Publishers:
	2004
		Issued 6 numbers a year

2004 nr. 1

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

ARCHIVE

Dear readers of our journal, There are two villages – Varnja and Kolkja – hidden by the lake of Peipsi, close to the eastern border of Estonia. Meeting with these villages and local residents touched me with strange peace and faith, in spite of the fact that there were numerous forgotten homes and abandoned fields alongside the road. And though the interior design of local libraries cannot be called European, the stoves were warm, and though the collections were modest and predominantly in foreign language, the people were interested in the current situation of Estonian literature. This visit forced me to think about people’s way of life, behaviour and incentives of action. About their meaning of work. This is a region were people live of course some other way and frequently think in other categories than the traditional Estonian culture teaches. In spite of that, we spoke in Estonian and thought about the Estonian library community quite the same. Those few people involved in local cultural life, who waited for me and Krista Talvi on this misty day, work very much because their heart tells them so, as other kind of motivation in hard to find. However, motivation for action is difficult to find for people who serve Estonian culture elsewhere, too. I, believing in books, search for answers to my questions mostly from books, but the books also do not know everything. Max Landsberg’s The Art of Motivation, a book for some reason called a bestseller, that has been recommended so much helped to understand that finding self motivation is a complicated matter indeed. At least now and in a working place I currently have. Why, I do not know. Perhaps I can answer to this sometimes later. That is why I dazedly observe those keepers of culture who have in spite of all faith and willingness to realise themselves no matter what modest way. So, there is a small museum established in both villages that introduces local ways, that is, the life of Old Orthodox people; they have a meeting room, they have fixed up themselves; they even have their own restaurant at Kolkja. They, though maybe not all of them, are waiting for the tourists. They, too, are living in a hope that one day life will be better – this one day may be, for instance, a day they receive financial support from some European foundation. Another matter is whether all of them are expecting that. But this a way people hesitate, think and try everywhere. There are no wonders, everything has to be toiled for, using one’s strength up to the limit and hoping – at least in Estonia. By the lake of Peipsi, too. And as I have had no privilege to visit European libraries, more rich in spirit and power (except for once in Helsinki), I give my admiration to the people, living in periphery, who have credit for keeping the light of culture still burning. Maire Liivamets

