Library Laws in Iceland:Recent Changes

Presentation at NAPLE Assembly, 14th of May 2013

Eiríkur Thorláksson, AdviserDepartment of Cultural Affairs,

Ministry of Education, Science and Culture

The National and University Library of Iceland Act, nr.142 / 2011

The Libraries Act, nr. 150 / 2012

The National and University Library of Iceland Act nr.142 / 2011

Previous law was from 1994Revisions had been under way on since 2006

Main objectives:• Previous law had focused on unification of two large libraries –

organization and staff (National Library and Library of the University of Iceland); with an increased number of universities in Iceland (smaller, local) there was increased need for focus on universal services

• Technological developments have called for different definitions of resources, and the role of the Library in gathering, registering and making such material available – e-books, music, internet materials etc.

• The Library is now charged by law with the administration of universal access to e-resources for all computers registered in Iceland through www.hvar.is

The Iceland Consortiumwww.hvar.is

The Iceland Consortium (IC) within the National Library is responsible for license agreements for a nation-wide access in Iceland to academic and scholarly content for students and staff of academic and research institutions and the general public in Iceland (2012 numbers).

Resources – about 20.815 e-journals with full texts:E-journals by publishers:

•Elsevier ScienceDirect (2,059 titles) •Karger Online (99 titles) •Sage Premier (554 titles) •SpringerLink (1,358 titles) •Wiley (Blackwell-Synergy) (778 titles)

Collections containing journals and other e-materials from many publishers:•EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier ( 8,506 titles, including 4,642 full text) •Business Source Premier (3,283 titles, including 2,113 full text) •MasterFile Premier (2,665 titles, including 1,670 full text) •ProQuest Central (12,665 titles, including 9,745 full text)

The Iceland Consortiumwww.hvar.is

Resources (continued):Encyclopedias and databases:

•Encyclopædia Britannica (Academic Edition)•Encyclopædia Britannica (School Edition•Morgunblaðið database (3 year embargo) •Grove Art •Grove Music •Web of Science(Web of Science is a bibliographic database that contains abstracts and bibliographic information about scientific articles. Using the SFX link resolver full text of articles can be found if accessible.)

Sponsored article and data collections:•ASCE and EiVillage með Compendex - Sponsors: University of Iceland Engineering Dept., University of Reykjavik, IAV Contractors, Landsvirkjun, EFLA Consulting Engineers, Orkuveita Reykjavikur, VSO Consulting, VERKÍS. •OVID - Sponsors: The National University Hospital of Iceland, Directorate of Health

The Iceland Consortiumwww.hvar.is

Downloaded full-text articles 2003-2012 – excluding Morgunbladid

The Iceland Consortiumwww.hvar.is

Downloaded full-text articles 2003-2012

The Libraries Act nr.150 / 2012

Previous law on Public Libraries was from 1997Previous law on Library for the Blind was from 1982Revisions had been under way on since 2003 – delayed for various reasons

Main objectives (in addition to those already mentioned):• New law refers to international ideas of “Seamless library service”. • Development in community structures (unification of municipalities)

called for allowing more co-operation / unification of services• A common registration system for all libraries through the Consortium of

Icelandic Libraries (www.gegnir.is) has in fact brought the whole public library sector into one unit working together – the new law takes this into account

• Establishment of Library Council as advisory council for the Ministry• Establishment of Library Development Fund to further innovation,

research and new services

The Consortium of Icelandic Libraries

The Consortium of Icelandic Libraries runs a union catalog for Icelandic libraries, known as Gegnir (www.gegnir.is)

The company, is owned by the Icelandic government and a series of municipalities around the country. Its purpose is to run a central, web-based library system for most of the libraries in Iceland. The vision can be summarized like this:

• To make the best possible use of Iceland's modest library and information resources

• To provide all users of Icelandic libraries with equal access to these resources over the Internet

• To implement a single, centrally run library system as the most cost-effective solution

The Consortium now has 311 member libraries and is operated without government subsidies

The Challanges:

• To defend funding for libraries, both on the national and community level

• To increase the social and democratic role of libraries, especially on the community level

• To emphasize the role of libraries in future development in education as well as in other areas – economy, heritage, future research, etc.

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library”

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)