This is our second Newsletter since our last meeting in Beijing and the last before we meet again in Copenhagen in a few weeks.
Present:
Kristine Abelsnes, Stavanger
Heinz Fuchs, Goettingen (Chairman)
Sara Gould, Boston Spa
Lone Hansen, Copenhagen
Ruth Kondrup, Aarhus
Agneta Lindh, Stockholm (Secretary)
Niels Mark, Aarhus
Carol Priestley, London
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The Chairman expressed his gratitude towards Lone Hansen for hosting the meeting. He mentioned that the object of the meeting was to state the art of the Section’s two projects.
Niels Mark pointed out that the two projects had changed from being initiated and financed by IFLA to one Danish and one Norwegian project with support from DANIDA and the Norwegian Ministry of Development Aid. This did not alter the fact that they were still IFLA-projects.
Ruth Kondrup gave her comments to the report of the Danish part of the project (Interlibrary Lending and Document Delivery in Developing Countries. A three-year trial project in Ghana sponsored by Danida. State of affairs, February 1997).
Sara Gould pointed out that the training which is planned to take place in the UK during April/May should be related to the situation in Ghana and special training profiles of the participants’ interests and background were put together.
An offer from OCLC to host one librarian for free training in FirstSearch in Birmingham during the autumn of 1997 was discussed. It was suggested that also the Norwegian project-group should try to include a person from Kenya in the training.
The papers from the seminar held in April 1996 in Ghana will be edited and printed by British Library. It was suggested that a part of the Section’s money could be used for the printing.
It was stressed that the project is not about giving books and journals to a library but to teach people to work together and to create an infrastructure.
The report from the Norwegian part of the project was commented by Kristine Abelsnes.(Interlibrary Lending and Document Delivery in Developing Countries. Status report. Norwegian project. March 1997).
The Norwegian project in Kenya has not received the same amount money like the Danish one but the project group is trying to get more. An application for additional funding had been sent to NUFU (Norwegian Universities’ Committee for Development Research and Education). One problem is however that Kenya is not one of NUFU’s current partner countries.
The goal of the project is to help support not only document delivery but information retrieval as a whole. There have been difficulties in the cooperation between UNEP and the local telecommunications corporation in connection with the network. The situation at Nairobi University Library is also very bad with almost no technical equipment.
Kristine pointed at the possibility to include librarians from Kenya in the planned training for Ghana librarians in April/May 1997.
The coordination of the two projects was discussed from different angles.
One problem which is identical in both Kenya and Ghana is that no part of the existing library collections is automated. Nobody knows what journals are kept next door. Some kind of local network would be valuable.
Many of the problems have to do with the structure of the library systems in Africa or rather the lack of structure. Nairobi university library has 340 employees but the staff is not used in an efficient way. Kristine suggested that people from Norway perhaps have to stay in Nairobi for some time in order to train the participating librarians.
One important thing is to involve the university level in both countries.
The Chairman pointed out that it was important to inform other IFLA sectors - ALP, the Regional Offices, PB - about the status of the projects to show that they are still IFLA-projects. One idea was to arrange a meeting in Copenhagen.
The projects should be made known through the following initiatives:
Poster session at IFLA Copenhagen. September 1997. Both projects will be presented.
Open Forum presentation and a first evaluation of the projects in Amsterdam. 1998.
Bangkok 1999. Results and evaluation of the projects as a model.
Finally the paper from Hamid Mohseni, which criticises our Section’s activities and strategies in developing countries was discussed. The opinion was that the paper should be published but comments from the Chairman should be added.
1997-05-29
Agneta Lindh
UDT Core Programme/Section on Information Technology 1997 IFLA General Conference Workshops and Open Sessions
1997 IFLA General Conference Workshops and Open Sessions
Copenhagen, Denmark
August 31 - September 5, 1997
No pre-registration for these sessions is necessary.
Seating on a first-come basis.
