National and University Library of Iceland
Encyclopedia
Landsbókasafn Íslands — Háskólabókasafn (English
: The National and University Library of Iceland) 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 (est. 1818), and the university library (formally est. 1940). It is by far the largest library in Iceland with about one million items in various collections. The library's largest collection is the national collection containing almost all written works published in Iceland and items related to Iceland published elsewhere. The library is the main legal deposit
library in Iceland. The library also has a large manuscript
collection with mostly early modern and modern manuscripts, and a collection of published Icelandic music and other audio (legal deposit since 1977). The library houses the largest academic collection
in Iceland, most of which can be borrowed
for off-site use by holders of library cards. University students get library cards for free, but anyone can acquire a card for a small fee. The library is open for public access.
The library main building is called Þjóðarbókhlaðan. It is a prominent 13,000 square meters (140,000 square feet) red and white building near the main campus of the University of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland
. The building took 16 years to complete, finally opening in 1994, the year of the Icelandic republic's 50th anniversary.
The first national library of Iceland, Íslands stiftisbókasafn, was established at the instigation of Danish antiquarian Carl Christian Rafn
and the Icelandic Literary Society
in 1818, and the first books of the library were gifts from Icelanders and Danes. From 1825 the library was housed in the loft of the newly renovated Reykjavík Cathedral and in 1848 the first national librarian, folklorist Jón Árnason
, was hired to manage it. In 1847 the manuscript collection was started with the purchase of a large collection of manuscripts from the estate of bishop Steingrímur Jónsson. On the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland
in 1874 the library received many gifts and in 1883 Jón Árnason estimated the total number of volumes in the library at 20,000.
In 1881 the library moved into the new house of parliament, Alþingishús, and in 1886 the first Icelandic print law establishing the library as a legal deposit library was passed by the Alþingi. After this the library grew fast and on its 100th anniversary in 1918 it counted 100,000 volumes. In 1906-1908 a special building, Safnahúsið, was erected to house the National Library, the National Museum, the Icelandic National Archives and the Icelandic Natural History Museum.
The library of the University of Iceland was formally established in 1940 when the university moved into the Main Building. Before that time the individual departments had their own libraries. At the time it was debated whether it was practical to develop two academic state libraries in Iceland and so in 1947 a committee was established to decide on a division of tasks between them. Soon, a merger of the two libraries was proposed and in 1956 a new committee was set up to prepare for this eventuality. It seemed clear that a new specially designed building close to the university would be required. The idea was that this new library building, Þjóðarbókhlaðan, would be opened in 1974, on the 1100th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland. The two libraries began working towards this end and through UNESCO
library experts were consulted as to the requirements of the new building.
As the year 1974 drew near it became increasingly clear, however, that the Icelandic state would not be able to construct the building in time. The 1973 Oil Crisis
, among other things, resulted in a worsening of the state's finances meaning that most of the ideas for the anniversary year had to be significantly reduced or scrapped. A groundbreaking
ceremony for the new library was planned, instead of an inauguration, but even this was postponed until 1978 when construction finally began. Initially the building project proceeded well and in 1983 the building was complete on the outside. However, significant funds were needed to complete the interior and for the next ten years the large building stood empty. Attempts were made to finance its completion with a special supplement on property tax, but most of that income was used for other expenses. Finally in 1991 the new government of Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn and Alþýðuflokkurinn made it a priority to complete the building and on December 1, 1994, it finally opened.
While a lot of debate surrounded the building of Þjóðarbókhlaðan at the time, it resulted in vastly improved consultation, study and research facilities for researchers, university students and the general public in Iceland. The combination of the two libraries in one building resulted in an accessible library where users have direct access to the academic collection and reference works on the shelves while the national and manuscript collections are available for on-site consultation in a separate reading hall. While the study facilities of the University of Iceland have improved a lot since 1994, the library main building remains very popular with students.
From 1888 to 1979 the National Library published a list of new books acquired each year. In 1979 this was replaced by the Icelandic National Bibliography, containing an overview of Icelandic published books each year. In 1991 the two libraries implemented a joint online public access catalog system, Gegnir, gradually replacing the card catalogs
. Since 2001 this system has been implemented nation-wide for all public libraries in Iceland and is managed by a consortium. As of 2008 Gegnir can also be consulted via the European Library
.
Since 1996 the library has engaged in several large digitisation projects providing open access to antique maps of Iceland (1998), Sagnanet — manuscripts of Icelandic sagas (2001 in collaboration with Cornell University
), Timarit.is
— journals and newspapers (2002 in collaboration with the National Library of the Faroe Islands and the National Library of Greenland) and the online Icelandic National Bibliography (2008) among others.
which commissions the library board, consisting of five members, and the National Librarian.
