Do not want an Israeli library system
The Palestine Committee at Campus Blindern thinks that the university should stay away from a new library system due to its connections with Israel.
The Libraries’ IT Centre recently presented the search portal PRIMO to a group of Norwegian representatives for academic libraries, including the University of Oslo (UiO) and the Norwegian Library Bureau. Ex Libris was founded at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1986, has an Israeli administration, and was until recently owned by the Israeli capital fund Walden Israel.
– Ex Libris should not be an alternative for UiO, says Tine Tång Engvik, leader of the Palestine Committee at Blindern.
Engvik does not think that academia has distanced itself clearly enough from Israel, and believes that a boycott will send an unmistakable signal to Israeli companies that they represent a state that commits acts of violence and that breaches human rights.
– UiO must make harsher demands, she says.
– Will not boycott
Geir Ellingsrud, rector at UiO, is not familiar with the fact that Ex Libris has been presented to UiO, and cannot rule out the possibility of the university purchasing Israeli products.
– We follow the government’s international policy, and have no plans for an institutional boycott of Israel, he states.
Kjetil Hillestad, distributor of Ex Libris products in Norway, emphasizes that PRIMO has been developed in cooperation with respected university and research environments in the United States and Europe, and that the product makes it possible to search in different databases through a very simple user interface.
– The system is a very useful tool for students and researchers, he says.
– Not Israeli
Ex Libris was bought by the American investors Leeds Equity Group in the Autumn of 2008, while the administration stayed in Jerusalem. Hillestad emphasizes that Ex Libris is therefore no longer an Israeli company.
Roy Gundersen, director at the library service BIBSYS explains that Ex Libris is just one of many search portals that may be considered.
– In the first instance, there would only be a trial installation so that we can examine its usefulness more closely.
Gundersen will not rule out cooperation with Ex Libris, as BIBSYS does not see the nationality of company ownership as important when considering new systems.
– Our main demands are of a technical, functional and financial nature, he says.
– What is your view on making deals with institutions in countries that are at war?
– BIBSYS follows normal state regulations regarding procurements, Gundersen says.
Engvik believes that the close alliance between Israel and the USA makes the transition from Israeli to American ownership immaterial.
– Indirect support of Israeli technology is just as bad, she says.
