shelvesand the atmosphere inside is carefully con-trolled.

The National Library, Rana Division runs acentral Repository Library for the Norwegianlibrary community, receiving copies of less fre-quently used documents. The Repository Libraryacts as a lending and supply centre based upondeposited materials, lending out copies of thelegal deposit documents.

Opening

The National Library of Norway, Oslo, hasundergone extensive renovation from 2002 to2005. During this period the library will alsohave converted its card catalogue records andother selected material into computer-basedcatalogues.

As a result of this renovation the NationalLibrary will share premises with a number ofother cultural institutions, including NORLA


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Figure 4. The Oslo Public Library. DeichmanskeBibliotek. Main building. Photo: Chris Erichsen.

(Norwegian Literature Abroad), the Centre forIbsen Studies, the Norwegian Children’s BooksInstitute, the Jazz Archive, the Song Archive andthe Norwegian Music Information Centre.Expectations are that this coming together underone roof will create an interesting and valuablesynergy as a result of cooperation between insti-tutions sharing the same public. The opening ofthe National Library of Norway will take placeduring the IFLA congress in Oslo on 15 August2005.

The Norwegian Library of Talking Booksand Braille

The Norwegian Library of Talking Books andBraille has been state controlled since 1 January1989 and is under the jurisdiction of theMinistry of Culture and Church Affairs. Itsfunction is to provide library services to theblind, the visually impaired and others withreading problems. The two largest groups ofusers are the visually impaired and the dyslexic.Other categories include patients who havesuffered a stroke, patients with multiple sclerosisand the mentally retarded. The library’s servicesare intended for children, adults and seniorcitizens.

The library produces talking books, Braillebooks and electronic books. In most caseslending takes place by post; both the librarylending and the postal service are withoutexpense for the users. The main library issituated in Oslo with branch libraries in Trond-heim and Bergen. There is a separate departmentfor students at university and college level. Thelibrary’s activities are increasing, particularly

with regard to the number of dyslexics whomake use of its services.

The White Paper – Sources ofKnowledge and Experience

This White Paper from 1999 named ‘Sources ofknowledge and experience, concerning archives,libraries and museums in the age of ICT’, is oftenreferred to as the ‘ABM-report’. It is the basis forthe foundation of ‘ABM-utvikling’ (The Nor-wegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority).The paper launched the idea of seamless libraryservices – meaning that the customer canapproach any library with a request, withouthaving to consider whether or not it is thecorrect type of library.

The Norwegian Archive, Library andMuseum Authority

The idea of regarding both the public librariesand the research and academic libraries as a jointresource for all was not new, but this paper initi-ated a process that later on led to the merging oftwo governmental institutions – the NorwegianDirectorate for Public Libraries and the NationalOffice for Research, Documentation, Academicand Special Libraries – together with theNorwegian Museum Authority. The NorwegianArchive, Library and Museum Authority is apublic institution under the authority of theMinistry of Culture and Church Affairs, but willwork across departmental and other adminis-trative boundaries.

Archives, libraries and museums play an import-ant role in a democracy and in promoting socialinclusion, because they select, preserve and facil-itate the use of various sources of knowledge andinformation. The majority of such sources extendacross all the ABM institutions, including art,sound, photography, film, archival material andliterature. Furthermore, the common interests ofthe three constituent sectors have been strength-ened by the use of information and communi-cation technology (ICT). ICT provides simplifiedaccess to sources across both different types ofsources and the traditional sector boundaries.These factors combined provide the main reasonfor the establishment of the Norwegian Archive,Library and Museum Authority. The NorwegianLibrary Association played a role in lobbying forthe establishment of the Norwegian Archive,


138

Figure 5. The Oslo Public Library. Photo: HildeLillejord.

Library and Museum Authority as a governmentbody organizing and working for all Norwegianlibraries including university and college libraries.

Seamless Library Services

A significant change in the library sector,spurred on by the establishment of the Archive,Library and Museum Authority, is the consolida-tion of the public and academic and speciallibrary sectors into one. For many years theyhave been regarded as two very separate sectors.As such, the transition will still be a longtermprocess. The goal is a seamless library service toestablish a coordinated network of integratedservices meeting the needs of the users.

One of the challenges to be faced is that ofmaking the vision of a seamless library servicebecome a reality within the next few years. Theintention is to provide the user with approxi-mately the same service regardless of whichlibrary he or she visits, thus combining access toactual and virtual collections and services. In

order to achieve this ambitious objective weneed to overcome some fundamental barriers.Already, however, we can draw on experiencefrom an interesting seamless library project inthe counties of Østfold and Oppland.

The Østfold Library

This is a project initiated and run by the Østfoldcounty library. The main objective is to createthe best possible united library service in Østfoldcounty, based on mutual values, attitudes andguidelines together with the highest possiblequalifications and a coordination of resources –all in order to benefit the libraries’ customers,the inhabitants of Østfold. The project hasreceived funding both from Østfold county andfrom the Archive, Library and Museum Author-ity, while the community libraries and schooland academic libraries in the county are all com-mitted participants.

By profiling their services, coordinating theircompetence training and amalgamating their net-based resources, they are aiming to achieveseamless library services in their region. They arealso testing out a new logistics system by transport-ing books and other media between all librarybranches twice a week. They have implementedthe concept of a floating book collection, where abook issued by interlibrary loan is not sent back tothe ‘owner’ library, but is held by the library wherethe borrower returns it – that is, until someone elseplaces a request for it. The county library buys newbooks for the first library ordering them. Thebooks then circulate around the libraries as theyare asked for, the library system keeping track ofwhere any item is at any one time.

The Norwegian Digital Library

The Norwegian Digital Library, administered bythe Norwegian Archive, Library and MuseumAuthority, marks the first time that representa-tives from both public and academic librarieshave jointly agreed upon a strategic plan ofaction. The Digital Library is a system thatbreaks down the barriers between the separatelibraries and makes their collective informationresources available to everyone in a simple way.The vision for the programme is that the DigitalLibrary shall give everyone easy access to digitalinformation and knowledge.