Administratively the library is divided into three sections; a conservation section, a service section and an administration section; each further divided into departments. The section heads form the library executive board, along with the National Librarian and the Assistant National Librarian.
The library has the duty to collect and catalog all published Icelandic print, electronic and audio material for preservation and continued access. It is to manage its extensive manuscript collection and ensure the continued conservation of all the materials it collects. The library collects materials partly through receiving the legal deposit from publishers and partly through acquisitions and gifts.
The legal deposit is defined in a special law dating from 2001 where the collection of electronic material published on the World Wide Web
is defined as being one of the tasks of the library. Currently, the library collects snapshots of all web pages within the Icelandic top-level domain
.is
using the Heritrix
web crawler.
The library is the ISBN and ISSN national center in Iceland. It is also the national center for interlibrary loans. It has the role of coordinator for the national OPAC, Gegnir.
The library has the duty to provide the state, institutions, companies and the general public with information and library service. It has a special duty to support the needs of teaching and research at the University of Iceland. The library manages subscriptions to scientific databases and electronic journal
s for the university and administers the office for national access to bibliographic database
s and electronic journals, hvar.is, jointly financed by the Icelandic state and a consortium of Icelandic libraries, schools and research institutions and companies.
of the University of Iceland, they have access to all electronic reference works that the university subscribes to in addition to the library subscriptions. The same applies to the wireless Internet hotspot
available in the whole building. Part of the collection of reference works is available in the reading hall of the national and manuscript collections.
production line. Within the national collection there are some private collections of individuals that are stored separately.
. The manuscript collections of the library can be consulted in a separate reading hall where the items are provided by request for on-site use. Some of the manuscripts are cataloged in registers which are available in digital form on the library website. The library is currently working on creating an online catalog for manuscripts jointly with the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík and the Arnamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen
.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: The National and University Library of Iceland) is the national library
National library
A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a country to serve as the preeminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books...
of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
which also functions as the university library
University Library
University Library refers to academic libraries at universities, such as:*Basel University Library*Cambridge University Library*Cornell University Library*De La Salle University Library*Durham University Library*University of the East Library...
of the University of Iceland
University of Iceland
The University of Iceland is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern comprehensive university, providing instruction for about...
. The library was established on December 1, 1994 in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, with the merger of the former national library, Landsbókasafn Íslands (est. 1818), and the university library (formally est. 1940). It is by far the largest library in Iceland with about one million items in various collections. The library's largest collection is the national collection containing almost all written works published in Iceland and items related to Iceland published elsewhere. The library is the main legal deposit
Legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The requirement is mostly limited to books and periodicals. The number of copies varies and can range from one to 19 . Typically, the national library is one of the...
library in Iceland. The library also has a large manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
collection with mostly early modern and modern manuscripts, and a collection of published Icelandic music and other audio (legal deposit since 1977). The library houses the largest academic collection
Academic library
An academic library is a library that is attached to academic institutions above the secondary level, serving the teaching and research needs of students and staff...
in Iceland, most of which can be borrowed
Lending library
A lending library is a library from which books are lent out. The earliest reference to or use of the term "lending library" yet located in English correspondence dates from ca. 1586; C'Tess Pembroke Ps. CXII. v, "He is .....
for off-site use by holders of library cards. University students get library cards for free, but anyone can acquire a card for a small fee. The library is open for public access.
The library main building is called Þjóðarbókhlaðan. It is a prominent 13,000 square meters (140,000 square feet) red and white building near the main campus of the University of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland
National Museum of Iceland
The National Museum of Iceland was established on 24 February 1863, with Jón Árnason the first curator of the Icelandic collection, previously kept in Danish museums...
. The building took 16 years to complete, finally opening in 1994, the year of the Icelandic republic's 50th anniversary.
History
Carl Christian Rafn
Carl Christian Rafn was a Danish historian, translator and antiquarian. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of Old Norse literature and related Northern European ancient history...
and the Icelandic Literary Society
Icelandic Literary Society
The Icelandic Literary Society , founded in 1816, is a society dedicated to promoting and strengthening Icelandic language, literature and learning....
in 1818, and the first books of the library were gifts from Icelanders and Danes. From 1825 the library was housed in the loft of the newly renovated Reykjavík Cathedral and in 1848 the first national librarian, folklorist Jón Árnason
Jón Árnason (author)
Jón Árnason was an Icelandic writer, librarian, and museum director who made the first collection of Icelandic folktales.-Career:Jón Árnason was educated at the Latin School in Bessastaðir....
