Thanks Magnus for yesterdays comment on the web 2.0 ness of the LibLab project. Thinking and writing furiously last night and this morning I think I may have a solution. The project aims to achieve three things:
- Build a network of library hackers
- Support “microprojects” that adds value to library services (like widgets, toolbars etc)
- Open up the norwegian libary systems for use in mashups etc.
Initially I wanted to achieve all three goals within the framework of a Web 2.0 ideology, but practical considerations keep popping up and derail this. To avard financial support to people who work on library widgets ect. you have to have an administration to handle the paperwork. Immediately that means either you have to build up a new administration, or use an existing one. Opening up the library systems will be a task that requires a LOT of meetings, and a lot of persuasion and political work. Again you need either to build up an organization, or use an existing one.
So, the solution, I hope, to these challenges was to split the project into three independent bits and farm the administrative and organizational bits out to those who already have this.
My proposal is to start immediately with the establishment of the LibraryLab net presence with a social network and start collecting resources and network people who have an interest. Secondly to approach one of the large libraries or regional library authorities to see if they could manage the “microproject” part of the project. Thirdly ask the Norwegian Library Association special interest group for ICT to handle the organizational and political part of the project. This is something they are working on already, but if the LibLab project can fund the process, maybe it can be speeded up.
Thats the general idea so far. It remains to be seen how the Norwegian Digital Library people reacts:-)
I'm a norwegian librarian.
Librarian 1.5 
Heisan,
At the National Library of Australia we’re building up an infrastructure called, incidentally, Library Labs, based around Wiki’s, SVN and other goodies (deployment structures, etc) as a way to host both internal and shared big and small open-source projects of various kinds. It sounds a lot like what you guys are planning (but then, I’m a Norwegian in Australia, so we must think alike, yes? 🙂
Let me know if this is interesting. It sounds like we should chat.
Just curious: are you thinking about Norwegian “library hackers” or are you thinking internationally?