Contact

Plinius is the blog (name) of Tord Høivik.

This page contains links to my personal web resources – and some background information. I work as associate professor of library and information science at Oslo University College.  You may contact me at

• E-mail: tordhoivik(@)gmail.com [remove ()]
• Cell phone: +(47)97543721
• Skype: Plinius40

Updated September 8, 2009.

Web resources

• Count the Traffic home page
  • Count the traffic (CTT) is a method for traffic analysis in libraries.
  • In Norwegian the method is called TTT (Tverrgående trafikktelling)
• Flickr
  • Registered as Plinius

• Global statistics for advocacy
  • Collective blog for the IFLA advocacy project, which started in August 2009
• International background
  • Projects, topics, languages
• LATINA
  • Learning and teaching in a digital world (LATINA) is a development network on e-learning and digital libraries that was started at Oslo University College in 2008.
  • I am one of three founding members – the others being Helge Høivik and Lars Egeland

• Library thing
  • Some books from  my personal library
• Library innovation is hard work.
  • Article on Gjerdrum Public Library, presented at IFLA in Berlin (2003) by Bozena Rasmussen and Tord Høivik.
• Norske biblogger.
  • Here I try to register all blogs written by libraries and librarians in Norway
• Plinius in English
• Plinius in Norwegian

• Plinius Data
  • A personal repository of library statistics.
• Publications in English
• Publikasjoner
  • Publications in Norwegian
• På sporet/Post scriptum.
  • Old home page (Norwegian/English) – not updated after 2006.
• Samstat
  • Norwegian blog from Samarbeidsutvalget for bibliotekstatistikk (Joint working group for library statistics)
• Twitter
  • Registered as Plinious

Work

My main professional interest is the interplay between data technology and processes of social change – both in organizations and in society as a whole. I enjoy creating courses that combine elements of ICT, adult learning and organizational development.

As a young student in the 60s I trained as a statistician and sociologist. After twenty-five years in peace research (1967-91) I turned to the library sector in 1992. More at international background.

Since 2004 I have mainly been engaged in research and development. Library statistics, digital reference and user interactions with libraries are major interests. From 2007 I serve on the IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section.

Since 2008 I also work closely with Helge Høivik (my brother), Lars Egeland and others in the LATINA group. LATINA – or Learning and teaching in a digital world - is a series of practical training course for e-learning and digital libraries.

Outside Norway, Høivik is often written Hoivik. The Norwegian alphabet includes three special letters Æ, Ø and Å – which are not appreciated abroad.

Home

I  live in the village of Ask, 20 miles north of Oslo – and 12 miles south of Gardermoen (Oslo International Airport).

Ask is the small  commercial and administrative centre of Gjerdrum. It is also the location of the new Cultural Centre (Kulturhuset), where my wife, Bozena Rasmussen,  is in charge of Gjerdrum Public Library.

We keep house in Ingelstun 43, 2022 Gjerdrum.

Gjerdrum is a green place: a small farming and residential community with about five thousand inhabitants. We usually go for walks in the forest (right) every Sunday.

Read more about the library and the municipality in our paper for the 2003 IFLA conference in Berlin.

Teaching and training

I am happy to undertake projects and consultancy work with an international or intercultural dimension.

International work during the last fifteen years include:

1. Web design and digital reference work and Quantitative and qualitative methods in LIS. Four courses (15 hours each) given at the Jagiellonian University of Cracow.
2. Leadership training (2 day courses) for agricultural trainees from Poland in Norway (with Bozena Rasmussen)
3. Internet training course (5 days) for library staff at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (with Helge Høivik), with support from the National Library of Norway.
4. Director of advanced “training for trainers” course in conflict resolution methods (2 weeks) – arranged by the United Nations University in Tunisia
5. Negotiation training (10 days) for the Burmese democratic opposition movement – arranged by the Norwegian Burma Committee in a Burmese area under democratic control (Manerplaw)
6. Director of conflict resolution course for Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka and South-East Asia (3 weeks) – arranged in Thailand by the Thai Inter-religious Commission for Development (TICD) in cooperation with the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB).

Professional background

My professional background includes natural sciences (mathematics, statistics, chemistry), sociology, philosophy, peace research and library studies. I have broad practical experience in the fields of

• social science methods
• library studies
• educational policy and future studies
• new teaching methods (digital education, PBL)
• organizational development and conflict resolution
• international and transcultural work
• digital change processes

Working languages

• Fluent English, Spanish and (of course) Norwegian
• Prepared to teach in French and German
• Reads Italian, Portuguese and Rumanian

Previous projects

Broad practical experience with teaching, training and research abroad since the late sixties – about five years alltogether. In 1969-70 I taught social science methods for a year in Mexico, at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. In the mid-seventies I taught mathematics and statistics at the Cooperative College in Moshi, Tanzania, for two years.

Later I directed the graduate course in peace research (6 weeks) at the International Summer School, University of Oslo, for ten years. I have also worked as a conflict training consultant for the United Nations University (UNU) in Russia and Colombia and have participated in Norwegian evaluation missions to Tanzania and Nicaragua.