For Staff

Interview with Jette Guldborg Petersen, Library Director, Malmo University, Sweden

Library Special Interest Group (SIG)

On 26 April, 2006, the inaugural meeting of the Library Special Interest Group will be held in Malmö, Sweden.

Jo Watts, INU Secretariat, recently interviewed Jette Guldborg Petersen, Library Director at Malmö University and host of the Library SIG meeting about his role in INU and the Library SIG.

Could you describe your position at Malmö for me?

I am the Library Director, with a coordinating role regarding Library and IT as one department

How do you see the Library SIG developing and/or what benefits do you anticipate the Library SIG will bring to the INU members?

It's difficult for me give an appropriate answer to that question at the moment. The group is at its very beginning, and I hope we can develop ideas together. Malmö University has, as one of four main issues, chosen "internationalization" as a priority. So it's really on the agenda here, and I see it as a chance for me, my library and my staff to have an international network of friends with the same needs and the same challenges as we have.

What in your opinion are the greatest benefits, in general, of an international network like the INU?

An International network like the INU gives opportunities and direct connections to people all over the world in the university branch. What attracts me especially with the INU , is that it is a network of rather young, "open-minded", untraditional universities. It's is nice to have partners with the same profile as ours. We have other challenges, other starting points, other economic conditions than the old universities with years of reputation, lots of research and very strong images.

Are there any special features of Malmö and your work that you are hoping the INU members attending the Library SIG will be able to see and experience during their visit?

We have pointed out some strategic highlights, which, at least in Sweden are remarkable: The student as a resource in library&it-work. An example of that: Peer education (which means "students teaching students"), DTV ( Special Programme on Digital Access for students with disabilities), and our continuing pedagogical work with the staff regarding "Librarianship with a teaching approach " (how to professionalize our contacts with the students and teachers)

Finally, what would you like to see the Network doing over the next couple of years (either generally or in relation to your role at Malmö)?

You might expect me to say, that I should like it to grow. But I do not see growth as the most important issue right. I want the contacts to become closer and tighter and maybe from there we can see common projects. Less is more, and a few good contacts with universities committed to the same idea, is better than a big organization without a strong common profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jette with Ralph Alberico, Dean of Libraries and
Educational technologies at James Madison University. May 2009.

Anyone interested in more information on the Library SIG or the special features of Malmö's library and IT work can contact Jette Guldborg Petersen, Library Director at Malmö University at: jette.guldborg@bit.mah.se

 

For further information about the INU Special Interest Group for University Libraries, please contact the INU Secretariat.