The Right to Read is the Right To Mine: But Not When Blocked by Technical Protection Measures
NATIONAL PROGRESS REPORT 1990-1992 ICELAND (Maps Expert Group)
Maps are found in many institutions and libraries in Iceland but not as separate map collections and no special map librarians or curators could be found by inquiry in August 1992.
The legal deposit material since 1979 is registered by the staff of the Cataloguing Department of the National Library in the Icelandic National Bibliography, Maps and Charts. They are stored in steel cabinets in the Manuscript Reading Room waiting for a solution of the store problem as a new library building is still under construction. The collection belongs to the Icelandic Department.
Valuable collections are found in the University Library, the National Archives, the Reykjavík State Archives, and the archives of several specialized institutions. The Geodetic Institute, the national map producer, is planning a reorganization of its collections and services.
There is no special education for mapcurators in Iceland. Maps are treated as a kind of special library material in several courses in librarianship at the University of Iceland as well as in courses on archival administration.
There is no national mapcurators group in Iceland. Librarians are organized in the Association of Special and Research Librarians.
Nanna Bjarnadóttir, Landbókasafn Íslands, Reykjavík
