Berlin School of Library and Information Science
Encyclopedia
The Berlin School of Library and Information Science at Humboldt University of Berlin
(in German, "Institut für Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft") offers courses of study at three levels: bachelors, masters (both a standard week-day program and a postgraduate week-end program), and doctoral. It is the only program in Germany where study at all three levels is possible. Students who begin in the bachelors or masters programs have a significant advantage in their preparation for doctoral work, since the research methods that they will need are an integral part of the pre-doctoral curriculum.
The Berlin School is part of a growing list of i-schools devoted to the study of information as a discipline. It is the only member in Germany and one of three in the European Union
.
in 1990, the two library programs at the Free University of Berlin
and at Humboldt University of Berlin
were combined. During the initial years of the 21st century the university had to decide whether to close the school or to transform it. The university decided on transformation and set about gathering the financial resources to make that happen.
In the past the School had offered a quality but fundamentally conventional German library program with a strong emphasis on history and the practical skills necessary to be effective in an entry-level position at a German library. The goal in 2006 became the creation of an internationally competitive “iSchool” on the explicit model of the School of Information at the University of Michigan. It was strengthened with the addition of Peter Schirmbacher and Michael Seadle as new professors at the highest (W3) rank. Schirmbacher brought a wealth of successful digital projects with him and Seadle brought experience with comparable projects plus US connections. Other new faculty included Stefan Gradmann and Vivien Petras, both of whom led important parts of the Europeana project. Konrad Umlauf, an expert on public libraries, remained the only previous full professor. He is also deputy director of the School.
Key elements of this transformation included a curriculum with significantly more emphasis on the digital future and the skills necessary to function within that environment. The curriculum put strong emphasis on research and research methods, partly because the Berlin School is the only library and information program at a research-oriented university in Germany, and partly because problem solving in the digital environment inherently involves research. The research emphasis was also intended to distinguish Humboldt's program from those of the “universities of applied sciences” (Fachhochschule).
LuKII (LOCKSS
und KOPAL Insfrastruktur und Interoperabilität) is a project sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The project proposes interoperability between the open-source elements of two existing archiving systems (LOCKSS and KOPAL) in order to combine cost-effective bitstream preservation with an established tool for usability maintenance and format migration.
Based on these goals the chief elements of this project are:
The German National Library is a partner on LuKII.
IUWIS (Infrastruktur Urheberrecht für Wissenschaft und Bildung) is also project sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. It offers information and discussion opportunities about copyright for research and education, and aims both as the producers of copyright-protected information as well as users. The University of Constance is a partner on IUWIS.
EuropeanaConnect and Europeana v.1.0 are projects funded by the European Union to expand Europeana
(formerly the European Digital Library). The Berlin School's role in these projects is with cross-language searching and with ontology development.
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
(in German, "Institut für Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft") offers courses of study at three levels: bachelors, masters (both a standard week-day program and a postgraduate week-end program), and doctoral. It is the only program in Germany where study at all three levels is possible. Students who begin in the bachelors or masters programs have a significant advantage in their preparation for doctoral work, since the research methods that they will need are an integral part of the pre-doctoral curriculum.
The Berlin School is part of a growing list of i-schools devoted to the study of information as a discipline. It is the only member in Germany and one of three in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
History
The Berlin School traces its roots back to the early 20th century. It was closed for a time during the Nazi era. After German reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, the two library programs at the Free University of Berlin
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
and at Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
were combined. During the initial years of the 21st century the university had to decide whether to close the school or to transform it. The university decided on transformation and set about gathering the financial resources to make that happen.
In the past the School had offered a quality but fundamentally conventional German library program with a strong emphasis on history and the practical skills necessary to be effective in an entry-level position at a German library. The goal in 2006 became the creation of an internationally competitive “iSchool” on the explicit model of the School of Information at the University of Michigan. It was strengthened with the addition of Peter Schirmbacher and Michael Seadle as new professors at the highest (W3) rank. Schirmbacher brought a wealth of successful digital projects with him and Seadle brought experience with comparable projects plus US connections. Other new faculty included Stefan Gradmann and Vivien Petras, both of whom led important parts of the Europeana project. Konrad Umlauf, an expert on public libraries, remained the only previous full professor. He is also deputy director of the School.
Key elements of this transformation included a curriculum with significantly more emphasis on the digital future and the skills necessary to function within that environment. The curriculum put strong emphasis on research and research methods, partly because the Berlin School is the only library and information program at a research-oriented university in Germany, and partly because problem solving in the digital environment inherently involves research. The research emphasis was also intended to distinguish Humboldt's program from those of the “universities of applied sciences” (Fachhochschule).
Berlin Library Science Colloquium
The Berlin Library Science Colloquium (in German Berlin Bibliothekswissenschaftliches Kolloquium or BBK) takes place each Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm Berlin time during the semester (roughly mid-October to mid-February, excluding the holidays, and mid-April to mid-July). The Colloquium offers an international range of speakers in both English and German, including those physically in Berlin and those speaking via video-conference. The Colloquium can also be shared with partner institutions via video-conference.Projects
Below are only some of the national and international projects in which the Berlin School plays a significant role. For a full list of projects, see: http://www.ibi.hu-berlin.de/forschung/forschungsprojekteLuKII (LOCKSS
LOCKSS
The LOCKSS project, under the auspices of Stanford University, develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with access to material published on the Web. The system attempts to replicate the way libraries do this for material...
und KOPAL Insfrastruktur und Interoperabilität) is a project sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The project proposes interoperability between the open-source elements of two existing archiving systems (LOCKSS and KOPAL) in order to combine cost-effective bitstream preservation with an established tool for usability maintenance and format migration.
Based on these goals the chief elements of this project are:
- to establish a cost-effective LOCKSSLOCKSSThe LOCKSS project, under the auspices of Stanford University, develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with access to material published on the Web. The system attempts to replicate the way libraries do this for material...
network in Germany including infrastructure to provide ongoing technical support and management for LOCKSS and its variants (e.g. CLOCKSS); - to conceptualize and implement interoperability between LOCKSS and KOPAL in order to combine cost-effective bitstream preservation with well-developed usability preservation tools; and
- to test the interoperability prototype by archiving data from German institutional repositories.
The German National Library is a partner on LuKII.
IUWIS (Infrastruktur Urheberrecht für Wissenschaft und Bildung) is also project sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. It offers information and discussion opportunities about copyright for research and education, and aims both as the producers of copyright-protected information as well as users. The University of Constance is a partner on IUWIS.
EuropeanaConnect and Europeana v.1.0 are projects funded by the European Union to expand Europeana
Europeana
Europeana.eu is an internet portal that acts as an interface to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised throughout Europe...
(formerly the European Digital Library). The Berlin School's role in these projects is with cross-language searching and with ontology development.