For any further information, please contact: E-mail: iflanet@ifla.org
Information Technology joint with Document Delivery and Interlending and the UDT Core Programme
Theme: "ILL Protocol Standard: Interlibrary Loan in an Open Networked Environment"
The objective of this session is to provide delegates with an introduction to the capabilities of this important standard and how it can be used to support automated ILL messaging in a heterogeneous computer environment. The session will include an overview of the ISO Interlibrary Loan Protocol Standard and presentations on ILL protocol implementation activities in North America, Europe and Australia.
- The Interlibrary Loan Protocol Standard - Text: [Acrobat PDF version: 32K]
FAY TURNER (National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Canada)
- Overview of North American Interlibrary Loan Protocol Activities - Text: [HTML version] or [Acrobat PDF version: 18K]
MARY JACKSON (Association of Research Libraries, Washington DC, USA)
- ILL Protocol Related Activities in the UK, Europe and Australia - Text: [HTML version] or [Acrobat PDF version: 21K]
RUTH MOULTON (Consultant, London, UK)
- The Application of the ISO Protocol to Existing ILL Systems - Text: [HTML version] or [Acrobat PDF version: 15K]
MARY JACKSON (Association of Research Libraries, Washington DC, USA)
Information Technology joint with UDT Core Programme
Theme: "Z39.50: Information Retrieval in an Open Network Environment"
The objective of this session is to provide an introduction to the Z39.50 Information Retrieval Standard: what it is, how it works, who has implemented it. The session includes an overview of the Z39.50 standard, a more technical discussion of Z39.50 developments and a review of projects supported by the European Commission.
- Z39.50: The Basics - Text: [Acrobat PDF version: 30K]
FAY TURNER (National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Canada)
- Z39.50 Technical Issues - Text: [Acrobat PDF version: 100K]
DENIS LYNCH (SilverPlatter, UK)
- EC Supported Z39.50 Projects - Text: [HTML version] or [Acrobat PDF version: 21K]
GORDON PEDERSEN (Libraries Programme, European Commission, Luxemboug)
UDT Core Programme joint with Information Technology: Workshop
Theme: "Z39.50: Vendor Products, Issues and Trends"
The objective of this workshop is to illustrate the capabilities of the Z39.50 standard through the demonstration of a variety of Z39.50 products. The session will also include a panel discussion on Z39.50 issues, trends and end-user concerns.
- ZNavigator for Z39.50 Information Retrieval
Part 1 - Paper: [HTML version] Part 2 - Slides: [Acrobat PDF version: 28K]
ROBIN YEATES (Library Information Technology Centre, South Bank University, London, UK)
- Z39.50 and Resource Sharing - Text: [Acrobat PDF version: 23K]
MICHEL WESSELING (Geac Computers Benelux)
- The ARCA Z39.50 Client - Text: [Acrobat PDF version: 65K]
JOHN FAVARO (Intecs Sistemi, S.p.A., Pisa, Italy)
The panel discussion will include the speakers above, plus Denis Lynch (SilverPlatter Information ltd.) and Liv Holm (Oslo College, Oslo, Norway)
UDT Core Programme: Workshop
Theme: "Introduction to Internet Metadata"
Objective:
What is Medadata? What is the Dublin Core and Warwick Framework? URNs? URCs? And why are these critically important concerns for future digital libraries and networked information? The description and location of electronic information represents one of the most critical challenges for next-generation Internet services and electronic information management. This workshop by internationaly renowned expert, Stuart Weibel, will discuss some of the important new directions and the many challenges of resource description on the Internet, with particular emphasis on the Dublin Core/Warwick Framework metadata initiatives.
Speakers:
- LEIGH SWAIN (IFLA UDT Core Programme, National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Canada)
- TERRY KUNY (IFLANET Administration, XIST Inc., Ottawa, Canada)
- STUART WEIBEL (Senior Research Scientist, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio, USA)
New Publications from the IFLA Office at Boston Spa
*Copyright Issues in Libraries: Global Concerns, Local Solutions*
The aim of the project and the preparing seminar
The growing tide of information across national boundaries has meant that copyright issues are of increasing global concern. International conventions provide a framework in which legislators operate. National legislation provides different answers to the questions.
