IFLA 2005: Blog reports from Oslo

The king was dressed in a simple business suit
and looked like a typical business man.

The great event is past. IFLA has visited Oslo. The circus came from Buenos Aires - and moves on to Seoul, Durban and Quebec. It is time to reflect. What does IFLA "mean"?

Who went to IFLA 2005 in Oslo?

By July 25, 2.200 participants had been registered for the IFLA meeting in Oslo. In Berlin 2003, ten percent registered late, so we may perhaps end up with 2.400 to 2.500 delegates. With a couple of hundred volunteers and an unknown number of accompanying persons, with exhibition people and assorted staff, the gathering as a whole must involve more than three thousand people.

Norwegian library journals

Three national journals

Norwegian librarians are served by three national journals: Bok og bibliotek [Book and Library], Bibliotekforum [Library Forum] and Bibliotekaren [The Librarian]. These are practice oriented rather than academic publications. They include news and reports from the field, but no peer-reviewed articles. They are eagerly read by the Norwegian library community, which is small enough - around five thousand persons - for everybody to taken a direct interest in everbody else.

Public libraries in knowledge societies: the Norwegian experience

The Norwegian knowledge manifesto

The full manifesto is about three pages in print. The ten points below is a brief summary.

1. Norway is moving from a welfare state to a knowledge based society
2. Broad access to education is necessay for a knowledge based economy
3. Values are created by people that are competent, knowledgable and culturally aware
4. The knowledge society must be realized locally
5. Public libraries need new ideas and new tasks
6. Local communities need a place that can provide learning, knowledge and culture in a free and open setting
7. Public libraries support the ties that link people and places
8. Culture gives meaning to wealth
9. An investment in public libraries is an investment in future productivity and welfare
10. Library development is a knowledge policy for local communities.