This is the sixth year in which UNI library faculty have visited the University of Klagenfurt Library (Universitatsbibliothek Klagenfurt or UBK) on a professional exchange. Each year one or more professional themes are explored in detail through presentations by the visiting faculty. General professional issues are discussed with the UBK staff in group and individual settings. The exchanges also include opportunities to experience the rich cultural heritage of Austria.
This year the professional themes emphasized the growing importance of electronic resources and the complexity of providing support for and access to them.
One of the most impressive things about the University of Klagenfurt Library is its participation in the intellectual and cultural life of the university. During the time of their visit the UNI librarians witnessed the opening of two exhibitions: a multi-media exhibition in the library that consisted of art books, music, and light, and an exhibit of paintings by a survivor of the holocaust that was attended by the library director.
The library also maintains an important part of the European and Austrian cultural heritage in its special collections: manuscripts, incunabula, and rare books. Some of the local materials date from the time of the Reformation, when the province of Carinthia was largely Protestant. These were taken over by a Jesuit school during the counter-Reformation and eventually passed into the hands of a non-denominational library, which, in turn, gave them to the university library for safe-keeping.
In European libraries functions are often organized differently from comparable positions in North American libraries. Subject bibliographers (or Fachreferate), for example, are more involved in the technical processing of materials than their American counterparts, who usually serve in various public services capacities in addition to their collection responsibilities. The idea of a regularly staffed reference desk is not as fully accepted in European libraries as it is here.
Because Klagenfurt and adjacent areas are about half way along the route from Venice to Vienna, the area has been a stopping point for travelers, traders, and invaders for many centuries. In fact, even before the Romans incorporated it into one of their provinces, it was a Celtic area with a high degree of civilization, e.g., Magdalensburg.
However, the area flourished during the Middle Ages with towns such as Friesach and St. Veit and castles such as Hochosterwitz sporting fine examples of Gothic architecture. The Romanesque cathedral at Gurk is even earlier and makes one wonder at the skills and level of civilization in an area which now seems remote and underpopulated.
The threats from the Turks kept the towns within their fortified walls until well into the modern period. Those in both Vienna and Klagenfurt were only torn down during the Napoleonic occupation of the area in the early 1800s.
The journey gave the UNI librarians insights into the background from which American civilization sprang. One only needs to compare the three hundred year old "crooked and interesting streets of Boston" or the half-timbered German farmhouses and barns of southern Wisconsin to those of Europe to see the lineage of our civilization.
In sum, this spring's exchange enabled useful information to be exchanged on several topics of considerable import to both libraries. The UNI librarians came back with a broader perspective on the continuity of issues between libraries here and abroad. While particulars may differ, the issues faced by each are increasingly the same. This convergence makes the exchange program well worth the investment and UNI is already looking forward to the visit by the UBK librarians in the fall of this year.