, was hired to manage it. In 1847 the manuscript collection was started with the purchase of a large collection of manuscripts from the estate of bishop Steingrímur Jónsson. On the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland
Settlement of Iceland
The settlement of Iceland is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century, when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of arable land in Scandinavia, and civil strife brought about by the ambitions of...
in 1874 the library received many gifts and in 1883 Jón Árnason estimated the total number of volumes in the library at 20,000.
In 1881 the library moved into the new house of parliament, Alþingishús, and in 1886 the first Icelandic print law establishing the library as a legal deposit library was passed by the Alþingi. After this the library grew fast and on its 100th anniversary in 1918 it counted 100,000 volumes. In 1906-1908 a special building, Safnahúsið, was erected to house the National Library, the National Museum, the Icelandic National Archives and the Icelandic Natural History Museum.
The library of the University of Iceland was formally established in 1940 when the university moved into the Main Building. Before that time the individual departments had their own libraries. At the time it was debated whether it was practical to develop two academic state libraries in Iceland and so in 1947 a committee was established to decide on a division of tasks between them. Soon, a merger of the two libraries was proposed and in 1956 a new committee was set up to prepare for this eventuality. It seemed clear that a new specially designed building close to the university would be required. The idea was that this new library building, Þjóðarbókhlaðan, would be opened in 1974, on the 1100th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland. The two libraries began working towards this end and through UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
library experts were consulted as to the requirements of the new building.
As the year 1974 drew near it became increasingly clear, however, that the Icelandic state would not be able to construct the building in time. The 1973 Oil Crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, among other things, resulted in a worsening of the state's finances meaning that most of the ideas for the anniversary year had to be significantly reduced or scrapped. A groundbreaking
Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and...
ceremony for the new library was planned, instead of an inauguration, but even this was postponed until 1978 when construction finally began. Initially the building project proceeded well and in 1983 the building was complete on the outside. However, significant funds were needed to complete the interior and for the next ten years the large building stood empty. Attempts were made to finance its completion with a special supplement on property tax, but most of that income was used for other expenses. Finally in 1991 the new government of Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn and Alþýðuflokkurinn made it a priority to complete the building and on December 1, 1994, it finally opened.
While a lot of debate surrounded the building of Þjóðarbókhlaðan at the time, it resulted in vastly improved consultation, study and research facilities for researchers, university students and the general public in Iceland. The combination of the two libraries in one building resulted in an accessible library where users have direct access to the academic collection and reference works on the shelves while the national and manuscript collections are available for on-site consultation in a separate reading hall. While the study facilities of the University of Iceland have improved a lot since 1994, the library main building remains very popular with students.
From 1888 to 1979 the National Library published a list of new books acquired each year. In 1979 this was replaced by the Icelandic National Bibliography, containing an overview of Icelandic published books each year. In 1991 the two libraries implemented a joint online public access catalog system, Gegnir, gradually replacing the card catalogs
Library catalog
A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
. Since 2001 this system has been implemented nation-wide for all public libraries in Iceland and is managed by a consortium. As of 2008 Gegnir can also be consulted via the European Library
European Library
The European Library is an Internet service that allows access to the resources of 48 European national libraries. Searching is free and delivers metadata records as well as digital objects...
.
Since 1996 the library has engaged in several large digitisation projects providing open access to antique maps of Iceland (1998), Sagnanet — manuscripts of Icelandic sagas (2001 in collaboration with Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
), Timarit.is
Timarit.is
Timarit.is is an open access digital library run by the National and University Library of Iceland which hosts digital editions of newspapers and magazines published in Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland as well as publications in their languages elsewhere, such as Canada which had a large...
— journals and newspapers (2002 in collaboration with the National Library of the Faroe Islands and the National Library of Greenland) and the online Icelandic National Bibliography (2008) among others.
Administration and roles
The roles of the National and University Library are defined with a special law dating from 1994 and related regulations. The library is defined as an independent higher education institution under the Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and CultureMinistry of Education, Science and Culture (Iceland)
The Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture is a cabinet-level ministry divided into three departments: the Department of Education, the Department of Science and the Department of Cultural Affairs. Since 1 February 2009, the minister is Katrín Jakobsdóttir of the Left-Green Movement....
which commissions the library board, consisting of five members, and the National Librarian.
Administratively the library is divided into three sections; a conservation section, a service section and an administration section; each further divided into departments. The section heads form the library executive board, along with the National Librarian and the Assistant National Librarian.
