At the beginning of 2006 Google Scholar was enhanced with a number of references to Danish libraries. On the basis of a copy of bibliotek.dk, registrations in Google Scholar are now carrying a reference to bibliotek.dk, if a book or an article is also available there.

Another special service is Google Book Search. Apart from the digitisation of books this service has since August been offering the chance of also searching in the libraries’ collections. So far Google Book Search gives access to fifteen union catalogues from USA, China, Australia, Israel as well as Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and six other European countries. Google has used the data already employed for creating links in Google Scholar to bibliotek.dk, and thus there is also access to Danish libraries via Google Book Search.

Libraries can play an essential role in terms of creating a civic community spirit that cuts across diversities, and where ethnic minorities take an active part on a par with other citizens. The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Refugees, Immigration and Integration Affairs are therefore entering into an agreement on strengthening the libraries’ work for integration.

The initial result of this agreement is a new support scheme, where the libraries can apply for funding to establish and run homework cafés for bilingual children and other children who might be interested. Homework support schemes are designed to help developing the Danish language of bilingual children and to make sure that more young ethnics obtain satisfactory schooling and complete an education. It is possible to apply for an extension of the homework activities with informal learning activities.

The goal is that within a few years there will be 100 homework cafés in Danish public libraries. LibraryCentre for Integration and the Integration Ministry’s campaign All young people are needed help with advice and guidance on how to set up the cafés.

Read more about this at
http://www.bs.dk/lektiephjaelp or
www.statsbiblioteket.dk/sbci

Committee to help revitalise children’s libraries

80% of all Danish children use the public library, but the most frequent users have halved their number of visits within the last seven-eight years.

Minister for Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, has therefore appointed a new committee of professionals and experts to look into how best to turn around this particular development. Children’s culture has become a media culture, and children’s media habits and cultural behaviour make new demands and pose new challenges to library service. Among the challenges are for example to encourage the connection between the physical and the virtual library and to turn the library into a place for experiences based on interactivity and participation. The library then becomes a place not only for cultural education, but where children are also included in various ways of creating culture, like for example in attending writing or multimedia workshops.

The present library offer is clearly losing ground in relation to its target group and innovation is a must; this includes revitalising the librarian’s role so that the library also in future will be able to attract the mediaconscious and purposeful young patrons. The committee is composed of persons from the library-, media- and cultural area. In the course of 2007 it is to prepare a report with recommendations for concrete actions and suggestions as to how the children’s libraries and their services can be made more attractive to children.