Nordbib
Encyclopedia
Nordbib is a funding programme to aid and develop Open access initiatives within the academic field in the Nordic countries
. Nordbib is funded by Nordforsk; the advisory and project funding body for the Nordic Council of Ministers on matters of research and research education. Nordbib will run from 2006-2009. The organisation is governed by a board with members representing the major university libraries in the five countries as well as a NordForsk representative.
, Iceland
, Norway and Sweden, to propose an alternative. After some negotiations, Nordbib was launched in 2006 with a budget of DKK 10 million. However, it was decided to utilise a strict 40%-60% funding model for projects (i.e. requiring 60% self-financing of funded projects) and so the aggregate worth of Nordbib would approach DKK 22.5 million when leaving room for Nordbib's own overhead
.
& Visibility, Content
& Accessibility
, and Infrastructure
& Interoperability
respectively.
composed of the NORON group (the Nordic national library directors and library agency directors) and a Nordforsk representative. Nordbib is also helped by a working group that councels and advises on important matters. The programme group consists of a representative from all five Nordic countries
as well as a special representative chosen from a large, Nordic research institution.
. The last demand was made in order to foster networking and strategic collaboration between Nordic institutions.
".
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
. Nordbib is funded by Nordforsk; the advisory and project funding body for the Nordic Council of Ministers on matters of research and research education. Nordbib will run from 2006-2009. The organisation is governed by a board with members representing the major university libraries in the five countries as well as a NordForsk representative.
The history of Nordbib
In 2004, Nordinfo closed after 28 years in operation. This left a vacuum in terms of a formal body for collaboration between Nordic research libraries and the industry of information and knowledge dissemination. Nordforsk asked the NORON group, which consists of the head librarians of the national libraries in Denmark, FinlandNational Library of Finland
The National Library of Finland is the foremost research library in Finland. Administratively the library is part of the University of Helsinki. Until 1 August 2006, it was known as the Helsinki University Library....
, Iceland
National and University Library of Iceland
Landsbókasafn Íslands — Háskólabókasafn is the national library of Iceland which also functions as the university library of the University of Iceland. The library was established on December 1, 1994 in Reykjavík, Iceland, with the merger of the former national library, Landsbókasafn Íslands...
, Norway and Sweden, to propose an alternative. After some negotiations, Nordbib was launched in 2006 with a budget of DKK 10 million. However, it was decided to utilise a strict 40%-60% funding model for projects (i.e. requiring 60% self-financing of funded projects) and so the aggregate worth of Nordbib would approach DKK 22.5 million when leaving room for Nordbib's own overhead
Overhead
Overhead may be:* Overhead , the ongoing operating costs of running a business* Engineering overhead, ancillary design features required by a component of a device...
.
Nordbib's operationalisation of its subject area
Nordbib was given three major focus areas (named "work packages") vis-a-vis open access to clarify its mission: PolicyPolicy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
& Visibility, Content
Content (media and publishing)
In media production and publishing, content is information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content may be delivered via any medium such as the internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as live events such as conferences and stage performances...
& Accessibility
Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...
, and Infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
& Interoperability
Interoperability
Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together . The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to...
respectively.
The organisational structure of Nordbib
The day to day operations of Nordbib is carried out by a secretariat presently composed of a general programme manager. The secretariat is housed by Danish Agency for Library and Media. Governing the major decisions of the programme is a boardBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
composed of the NORON group (the Nordic national library directors and library agency directors) and a Nordforsk representative. Nordbib is also helped by a working group that councels and advises on important matters. The programme group consists of a representative from all five Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
as well as a special representative chosen from a large, Nordic research institution.
Funding procedures
Nordbib has made two general calls for projects falling within the scope of its focus areas; the first call in 2007 and the second call in 2008. Standard requirements for projects were broad relevance for promoting and facilitating Open Access as well as participation of institutions from at least three Nordic countriesNordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
. The last demand was made in order to foster networking and strategic collaboration between Nordic institutions.