CONTENTS

FIRST COLUMN Estonian Research Libraries as Virtual Reality - Peeter Normak The developing of research libraries should proceed from the needs of the users of scholarly information. Under the circumstances of limited resources we have to optimize the expenses regarding Estonia as a whole. Estonian research libraries should practically form an integrated whole, which components – research libraries belonging to the universities – are operated by universities. And this is done by clearly provided financial rules. DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES Using Information is a Civil Right - Tiiu Valm The only document that stresses the importance of libraries in the Baltic countries is the Baltic Assembly’s resolution Libraries in the Development of Information Society (adopted on 25 May 2002 in Vilnius). It stresses libraries’ key role in acquiring and preserving of both traditional as well as electronic information and in providing access to it. The current problems of Estonian libraries are largely to be viewed in the background system of public information resources. The system has turned out to be such a complex one that certain difficulties have emerged in planning and managing it. A question has risen of the need to regulate the state information system and services provided using it – of the need to adopt an Information Services Act. The Act would harmonize our legal system with the requirements of the European Union and other international treaties for the preservation of national cultural heritage and better access to public information. E-LIBRARY Library of Digital Age - Silvi Metsar A today’s library can be characterised as a hybrid library that acquires both documents typical for traditional libraries as well as, according to the possibilities and user needs, electronic documents provided via the computer network. The services of a hybrid library are combined. The article characterises the collections and services of an electronic library and related copyright issues. The development of a national digital library is treated separately. RESEARCH LIBRARIES Performance Appraisal at Tartu University Library - Tiina Kuusik The article provides an overview of the aims of performance appraisal, and of the evaluation criteria, methods and process at the Tartu University Library. (See also an article by Kuusik Performance appraisal in Raamatukogu (2003) no. 5.) The results of appraisal have been predominantly used for work organising purposes. First really cognisable use of implementing the appraisal system is apparently gained not until on the second or third year after, because the training of appraiser and appraises takes time and practice. FOREIGN LIBRARIES Libraries in Germany - Klaus Kempf, Eckhard Blume The first part of an article to be published in two journal issues gives an overview of the current situation of German library network. The amount of printed publications is increasingly growing; however, libraries have to, besides preserving these materials, provide access to digital media. The article describes library buildings of a new type, so-called ‘hybrid libraries’ in Bavaria and their work organisation. PUBLIC LIBRARIES A Hundred Steps from a Teahouse to the Internet - Kaja Tammar In the end of 2003 Rapla Central Library celebrated its 100th jubilee. The article gives a brief overview of the library’s history and its present day. The library is located in new premises, completed in 1996; its work priorities of current months are the improvement and editing of its electronic catalogue. Its goal for the nearest future is to introduce electronic lending system. In 2004 the library put its Web page on the Internet. THE ANSWER PLACE Director of Tallinn Central Library, Kaie Holm, and Director of Valga Central Library, Endla Schasmin, ponder upon the acquisition level of Estonian libraries. STATISTICS Estonian School Libraries in the School Year of 2002/2003: a Table - Heli Priimets RECENT LITERATURE ON LIBRARIANSHIP INTERVIEW There are Always Limits for Using A Creative Approach - Ellen Arnover Continuing the theme of library renovation, an interview with an architect Katrin Tomberg and an interior designer Piret Mudist, who have good experience in this field. An excellent example of the fruit of their cooperation is the building of Kännukuke Library in Tallinn, finished in 2003. The architects consider it to be of vital importance that a library building should be functional – good for the staff, and good for the users. RESTORATION World Memory Programmes for Documental Heritage in Estonia - Mari Siiner The number of documents preserved in Estonian museums, archives and libraries amount to 25 million items. The article describes the circumstances that prevent the preservation of documental heritage as a whole in Estonia. The work of the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Values, an advisory body at the Ministry of Culture, is characterised more fully. The Council has initiated a project THULE, carried out in 1998–2000, its next stage – drawing up of the Red Book of National Printed Heritage, and a document A Draft National Strategy of Digitally Preserving the Cultural Heritage for 2004–2008, completed in 2003. Restorers are Celebrating a Jubilee - Sirje Lauring Vaska An overview of the major works of Tallinn Pedagogical University’s Academic Library’s Restoration Department, which celebrated its 15 years of activities. This work includes, besides the cleaning of books and observing and improving the preservation conditions in stack rooms, also book restoration, active exhibition activities and a remarkable research work done by restorers. Restaurata A.D. 1999–2003 - Tulvi-Hanneli Turo An overview of a restoration exhibition in the Book Museum of Tallinn Pedagogical University’s Academic Library from 22 October to 22 December 2003. The display included rarities, restored by six restorers during the last five years, all in all, 26 publications and 29 graphic sheets. Photos illustrating more important restoration processes complemented the display of restored books. BOOK HISTORY Children’s Favourite Books in the Course of Ten Years - Krista Kumberg For six times over the course of ten years, the Nukits Contest has been held by the initiative of the Estonian Children’s Literature Information Centre and by the support of public libraries. Children’s favourite writers have been identified and acknowledged for it. ESTONIAN HISTORY OF IDEAS The School of Poetry as an Intellectual School - Sirje Kiin A review of a selection of essays Luulekool I (School of Poetry) by Ants Oras, published in the series Eesti mõttelugu (Estonian History of Ideas). Ants Oras, Professor of English, a translator, and the Estonian authority of literary criticisms in 1930s, spent a large part of his life in exile. The book contains a selection of over forty articles and essays that give a comprehensive overview of Oras’ early works, published predominantly in Estonia. ESTONIAN LIBRARIANS’ ASSOCIATION Librarians’ Professional Standard - Janne Andresoo An overview of drawing up the professional standard and requirements for librarians. NEWS Changes in the Repository Library of Estonia: in January 2004, the Estonian Library for the Blind, a foundation, became a branch of the Repository Library of Estonia, a change initiated by the Ministry of Culture. This provides for a more stable financing of the Estonian Library for the Blind and better availability of documents for the blind and visually impaired. A Newspaper for Librarians of Tartu County: since October 2003 the librarians of Tartu County have been publishing their own electronic newspaper that can be accessed on the Web address: http://tmk.tartuvv.ee/tmk/meieleht . The Strike of Educational and Cultural Workers: on December 2003 the Estonian Employees’ Unions’ Confederation organised a strike of educational and cultural workers. The strikers’ demand was that minimum wages for a staff member with higher education, who holds a full-time job that requires higher education, should be equal with the average wages of the Republic of Estonia that, according to prognosis, should be 7,362 EEK in 2004. Most of Estonian libraries participated in or supported the strike. Congratulations: Ene-Lille Jaanson – 70: a researcher of the Estonian book and printing industry Evi Murdla – 60: a long-standing Director of Viljandi Town Library CUMULATIVE LIST OF CONTENTS IN 2003

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2003 - 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 2002 - 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

2001 - 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 2000 - 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 1999 - 6, 5, 4, 3, 2