rightscom
Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies
Part2:Country studies
Denmark
Models and responsibilities
Denmark has a national library for the blind, government-funded, which acts as a central resource for the public library system in providing material and advice.The Danish National Library for the Blind (DBB) operates under the Library Act 2000. Article 15 of the act states that "The Danish National Library for the Blind will serve as a national centre for the public libraries by procuring for them materials specially designed for blind, partially sighted and others whose disability prevents them from reading normal printed text. The Danish National Library for the Blind will provide lending material from Denmark and abroad as part of the service provided by the public library service to the above-mentioned group of users …. The Danish National Library Service will provide advice to the library service about matters of importance to the service of the group of users mentioned (above)."
Prior to 1985, services in the public library system and DBB (which had become an independent organisation in 1954) developed separately after a decision was taken in the 1970s to decentralise library services to visually impaired people. This resulted in a big expansion in the collections of talking books in public libraries, but it led to a situation where the lack of co-ordination and central support was increasingly felt to be a problem. In 1985, DBB was brought under the control of the Ministry of Culture to emphasise its connection with the public library system. In 1990 it became a national library responsible for the superstructure of all talking book lending in the country.
Digitisation by DBB, set to be complete by 2008, has been accompanied by key changes in the role of DBB and the public libraries. Before 2005, only blind and visually impaired people could be served directly by DBB; print impaired and other disabled people had to use DBB's services via public libraries. Now they can all use DBB directly. It was decided in effect that the digital library would by-pass the public libraries in serving disabled clients, with services going directly to the end-user. This has been happening since January 2006. According to the DBB's director, this decision was controversial, but is part of a general process of adaptation of library services to digital technologies.
Service provision - general
Services are provided by the general public libraries, with DBB at the pinnacle of the structure. Several other organisations also provide services:
- The Institute for the Blind and Partially Sighted in Denmark
- DEBBI - e-books for everyone
- KABB - Christian books
- KLO - voluntary work for supplying material for print disabled
The role of DBB
It is DBB's vision to provide full access to the information society for everybody including people with disabilities.
DBB produces and distributes materials in audio, in Braille and as computer files. DBB's collection of materials is available to those who fulfill the conditions for registration as DBB users.
DBB acts as a national resource centre for the public libraries, procuring material for the blind, the partially sighted, the dyslexic and other persons whose handicap prevent them from reading standard print material.
DBB's collection of materials is available to those who fulfill the conditions for registration as DBB users. Items are delivered on demand in CD Rom format; DBB holds no inventory of materials for distribution.
DBB provides advice about the principles for accessibility to web designers, webmasters and anyone else who might have an interest in making accessible digital products. It specializes in accessibility for blind, visually impaired and other people with reading disabilities.
Digitisation
Since 2000, DBB has been engaged in a process of transition from analogue to digital materials, which is due to be completed in 2008. This transition is viewed as key to providing a modern service, and also as having fundamental consequences for the way DBB operates and is organised internally.
DBB plans to convert all newspapers and magazines to a digital format.
The distribution of content on CD Rom includes the insertion of a unique identifier for each disc. This is generated and encoded automatically using technology which DBB has itself developed. The identifier facilitates a forensic trace of content items that are redistributed without authorisation. DBB is currently researching different forms of watermarking technology to strengthen the forensic trace capability.
In January 2005 DBB launched a digital library portal from which its members can download a wide range of material in electronic format. Again, each downloaded item is uniquely identified.
In her presentation to the 2006 Daisy Workshop in Seoul, the director of DBB, Elsebeth Tank, stated that:
"The idea has been to move forward the implementation of truly digital processes, which among others implied:
- High speed
- Improved individual user services
- More user options
- Stronger user functionality
- Lower costs per unit in production."
She went on to observe that DBB successfully argued for the Danish Library Law to be changed in 2005 to permit DBB and similar institutions to produce and distribute materials to disabled citizens without requiring the materials to be returned. The reason was that it would be more costly to have it back for further circulation, and that returning materials reflected an analogue mindset.
The number of users enrolled in digital services was planned to reach 1000 in 2005, and by 3500 in 2006, but the enthusiasm of users developed faster than anticipated and by the middle of the year the full 2006 target had been reached.
DBB anticipates a growing number of users in total for its services, from 10,000 now to 15,000 by the end of 2009. It also believes that its new services will appeal to a wider clientele than before, including both more visually impaired people and people with other disabilities.
Service provision - education
The Refsnaesskolen and the Students' Library for the Blind at the Institute for the Blind had responsibility for producing Braille and audio material for the educational needs of visually impaired children and students.