The theme of this year’s IFLA Congress is a voyage of discovery. There’s been lots of plays on words about Vikings and voyages, although at this morning’s opening session, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Churches took the theme that we face the challenge of change. She used Einstein as emblematic of the position in which librarians find themselves. The story goes that, when confronted with the fact that he asked the same final exam question one year as he had the last, he replied, “Ah, but the answer is different.” I thought that was a good analogy. If we keep doing things the same way, but get an unacceptable response, why keep doing it in the same way? Find a better answer to the old question, however, is much easier to say than to do.

IFLA president, Kay Rasseroka, in her opening remarks, pointed out that the Vikings are no longer out there on the high seas raiding and pillaging, instead Oslo is now known as a mediation center and a force in the world for peace.

Several themes have already emerged for the conference. Perhaps the most important is freedom of expression, which includes freedom of speech and free access to information. Also high on the list is intellectual property concerns.

A wide ranging address by Norway’s Chairman of the Freedom of Expression Committee, Francis Sejersted, touched on challenges to the freedom he believes is necessary and intrinsic to the democratic system. There’s a new Article in the Norwegian constitution that ensures freedom of expression. He decried the US Patriot Act and noted that Europeans have a utilitarian view towards freedom of speech. The EU has a Declaration on freedom of expression. Sejersted touched on the fact that no society is completely open, but there is recognition of a need for increased transparency in government. He said that libraries fill an important role as meeting places and that public libraries in particular are comfortable places for immigrants. Libraries have a central role when it comes to empowering people to form their own opinions, but they must exploit their opportunities and put themselves in the center of the public debate on freedom of access to information. Librarians should provide guidance in the chaotic world of too much information, helping people to understand and evaluate the quality of information, particularly that obtained through the Internet. Libraries, he concluded, have a foot in two worlds. One foot is in the traditional, book-based collections, while the other is in new information technology.

The opening ceremony was a mixture of high-minded speeches and entertainment. In addition to hearing about the solemn subjects of truth, democracy, and freedom of access to information, we heard a harpist (I did’t know harp music could be so sensual and non-angelic), a recitation from Peer Gynt, and an Irish-Norwegian fusion group called Secret Garden. All in all, it was an extremely stimulating morning. And this is only Sunday!