Funded projects
One of the effects of the 40%-60% model was that Nordbib generally only received very few speculative applications for grants. In the end, nine projects were funded and a tenth and final one is being negotiated.| Work package | Projects accepted in 2007 call | Projects accepted in 2008 call |
|---|---|---|
| Policy Policy A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol... & Visibility |
ScieCom Info - Nordic-Baltic forum for scientific communication | OA-barometer 2009 |
| License to Publish : promoting Open Access and authors' rights Authors' rights Authors’ rights are a part of copyright law. The term is a direct translation of the French term droit d’auteur , and is generally used in relation to the copyright laws of civil law countries and in European Union law... in the Nordic social sciences Social sciences Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences... and humanities Humanities The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences.... |
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| Content Content (media and publishing) In media production and publishing, content is information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content may be delivered via any medium such as the internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as live events such as conferences and stage performances... & Accessibility Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity... |
Networks Computer network A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information.... and knowledge dissemination in Nordic Asian study institutions |
Networks Computer network A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information.... and knowledge dissemination in Nordic Asian study institutions: phase II |
| An e-print archive for Nordic arts and humanities (hprints Hprints hprints is an archive for electronic preprints of scientific papers in the fields of arts and humanities and it can be accessed freely via the Internet since it is an Open Access repository aiming at making scholarly documents publicly available to the widest possible audience.-The hprints... ) |
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| Aiding scientific journals towards open access publishing | ||
| Infrastructure Infrastructure Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function... & Interoperability Interoperability Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together . The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to... |
Developing an information environment architecture for the Nordic countries | Identifying and explaining digital objects |
Workshops and reports
Nordbib has arranged two workshops and commissioned two reports.| Year | Workshop | Report |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Workshop 2007 in Elsinore Elsinore Helsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,279 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde... Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... , keynote speaker David C Prosser, SPARC Europe "Open Access in Europe" |
Report "Open Access in the Nordic Countries Nordic countries The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland... " by Turid Hedlund & Ingegerd Rabow |
| 2008 | Workshop 2008 in Elsinore Elsinore Helsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,279 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde... Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... , keynote speaker Ilkka Niiniluoto Ilkka Niiniluoto Ilkka Maunu Olavi Niiniluoto is a Finnish philosopher and mathematician, serving as a professor of philosophy at the University of Helsinki since 1981. He is currently on leave from his position, having been appointed as rector of the University of Helsinki on August 1, 2003 for a five-year period... , University of Helsinki University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available... "Research Visibility: Why and How?" |
Report "Current Research Information System Current Research Information System A Current Research Information System is a database or other information system storing data on current research by organizations and people, usually through some kind of project activity, financed by a funding programme.... s in the Nordic Countries Nordic countries The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland... - infrastructure, concepts and organization" by Ingegerd Rabow |
Evaluation of Nordbib
In 2009, Nordbib asked consultants Duke & Jordan Ltd. to evaluate the programme with a special emphasis of the structure of the programme. It was concluded in the final report that the structure had worked better in some areas than others. All branches of the tripartite structure received some criticism as did some of the adopted procedures, but overall it was concluded that Nordbib had not only given excellent value for money, it had uncovered and highlighted a special Nordic aspect of Open Access due to similarities in languages and the shared pressures of operating in both small- and dual-language environments, which non-English speaking nations find themselves in. The evaluation report also reflected kindly upon the Nordbib workshops and the Turid Hedlund & Ingegerd Rabow report "Open Access in the Nordic countriesNordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
".
The future of Nordbib
Based on the evaluation of Nordbib and the challenges ahead with regards to Open Access, Nordbib is applying for a continuation of the programme. The application is backed by a unanimous NORON group.See also
- Open access (publishing)
- Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources CoalitionScholarly Publishing and Academic Resources CoalitionThe Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition is an international alliance of academic and research libraries developed by the Association of Research Libraries in 1998 which promotes open access to scholarship. They currently have over 800 institutions in North America, Europe, Japan,...