‘New’ library at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences
The library is no longer just a place for book collections – it is a place for study and research.
Ann Elisabeth Ohnstad | 28.03.2009 
The Head Librarian at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences,
Hege Underthun, has seen the changes that have occurred since the educational quality reform programme introduced by the government in 2003.
The most important change is certainly the transition to electronic journals, and the wealth of information now accessible on the internet. A provisional conclusion to this renewal phase was manifest in the refurnishing of the library in 2008.
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- This is an exciting phase for the library, says Hege. - These changes are not only significant for the library as an institution, but also for those who have chosen librarianship as a career.
Hasn’t the library always been a place for study?
It is probably more correct to say that the library has developed as a dynamic centre of knowledge
where one also learns how to learn!
In order to have a virtually unlimited access to information requires that one is able to locate that document |
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which one is looking for, and to evaluate whether this meets one’s requirements.
- To be able to locate what one is looking for requires training, Hege states. - Further, we wish to train the user to undertake a critical evaluation of the material. The library has a user-programme, and we are particularly concerned with establishing a closer relationship with the academic staff.
- As librarians, we are more concerned with our role as advisor, Hege emphasises. - For example, rather than finding an article for the student, we are far more concerned with assisting the student to locate it for him- or herself.
As a result, the service counter is smaller, more modest, and there are more work stations with and without a PC. This can result in a higher level of noise than we are normally accustomed to in a library.
- I admit that the noise level can be more than may be desirable, but I think we can accept this as an indication of “a functional library”, Hege concludes with a smile.