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World Library and Information Congress: 71st IFLA General Conference and Council

"Libraries - A voyage of discovery"

August 14th - 18th 2005, Oslo, Norway

Library Tours

Please indicate your choice on the conference registration form and confirm on-site when registering.

Comprehensive General Libraries

The National Library of Norway
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-14.00
Transportation: Public

The National Library is the country's primary institution for collection, storage and provision of access to Norwegian media. It is the nation's major source of information about Norway, Norwegians and Norwegian affairs. The library is situated in Oslo City centre and owns several special collections such as manuscripts, sound recordings, newspapers, Norwegian-American material and collections relating to the authors Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. A major renovation of the old building from 1913 will be completed in summer 2005.

Public Libraries

Asker Public Library
and
Bærum Public Library / Bærum Public Library, Sandvika Branch
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-14.00 Transportation: Bus

Asker Public Library is located in the municipality of Asker, approximately 25 km southwest of Oslo. Asker has 53,000 inhabitants. Asker library ranks among the best-visited libraries in Norway. New library premises will open in October 2004 in Asker Cultural Centre. The library is well known for its exhibitions and events.

Bærum Public Library is located in Bekkestua. The building is designed by the famous Norwegian architect T. Willoch and was opened to the public in 1982. The library holds special collections such as music and local history, and has a multicultural section. Co-operation with schools through the school library section.

Bærum Public Library, Sandvika branch is situated in the local administration centre of the municipality of Bærum. The library offers a special service to local politicians and municipal employees.


Oslo Public Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00 Transportation: Walking

An Old Building Filled With Modern Thoughts
Oslo Public Library is situated in the city center within walking distance of the Conference Centre. The main library is an old building in neoclassical style, full of charm and atmosphere. The second floor features a "ship" filled with computers, designed for working in groups in a modern way, integrating the use of different media and new technology in the Learning Management System. The main library houses the main circulation and reference department as well as the music and children's and youth departments. Collections include media in all formats and in 50 languages. Additional specialised departments offer library services to the multicultural populations in Norway as well as support for school libraries. A mini-seminar (30-60 minutes) is being planned in connection with the visit.
Details will be published in IFLA Express, no. 1, 2005.


Oslo Public Library, Grünerløkka branch
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public or walking

Grünerløkka Branch Library is located in the urban community of Grünerløkka, close to the city centre. Built in 1914, the library represents an important cornerstone in this vibrant and multicultural area. It houses a wide range of activities. "Serieteket" is aspiring to be a resource centre for cartoons and animation for libraries, schools and cartoonists in Norway.


Ski Public Library
and
Oslo Public Library, Holmlia branch
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-14.00
Transportation: Bus

The library moved into a new shopping centre in October 2003. Ski Historical Archive is situated in the public library. The archive collection contains records concerning the history of Ski municipality and a collection of old photographs from the area.

Oslo Public Library, Holmlia branch is a multicultural library in a suburb south in Oslo. Holmlia branch's speciality is ARI - Anti Racist Information. In 2002, the library was awarded the coveted prize "Library of the Year 2002". ARI is a collection of various media in different languages with anti-racist content, and includes literature, videos, audio books as well as cartoons. Although intended for children and youth, the collection is also utilized by adults.


Fredrikstad Public Library
and
Østfold County Library
Date: Thursday 18 August, All day
Transportation: Bus

Fredrikstad is a town of 70,000 citizens and is idyllically placed at the mouth of the river Glomma, 100 kilometres south of Oslo. The library building and the park surroundings are declared protected by reason of its considerable architectural and cultural-historical value. The building, built in neorenaissance style in 1922-26, has been the public library of Fredrikstad since 1926. The building was completely restored in 1999 and is today a library of modern designed, which has kept its original dignity.

Østfold County Library is located near Fredrikstad Public Library. It's main task is to support and develop the libraries in the county within all fields of librarianship, ranging from new user demands in the electronic society to the traditional focus on literature and fostering high skills of reading. Østfold County Library is heavily involved in a large project which involves all the libraries from all the 18 municipalities in the county of Østfold. The project is called "The Østfold library" and is a true "library without walls", focusing on better library services for the Community. The project work has resulted in a joint delivery service for all the libraries, offering a collection of one million books easily available to the patrons.


