Nordbib background

In the year 2004 Nordinfo was closed down after more than 25 years of action. The Nordic Council of Ministers asked The NORON group - a committee of the directors of the Nordic national libraries - to design a new programme that could replace Nordinfo. Two years later the Nordbib contract was signed between NordForsk on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Danish Library Agency who have got the responsibility of the programme management.

Background resumé
Research infrastructure is of the utmost importance to pure research, technological development and PhD courses, and thus it plays a major role for the future economic growth in our countries - nationally as well as at a Nordic level. Larger and more complex research infrastructures are employed by researchers from different fields and often in international collaboration. Common use of research infrastructure ensures efficient utilization of resources and paves the way for larger investments, thus providing researchers with the best foundation for research and research communication. Consequently, a Nordic co-operation regarding development of a joint information infrastructure comprising access to digital, research relevant contents and the best conceivable tools for research communication will strengthen Nordic research in an international context. Formerly, research infrastructure was to a very large extent perceived as laboratory facilities and equipment, but in recent years the concept has been widened to include also the infrastructure constituted by libraries, databases, archives and collections.

Over the last decade, the rapid information technological growth in communication, networks, e-publishing and digital filing has prompted a reconstruction of the publication process. At the same time, the technological means of communication have highlighted not least the question of access to and long term storage of research information.

The licensing terms of the major, international publishing houses, soaring prices and sale of package deals of access to millions of journal articles have turned out to limit rather than open up for free and equal information access. The basis of small and minor specialist publishers' existence is in this way radically altered, and the need to find new modes of publication and organization is getting urgent. The reality of the minor specialist publishers is very often that they are nationally based and publishing in their national language. Quite frequently, they even cover a highly specialized field, meaning that the number of journals is low - maybe limited to a single one. A small researcher potential equals a small financial basis of journal publication. The technological development carries with it increasing demands on the technological skills and systems architecture as far as production, digital filing and administration are concerned, placing heavy demands on small organizations and publishers. Research constantly demanding topicality, requiring international publication as well as good economy means that the natural scientific fields are ahead in this process of transition. Research in humane and social sciences do not have the same demand for topicality, and often the researcher potential is much smaller. Thus, these areas are more vulnerable. The international trial projects focus on the issues of publishing methods, peer reviewing, electronic filing and free access. Also, new organizational forms are being investigated. All on a grand scale.