Robots, holograms and libraries

They are among society’s most important institutions and robotic butlers work in their archives. Your toaster can connect to their database and help you to cook. The lion’s share of their premises is used for research and teaching but they still go by the name library…

The libraries are filling up with literature in new ways

There are significantly fewer books on the shelves in Danish libraries. At the same time the libraries prioritize the promotion of literature higher than ever before and inspired by the world of art, they are developing the kind of promotion that will ensure their raison d’etre in a future cultural landscape.

Time for change: Library development 2016

Over the last 100 years, the local libraries have changed from books behind a counter to open shelves and self-service. Modern ideas about libraries in 2016 indicate that they should be ‘a third place’, a meeting place which is neither a home nor a workplace. Increasingly the users themselves are not only active participants, but also those who generate content.

Building addiction

When one third of your ten million annual web visits are from mobile devices, it’s a no-brainer to think of an app. Still, an attempt to produce a habit-forming killer solution for a public library sounds impossible, but the Taskukirjasto (Pocket Library) application of Vantaa City Library in Finland seems to have done the magic. As ever, there’s a simple secret behind the trick.

Viewpoint: No more Ssshhh!

Libraries are quiet places. I can understand the sentiment to some degree as quiet places are hard to find and the space is for everyone and must be respected. However I struggle with the idea that a school library should be a quiet place. Seems to me like a contradiction in terms.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Since 2001 libraries in Iceland have cooperated on a nationwide basis through the company Landskerfi bókasafna hf. (e. Consortium of Icelandic Libraries). The company was originally founded by the state and the municipalities in Iceland.

Editorial: Entering the digital terrain – do we (really) have a compass and a map?

Librarianship seems to be one of the professions the media has a romantic and stereotypical image of: we are the silent servants and caretakers of lovely old books; we dust and cherish them and want to share this passion with our customers. Most of our time is spent stamping books in the backroom, and we usually do all this without pay.

This is the very last issue of Scandinavian Library Quarterly

12-12-2016: This webbsite will not be updated anymore but we will leave it here with all the texts published in Scandinavian Library Quarterly and Scandinavian Public Library quarterly, available for everyone to read.