Tønsberg and Nøtterøy Public Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, All day
Transportation: Bus

Tønsberg and Nøtterøy Public Library is located in Tønsberg, the oldest town in Norway, 1133 years old. The town is located 100 kilometres south of Oslo. Tønsberg and Nøtterøy Library was founded in 1909. It is a mutual library for the 55,000 inhabitants of Tønsberg and Nøtterøy municipalities. In 1992 the library moved to a modern building "Under the trees of knowledge" designed by the architects Lunde & Løvseth, built on the site of St Olav's Monastery. The monastery ruins and the remains of two Viking ship graves provide an exiting contrast to the modern technology and the special architecture of the building. Library innovation, especially in the fields of automation, virtual services and self-service systems are the main aims. Welcome to an exciting mixture of information, recreation and inspiration.


Ullensaker Public Library
and
Ask Public Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, All day
Transportation: Bus

Ask and Ullensaker are rural libraries about 35 kilometers north of Oslo. Both libraries are located in new buildings. They are integrated with local cultural centres and participate actively in their local communities.

Ullensaker is a medium-sized library, which serves 25,000 inhabitants. The library cooperates closely with the primary schools and offers training in reading and writing for children. It also arranges local art exhibitions.

Ask is a small public library, which serves 5,000 inhabitants. The library moved into a new building in 2002. Ask was one of the first libraries in Norway which was able to integrate a local archive and a small local museum into its collections.

Academic and Research Libraries

Akershus University College Library
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Bus

Akershus University College offers studies in vocational and technical teacher education, ICT, nutrition, executive housekeeping, nursing, midwifery, social education and product design. Among our more than 3,000 students there are a majority of mature and part-time students. Akershus University College moved to Kjeller Campus outside Oslo in August 2003. The library is a learning resource centre situated in a modern architectural environment. The library holds about 70,000 books and 400 periodicals.


The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, The Library
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Bus

Polhøgda was the home of Fridtjof Nansen from 1901 until he died in May 1930. The mansion itself is a historical monument, but not a museum. The Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) specializes in research on political solutions to national and international problems in environmental and resource management. The institute is engaged in academic studies, contract research, investigations and evaluations. The main discipline is political science, but FNI researchers also hold degrees in law, economics and history, and have special language and regional competence on Russia and China. FNI is a private foundation, established in 1958 to conduct research within the interest areas of Fridtjof Nansen and to maintain the property of Polhøgda, Nansen's home. FNI cooperates with many research institutions and individual researchers both in Norway and abroad. The library is planning a mini-seminar (30-60 minutes) on FNI research and Fridtjof Nansen in connection with the visit.
Details will be published in IFLA Express, no.1, 2005.


The Norwegian Institute for Children's Books
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Norwegian Institute for Children's Books (NBI) is Norway's information and documentation centre on literature for children and young people. The NBI's library is the Norwegian specialist library for children's literature and keeps a collection of all Norwegian and translated titles for children and young people published in Norway. There is also a collection of Norwegian and international specialist works on children's literature, illustration, children and reading, children and media, etc. From June 2005 the NBI will be situated in the same premises as the National Library of Norway at Drammensveien 42, Oslo. The library is planning a mini-seminar (30-60 minutes) on selected topics in connection with the visit.
Details will be published in IFLA Express, no.1, 2005.


Norwegian Nobel Institute. The Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking or public

Located in the centre of Oslo in a building form 1867, across the street from the Palace Park, most recently renovated in the 1990s. The Library was officially opened to the public in 1905, has a collection of more than 190,000 volumes (books and journals), and covers political history from the last 200 years, international law, peace and conflict studies, and international economics. Special collection on the Nobel prize and the laureates, and international peacekeeping, microfilm collection of international relations and peace documentation. Depository library for international organisations, including the United Nations, OSCE, ILO, and the Council of Europe.


Norwegian School of Management, Library/Learning Resource Center
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-14.00
Transportation: Public

Located presently outside Oslo, NMS will relocate in August 2005 to a new tailor made campus inside Oslo. The new campus at Nydalen will be centrally located in an emerging and pulsating business area in Oslo. The library/LRC location will be on the top of the building. The library/LRC will be an important part of the learning environment. The new library/LRC will serve 8,000-10,000 students and about 600 employees. The library/LRC contains collections in social sciences with economics, business management and marketing as major subjects. It has extensive cooperation programs and networks with other libraries and information sources.


The Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education, Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-14.00
Transportation: Public

The Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education, NUSPE, was established in 1969. The University currently has 900 students and 200 employees. The University is situated in a rural setting on the outskirts of the city about 15 minutes by underground train from Oslo City Centre. Our collections cover the following subject areas in addition to sports and physical education; sociology, research methods, psychology, sports medicine, anatomy, physiology, administration and management. We also have an extensive collection containing jubilee books of Norwegian national and local sports federation and in addition, a large historical collection of books on sport and physical education. The library is planning a mini-seminar (30-60 minutes) with briefings on selected topics (doping & ethics, sports organisation, sports and identity in Norway) in connection with the visit.
Details to be published in IFLA Express, no.1, 2005.


