Developing a New National Library in Norway

The increased range and number of information carriers are changing thinking about legal deposit and causing some countries to look at their legislation. In Norway, national library functions, which have hitherto been carried out by the University of Oslo Library, are being transferred to a separate national library. A branch has been set up in the northern town of Mo i Rana with the initial functions of acting as a repository, microfilming, storage of journals and newspapers, conversion of card catalogues, and networking; others to be added later may include the storage of archival copies of legal deposit material, registration and distribution of printed legal deposit, exchange of publications, and conservation and preservation. Some functions may remain in Oslo, including the national bibliographic centre and receipt of non-book legal deposit. Discussions are still taking place on some issues. New legal deposit legislation, to come into force in 1990, covers all publicly available media of recorded knowledge. A government committee, which is looking at the whole area of libraries and information science in Norway, will help to establish where the National Library fits into the national picture.