In order to facilitate this process the NorwegianArchive, Library, and Museum Authority has


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Figure 6. The Oslo Public Library. Main hall.Photo: Hilde Lillejord.

initiated a programme due to run for 5 years. Aprogramme committee with high level represen-tation has been appointed to outline policy andstrategy for the work ahead. The committee alsoincludes representatives from the Archive andMuseum sectors.

General Issues

The rapid growth and development of electroniccontent offers great possibilities. Libraries,archives and museums are making significantamounts of high quality online content avail-able to their respective users/communities/institutions.

Too much, however, remains hidden amongstthe low quality information that clutters the Weband behind technical, commercial and adminis-trative barriers. One of the big problems in theInternet age is the superabundance of infor-mation and the lack of guidance.

The Norwegian Digital Library is being designedto overcome these barriers in order to make itpossible for users to exploit the quality assuredinformation now available in many places andfrom many owners and suppliers. The Nor-wegian Digital Library will also help to offermore users increased content in digital form. Itwill encompass all kinds of libraries; the NationalLibrary, university and college libraries, publiclibraries and special libraries. The networking oflibraries, librarians, content, services and userswill produce a result perceived as seamless.

Elements of the Digital Library

A variety of elements will go to make up theNorwegian Digital Library:

Content

The Digital Library will contain all types ofdocuments – text, photographs, sound, video,hyperlinks, etc. It will also provide access tonon-digital objects that can be obtained as a loanor for use on site in a library or another insti-tution. The content will be distributed and main-tained by the different participants who ‘own’the resources and databases. Also content thatresides with the producers of content will bemade available.

Creating more digital content is part of the pro-gramme and measures to establish criteria andprinciples for digitization and to see how this

can be planned and coordinated on a nationallevel are important. This work will involve notonly the library community. Archives andmuseums are absolutely part of the picture too.

A broadbased working group for digitization willbe established soon.

Services

Content without services attached is not verymeaningful or accessible. Services are necessarytools in order to reach the content and make useof it. The digital library will provide a set ofservices for:

• searching;• organizing content;• support for production of content;• document ordering and supply;• authorization and access control.

Technological Framework

A project, ‘Establishing the technological frame-work for the Norwegian digital library’ isongoing and involves a number of people withspecific expertise in this area. The project iscoordinated by the National Library but withparticipation from the library community, librarysystem suppliers and other sectors.

The framework will make it possible to integrateservices, metadata and content from many sup-pliers. It is therefore important to reach agree-ment on a set of standards for this framework,since this is the glue that binds the differentelements together, ‘invisible’ but absolutelynecessary. Interoperability is not something thathappens by itself.


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Figure 7. The new Sámi mobile library. Photo:Tone Moseid.

User Interfaces

Services of the digital library can only beaccessed through some sort of user interface.This is the user’s window to the content of thedigital library. The user interface can be a singleone or it can be customized to individuals orgroups. It can also be an institutional portal orwebsite providing access to services and contentfrom the digital library. There has to be a userinterface, but it can take many forms andshapes. The important issue is easy access to thevast amount of information in our libraries andthis can be effected from more than one accesspoint.

Library Consortia Agreements

One part of DLN will consist of electronicjournals. ABM-utvikling has agreements withlibraries at universities, colleges and researchinstitutes as well as public libraries. To highlightthe advantages of joint purchases here would belike pushing against an open door. Nevertheless,it might be interesting to emphasize some of theadvantages put forward by the consortia thatmay not always be the most obvious, such asadvantageous rates, more content for theirmoney and less administrative time wastage forboth libraries and suppliers. The consortia oftenunderline the value of expertise in judicial andnegotiating matters. The individual library mayexperience difficulty in interpreting the agree-ment’s small print and is not in a position torenegotiate unreasonable conditions.

Consortia agreements are a large and complexissue, containing much of what affects theorganization of a modern academic library inNorway. Approximately 200 institutions in theacademic world participate in one or severalagreements. The Archive, Library and MuseumAuthority is pleased to notice an increasedinterest from public libraries and we arecurrently working to expand our services tothem. For the public libraries that intend to signup for one or several agreements, this meansthey will be able to offer improved services fortheir users, i.e. lifelong learners. In order to offerthe best possible services to our universitylibraries, the Authority has signed a declarationof intention together with the four Norwegianuniversity libraries and BIBSYS, the librarysystem supplier within the academic sector. Themain objective is to establish cost-efficient solu-tions and good consortia agreements for the uni-versity libraries, which will ensure their users

easy access to the best possible selection ofrelevant electronic scientific resources withintheir various thematic areas. We are aiming toexpand the agreement to other libraries.

The Archive, Library and Museum Authorityacts as secretariat for this work and takes part innegotiations with the suppliers.

Networking Libraries

Bibliotekvakten.no was the first Norwegian col-laborative live virtual reference project with achat service (i.e., real time reference servicesoffered by two or more libraries). Prior to this apilot project was carried out in the county ofVestfold, since it was considered important totest the service in a smaller region before goingnational.

Bibliotekvakten.no was the outcome of volun-tary cooperation on a national basis betweenmedium sized and large public libraries. Therewere 14 libraries altogether, consisting of twocounty libraries and 12 public libraries, amongthem the three largest public libraries in Norway.There was close cooperation with the OsloPublic Library and their service ‘Ask the library’.Now these two projects are merging together toform a new, national service called ‘Library-answer’ (Bibliotekssvar).

It is important to cooperate on these kinds ofservices. What happens behind the scenes at alibrary is hidden from public notice and ingeneral they only consider that aspect of theservice when something is missing. It is the samewith virtual reference services. The public arenot interested in where the librarian works, onlyin getting the right answers. Working closelytogether with other libraries can also be an


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Figure 8. Students at the Vestfold UniversityCollege Library. Photo: Cedric Archer.

eyeopener, an opportunity to learn from eachother, get new ideas and become more aware ofhow to do the job. The libraries are not beingpaid for joining the project. Each library hasadded another task to its timetable within thedaily schedules.