Oslo University College. Learning Centre
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public or walking

Most of the college's activities take place in the premises located in the old Frydenlund Brewery at Bislet. With seven faculties, approximately 10,000 students and a staff of 1,000, Oslo University College (OUC) is Norway's largest state university college. OUC provides professional higher education with programmes leading to bachelor and master degrees in all main areas of society: education, economics, media, arts and culture, engineering, journalism, library and information science, health and social services. A mini-seminar (30-60 minutes) is being planned with briefings on selected topics in connection with the visit.
Details to be published in IFLA Express, no.1, 2005.


University of Oslo. Library of Arts and Social Sciences
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The University of Oslo is Norway's largest and oldest institution of higher education. It was founded in 1811 when Norway was still under Danish rule. Today the University of Oslo has approx. 30,000 students and 4,600 employees The University of Oslo Library, Library of Arts and Social Sciences is located in Georg Sverdrups House centrally in the Blindern campus. The library was established in 1999 and is a study library with humanistic and social sciences. The Library has an area of 24,000 sqm with approx. 2 million volumes on 6 floors. The book collection covers the humanities, education, social science and theology. The Library had over 700,000 visitors in 2003. There are 500 desks for members of the public and 90 computers connected to the network. The Library has a staff of just over 100. The following units belong to the Library: the Sophus Bugge Student Learning Centre, the Ethnographic Museum Library, the Faculty of Theology Library, the Library of the University Museum of National Antiquities.


University of Oslo. Faculty of Law Library
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

The Faculty of Law Library is situated in one of the three old university buildings at the University square in the centre of Oslo (http://http://www.uio.no/english/about_uio/buildings.html). The architect is Christian Heinrich Grosch (1801-1865). The library is located in the Domus Bibliotheca from 1852, originally designed for the University Library. The Main Library is on the ground floor, and mainly serves 4,000 students, but also the professional legal community and to is open to the general public.


University of Oslo. Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science Library. The Informatics Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Informatics Library is a part of The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Library. The collections consists of literature in informatics; computing and related subjects. The library has a permanent exhibition of old computers and calculators. It mainly serves students and patrons at The Department of Informatics, but is open for the general public.

Specialised Libraries

The Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille is a state controlled institution and comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The institution offers library services to the blind, visually impaired and others with reading problems. NLB provides services to the whole country. The library produces talking books (DAISY), Braille books and electronic books. NLB provide a special service to college and university students. All visually impaired student can by right have their study literature produced as talking, braille or electronic books.


Norwegian Broadcasting Company, The Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK) is the main television and radio station in Norway and is financed by the state. The library will be fresh, new and modern in 2005. The most important services are programme research, digital services and teaching the users how and where to find the right information. The exhibitions are set up according to the most important national and international events. The NRK Library has connections and cooperates closely with the other media corporations in Norway and abroad as well as with libraries.



The Directorate for Cultural Heritage, The Library
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

The library is located in a building from 1900. The library is a special library for cultural heritage, primarily serving the institution's own staff, but it also serves the professional cultural heritage management all over the country, a research institution (NIKU), and a private voluntary organisation. The collections concentrate on architecture (especially churches, listed buildings, and traditional architecture), art history, archaeology, conservation/restoration of buildings and paintings/sculpture, and other topics related to cultural heritage, as industrial archaeology, cultural landscapes etc.

Governmental and Law Libraries

Norwegian Patent Office
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Norwegian Patent Office (NPO) is a government authority organised under the Ministry of Trade and industry. The main function of the NPO is to process applications for patent protection and for trademark and design registration. We provide our customers with information on technological developments within a specific technical field, we give prior assessments of ideas for patenting, trademarks and designs, and we monitor certain activities and companies involved in particular fields. Our customers include Norwegian and foreign companies, research institutions, inventors and innovators. The library has a special collection on patents on paper, microfiches and CD-ROMs. It also has a collection of books and journals on intellectual property.

