Nordic‐German Workshop on Document Delivery and Interlibrary Lending: : Proceedings of a workshop organised by NORDINFO and Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut (DBI), Berlin

Citation

Pilling, S. (1998), "Nordic‐German Workshop on Document Delivery and Interlibrary Lending: : Proceedings of a workshop organised by NORDINFO and Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut (DBI), Berlin", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 55-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilds.1998.26.1.55.2

In May 1996 the first joint German‐Scandinavian research library seminar was held in Berlin as a collaborative effort between the Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut, which organised the seminar. and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and NORDINFO, both of which sponsored the event. The theme of the seminar was “Document delivery and interlibrary lending” and this publication contains ten of the papers which were given.

There was clearly a need to review document supply and ILL in the Nordic and German countries and this document certainly does this in great detail. The papers tackle most of the issues relevant to the present and the future situation affecting document supply, and range from pure descriptions of the Nordic and German systems to a detailed presentation on SUBITO, the new German document delivery initiative. Sometimes the English used is a little stilted, but the text is usually comprehensible enough. One criticism is that there is some duplication ‐ perhaps inevitable? ‐ in the issues covered.

There are frequent references to Z39.50, ARIEL and to SUBITO ‐ probably because these are important to libraries almost anywhere in Europe. It is gratifying to note that the papers are not totally parochial in terms of the Nordic/German slant, and that there is an acknowledgement of the broader international scene

It must be said, however, that this publication will be of most value to those either working in Scandinavia and Germany, or with a specific interest in those countries. For others with a more general interest, the level of detailed description might prove too much. The publication concludes with the closing speech of the seminar, given by Claudia Lux, in which she summarises the findings of the seminar and in particular highlights two specific problems: electronic money and payment mechanisms, and copyright in an electronic environment. The Nordic countries and Germany have a great deal in common in terms of document supply and further collaboration is planned.