During August 1996 The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) brought together copyright experts at the pre-conference Seminar held in Tianjin and at the Conference Session of the Section on Document Delivery and Interlending to discuss the problems and how to deal with them. The papers cover general copyright
issues in both electronic and paper based environments, approaching the topic from the points of view of libraries, users, collecting agencies and publishers. There are also papers covering national systems in developed and developing countries as well as discussion of international initiates such as ECUP (European Copyright Users
Platform). The IFLA Position Paper on Copyright in the Electronic Environment is reproduced and discussed in this volume.
ISBN 0 7123 2150 0
PRICE 5.00 pounds sterling
*Charging for Document Delivery and Interlending*
Papers from the IFLA Workshop on Charging, held during the 62nd IFLA General Conference, 29 August 1996, Beijing.
Edited by Sara Gould
Whether to charge or not to charge for document delivery and interlending has been a crucial topic for discussion for many years, and this publication brings together a number of useful and enlightening papers on this difficult issue. The one-day Workshop was organised by the IFLA Section on Document Delivery and Interlending as part of the 62nd IFLA General Conference. Authors are divided as to whether charges should be applied to ILL transactions or not, and the papers also include a historical look at the introduction of charging, and a possible solution to some of the problems which seem to be inevitable when charges are introduced. A useful book for those with an interest in the debate over "free or fee".
ISBN 0 7123 2151 9
PRICE 5.00 pounds sterling
UAP Newsletter Number 23, April 1997
Administrative matters
Sarah Keates is now working on the organisation of a major international conference on the topic of exceptions to copyright protection ("fair use/dealing" and other issues). Judy Watkins and Pauline Connolly have resumed their previous tasks and the team has been joined by Louise Huddlestone as Office Administrator.
Interlending news
The Guide to Centres of International Document Delivery has been published and is selling well. Costing £20.00, it is available from the Office.
Projects
Projects continue to be funded by outside organisations and we are constantly looking for other organisations with which to work. Suggestions would be welcome!!
Library Twinning
There has been a great deal of interest in the new IFLA Twinning Database, which has been created to act as a focal point to which all libraries can turn when seeking partners for a twinning arrangement. Libraries seeking a twinning partner are invited to contact the Office to express their interest. Based on the replies to a questionnaire
which we ask you to complete, we will aim to match you with a library which suits your requirements. The role of the Office is limited to identifying a suitable library, and goes no further than providing initial contact details to each twin. The establishment and continuing survival of the relationship depends on the commitment of the partners, so libraries should be sure that they have the time, resources and energy to commit to the partnership before deciding to seek a twinning partner.
The IFLA Twinning Project has received a large number of requests for twinning partners from libraries in less developed regions of the world. In general these libraries which are constantly seeking extra resources and support from outside their own region, are looking for twinning partners in richer countries which could offer donations of material and equipment, as well as the exchange of information to
enhance professional development in both partners. If anyone is interested in forming links with a library in a less developed region, or would like more information about the Twinning project in general, we would be pleased to hear from you.
The IFLA Voucher Scheme
The IFLA Voucher Scheme continues to attract more and more participants, and we now have over 150 listed libraries. We are sure that very many more libraries have begun to use the IFLA Vouchers without actually notifying us, so the actual number of users is likely to be much greater.
We are especially pleased that several libraries in eastern Europe recently received funding from the Open Society Institute Soros Foundation to support a purchase of IFLA Vouchers. Since one of the original aims of the Voucher Scheme was to help all libraries and not just the richest this is great news. In particular, Bulgarian libraries have benefited from an enormous grant from the Soros Foundation, which should help them to improve their interlibrary loan services with the help of the IFLA Voucher Scheme.
World Directory of Union Catalogues
The Union Catalogue project organised by the IFLA Section on Serial Publications, Section on Bibliography, Section on Document Delivery & Interlending and the ISBN and ISSN International Centres, has been slow to get going. Although questionnaires have been received from a huge number of libraries and union catalogue managers, and a test site now exists on IFLANET, there is still much work to be done in converting the data from the questionnaires into meaningful information. However, we should be able to report on a good deal of progress in the next Newsletter.
