Open Password – Wednesday June 1, 2022
#1080
Dieter Schumacher – Willi Bredemeier – Gerda Bredemeier – Barbara Schulz-Bredemeier – Christian Bredemeier – Joachim Griesbaum – University of Hildesheim – Information Competence – Information Science
Outsell – Uncertainty – Volatility – Russia/Ukraine – China/Taiwan – Middle East – Energy Prices – Inflation – Stock Market Swings – Supply Chain Problems – Privacy/Security – COVID-19 – Geopolitical, Economic, and Broader Societal Issues
Working Group of Special Libraries (ASpB) – Specialist conferences – Kerstin Schoof – Monika Sommerer – Karin Schmidgall – Thomas Arndt – Special libraries – Specialist conferences – Internationalization – IFLA World Congress – Leo Baeck Institute – Center for Anti-Semitism Research – Special Libraries Association – Board of Directors – Reconstruction of German research – Jürgen Warmbrunn – Sonja Grund – Central magazine catalog – Decimal classification – Optimization of acquisition – Shortage of young talent – Publishers, bookstores and libraries – Member structure – Industrial libraries – Death of the factory libraries – Museum and memorial libraries – Technical and scientific documentation – IT – Digitization – Relevance of libraries in the age of the Internet – online lecture archive – membership fees – funding programs – reunification – new federal states – special scientific libraries in the dbv – digital structures – social media
Information science in transition – Katrin Scheibe – Aylin Imeri – Franziska Zimmer – University Association for Information Science – Düsseldorf Information Science
Letters (1)
Pushed the industry, demonstrated the authorities,
amused the audience with satires
To: Willi Bredemeier, “Open Password” push service will be ended on June 30th – “Open Password Archive Plus” will continue at infobroker.de, in: Open Password, May 31st, 2021, #1070
Dear Willi,
Now that the secret has been revealed, I confess that I too cannot suppress a farewell tear. Retreating in old age is certainly wise, but you have to learn to see it not as a loss but as a liberation. I, too, am still in this development process from time to time.
Yes, we have achieved an incredible amount over the past 40 years, as can be seen in your archive and in my project list… And we were always on the move interactively, each on his own horse. In different formats we pushed the industry, presented the authorities and entertained the audience with satires. This also fills me with great gratitude, and I still miss this shared hard work.
There’s one thing I’m missing from your statement: the hint that Gerda was also a constant supporter of Password, considering what your early morning hours have been like over the years…
…But I’m sure we’ll remain the friends we’ve been all these years.
Kind regards, Didi Online
Dieter Schumacher was one of the most important pioneers in the information industry that was developing at the time in the 80s and 90s.
Didi Online is right. The special thanks to Gerda and also to my children Barbara and Christian should not have been missing.
Letters (2)
Long-standing commitment to the community
Dear Mr. Bredemeier,
On the one hand, that’s a shame, but on the other hand, of course, it’s very understandable.
I would like to thank you for Password and your many years of commitment. Something like this is anything but self-evident. I think the community has a lot to thank them for. I will miss password.
I wish you all the best, lots of joy and health.
Greetings Joachim Griesbaum
The information scientist Prof. Griesbaum teaches and researches at the University of Hildesheim and focuses, among other things, on the topic of “information competence”.
Outsell*: Heard While Outselling
How to Respond to all the Uncertainty
and Volatility
Outsell Leadership Community members are telling us that what’s really on their minds right now is how to keep up with and respond to all the uncertainty and volatility out there. Russia/Ukraine, China/Taiwan, the Middle East, oil/energy/gas prices, inflation, stock market swings, supply chain problems, privacy/security considerations, ongoing COVID-19 concerns… Reading the tea leaves is getting harder and harder at a time when it’s also more important than ever.
And overall, “what’s keeping people up at night” is less about industry or technological disruption than it is about geopolitical, economic, and broader societal issues.
*Outsell is the international partner of Open Password.
Working Group of Special Libraries (ASpB)
75 years of changing challenges have been faced
and the spirit and solidarity of the first year are still there
Made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of research
Reunification as a positive
and enriching success
The Special Libraries Working Group is 75 years old and has held 38 specialist conferences during this time. Open Password saw this as a good opportunity to conduct a written interview with the outgoing chairwoman Kerstin Schoof and the current board members Monika Sommerer, Karin Schmidgall and Thomas Arndt and to look back with them at the current challenges and forward.
Dear Kerstin Schoof! You were a board member of the ASpB for six years, the last three years as chairwoman, and have now retired from board work. What experiences have had the greatest impact on you in your work on the board? What do you wish for the new board and what advice would you like to give them?
Kerstin Schoof: The conferences that take place every two years are always a highlight of my work in the ASpB for me – the encounters and exchanges with our members are particularly intensive. Through the changing conference locations and the local committees that come together for this event, you can also get to know individual libraries, their sponsoring organizations and the landscape of special libraries in a city or region in close cooperation in terms of content and organization.
During my time on the board, the topic of “internationalization” was also close to my heart. We have put this topic on the agenda in a new form through international specialist stays and scholarships to participate in the IFLA World Congress. The mutual visits between the library directors of the New York Leo Baeck Institute and the Berlin Center for Anti-Semitism Research were particular highlights. In this context, we have also renewed our connections with the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and its European section. My participation in the annual SLA congress in 2017 gave me valuable personal conversations and encounters with colleagues from many countries. These have greatly enriched my view of the ASpB and the international world of special libraries.
I hope that the new board succeeds in further expanding the good contact with the member libraries and promoting their cooperation with one another. In particular, the technical and infrastructural challenges for special libraries with their often limited human and financial resources can only be successfully mastered together at a high level of quality. Given the trusting and sometimes almost family atmosphere in the ASpB, there are the best conditions for my committed successors. I also wish the new board the opportunity for personal meetings on site, a quick end to the pandemic and all the best!
