Who is Bertha?

The first two weeks are almost over. They were full of introductions and we received a great overview of the different fields in the library.

We got introductions in IT, activities, projects, logistics and many more besides. We talked with people who are decorating and furnishing, coordinating and organizing. They are all very passionate in what they do and they do a lot.

It seemed, there is one of them who must be really busy. Especially in the field "Indkøb og logistik" (acquisition and logistics). She is called Bertha. Although we never saw her, Berthas name was literally everywhere. Everyone was talking about her and all the book trolleys were reserved for her. She even has written her name on almost all of them. So who is Bertha? And what is she working on?

 

On Thursday we had an introduction in the logistics and the IMS-System. The Aalborg Bibliotekerne are composed of the main library (Hovedbiblioteket), 12 branch libraries and 3 library busses. So that as much material as possible is available for all the branches, the Aalborg Bibliotekerne decided to have floating collections. They work with the "Intelligence material system" (IMS). This system manages the distribution of the materials over all branches and busses. As a library user, you can borrow items from all the branches and return them in every branch you want to. You can also make reservations and pick up the reserved material at your preferred library. The system even notices, when there is a half-empty shelf at a branch. It automatically sends more matching material to the concerning branch and shelf. The key point of the entire system is a sorting robot, located in the main library, called Bertha. She is not only a book return but also a book oracle. Let her scan any book and she will tell you where it belongs to.

 

Besides Bertha, we learned a lot about the library and its cooperation with other culture institutes, organisations and schools. A nice example is the ongoing exhibition about the history of Denmark. This great project is organised with radio, television and other libraries in Denmark. We had the chance to participate, by helping with the decoration for the Hovedbiblioteket.

 

We also got a lot of information about how the library staff is organised and how they manage their team work. For sure, we will experience the practical implementation in the next three months.

 

There are many more things we could write about, because we heard that much. We will share these once in a while. Everything was really interesting, but also a lot of information to keep in mind. Now we are looking forward to consolidating and putting the heard information to practice.

 

PS: Are you curious about Bertha? You will find her in the gallery.