What the library gets in return for participatingis an acquisition of expertise and the experienceof meeting their users on the Web.

Another important aspect is the fact that this isa national service. It is not restricted to certainareas. The project has experienced very positivefeedback from people living in small municipal-ities and remote areas. They can now contact alibrarian even if their local library is closed forthe day. Norway is characterized by its manysmall municipalities separated by great distancesand with small libraries. In such areas there maywell be limited opening hours. Digital libraryservices can upgrade local public libraries byoffering them access to modern digital librariesall over the country.

Other Governmental Support toLiterature and Libraries

Governmental support is given to speciallibraries such as prison libraries and the Samispecial library, also to library services for immi-grants and refugees and for patient in hospitals,etc. Annual funding is also made available forresearch and development both in the publiclibrary sector and the academic sector.

The Act on Public Lending Right of 29 May1987, No. 23, decrees that the copyright ownersof any literary work, music or art, published inNorway and made available for lending inlibraries financed by the authorities shall receivecompensation through annual grants from thenational budget. Compensation, which is collec-tive and paid into a special fund, is calculated onthe basis of the number of units available to bor-rowers in the public libraries.

Public Libraries and the PurchasingProgramme for Contemporary Fiction

and Nonfiction

Since 1965 Norway has had a programme forthe public support of contemporary fiction andnonfiction for adult readers as well as forchildren and young people. Through ArtsCouncil Norway a purchasing programme waslaunched, guaranteeing publishers a sale of acertain minimum number of copies of each bookpublished. The programme has worked well formore than 35 years based on the original prin-ciples, although it has undergone some changesregarding the number of copies and whatcategories of books are included. Today theCouncil buys on an annual basis 1,000 copieseach of about 200 different titles for adultreaders and approximately 1,550 copies each of110 titles for young people. In addition theCouncil since 1991 has bought about 50 Nor-wegian translations of fiction originally pub-lished abroad and some 15 titles of nonfictionwritten for young people. Since the start of theprogramme all the books have been distributedas gifts to the public libraries and since the late1980s also to 1,550 libraries in primary schools.This public purchasing programme benefits thepublishers, authors, libraries and readers,although in different ways. Knowing how manycopies they can rely on being sold, the publish-ers’ economic risks are considerably reduced.The government also contributes to the authors’royalties from these books through a refundsystem.

The reading public benefits from the programmeby finding complete collections of modernfiction in their local public library, howeversmall it may be. Bringing together a book and itsreader in this way is really what the programmeis all about.


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Figure 9. The bookmobile boat Epos, from thewestern part of Norway. Photo: HordalandCounty Library.

The programme enjoys broad support, in spite ofbecoming a subject of public debate from time totime. Two recent evaluation reports concludedthat it has produced a much needed expansionof the market for books and literature inNorway. Because of a small and scattered popu-lation, a full scale national book productionscheme would be impossible, should the marketbe left to rule alone. The purchasing programmeis a means of maintaining a broad and vital bodyof contemporary literature for children, youngpeople and adults.

These arrangements can be considered fromdifferent cultural-political viewpoints and from alibrary perspective it worth noting that the valueof the purchasing programme represents morethan one third of the public library sector’s pur-chasing budget. In the smaller municipalities theprogramme can account for 60 percent of theannual acquisition of new books. This meansthat municipalities with small budgets are able tooffer library users a much wider selection of newNorwegian literature than would otherwise bepossible.

Lifelong Learning and ReadingProgrammes

The Knowledge Society

The Competence Reform is Norway’s strategy forlifelong learning for all citizens. Its objective is togive individuals better opportunities for education,training and skills development. The Reform isbased on the need of society, the workplace andthe individual for knowledge and skills. It coversall adults, is based on a broad understanding ofknowledge and has a longterm perspective.

Globalization of the economy, internationaliza-tion and technological progress are leading tochanges in production and organization in theworkplace and are placing new demands forknowledge and up-to-date competence. Com-petence development is necessary in order tostrengthen competitiveness and enhance flexibil-ity in a changing work situation, and to provideindividuals with a wider range of choices andgreater opportunities to fulfil their needs anddesires.

Demographic Changes

In the future Norway can expect to see a situ-ation where fewer wage earners in fulltimeemployment will have to bear the increasing costof supporting a greater proportion of the popu-lation – whether these be students, seniorcitizens or the handicapped. The consequencesof these demographic changes will doubtlesscreate a need for shorter educational runs andmore inhouse training.

Information Illiteracy

We are facing not only a deterioration in youngpeople’s ability to read and understand whatthey are reading but also the fact that somesections of the population lack the skillsrequired to use the new technology. Both theseweaknesses can result in an information illiter-acy forming a serious obstacle to our aims ofcreating a new knowledge society.

Accessibility

Accessibility to sources, to services, to edu-cational suppliers will also be based on the 24hour concept and the multicultural citizen’sneed for diversity of services and interface. Weshall also be compelled to implement theconcept of universal design in the planning anddevelopment of our new services.

The idea behind universal design is to simplifylife for everyone by making products, communi-cations and our local environment more usableby as many people as possible at little or no extracost. Universal design benefits people of all agesand abilities.

Reading Programmes

Den kulturelle skolesekken (DKS) is a NationalInitiative for Professional Art and Culture inEducation in Norway. DKS is a joint initiative of


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Figure 10. Bærum Public Library. Children’sdepartment. Photo: Bjørn Djupvik.

the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs andthe Ministry of Education and Research. Thesecretariat for the Initiative is the NorwegianArchive, Library and Museum Authority (ABM-utvikling). The county authorities’ culturalsections are responsible for coordinating thework carried out under the Initiative in theirown regions.

