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About the project 'The Seamless Library Oppland':

Those living in the county of Oppland will have access to integrated library facilities covering all sectors and administrative levels. The facilities offered will be much better matched to individual needs in a modern ICT society and the collective information resources of the libraries in Oppland will be made available to all.

The project will help libraries to take on new roles, to become learning venues and to focus on freedom of speech. The libraries will not only give users access to digital documents, but also IT skills. To help libraries in this development, a program of coaching will be initiated as well as a certification project.

The County Library’s project description is in two parts which cover:

• The physical seamless library
• The digital library open 24 hours a day

The physical seamless library

-Involves action by local authorities to bring together the services intended to provide integrated solutions for a single unified library sector in Oppland, namely 26 public libraries, 15 secondary school libraries and 2 university college libraries. This will help to improve the accessibility of library services by providing integrated resources. During 2004 a model has been developed in Valdres in which six public libraries and one school library have worked together to achieve greater efficiency and better services overall.

Areas of cooperation, listed below, are governed by a cooperation agreement:

• Collection development
• Transfer of competence between staff through loans and exchanges
• A common coordinator to oversee the cooperation
• Specialisation of collections and services, use of service sheets
• Arrangements
• Own transport service between libraries
• Common rules for borrowing

Work on the physical seamless library will continue in 5 new regions during 2005/2006.

Collaborative projects

• The library as a learning venue, a cooperative activity between Oppland County library and Vox, the National Centre for Education in the Workplace.
• Common library cards – a part of the Norwegian digital library. Five local authorities in Oppland and Gjøvik University College have participated on a trials basis and in the reference group.
• BLEST – project initiated and led by Biblioteksentralen A/L (The Norwegian Library Bureau). Oppland County Library and three municipalities in the Gjøvik region are taking part. The aim of the project is to develop better library services for the users.
• The National Parks Library. Six municipalities in North Gudbrandsdalen will become information centres with a special focus on national parks, a field in which the region has a strong political interest.

The digital library open 24 hours a day

-is intended to make electronic information in an integrated form available via a common library portal, and to develop the electronic infrastructure as user friendly as possible for the public.

Work on the portal covers two main aspects:

• A common search portal using MetaLib/SFX
• A service guide based on topic maps

During autumn 2005, a search portal will be constructed to provide a common point of access for searching library catalogues and other relevant information resources such as newspapers, lexicons etc. All 15 of the upper secondary schools in the county, as well as 23 of the 26 municipalities, are participating in the portal. The software chosen for the search portal is MetaLib/SFX, which has also just been adopted by the universities in Norway. Oppland county is acting as a norwegian pilot in the use of MetaLib/SFX for school and public libraries.

In parallel with the work on the physical seamless library, a digital service guide is also being produced. The various libraries are developing their coverage in different directions in order to complement each other within a region. The service guide is intended to help the public to see which specialised services they need and which library they should access. The guide makes use of the ISO standard for topic maps. Icons are used to indicate the various specialised services offered. Users will be able to navigate between the different services and libraries. Coordination is the key word for the portal. Libraries, in their role as decentralised learning venues, will see the library portal in context with the various education portals.

The hybrid library

The search portal and the service guide should be seen in perspective with the physical services so that the total package provides an integrated library service. The library portal should make the vision of a hybrid library a reality.

The project has received support from: