Library and archives specialist, Axiell Library Group, has crowned Sweden's Norrköping City Library 'The Digital Cultural Institution of 2010' for its progressive work in creating 'Salongen' – a complete website reflecting the gamut of the library's activity and accomplishments in a very educational and engaging way. The award was presented at the 76th IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) conference in Gothenburg in August 2010.
Jerk Sintorn, CEO of Axiell Library Group, commented, "The Axiell Digital Cultural Institution of 2010 award is designed to encourage cultural institutions in making their transition into the digital world. We want to encourage cultural institutions to reach their communities, partnering with local government, business and other organisations to be responsive to local needs and to develop new services for the benefit of end-users."
The awards are open to institutions in the UK, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Norrköping City Library was selected for the award because it realised the importance of showcasing its activities and services on the web at a very early stage and allocated resources to make this possible. Norrkoping was also the first Swedish library to test Axiell Arena, Axiell's virtual library and Web 2.0 social networking facility.
Norrköping staff prepared a comprehensive strategy for Salongen's content and design. The site includes a wide variety of interesting subject matter for all target groups, ranging from tips on books, films and music, to author and artist portrayals and articles on different genres and trends within film, literature and art. The website also includes a large image archive consisting of photos and annotations from Norrköping in the 19th century to date.
Lise Søderberg, Axiell Library Group's Chief Communication Officer, says, "The library staff are doing great pioneering work to make the library and its services accessible on the net in a very creative way – in terms of content as well from a technical perspective. The library's own staff contribute their knowledge to create interesting content in text and image form, supplemented by contributions from other areas of the local authority, such as an article about an exhibition at the Norrköping Art Museum from a museum lecturer."
This is the third time that Axiell has presented an award, the 2007 winner was Danish library Aalborg for its mobile library project and the 2008 winner was Celia, the Finnish library for the visually impaired.
The award is presented to cultural institutions which, in ground-breaking fashion, find new ways of marketing themselves in the digital society, by being innovative and demonstrating ideas that can inspire other libraries.
Axiell Library Group AB
Axiell Library Group is the world's fifth largest company in the sector, supplying IT systems and services dedicated solely to libraries and archives as a target group and with its focus on library development.
Axiell develops technically advanced and innovative solutions for libraries and archives in close cooperation with its customers. More than 1000 library organisations with thousands of branches in the Nordic countries and in the UK use Axiell's library management systems and Axiell Arena, the tool for the virtual library. The system for archives and museums, CALM, is used by over 350 archives and museums in Europe.
Axiell Library Group is a group company with five subsidiaries in Sweden, Denmark and Finland as well as the UK.
www.axiell.com
Axiell UK
Axiell UK provides library software solutions to one third of local authorities in the UK, while over 350 customers use Calm, the system of choice for Archives, Museums and Records Offices. The company is a leading business solutions supplier to libraries, archives, museums and records centres.
Axiell UK offers its customers both software and hardware and a full range of implementation, facilities management and integration services, and the company continues to be a pioneer in software development for libraries.
Axiell is a member of Axiell Library Group AB. http://www.axiell.co.uk/