Document Supply for Africa
The Office is deeply involved in a project on electronic document requesting and delivery for Africa, which is sponsored by the Norwegian and Danish Aid Agencies. The Norwegian project is focusing on Kenya and is largely telecommunications-driven; the Danish project focuses on Ghana. The Office will organise training for Ghanaian librarians in document supply. Librarians from Ghana will visit the
UK and Denmark and the Office will organise a training course for them in the UK, co-operating with the Forum on Interlending (FIL). Later this year the Director and Sara Gould will visit Ghana to run a training workshop there.
MURIEL
The MURIEL (Multimedia Education System for Librarians Introducing Remote Interactive Processing of Electronic Documents) Project was re-launched in November 1996. 2 new partners have joined the project and new software will be used to produce the electronic textbook for librarians, which will be available over Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). The chapters will be about Library Ethics and Libraries and the Internet. Leaflets and brochures about the project
will soon be available and there will be a home page on the Internet. International field trials of the system are scheduled to commence in April, the results will be evaluated and the system modified accordingly. Information about the project will be disseminated by articles and by demonstrations at conferences. The project is due to
end in October 1997. After that it is envisaged that the software and courseware developed will be available for purchase by the library community.
COPEARMS
During March the COPEARMS Project held, in conjunction with the IMPRIMATUR Project, two events at the EVA Florence conference. The first was a concertation meeting dealing with security and access for multimedia, the second a Special Interest Group meeting about ECMS interoperability issues. Both events attracted a good number of delegates from a wide range of business and geo-graphical backgrounds and resulted in some lively debate.
The Concertation meeting, sponsored by the Information Engineering Programme
of the European Commission, considered different methods of security being developed in Europe and the US and well as dealing with legal issues and current
EC sponsored intellectual property rights initiatives.
Planning is well underway for the Electronic Copyright Management Systems Conference to be held in London on 13 & 14 November. The two day conference will include introductions to the issues and workshops tackling specific concerns, such as user requirements, privacy issues, and document identifiers.
The COPEARMS Project will be holding a series of SIGs and workshops dealing with ECMS issues through Europe. For further information contact Judy Watkins at the IFLA UAP Office.
IMPRIMATUR (Intellectual Multimedia Property Rights Model and Terminology for Universal Reference)
One of the aims of this project, in which The British Library Copyright Office is involved, is attempting to establish consensus within the information industry as to the balance of rights in the electronic environment globally. To this end a second Consensus Forum will be held in Stockholm in May.
(COPICAT) Copyright Ownership Protection in Computer Assisted Training
This EC-funded project finished towards the end of 1996. A new open framework supporting models of electronic commerce, rights, integrity etc. has taken its place and is called OSPREY (Open Structure for Protecting Rights Electronically). The aim is to provide a clearing house of solutions to these issues enabling organisations to benefit from a pool of resources and from collaboration.
COPYSMART
The COPYSMART project aims to produce a prototype electronic copyright
management system, which will work in a stand alone environment. The system will be able to track usage of electronic material, and to manage payments. Office staff, in their role as the British Library Copyright Office, will run a trial of the COPYSMART software.
Other Projects
The Office is exploring one or two possibilities to take part in projects dealing with linguistic barriers to availability. This is an area which has not been addressed seriously by the Programme in the past.
Conferences and meetings
The UAP Director presented a paper at the conference on library technology, held in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris. He also attended the Unesco consultation on Information Ethics, held in Monte Carlo in March.
UAP Workshops
Hopes for a Latin American workshop are being revived!
IFLA Conferences
As this issue goes to press the conference on the Role of Libraries in Economic Growth will be taking place in Ljubljana. This is sponsored jointly by IFLA and the Central Technical Library in Ljubljana with support from the SOROS Foundation, the Slovenia Government and encouragement from Unesco and EBLIDA. The papers will be available from the UAP office later this year.