Kerstin Schoof
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Made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of German research after the war.
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The ASpB celebrated its 75th birthday with the 38th specialist conference. How did it come about?
Kerstin Schoof: The ASpB was founded in 1946 by colleagues from technical libraries in the British and American occupation zones in order to jointly deal with the consequences of the war for their institutions: losses of holdings, catalogs and literature references. At the first meeting on November 19, 1946, they laid the foundation for the “Working Group of Technical-Scientific Libraries.” The founding of the ASpB makes it clear that, just one and a half years after the end of the war, it was felt to be a priority to ensure close cooperation between the technical and scientific libraries. Their coordinated activity was seen as a crucial prerequisite for the reconstruction of German research, which was so important after the Second World War, and its positive impact on industry and the wider economy.
Dr. Jürgen Warmbrunn, historian and honorary member of the ASpB, said this in his keynote speech at the anniversary conference last year and in our joint contribution with the former chairwoman Dr. Sonja Grund edited the 75th anniversary of the ASpB in the magazine BuB – (issue 08/2021). The central themes during the founding period were:
- the creation of a central magazine catalog of technical and scientific literature,
- the increased use of decimal classification in special libraries,
- the optimization of the acquisition of domestic and foreign specialist literature,
- attracting qualified young talent,
- the future structure of the relationships between publishers, bookstores and libraries as well
- the improvement of the bibliographic evidence situation in the sense of technical and scientific documentation.
Jürgen Warmbrunn
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From the “death of many respectable factory libraries” to the rise of museum and memorial libraries.
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The conditions under which you work have changed greatly in 75 years. How have you adapted to this changed world?
Kerstin Schoof : The membership structure of the ASpB has changed significantly over the decades. The ASpB, which operated as the “Special Libraries Association” from 1961 onwards, took on the legal form of a registered association in 1967. For a long time, the proportion of industrial libraries in the total membership base was very high. Already in 1967, at the 11th ASpB conference in Stuttgart, the “death of many respectable company libraries” was regretted, as Warmbrunn describes. But as late as 1981, industrial libraries accounted for a quarter of all members. In contrast, libraries in research institutions, universities, colleges and authorities each accounted for around 15 percent.
In the aftermath of the 1981 conference, there was occasional criticism of the technical and scientific dominance of the lectures. The aim was to address this by forming interest groups in the humanities.
In the meantime, the libraries in the economy have largely been closed down. Or they were converted to greatly reduced, digital information centers. On the other hand, museum and memorial libraries became more important in the ASpB. The content of the ASpB’s work changed accordingly.
In addition, the ASpB has dealt with many developments that have shaped the entire library system:
- the introduction of IT in the 1980s,
- the subsequent digitalization in the 1990s and 2000s and
- the question of the relevance of libraries in the age of the Internet.
A big change in the ASpB was the switch from printed conference proceedings to an online lecture archive. Since then, instead of income from the conference proceedings, the association has been financed through membership fees. This step was certainly associated with risks, but in the end it proved to be very successful and sensible, as membership fees enable the ASpB’s activities to be significantly more plannable. Only on this basis could funding programs such as specialist exchange and support of IFLA documents for the German specialist community be established.
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Reunification as an extremely positive and enriching challenge.
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Can we replay the history of the ASpB using the biggest challenges you have overcome?
Kerstin Schoof: The biggest challenge was probably the reconstruction of the special libraries and the cooperation between them after the Second World War. Secondly, there are the challenges associated with the reunification of Germany and the inclusion of colleagues from the new federal states in the work of the ASpB. There was a lot of additional exchange of professional knowledge and experiences and I consider this time to be extremely positive and enriching.
A much smaller, but still current and important challenge for the ASpB’s internal work is the modernization of the association, which began in 2012. It was necessary to revise administrative structures and realign the ASpB to the requirements of the digital world. This led to the introduction of membership fees and a reorganization of cooperation with Section 4: Special Scientific Libraries in the German Library Association (dbv), with which the ASpB was and is closely linked in terms of content and personnel. This collaboration was redefined in a joint cooperation agreement. The website was enriched and relaunched with additional functions, the online conference archive replaced the printed conference proceedings, the administrative organization became digital and our communication channels were expanded to include social media.
Read the next episode: A wide range of topics over the decades. But the spirit and solidarity of the first years are still there. – The virtual conference was successful, but we still haven’t learned how to celebrate digitally – make the best of what is possible
Call for participation
Information science in transition
By Katrin Scheibe, Aylin Imeri and Franziska Zimmer
October 6th and 7th, 2022, Scientific Conference 2022 (IWWT22) – Information Science in Change, at the University House in Düsseldorf
At the beginning of October, the Department of Information Science at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf will hold a scientific conference to honor information science research from German-speaking countries. Professors and (young) scientists as well as students are cordially invited to take part in the conference and present their research.
It is possible to submit a full paper, panel or poster until July 15, 2022 . Once accepted, these will appear in printed form as proceedings by Werner Hülsbusch Verlag .
Possible topics, but not limited to, include:
- Archive, library and documentation science,
- information technology, information retrieval,
- Knowledge management, knowledge representation, information management,
- digital and social media,
- information architecture,
- Scientometrics, Altmetrics, Bibliometrics, Open Science,
- Artificial intelligence,
- information behavior,
- information society,
- Information ethics and information economics.
Particularly since the path of Düsseldorf information science is about to end, submissions that deal with Düsseldorf information science and one of the topics mentioned are welcome.
The event is supported by the University Association for Information Science .
Further information about the conference can be found at the following link: https://isi.hhu.de/iwwt22
The organizers look forward to your submissions and participation!
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