Medical Libraries

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Institute is to be found on 7 locations, whereby Lindern is the main site. The main goal of the institute is to improve the public health by focusing on health promotion and preventive aspects. It is a national centre for expert knowledge on epidemiology, infectious disease control, environmental medicine, forensic toxicology and research on drug abuse. The library has a staff of 5 with a variety of international backgrounds. The library cooperates actively with 5 other medical libraries connected with the university hospitals in the Oslo area, in a consortium with the main emphasis on electronic journals


Ullevaal University Hospital Health Information Centre, the Library
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Library is originally a Patients' Library, but from 2000 it was integrated in the new Health Information Centre which was build in the new Patient Hotel. The centre offers services to all patients, their families and to the public, concerning health information. The main function of the centre is to provide and facilitate courses in how to cope and live with chronic diseases and other types of patient education.


University of Oslo Library. Library of Medicine and Health Sciences
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The library is the Norwegian International Medlars Centre, with the biggest medical collections in Norway. It is part of the University of Oslo Library, and situated at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital at Gaustad. It serves students and staff at the University of Oslo and Rikshospitalet and is open to the public. The library is in the process of going e-only, and has a portal for e-journals. The Rikshospitalet University Hospital opened in 2000 and is highly praised internationally for its architecture and art.

School Libraries

Løkeberg School
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The school is a primary school with 540 pupils between the ages of 6-13. It was built in 1998. Løkeberg School is one of the few schools in Norway selected by the Norwegian Department for Education to be a demonstration school for pedagogical reasons. The library is very actively used by the pupils and the staff, and one of its main goals is to take part in the reading progress of the youngest pupils.


Stovner School
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The library is part of Stovner Primary School with 540 children. Approx. 50% of the children are of foreign origin and their primary language is not Norwegian. The library is a learning centre.


Vahl School
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

Vahl Primary School is located in the eastern part of the city centre. Currently there are 258 pupils in the school and 95% of the pupils are ethnic minority children. Most of the immigrants some from Asia and northern Africa. The library is planning a mini-seminar (30-60 minutes) on selected topics in connection with the visits on both days.
Details will be published in IFLA Express, no. 1, 2005.

Information Centre

Statistics Norway, Library and Information Centre
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

Statistics Norway is situated in Oslo city centre. The book collection counts approx. 150,000 volumes of economic, demographic and social studies and statistics from most countries of the world and international organisations. The Library and Information Centre is both an internal library providing literature and access to other information resources to researchers in Statistics Norway and a public library with lending services. However, the most important task is our information service: helping the public to find statistics, either on the Internet or in our collection of statistics.

Archives

The Labour Movement Archives and Library
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

The Library is situated next to the Conference venue. Besides its archives and photo collections, it has a spectacular banner collection which is integrated in a picture database of photographs, posters and banners. The library holds some 95,000 titles, including many on the history of the Norwegian and international labour movement. The library also has literature on the life of workers and working conditions, women's history, environment policy and ecology, labour legislation, as well as economics and current political debate.


The Oslo City Archives
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

The Oslo City Archives are situated in the city centre. The Oslo City Archives have a dual role as the adviser to the city's administration on recordkeeping and the custodian of records held in trust for the public. The institution holds and preserves historically and judicially important records for the city of Oslo. It has just started collecting private archives and has a project on multicultural archives. The collection consists of 14 kilometres of records, drawings, photograph's (500,000) and films.


Verdens Gang AS, VG Fakta
Date: Wednesday 17 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

VG Fakta is the library/information centre of Verdens Gang, Norway's largest daily newspaper. VG Fakta mainly serves the editorial department of the newspaper, but to a certain extent also its readers. It has two main tasks: 1. Researching for its reporters 2. Daily updating of its digital newspaper archive. Newspaper production is a day-to-day business. That is where this library services differ from most other libraries. The deadline rules its life.

Other Institutions or Organisations

ABM-utvikling Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Walking

The Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority, was established on 1st January 2003 following the merger of the Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries, the Norwegian Museum Authority, and the National Office for Research Documentation, Academic and Special Libraries. The Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority is a strategic body, and promotes partnerships and collaboration between the three sectors, in addition to addressing sector specific challenges.


The Library House
Date: Thursday 18 August, 09.00-12.00
Transportation: Public

The Library House is the largest store in Norway for libraries and consists of the following firms: Biblioteksentralen AL sells books and other media-products, bibliographic data and other services, automation products etc. to public libraries. Bibliotekenes IT-senter provides IT-solutions for schools, public- and specialised libraries. BS Eurobib provides furniture, advice on interior design and solutions and library accessories to libraries, schools and information centres. Edda Interbok AS and Oslo læremiddelsenter sells and offers professional advice on textbooks for both primary and secondary school. The Norwegian Library Association and Foreningen IFLA 2005 also have their offices in the building. In addition there is considerable activity in Biblioteksentralen's customer library and conference rooms.