DKS is a national cultural policy strategy toensure that all Norwegian pupils will experienceprofessional culture in many forms while atschool. In 2005 the project DKS receivedsupport amounting to EUR 22 million. Theproject presupposes cooperation betweenschool and culture and responsibility atnational, regional and local levels. Severalcounty libraries have a coordinating role at theregional level.

The encouragement of reading is one of theprimary aims of DKS. Projects such as thisprovide excellent opportunities for Norwegianpublic libraries to develop new methods ofimproving reading skills and to create strongerrelationships with the local educational system.

!Les

!Les is the name of a newly established umbrellaorganization which aims to promote a love ofreading in children and young people. Its back-ground lies in the research on reading habitsconducted in 1997, which revealed a 40 percentdrop in reading habits among children betweenthe ages of 11 and 16.

!Les aims to promote reading by introducingand coordinating various nationwide reading

initiatives. The framework of these initiatives isorganized by !Les at the national level, but allactivities and arrangements take place locally inlibrary departments for children and in schoollibraries all over the country.

The scheme has received a great deal of mediaattention and has obtained support from severalpersons well known from the media, sport, etc.In order to get young people to read – of theirown free will – you need other young peoplewho can talk about books and recommendliterature. !Les has made this the basic principleof an ongoing campaign in Norwegian schools,called ‘Lesestafetten’ – the Reading Relay. In theReading Relay young people recommend booksto younger children, the relay baton being passedon from county to county each month. Thecounty library contacts participating secondaryschools and comprehensive schools and givesthem various assignments. Pupils choose a bookto read and later present it to a class of pupilsyounger than themselves. !Les is an initiativewhich has raised expectations among children’slibraries.

Norwegian Library Buildings

During the period 1990–1999 no less than 194Norwegian public libraries moved into newpremises. This number includes both mainlibraries and branch libraries. Only 11 ofNorway’s 434 municipalities have more than50,000 inhabitants, which means that the vastmajority of Norwegian public libraries are smalland that many are housed in buildings primarilyconstructed for other purposes. Therefore inonly a very few cases can one talk of specificlibrary architecture.

Several new university libraries and universitycolleges have been built during the last ten years,the most impressive being the University of OsloLibrary, Library of Arts and Social Sciences,which was established in 1999. Many of theselibraries are built as learning centres.

International Cooperation

Nordic forums play an important role in theNorwegian library sector. At the Nordic levelthere is a close relationship between thecountries and they are quite similar with regardto population, political systems, etc. In thisrespect, it is fairly easy to put into practice ideas


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Figure 11. Tønsberg Public Library. Photo:Cedric Archer.

borrowed from our neighbours. As a means ofintroducing trends and strategies in Scandi-navian libraries to the English-speaking world,the Nordic public library authorities in Finland,Norway, Sweden and Denmark have since 1968jointly published the Scandinavian PublicLibrary Quarterly (SPLQ). This journal aims topresent initiatives, developments and trends inboth public and academic libraries.

The Norwegian library sector also has closerelationships to the international libraryorganizations and library networks, especially toIFLA.

A Library Report for a NewMillennium?

In 2004 a government report on culture inNorway heralded an investigation of centralproblems in the library sector. The Archive,Library and Museum Authority has been givenresponsibility for carrying out this survey. Theaim is to compile an overall strategy documentoutlining the comprehensive development of aunified library sector. In addition there is a needto examine several larger and smaller questionsin closer detail.

One aim is to develop new library policies thatreflect changes in society with regard to tech-nology, knowledge acquisition and culture. ALibrary Report covering both public andacademic libraries would be a very importantmeans of achieving seamless library services inNorway.

One of the measures to be evaluated is the needfor totally new library legislation to cover bothpublic libraries and academic libraries sup-ported by public funds. An earlier contributionto the discussion by Professor Ragnar Audun-sson at Oslo College suggested that joint legis-lation would be a suitable means of demolishingthe barriers between different libraries andachieving better services to students and lifelonglearners. Not least it would also have the

necessary impact on those managing andadministering the libraries – namely thelibrarians themselves.

The Library Report will be finished in May 2006.The recommendations from this report will formthe basis of the government’s further work withlibrary policies.

References

In English:

If you want to read more about Scandinavian libraries,librarianship and policy, you should try the SPLQ:http://www.splq.info/

Arts Council Norway: http://www.kulturrad.no/Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs:http://odin.dep.

no/kkd/engelsk/bn.htmlMinistry of Education and Research: http://odin.dep.

no/ufd/engelsk/bn.htmlNational Library of Norway: http://www.kb.nl/gabriel/

libraries/pages_generated/no_en.htmlNorwegian Act of Legal Deposit: http://www.pliktavlev

ering.no/html/legal_deposit.htmlNorwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority.

Homepage: http://www.abm-utvikling.no/om/english.htm

Norwegian Council for Higher Education (UHR):http://www.uhr.no/English/Englishindex.htm

Norwegian Library Association (NLA): http://www.norskbibliotekforening.no/index.php?c_234&kat_

About+usNorwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille:

http://www.nlb.no/english.htmNorwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs:

Report no 48 to the Storting (2002–2003) CulturalPolicy up to 2014: Summary and Introduction:http://odin.dep.no/kkd/engelsk/bn.html

In Norwegian:

Audunsson, Ragnar: Sømløs biblioteklov for sømløsebibliotektjenester ? ABM-skrift.

Kjelder til kunnskap og oppleving. St.meld. nr 22,1999–2000 (ABM-meldingen).

Kulturpolitikk fram mot år. St.meld. nr 48, 2002–2003.NOU: 2003:25 Ny lov om universiteter og høyskoler og

Ot.prp.nr.79 (2003–2004). Om lov om universiteterog høyskoler.

Statistikk for bibliotek og museum 2003. ABM-utvikling2004.

Lov om folkebibliotek av 20.12.1985 nr 108.