Plans for the 5th. Interlending & Document Supply International Conference are now virtually complete. It will be held in Århus (Denmark) immediately before the main IFLA General Conference in Copenhagen. For further information contact Niels Mark, Library Director, Statsbiblioteket, Universitetsparken, DK-8000, Århus C,
Denmark. Tel: +45 8946 2022, fax: +45 8946 2220. As stated in the last Newsletter, an invitation to hold the 6th. Conference in South Africa in 1999 has already been issued and warmly welcomed.
The Programme will also have a poster session at the Copenhagen conference and will also co-sponsor a number of sessions and provide speakers in several others.
Publishers Liaison Committee
One of the tasks which the PLC undertook was a joint conference on exceptions to copyright to be organised jointly with Project IMPRIMATUR and EBLIDA. Work on this is now well advanced and is being led by Sarah Keates. The conference will be in the autumn, probably in Budapest. Watch this space for more details!
Representation
The Office produces monthly newsletters for the ‘Opportunities in Europe Group’(OiEG), a group of library and information professionals seeking to participate in the development of library and information services throughout Europe. The 1997 Annual General Meeting is due to take place shortly when it is hoped to discuss the future role of the Group. The Office is still also a member of the Information for Development Co-ordinating Committee (IDCC).
Representation still continues on various copyright committees, particularly in the UK, and a careful watch is kept on legal trends which may limit availability and access.
The Director continues as a Trustee of the Share the Vision project, which deals with public library services to visually-impaired people. The Office is organising a consultation on Large Print Books in the Autumn as part of this involvement. As the project finds it difficult to afford representation on IFLA, the UAP Programme has agreed to hold a watching brief on relevant matters within IFLA on its behalf.
Publications
Copyright Issues in Libraries: Global Concerns, Local Solutions.
Edited by Judy Watkins
ISBN 0 7123 2150 0
Cost £5.00
The growing tide of information across national boundaries has meant that copyright issues are of increasing global concern. International conventions provide a framework in which legislators operate. National legislation provides different answers to the questions.
During August 1996 The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) brought together copyright experts at the pre-conference Seminar held in Tianjin and at the Conference Session of the Section on Document Delivery and Interlending to discuss the problems and how to deal with them. The papers cover general copyright
issues in both electronic and paper based environments, approaching the topic from the points of view of libraries, users, collecting agencies and publishers. There are also papers covering national systems in developed and developing countries as well as discussion of international initiates such as ECUP (European Copyright Users
Platform). The IFLA Position Paper on Copyright in the Electronic Environment is reproduced and discussed in this volume.
Charging for document delivery and interlending
Edited by Sara Gould
ISBN 07123 2151 9
Price £5.00
This publication contains the papers from the Workshop on Charging which was held as part of the IFLA General Conference in Beijing last year, and organised by the IFLA Section on Document Delivery and Interlending. The question of "free or fee" has been discussed for years and these papers show that experts are still divided on whether charges should be made for interlibrary transactions, and if so, at
what level.
Both publications are available from the usual UAP address.
National Libraries of the World: an address list is updated regularly and is available free of charge.
IFLA Fax Guidelines
These may be obtained from the Office free of charge.
A complete list of publications is available from the Office on request.
The Office has also continued to publish semi-annual reviews and bibliographies in Interlending and Document Supply. It has also continued to compile the Miscellany section of the journal.
Staff have also contributed a number of articles to professional journals in many countries on UAP, copyright law, electronic management systems, payment mechanisms and document delivery generally. A chapter on National Libraries, comprising a review of the year’s literature, has been written for Librarianship &
Information Work Worldwide.
Communications
Director of the UAP Programme and Head of IFLA Office for International Lending Graham Cornish
Research Officers Margaret Barwick, Sara Gould
Sarah Keates, Judy Watkins, and Pauline Connolly
Officer Administrator Louise Huddlestone
The Office is fully linked to the Internet system. All staff can be reached on a general Email address IFLA@bl.uk and individual members of the team can be reached by using the formula: firstname.lastname@bl.uk. The General Office telephone number is +44 1937 546255 (which is also the number for Judy Watkins). Other numbers
are: 546123 (Graham Cornish); 546124 (Sarah Keates); 546465 (Margaret
Barwick and Louise Huddlestone); and 546254 (Sara Gould and Pauline Connolly).
