under the topic
Libraries in Support of Education

The following papers have been delivered:

ACCESS FOR ALL: A New National Library for Tomorrow's Learners. The United States National Library of Education

by Blane Dessy, National Library of Education, US

Created in 1994, the National Library of Education is to become a principal center for the collection, preservation, and effective utilization of the research and other information related to education. The National Library manages its own collections and services, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), the largest Education database in the world, and is instrumental in the Department of Education's World Wide Web presence. The National Library is sponsoring several initiatives in new technology including cross site indexing across multiple web sites, the Gateway to Education Materials (GEM) project which includes the creation of new metadata standards for education materials, and the Virtual Reference Desk which is research and development of internet based reference services.
[Adobe Acrobat PDF format 107KB]

Denmark’s National Library of Education: Growth and Choices between Media

by Jakob Andersen, National Library of Education, Denmark

Two sets of problems are discussed: Why have the activities of the library been growing so fast the last few years? Three factors are considered, the most inte-rest-ing being the changes in the study patterns of educational students. Next, the choices and priorities educational libraries face in times of great strides in the technological development are described. The conclusion is that straight choices are never good enough; to strive for balance is strictly necessary.
[Adobe Acrobat PDF format 114KB]

A Virtual National Library of Education? German Libraries Cooperate to Support Education

by Diann Rusch-Feja

The lack of a German National Library led to several co-operative efforts not only within the information sector. The network of 'pedagogical' databases organized in FIS-Bildung was one of them. Others are e.g. Internet-related projects from the schools themselves or from 'private' associations like Gesellschaft-Information-Bildung (GIB). Together those initiatives reach a certain level of service which could be compared to the offers of a centralized library - but some important aspects are missing.

A network of educational libraries in the Nordic-Baltic countries

by Emilija Banionyte

While talking about libraries supporting education we usually think about the end-users’ point of view. That is absolutely correct. In this paper the point of view of the libraries is chosen. Nordic and Baltic libraries had developed a network the main aim of which is to support education. It is explained why the co-operation started and what has been achieved already.
[Adobe Acrobat PDF format 97KB]

All papers have been published in INSPEL vol. 32.