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http://www.splq.info/http://www.kulturrad.no/http://odin.dephttp://odin.dephttp://www.kb.nl/gabriel/http://www.pliktavlevhttp://www.abm-utvikling.no/om/englishhttp://www.uhr.no/English/Englishindex.htmhttp://wwwhttp://www.nlb.no/english.htmhttp://odin.dep.no/kkd/engelsk/bn.html


The Nordic Countries: cultural and librarycooperation

Cultural and Library Cooperation

Visitors to Norway will often be confronted by the two conceptsof Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. Scandinavia is the namegiven to the geographical area of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.The languages spoken – Danish, Norwegian and Swedish – areclosely related and the people of these three countries understandeach other without great difficulty. ‘Nordic countries’ is a muchwider term including not only the three Scandinavian countriesbut also Finland, Iceland, and the three autonomous regions ofGreenland, Åland and the Faeroe Islands. Throughout this areano less than eight languages are spoken. In addition to Danish,Norwegian and Swedish, these include Finnish, Faeroese, Ice-landic, Greenlandic (Inuit) and Sami, all of which are far removedfrom the Scandinavian languages.

Nordic Cooperation at Government Level

Close cooperation has been developed between the governmentsof the Nordic countries, resulting in a large number of advisorybodies, committees and institutions established under the Nordicumbrella called ‘Norden’ in the Scandinavian languages. At thesummit there are two bodies, the Nordic Council and the NordicCouncil of Ministers. The former deals with Nordic cooperationat the parliamentary level, while the latter concerns itself withcooperation between governments.

The Nordic Council has 87 members, all of which are membersof parliament within their respective countries. Each parliamenthas appointed a Nordic secretariat to serve the individualcountry’s delegation to the Nordic Council. The Nordic Councilwas established in 1952, and throughout the years the Council hastaken many initiatives of great significance to the inhabitants ofthe Nordic countries. One of the first results of this cooperationwas the introduction of the right for Nordic nationals to travelwithin the Nordic countries without a passport. Further import-ant measures included the establishment of a common Nordiclabour market and a coordinated educational system. Coordina-tion within the field of education made it possible for Nordiccitizens to choose to study at any educational institution withinthe Nordic region and also resulted in examinations and diplomasfrom one Nordic country being automatically recognized in allthe others. The Council has also worked towards a consensus onlaws and regulations in order to ensure equal rights across theborders for all Nordic citizens. Generally speaking, one can saythat the Nordic Council’s main aim has been to break downborder restrictions and to promote free Nordic cooperation in asmany fields as possible.

Asbjørn Langeland

Asbjørn Langeland has beenDirector of the Nordic Literatureand Library Committee(NORDBOK) since 2003. He waseducated as a librarian and hasundertaken additional studies inlaw at the University of Oslo. Hewas Director General of the Nor-wegian Directorate for PublicLibraries for 12 years and hasalso worked as head of depart-ment at the Norwegian LibrarySchool and head of AkerhusCounty Library. He has been amember of many different pro-fessional and political com-mittees and panels on both theNordic and the national level.From 1996 to 2004 he wa amember of the NorwegianUNESCO Commission. In IFLA hehas been a member of theStanding Committee for LibrrayServices to Multicultural Popu-lations.

The Nordic Council of Ministers is divided intoseveral permanent cooperating bodies made upof ministers in the fields of culture, education,the environment, transport, etc. Each of theseministerial councils has its own supporting com-mittee comprised of high-ranking governmentofficials from the ministries concerned.

The Council’s administration (secretariat) issituated in Copenhagen. Under the auspices ofthe Council of Ministers a wide range of Nordicinstitutions and committees operate throughoutall the member countries. In 2005 the overallbudget of the Council of Ministers amounts toDKK 826 million (EUR 111 million).

Cooperation in Cultural Affairs

Almost 20 percent of the total budget, DKK 160million (EUR 20 million), is earmarked forculture. The largest single item on the culturalbudget is the Nordic Cultural Fund, which hasDKK 30 DKK (EUR 3·75 million) at its disposal.The Cultural Fund is based on a special agree-ment between the Nordic countries entered intoin 1966. The Fund’s area of activities is meant tocover the cultural sector in the widest sense.Financial support is given to projects, arrange-ments and initiatives of Nordic significance, andwhich involve the participation of at least threeof the Nordic countries or autonomous regions.In recent years projects involving cooperationwith the Baltic countries have also been grantedfinancial support.

The Council of Ministers administers severalcultural institutions and other bodies whoseactivities include a significant cultural element.Information centres have been established inEstonia, Latvia, Lithuania and St. Petersburg,their purpose being not only to provide a widerange of information about the Nordic countriesand Nordic matters, but also to promote cooper-ation between the Nordic countries and thecountry in which they are situated. Culturalcooperation plays a leading role, particularly inthe three Baltic states. Each information centrehas a library open to the general public and pro-viding up-to-date special literature on Nordicsubjects together with fiction in all the Nordiclanguages. In Helsinki and on the islands ofÅland there are Nordic institutes specializing inNordic culture and containing Nordic libraries.In Thorshavn (Faeroe Islands), Nuuk (Green-land) and Reykjavik there are Nordic centreswhich are run by the Council of Ministers. These

offer a wide programme of cultural activities withparticular emphasis on Nordic art, music, litera-ture and drama. Each centre also has its Nordiclibrary. The directors of these Nordic institutionsare appointed for a term of years. They usuallycome from one of the other Nordic countries andhave wide experience of Nordic cooperation.

The Nordic website (www.norden.org) containsdetails of some 50 institutions, committees andcooperating bodies. These include four whichthe Council of Ministers has brought togetherunder one umbrella, the so-called Committees ofthe Arts. These are NORDBOK – Nordic Litera-ture and Library Committee, NOMUS – NordicMusic Committee, NORDSCEN – Nordic Com-mittee for the Dramatic Arts and finally NIFCA– Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art. Thesecommittees have their secretariats in Oslo,Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki respec-tively.

Literature

The Literature and Library Committee,NORDBOK (www.nordbok.org) exists to encour-age the spread of Nordic literature and to promotelibrary cooperation in the Nordic countries. Thecommittee’s budget in 2005 amounts to almostDKK 9 million (EUR 1.1 million).

As far as literature is concerned, the committee’sareas of activity include the Nordic Council’sPrize for Literature, grants towards translationwork, the publication of a yearbook, NordicLiterature, project support and various initiativesaimed at promoting literature. The library aspectof the committee’s work is directed towards thepublic library sector, support for projects beingthe most important element.

The Nordic Council’s Prize for Literature wasintroduced in 1961. Apart from the Nobel Prize,this is the most prestigious literary award in theNordic region. Committees in each individualcountry and language area nominate two candi-dates each year, one for poetry and one for anovel. A separate Nordic jury chooses thewinner from among the candidates nominated.The prize, at present DKK 350,000 (EUR43,000), is awarded in the autumn during theNordic Council’s annual general session. Inaddition to the prize-giving ceremony itself, agreat deal is done to promote both the winnerand the other candidates. Measures includefinancial support towards the translation of the

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prize-winning selection into both Nordic andother European languages. All the nominatedcandidates are also presented at book fairs in theNordic countries and elsewhere in the world.

First published in 1993, the yearbook NordicLiterature provides a broad presentation of newNordic literature and also of themes central tothe Nordic literary debate. Each year a promi-nent place is given to the winner of the NordicCouncil’s Prize for Literature, while the othercandidates for the prize are presented inseparate articles. The yearbook offers surveysand short reviews of new literature from all theNordic countries and also takes up specialthemes for discussion, such as, in 2004, thesubject of literary criticism. All the material inthe yearbook is presented in one or other of theNordic languages and also in English, thus pro-viding a broad survey of Nordic literature to awider readership. All articles are also publishedelectronically on www.nordic-literature.org.

Support for translation work is offered each yearto a considerable number of books. This schemeapplies primarily to translations from oneNordic language to another, but in the case ofthe winner of the Nordic Prize for Literaturesupport is also given for translation into otherEuropean languages. In recent years a specialgrant has also been made available for transla-tions to and from the Baltic languages, Estonian,Lithuanian and Latvian, also Russian. In 2004financial support was given for the translation of176 books. With regard to Faeroese, Sami andGreenlandic, however, there is the problem thatso few translators work in these languages.NORDBOK therefore offers scholarships tothose who are specially qualified in this field.

In addition to these permanent schemes,NORDBOK is also active elsewhere in order tofurther the spread of Nordic literature. At theannual ‘Bok & Bibliotek’ trade fair in Gothen-burg (‘Books and Libraries’) NORDBOKparticipates on the stand organized by theNordic Council of Ministers, arranging severalseminars during the course of the fair. In 2005NORDBOK will also arrange a seminar onNordic literature at the book fair in London. Astanding agreement with a course centre inSweden, Biskops-Arnö, permits the arrange-ment of three writers’ seminars each year. Lastyear these courses attracted 74 participants.Although themes vary from year to year, one ofthe courses is always set aside for writersmaking their debut. NORDBOK also cooper-

ates with the Nordic centres and institutionsmentioned above with regard to seminars andsimilar arrangements.

Two years ago the Nordic Ministers for CulturalAffairs agreed to fund a project to be carried outby NORDBOK and entitled Nordic – More thanScandinavian. The project is to be presented inthe exhibition section at IFLA 2005 in Oslo andlater also in Gothenburg and Stockholm. Thisinitiative is a combination of a book project andan exhibition. People from abroad and evenmany of those who themselves live here, oftenregard the Nordic region as a homogenouswhole, where Scandinavian language andculture predominate. The exhibition will showthat in fact the region contains a wide variety ofpeople and cultures. Greenland, Norway,Sweden and Finland all have indigenous popu-lations whose language and culture are farremoved from the Scandinavian. Since ancienttimes significant minority groups with their ownlanguage and culture have settled throughout theNordic region, while today there are severalhundred thousand inhabitants who have immi-grated from other parts of the world. There aresaid to be as many as 200 languages representedand a corresponding multiplicity of culturalbackgrounds.

NORDBOK and the Public Libraries

Cooperation between the public libraries in theNordic countries takes place at many levels andwith several key participants. National libraryauthorities have enjoyed organized cooperationfor many years, as have also the national libraryassociations, and there is well-establishedNordic collaboration between a large number ofspecial groups. NORDBOK maintains closecontact with both the national authorities andthe library associations.

NORDBOK’s most important contribution tothe public library sector takes the form of finan-cial support for a wide range of projects. In 2004the following were among the many projects toreceive financial assistance:

• Nordic writing camp for visually impairedyoung people, arranged by the NorwegianLibrary of Talking Books and Braille.

• The Nordic region in close up. Literaryarrangement at Århus Library, Denmark.

• Small is beautiful – networking makes usstrong. Seminar at the Helsinki City Library.

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• Let’s make friends with Scandinavian youthliterature. Kemi City Library, Finland.

• Putting the UN Children’s Convention intoeffect in the everyday work of the library –Examples from the Nordic countries to be pre-sented at IFLA 2005.

• A Nordic comic strip library. Finland’s ComicStrip Association together with a group ofNordic libraries.

• A seminar for Nordic authors working topromote sign language and a financial contri-bution to the production of a children’s bookin sign language.

• A conference on Literature for children andyoung people in the Barents region and aNordic-Russian poetry festival in Stockholmwere given financial support, as a conse-quence of which a film series and a DVD-bookare to be produced featuring Nordic andRussian poets and artists.

• Two initiatives in the field of electronic pub-lishing have received support. They are theInternet journal New Poetry and the projectELINOR – Electronic Literature in the NordicCountries.

Financial support for a project is conditionalupon there being participants from at least threeNordic countries.

