Oulu University Library, Finland
Oulu University Library was founded in 1959 in the northern city of Oulu, Finland. The Thammasat University Library owns several books about Finland. Oulu University Library includes libraries specializing in architecture and health sciences, as well as humanities, education, and economics. Over eighty employees serve a student and staff population of over 18,000 people. The Oulu University Library owns over 12 million printed books and more than 35,000 ebooks. It subscribes to over 450 databases, making available more than 35,000 electronic journals to readers, compared to just over 1000 printed journals. It offers place for over 1300 readers, including group study areas for over 500 students and over 25 individual study rooms. The University of Oulu is one of the largest universities in Finland and it is considered one of the best. It opened in 1958.
Oulu is one of the largest cities located so far north. Only a couple of cities in Russia are situated farther north. The residents of Oulu have participated in some high technology experiments, with everyone given access to near-field communication (NFC), a set of communication protocols enabling two electronic devices, one of which is usually a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing them within 4 cm (1.6 in) of each other. NFC devices are used in payment systems, similar to credit cards and electronic ticket smartcards, as well as social networking and shared contacts, photos, videos and files. NFC-enabled devices can act as electronic identity documents and keycards. The inhabitants of Oulu have also been given trial runs with ubiquitous computing (ubicomp), where computing appears anytime and everywhere. Unlike desktop computers, ubicomp can happen with any device, location, or format. The people of Oulu interacted with laptop computers, tablets, and terminals, but also were able to send messages to refrigerators and eyeglasses. Ubicomp requires a range of technologies, apart from the Internet. They include advanced middleware, operating systems, mobile codes, sensors, microprocessors, new I/O and user interfaces, networks, mobile protocols, location and positioning, and new materials.
On a lighter note, Oulu is also celebrated for its annual Air Guitar World Championships, held in the city since 1996. As students know, air guitar is a way to move and dance while pretending to be playing electric guitar in a rock or heavy metal style. The idea is to look impressive while not making any guitar sound, since the guitar does not really exist. Thailand is a member of the Air Guitar World Championships Network of official national championship competitions, administered by the Air Guitar World Championships. The only other Asian countries in the network are Japan and Taiwan. The archived website of the Thai air guitar championship lists rules for performers:
1 – You have 60 seconds — not 59 seconds and not 61 seconds — you have 60 seconds to prove your worth.
2 – You must have a guitar and it must be made of air and therefore invisible.
3 – You must play either an electric guitar or an acoustic one, or another kind of guitar, but you can’t just make it up.
4 – There are 2 rounds to the competition: the 1st is 60 seconds of a song/track/noise of own choice. If you get through the 1st round there’s the 2nd where you will play the 60 seconds of a compulsory song; a song so complex and demonic we will only play it to you at the beginning of the round, so you will basically have to summon a performance out of thin air.
5 – There is no dress code. Just dress to Impress!
Oulu is also noted as the home of the Screaming Men or Men’s Choir Shouters who chant loudly, something in the style of Maori warriors. The group was founded over 30 years ago, specializing in patriotic songs and national anthems. They tour internationally and have performed in Japan, but apparently not yet in Thailand.
When students are not distracted by all these activities in Oulu, they may be found studying at the Pegasus Library, concentrating on humanities, education, and economics. It has four levels, with areas dedicated to printed book and periodicals stacks, as well as study spaces. The library has many comfortable places to sit. Near the circulation desk are shelved textbooks and books that may be borrowed for up to two weeks. On the second floor are spaces for group projects and a computer lab. The third floor has more areas for computer use, and study spaces. There are areas for printing, copying, and scanning on each floor.
Thailand and Finland.
Happiness rankings
In March, The Nation reported that Finland was ranked as the happiest nation on earth, in the sixth World Happiness Report. In East Asia, Taiwan was found to be the happiest nation, followed by Singapore and Malaysia. Thailand was ranked higher by the study this year than Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Mongolia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, or Myanmar. To calculate national happiness, experts in economics, psychology, survey analysis, and national statistics use statistics to decide how nations progress in terms of dealing with mental illness, ethics, policy implications, and how each nation follows the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) measurements of subjective well-being, among other guidelines.
Ecological exchanges
Last month a seminar at Bangkok International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre (BITEC) highlighted the latest waste-management technologies, arranged by Waste-to-Energy Trade Association. The seminar was part of Renewable Energy Asia 2018: The 14th South East Asian Renewable Energy Technology Exhibition and Conference. As the conference’s website notes:
Thailand is currently promoting Renewable Energy as a national agenda supported by a Master Plan called “Alternative Energy Development Plan (2012-2021).” The goal is to increase the share of renewable energy to 25% of the country’s energy demand by the year 2021.
There, BMH Technology of Finland presented a waste-to-energy system as a high-quality substitute for fossil fuels. The idea is to transform mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) as well as commercial and industrial waste into high-quality solid recovered fuel (SRF). The resulting, specially processed, SRF would be a much higher quality fuel than ordinary waste fuel or refuse derived fuel (RDF).
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)