The UAP Office has a home page on the WWW at
http://www.ifla.org/VI/2/uap.htm
The UAP newsletter can be received electronically. Contact Pauline Connolly at the address above.
Niels Mark: Academic and Special Libraries in Denmark - recent developments and trends
By Niels Mark
A very strong cooperation among all categories of libraries characterises the Danish library system. The Danish libraries are divided into public libraries, school libraries and research libraries. The last group covers academic libraries, university libraries and special libraries. The public libraries and the school libraries are municipal libraries, while the State normally runs the research libraries. The public libraries and the research libraries have of course different tasks, but to a certain extent the two library sectors overlap, and together they form the cooperating Danish library system. This system ensures that all Danes have free access to materials in libraries financed by the State. For users not belonging to a university or a higher educational institution, access will often be effected through interlending via the local public library.
The research library sector covers more than 800 libraries of varying type and size; from very small university departments with only part-time staff to large research libraries with different national library functions. About fifty research libraries, including the largest, have public functions, but there are great differences among the libraries in relation to tasks, obliga-tions etc. Few libraries are universal libraries; in principle they cover all subjects. Others have the duty to serve specialized educational institutions.
In this way the research libraries are not governed by the same principles. Nevertheless, as for the largest, which I deal with here, they all make information and materials available for research, higher education and other users of scientific information - printed as well as electronic information.
One of the most remarkable things about the research library structure in Denmark is the fact that ten of the largest libraries are coming under to two different ministries, although they all act as university libraries. The four largest libraries are independent institutions coming under
The Ministry of Culture. That goes for libraries with national functions. The other libraries are integrated with "their" university, and they come under The Ministry of Education; in both cases a close cooperation with the university exists.
Recently, most Danish research libraries have been through a process of automation and modernization. In some cases as an answer to budget reductions, increasing user demands and the demands for information technology. In some libraries this process has resulted in new organizational structures. Some libraries have changed the traditional assembly line method in processing materials to a combination of all processes, and instead of separated departments they now operate with subject teams; these subject teams are responsible for all processes from buying books to binding.
The Danish research libraries are technologically well equipped. They have had on-line cataloque systems running since the beginning or the middle of the eighties, and most of the libraries are strongly involved in the use of network services and network cooperation.
Differences in conditions have characterized the research libraries in recent years. Government and universities meet libraries with demands for more user information in their services, more user influence and a focus on quality of services and the cost of the elements in the library operations and processes. In other words - the libraries have to justify their use of resources.
Consequently, libraries have focused on both organizational development programmes and staff development programmes. Most libraries have been through a process of setting targets and making strategic plans, and they have worked out policies in the following areas: acquisition, cataloguing, user services, information technologies etc.
Library buildings have been modernized, too. Almost all big university libraries have been renovated, have got extensions or are going to have more modern physical facilities.
In the early nineties the libraries had to face staff reductions of 10 - 20 per cent. At the same time the use of the libraries increased, and the libraries introduced services based on information technology. The only way to handle this situation was to introduce staff development programmes, management development programmes and to put many resources into staff education and staff training. E.g. in my library - The State and University Library with 250 staff members - each staff member has an average of five to six days of education per year.
Towards the Virtual Research Library:
Two years ago the Danish government introduced a vision for new information technology in the Danish society. An action plan followed it up: "INFO-Society 2000." The main idea of this plan is to support the use of information technology in society, generally in schools, higher education, libraries, research etc. Information in English about the plan can be found at the homepage worked out by The Ministry of Research: http://www.fsk.dk
The vision is to establish: Denmark’s Electronic Research Library, which is a network of cooperating libraries. It will make it possible for the users to have access to enormous and complex amounts of information, and will form a "super structure" to the local library systems. It will give new services, new tasks and new ways of operating. Nevertheless, we can only realize the vision with large investments in information technology equipments, networks and up to date library systems.
