Cycling for Libraries Day 3 - Lessons from Norway
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

How can we ensure information professionals remain valued? On the third day of the Cycling for Libraries "unconference" FreePint's director of research, Robin Neidorf, discusses with fellow delegates cross-cultural and cross-sectoral lessons to be learned.

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On the third day of Cycling for Libraries, the "unconference" on two wheels, we had a long day of riding during which we had a chance to reflect on what we saw and learned during our site visits in Norway.

In the morning, I asked the group to share briefly what they found most interesting and intriguing about the previous two days.

Several participants mentioned the "language cafes", a scheme in Norway's public libraries to help immigrants practice Norwegian and learn more about their new environment.

Others cited the efforts and resources the national library system is putting into its legal mandate to turn libraries into centres of debate.

We all admired the inviting and light-filled academic library we visited on the second day.

The lovely library at Høgskolen i Buskerud og Vestfold - Campus Vestfold in Norway encourages engagement. One useful tip: "Book a librarian" sessions, in which students can pre-arrange an hour with a librarian to ask questions and work on research.

Sophisticated Interactions with Information

For myself, I shared one observation:

In a relatively small country, with a centralised approach to the role of libraries in the citizens' lives, the country has the potential to create a meaningful continuum of experience from the youngest Norwegians all the way through university.

If public libraries set the right expectations around the range of services libraries can provide, then perhaps university students will arrive on campus with a different set of beliefs than, "Everything can be found on Google."

And if academic libraries take them to the next level of sophistication with their interactions with information, then perhaps they will enter the workforce with enhanced expectations about how information professionals can help them succeed in their jobs.

Bridges of Experience

This isn't happening yet, and it may never happen if different types of libraries do not create bridges of experiences from one setting to another. But the potential is there.

I don't know if or how this observation may adapt to the corporate world that works with and values FreePint. I do know, however, that all sectors in which trained professionals manage and direct information and its usage struggle to help their audiences "get" what they're all about.

The inflation of information access has devalued our currency. Perhaps cross-sector ideas will help us halt and even reverse the trend.

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