Elmar Mittler

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The librarian Elmar Mittler at the end of October 2015 out and about with his mobile phone ; on the 350th anniversary of the Leibniz Library and farewell to his colleague Georg Ruppelt

Elmar Jakob Nikolaus Mittler (born May 8, 1940 in Andernach am Rhein) is a German librarian and em. Professor of Book and Library Studies. He was director of the Badische Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe, the University Library Heidelberg and the Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen.

Life

Elmar Mittler studied German and history first in Bonn and then in Freiburg im Breisgau . After graduating with the state examination in 1964 and obtaining his doctorate in 1966, Mittler began training for library services at the Freiburg University Library, and in the spring of 1968 passed the examination for senior service at academic libraries. He worked at the Freiburg University Library until 1974 and then headed the Badische Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe until 1979 , where he laid the foundations for its new building, and then from 1979 to 1990 the Heidelberg University Library , where he was responsible for the renovation of the historic building and the construction of the underground storage facility as well as the exhibitions "Bibliotheca Palatina" (1986) and "Codex Manesse" (1988) organized. From 1990 to 2006 Mittler was director of the Lower Saxony State and University Library in Göttingen . During this time, the library moved to the new building opened in 1993 on the university campus and the renovation of the Pauline Church, which is now used as an exhibition and event room, and the historic library building, completed in 2006 .

From 1985 to 2013 Mittler taught as an honorary professor at the Institute for Book Studies at the University of Mainz ; in 2002 he was appointed professor for book and library studies at the University of Göttingen.

After reunification , in his role as the first spokesman for the newly founded Federal Association of German Library Associations (1989 to 1994), he was significantly involved in the merger with the GDR Library Association in the German Library Association (DBV) , which was held at the joint general meeting on February 28, 1991 in Göttingen was completed. In the federal-state librarianship working group, he was able to set the course for the resurgence of libraries in the new states. From 1994 to 2000 Mittler was a member of the library committee of the German Research Foundation . From 1999 to 2002 he was President of the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche (LIBER), the association of European research libraries . During this time he founded SPARC Europe in cooperation with the American Association of Research Libraries (ARL), which plays a leading role in the transformation of scientific data and publications to open access. The LIBER architecture group, newly initiated by him in 1980 and headed until 2005, has given significant impetus to library construction in Europe. From 2007 to 2012 Mittler was Chairman of CERL , the Consortium of European Research Libraries . Since 2019 he has been chairman of the University of the Third Age (UDL) Göttingen.

During his time as director of the Göttingen SUB, Mittler was particularly committed to the use of digital media. For example, he played a leading role in the takeover of the PICA library software, developed by OCLC PICA in the Netherlands, as part of the Common Library Network (GBV) and in the establishment of the GBV's network headquarters in Göttingen. In the Göttingen Digitization Center (GDZ) founded during his tenure, the world's first digitization of a Gutenberg Bible was brought onto the Internet in 2000 . In 2001, under his leadership, the German Initiative for Network Information (DINI) was founded, a Germany-wide association of information service institutions, libraries, data centers, media centers and institutes at research and educational institutions as well as specialist societies. In 2003/2004, as chairman of the evaluation commission of the Institute for Library and Information Science IBI at the Humboldt University in Berlin, he was able to make a significant contribution to its continued existence and its realignment.

In 2005/06, Mittler and Rainer Kuhlen were the spokesman for the “Copyright for Education and Science” action alliance founded in 2004 , which advocates free access to published knowledge in accordance with the requirements of education and science. He documented his connection to the ideas of free content in 2006 when - sponsored by him - the world's first Wikipedia Academy took place at the Göttingen University Library. Since retiring from active library service, he has intensified his teaching activities at the Georg August University in Göttingen, the Humboldt University in Berlin and the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz (until 2012). In 2010 he was appointed a Gutenberg Research fellow. In library research in recent years, he has placed particular emphasis on the development of an anthropological library history.

Elmar Mittler is married to the flautist Uta Mittler and the father of Barbara Mittler , Professor of Sinology at Heidelberg University, and Daniel Mittler , Political Director of Greenpeace International since May 2010 .

Awards

literature

  • Public relations, tough negotiations, creating trust. Conversation with Elmar Mittler, BDB spokesman 1989–1994 . In: Georg Ruppelt (Ed., On behalf of the board of the Federal Association of German Library Associations): Politics for libraries. An interview with the Federal Association of German Library Associations. Birgit Dankert at the end of her term of office as spokeswoman for the BDB . Saur, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-598-11436-2 , 3-598-11437-0, pp. 49-78.
  • Georg Ruppelt : Laudation for Elmar Mittler on the occasion of his 60th birthday on May 8, 2000 in the Lower Saxony State and University Library in Göttingen . In: mb. Bulletin of the libraries in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt . Issue 115/116 (2000).
  • Margo Bargheer, Klaus Ceynowa (Ed.): Tradition and Future - the Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen. A performance record for Elmar Mittler's 65th birthday . Universitätsverlag, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-938616-03-2 ( full text ).
  • Marietta Fuhrmann-Koch: Ceremony: University of Göttingen says goodbye to library director Prof. Dr. Elmar Mittler . In: Informationsdienst Wissenschaft of September 28, 2006 (press release No. 309/2006 of the University of Göttingen).
  • Klaus Ceynowa: For Elmar Mittler's 75th birthday . In: Bibliothek Forschung und Praxis 39, 2, 2015, pp. 124–125 ( full text ).
  • Klaus G. Saur ; Paul Kaegbein : Elmar Mittler on his 60th birthday . In: library. Research and Practice 24 (2000), pp. 149-150.
  • Georg Ruppelt: Nomen est omen - Elmar Mittler on his 65th birthday . In: Buch und Bibliothek 57 (2005), p. 417.
  • Paul Kaegbein : For Elmar Mittler's 70th birthday . In: library. Research and Practice 34 (2010) 2, p. 144.

Web links

Commons : Elmar Mittler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Dissertation: The law in Heinrich Wittenwilers Ring (= research on the history of the Upper Rhine region, vol. 20). Albert, Freiburg 1967.
  2. ↑ Term paper printed as Elmar Mittler: The University Library Freiburg i. Br. 1795-1823. Personnel, administration, takeover of the secularized libraries . Freiburg 1971 ( digitized version ).
  3. ↑ Kai Hoelzner: Rainer Kuhlen and Elmar Mittler jointly take over the spokesperson function for the Action Alliance Copyright for Education and Science , in: Informationsdienst Wissenschaft from July 19, 2005.
  4. ↑ Honorary doctorate for library scientist Elmar Mittler , in: Informationsdienst Wissenschaft from November 15, 2010, accessed on November 25, 2010
predecessor Office successor
Helmut Vogt Director of the Göttingen University Library
1990–2006 		Norbert Lossau
personal data
SURNAME Mittler, Elmar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mittler, Elmar Jakob Nikolaus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German librarian
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Then after