The library has the duty to collect and catalog all published Icelandic print, electronic and audio material for preservation and continued access. It is to manage its extensive manuscript collection and ensure the continued conservation of all the materials it collects. The library collects materials partly through receiving the legal deposit from publishers and partly through acquisitions and gifts.
The legal deposit is defined in a special law dating from 2001 where the collection of electronic material published on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
is defined as being one of the tasks of the library. Currently, the library collects snapshots of all web pages within the Icelandic top-level domain
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
.is
.is
.is is the Internet country code top-level domain for Iceland. The very first .is domain, hi.is, the domain of University of Iceland, was registered on December 11. 1986. .Is registration is open to all without any special restriction. The country code is derived from the first two letters of...
using the Heritrix
Heritrix
Heritrix is the Internet Archive’s web crawler, which was specially designed for web archiving. It is open-source and written in Java. The main interface is accessible using a web browser, and there is a command-line tool that can optionally be used to initiate crawls.Heritrix was developed...
web crawler.
The library is the ISBN and ISSN national center in Iceland. It is also the national center for interlibrary loans. It has the role of coordinator for the national OPAC, Gegnir.
The library has the duty to provide the state, institutions, companies and the general public with information and library service. It has a special duty to support the needs of teaching and research at the University of Iceland. The library manages subscriptions to scientific databases and electronic journal
Electronic journal
Electronic journals, also known as ejournals, e-journals, and electronic serials, are scholarly journals or intellectual magazines that can be accessed via electronic transmission. In practice, this means that they are usually published on the Web...
s for the university and administers the office for national access to bibliographic database
Bibliographic database
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc...
s and electronic journals, hvar.is, jointly financed by the Icelandic state and a consortium of Icelandic libraries, schools and research institutions and companies.
Reference section
The reference section of the library contains reference works, manuals, encyclopedias, dictionaries and bibliographic registries etc. for on-site consultation. Within the reference section there are also computers for consulting the OPAC and for general use by guests. As these are part of the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
of the University of Iceland, they have access to all electronic reference works that the university subscribes to in addition to the library subscriptions. The same applies to the wireless Internet hotspot
Hotspot (Wi-Fi)
A hotspot is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider...
available in the whole building. Part of the collection of reference works is available in the reading hall of the national and manuscript collections.
National collection
The national collection comprises all Icelandic published material in print, electronic or audiographic form collected through the legal deposit or acquired by other means. The library actively collects materials relating to Iceland published elsewhere and not subject to the Icelandic law on legal deposit. This equally applies to materials published online. This way, the library has created the most complete collection of Icelandic materials available anywhere in the world which it conserves, stores and makes available for on-site use in a special reading hall it shares with the manuscript collections. Access to highly valuable and rare items is restricted, but the library usually tries to make these available through its digital imagingDigital imaging
Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of digital images, typically from a physical scene. The term is often assumed to imply or include the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images...
production line. Within the national collection there are some private collections of individuals that are stored separately.
Manuscript collections
The library manuscript collections contain some 15,000 items, the oldest vellum manuscripts dating from around 1100 and are among the earliest examples of written Icelandic. Most of the collections are paper manuscripts, the oldest ones dating from the end of the 16th century. The youngest items are collections of manuscripts and letters, including electronic materials, from contemporary people which include some of Iceland's most prominent literary figures such as Halldór LaxnessHalldór Laxness
Halldór Kiljan Laxness was a twentieth-century Icelandic writer. Throughout his career Laxness wrote poetry, newspaper articles, plays, travelogues, short stories, and novels...
. The manuscript collections of the library can be consulted in a separate reading hall where the items are provided by request for on-site use. Some of the manuscripts are cataloged in registers which are available in digital form on the library website. The library is currently working on creating an online catalog for manuscripts jointly with the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík and the Arnamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Audiovisual collection
The audiovisual collection of the library is available for on-site use using special facilities, screens and headphones, provided by the library. The collection includes materials that are part of the national collection as well as a large collection of international materials, records, films, television programs etc. The main emphasis of the collection, however, is to collect all Icelandic material and make it available to library guests.Academic collection
The bulk of the academic collection consists of materials from the original library of the University of Iceland. It contains international scientific works and textbooks along with literary works in many languages, including a large collection of translations of Icelandic literature. By request, the library reserves textbooks used in courses taught at the University of Iceland to ensure that they are available for on-site study. Most of the academic collection, however, can be borrowed for off-site use by holders of library cards issued by the library. Students at the University of Iceland get such cards for free. Parts of the collection are available in three library branches on campus.External links
- The National and University Library of Iceland
- Gegnir - catalog of Icelandic libraries
- Treasures displayed via The European Library