The Nordic Library Week is an annual event.Last year more than 1,800 libraries participatedthroughout the whole Nordic region. Althoughthe project is financed by NORDBOK, responsi-bility for the practical arrangements rests withthe volunteer organization, The Federation ofthe Norden Associations. (There is a NordenAssociation in each country). A public relationsgroup for the Nordic public libraries has alsobeen established to decide upon the professionalcontent each year. The first Library Week washeld in 1996, the aim being to create a traditionin which all libraries in the Nordic countriescould participate. The idea was for people togather together in the evening as was usual indays gone by, but now in libraries throughout theNordic region, in order to read and listen toexciting and interesting stories from Nordicliterature, both written and spoken. Since suchan arrangement seemed best suited to thedarkest time of the year, November was chosen.Children and young people represent the maintarget group for events during Library Week.Each year a special theme is chosen for thelibraries to pursue. The theme last year was TheNordic Countries and the Sea and in 2005 willbe Travelling in the Nordic Countries. A central

element in the arrangement is the Twilight Hour,when all the participating libraries on the sameday and at the same hour present the readingaloud of a text that has been translated into theeight Nordic languages. This text is alwayschosen from one or other of the ‘classics’ ofNordic literature. The fact that library activitiesduring this week are coordinated throughout theregion attracts a great deal of attention, not leastthroughout the media. The event also serves toheighten interest in things Nordic and to under-line Nordic solidarity.

The Nordic Countries and the ‘NewEurope’

The last 15 years have seen huge politicalchanges affecting all the countries in Europe.The Iron Curtain is gone and many countriesthat once belonged to the Warsaw Pact are nowmembers of NATO. The European Union (EU)has acquired new members on several occasionsand now encompasses 25 nations. Within theEU itself, half of its members are now joinedtogether in a monetary union, the Euro, and astime goes by more countries are sure to partici-pate. Another form of cooperation includingcountries both in and outside the EU is theSchengen agreement, which offers passportfreedom within the treaty area and commonrules governing outer borders. Those Europeansliving within the treaty area can take advantageof an open labour market, the freedom to studyin other countries, access to medical andhospital treatment regardless of national bordersand many more benefits.

In areas not politically controlled there have alsobeen striking changes. Take for example theenormous amount of media available today, allthe channels of communication and the conse-quent development of a global consumer society.

These changes also have a significant impact onlanguage. In all the Nordic countries and pre-sumably also throughout Europe, English is inthe process of dominating the native languages.Research workers prefer to publish their findingsin English. At universities and colleges of edu-cation an increasing amount of teaching iscarried out in English. Business companiesbecome international and use English as theirworking language.

These profound changes present both oppor-tunities and challenges to our tradition of

The Nordic Countries

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Asbjørn Langeland

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cooperation among the Nordic countries. Threenations, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, aremembers of the European Union. Iceland andNorway have chosen to remain outside, as havealso the autonomous regions of Greenland andthe Faeroe Islands. Iceland and Norway,however, have entered into a special agreementwith the EU, known as the European EconomicCommunity (EEC), which gives them the right toparticipate in much of the collaboration takingplace in the EU. As a consequence of this agree-ment Iceland and Norway are obliged in anumber of areas to adjust their national policiesand to follow EU directives and regulations.Many people have been concerned thatDenmark, Finland and Sweden, the three fullmembers of the EU, might tone down theirNordic commitment in favour of developingcloser ties with the European Union. This mayindeed have happened in certain areas, butNordic cooperation has by and large developeda shape and form which makes it worthwhilealso for the three EU members. After the expan-sion of the European Union with ten newmember countries in 2004, many politicianshave pointed out that Nordic cooperation hasacquired renewed meaning. Europe has becomeso large and so multiform that there is now aneed to coordinate regional interests within theEuropean Union itself. A further point is thatmany matters afforded a prominent place inNordic cooperation are not dealt with by theEuropean Union. These are to be found mainlyin the cultural sphere and in much of the workconcerned with the environment.

One subject at the top of the Nordic agenda thisyear is the question of language. Although eightdifferent languages are spoken in the Nordiccountries, we nevertheless tend to consider our-selves linguistically as a community. This view isbased on the fact that Swedes, Norwegians andDanes understand each other well enough, atleast with a little effort and practice. Furthermorethe situation for the Sami and other minoritylanguage groups is that they have been obliged to

learn the majority language in the country wherethey live. In Finland, Iceland, the Faeroe Islandsand Greenland, the first foreign language inschools has been either Swedish or Danish. Now,however, this linguistic community is underpressure. In Finland and Iceland there are todaymany who claim that they have greater benefitfrom studying English rather than Swedish orDanish. Even at Nordic conferences and meetingsit is not unusual for participants to speak Englishin preference to a Scandinavian language. Whenyoung Danes, Norwegians and Swedes gettogether, they may well choose to speak Englishrather than make the effort required to under-stand the language of their neighbours.

The Nordic linguistic community has been ofconsiderable benefit to the Nordic people, pro-viding a foundation for cultural cooperation anda necessary platform for collaboration in manyother fields. When language is once again anitem on the agenda, this is because of a realiza-tion that the Nordic linguistic community is sovaluable that it must be preserved, and thatmeasures need to be taken to meet new chal-lenges. Language and culture are vital to anation’s identity. The linguistic kinship of theNordic countries creates a feeling of possessingcultural wealth greater than that of a singlenation. At the same time this Nordic affiliationlends strength to the national languages, sincethey can be used across a wider area.

Considered separately, the Nordic countries aresmall and their cultures are exposed to strongexternal pressures. Together, however, they rep-resent a region of considerable resources andgreat possibilities, even though a collectivepopulation of 24 million is still not a largenumber. Cooperation with our neighbours hasgiven inspiration and strength in many fields. Wehave developed social models which our poli-ticians can be proud of and which our peopleswish to retain and develop further. The Nordicconcept of community and cooperation deservessupport, both now and in the future.