In 1995 the three ministries with special responsibility for the research libraries: The Ministry of Culture, The Ministry of Education and The Ministry of Research decided to work out a programme for information technology development in the research library sector. Investment plans were presented at the beginning of 1997 with support from outside consultants. In principle it covers the whole library sector, but in practice it has focused on the demands for the ten to thirteen largest research libraries. In the report the consultants estimated a total investment in a five-year period of about 250 mills. Dak ( forty-two mills.US$), which is approximately 3 per cent per year of the total costs of running the research libraries in Denmark. This investment brings the research libraries from the existent first generation level in relation to the use of information technology to the second generation level called Danish Electronic Research Library. The investment plans operate with four investment areas:
- Local library systems, including connection to networks
- digital resources in the electronic library, which cover retro conversion projects, digitization of documents and national license to international information centres
- access for the public, work stations,
- national projects where the idea is to run pilot projects, especially to ensure the user influence at the electronic library system
The electronic research library programme will of course influence the library structure. Through the network cooperation it will create a virtual research library, which covers the holdings and services of all the connected libraries. It will create two levels among the research libraries. The first level is a library, which is directly involved in network cooperation. The second level will consist of libraries, not directly involved in the cooperation, but it opens up the possibility of using resources in the electronic research library. Of course, the plans contain many details about the steps each library has to go through, about the infrastructure, standards, the influence of new media etc.
It is of course only an investment plan worked out by the consultants, but the libraries and their users support it. Consequently, we attribute a high value to the development in the research library sector in Denmark for the next five years.
This short article gives only an impression of the latest development in the Danish library sector, but hopefully it expresses the important role the sector will have in the future for higher education and research.
Presenting the Danish library structure and the individual libraries is not possible here. A complete description can be found in the Nordic journal: "Nordinfo nytt", vol. 16. 1993, number 1. In this special issue you will find an English article "Danish academic and special Libraries - the manifold and the one" by Ulla Højsgaard from the National Library Authority. This article surveys the Danish research Library system excellently.
"Interlibary Lending and Document Delivery in Developing Countries"
Status report Norwegian project
by Kristine Abelsnes,
Statoil,
July 1997
Organization
The project has been transferred from the NLAs special group for reference
and interlending to the Norwegian Library Association's executive board.
The NLA's secreatariat will take care of the accounts and some other
administrative tasks connected with the project.
Pilot project Nairobi University Library
Representatives of the project group visited Nairobi in October 1996 and
had talks and negotiations with representatives from Nairobi University
Library, the University of Nairobi and UNEPNet.
It was not possible to reach a final and detailed conclusion resulting in
the signing of the drafted agreement, but an agreement of intent was signed
by the project and the University of Nairobi. This agreement was based on
the drafted project plan and agreement.
There are certain things that need to be in place before the actual
installment of the connection between Nairobi University Library and UNEP
headquarters at Gigiri, Nairobi. First of all, we need a license from Kenya
Posts and Telecommunications Corporation for operation of the communication
link. The University has applied for such a license.
However, UNEPNet has not still received its final acceptance from Kenyan
authorities for the general use of UNEPNet from Nairobi. As long as this is
not finalized, the project is at a standstill as far as Kenya is concerned.
Document delivery
The following Norwegian libraries will supply copies free of charge
according to agreement between these libraries and our partner library(ies)
in Africa:
The National Library
Bergen University Library
Norwegian School of Business and Economics
BIBSYS and e-mail will be used for locating and ordering documents. Due to
problems with regular mail, fax delivery is the most reliable delivery
method and will be used.
In addition the project will finance some use of charging libraries and
commercial document suppliers.
Additional funding/Contact with NUFU
Contact has benn made with NUFU (Norwegian Universities' Committee for
Development Research and Education). NUFU has expressed interest in the
project as such, and it fits very well with their own strategy. We hope to
be able to approach the Ministry of Development Aid together with them to
get funding for an expansion of the project to other African countries
where NUFU is now active and where UNEPNet can be used for communication.
NUFU is already cooperating with UNPENet through GRID Arendal.
On August 19th we will participate at a workshop organized by GRID Arendal
(UNEPNet) to discuss different aspects and possible developments of network
building for information and research in Africa.