Geography, Demography and Culture

Iceland is an island of about 100,000 km2 with a population ofabout 300,000. The main concentration of habitation is aroundthe capital, Reykjavik, where half the population lives. The rest ofthe population is scattered in towns and villages around the coast,since the interior of the country is uninhabitable because of vol-canoes, lava-fields, hot springs and glacial rivers. The interior, onthe other hand, is a tremendous source of energy, both from coldrivers as well as hot water and steam. Iceland has its ownlanguage, and demographic characteristics that are based a hom-ogeneous population, highly technologically advanced and with ahigh general educational level. The Gross National Income (GNI)of Iceland is now among the highest in the world and amountedto USD 32,000 per person in 2003. Iceland has no minerals, oilor other precious commodities. On the other hand it is rich inenergy, in fishing and most of all, in the high educational level ofthe population.

Culturally it forms a part of the Nordic region because of stronghistorical ties. Iceland was settled in the 9th century mainly byViking rebels from Norway, who carried the cultural roots fromScandinavia across the Atlantic, but it has also some definiteCeltic traits. The stories tell us that the Vikings kidnapped Celticwomen on their voyages to Iceland, which can explain the redhair and freckles that are common in Iceland, as well as theliterary tradition. Iceland was a free state until 1262 when it cameunder the rule of the Norwegian king and later followed Norwayto become a part of the Danish kingdom. Iceland got its ownconstitution from Denmark in 1874 and became an independentrepublic in 1944. At that time the population of Iceland was only128,000.

The most famous Icelandic contribution to the culture of theworld is the production of the Sagas of the Icelanders, and theEddas, which were written in the Icelandic language in the 12thand 13th century. Iceland was then the only one of the Nordiccountries that used the vernacular for its literary activities.Iceland was very isolated during several centuries, but thelanguage, literature and folklore were very much alive and allkinds of literary texts were written down, copied and recopied,read and re-read by the total population, prior to book publish-ing and a long time after that. In spite of poverty and poor livingconditions, the language was kept alive almost unchangedthrough this literary tradition and is very much alive still. Icelandhas one of the highest publication rates per capita in the world.In 1955 the Icelandic author Halldór Laxness received the NobelPrize in literature. One of the characteristics of the Icelandiclanguage is that there are hardly any dialects in Iceland althoughthe population was very scattered and communications were

Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir

Dr. Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir hasbeen Director of the National andUniversity Library of Iceland since2002 with the title of NationalLibrarian. She was Director ofNORDINFO, the Nordic Council ofScientific Information, 1998–2002, Professor in Library andInformation Science, University ofIceland, 1975–1998, schoollibrary director for the City ofReykjavik, 1971–1975, a con-sultant in Trujillo, Peru 1970–1971 and reference librarian inMichigan, USA 1968–1969. Shehas been a member of theStanding Committees of the IFLASection of School Libraries andResource Centres, and theSection of Library Theory andResearch, and Chairman of anIFLA Working Group on the Edu-cation and Training of SchoolLibrarians. She was President ofthe International Associationof School Librarianship (IASL),1995–1998.


Library Development in the ElectronicEnvironment: Iceland 2005

difficult. People have associated that with thehigh level of literacy and reading among thepopulation over the centuries.

Brief History of Libraries

In 1790 the first reading society was formed,which was mainly a reading club of professionalpeople who joined hands to purchase foreignliterature and share the books by circulatingthem among the members. During the followingyears some six reading societies were formed,but most of them did not last long. The first onethat operated for any length of time and made aconsiderable contribution to the general publicwas founded on a tiny island off the west coast,called Flatey. The founders were Ólafur Sívert-sen and his wife, Jóhanna. On their wedding dayin 1829 he and his new wife established a‘progress-institution’ which was to serve as areading society for the general public as well asa school and cultural centre. They made a collec-tion at the wedding and used the money topurchase books. In Flatey the first librarybuilding was erected in 1864. The building isonly 16 m2 and has now been rebuilt as amonument to the founders.

During the period 1880 and 1920 some 200reading societies were established with theirmain purpose being to improve living conditionsand educational standards in the country. In1818 the National Library was founded and lateramalgamated with the Library of the Universityof Iceland into the present National and Uni-versity Library. In recent years development hasbeen very rapid in all types of libraries, whereelectronic resources play a major role.

The National Library 1818–1994

The National Library was initiated through thesupport and enthusiasm of foreign people, inparticular explorers who visited Iceland andwere surprised to find that the nation that hadgiven the world the literary treasures of theEddas and Sagas now lived without books, asone of the explorers commented. Those benefi-ciaries started a movement towards establishinga library in Iceland through donations fromlibraries around Europe as well as from privatedonations. The library was opened in the loft ofthe Cathedral in 1825 with a collection of 1,545books; one Danish beneficiary, Carl ChristianRafn, had collected more than 900 of the books

and donated a substantial number himself. TheLibrary moved from the Cathedral to thebuilding of the National Parliament that wasopened in 1881 and then got its own building in1909. That building housed the library until theamalgamation with the Library of the Universityof Iceland. The first librarian to be appointed tothe Library was Jón Árnason, who is best knownin Iceland for his collection of Icelandic folklore– the Icelandic equivalent of the Grimm brothersin Germany. The National Library very soonbecame a depository library for all Icelandicpublications and from 1886 it became a legalrequirement that all printing offices in thecountry should provide the Library with twocopies of everything published. Actually theNational Library managed to acquire almostevery publication that had appeared in Icelandfrom the beginning of printing in 1534.

In 1846, when Bishop Steingrímur Jónsson died,his collection of manuscripts was purchased forthe Library. Since then the National Library hasdeveloped a good collection of paper manu-scripts and more recently of private archives,which have been donated to the Library.

The National Library has published the Ice-landic bibliography since 1888, first as a bibliog-raphy of new acquisitions to the Library, then asa part of the annual report of the Library from1944, and after 1974 as a separate publication.By 1979, automation was introduced and theNational Bibliography produced in a computerform.

Around the time that the Library amalgamatedwith the University Library, the National Libraryhad a staff of around 40 people (32 full-timee

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