KVINFO facts for kids
KVINFO office in Copenhagen.
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| Formation | 1964 |
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| Founder | Nynne Koch |
| Purpose | Documentation and information services |
| Location |
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Official language
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Danish |
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Director
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Nina Groes |
| Christina Fiig, Sabrina Speiermann, Thomas Rasmussen (auxiliary), Dorthe Staunæs (chair), Gert Martin Hald, Lynn Roseberry (auxiliary), Mogens Blom, Robin May Schott (auxiliary), Marianne Bruun, Hanne Fokdal Barnekow (auxiliary), Michael Cutta-Schønberg, Birte Christensen-Dalsgaard (auxiliary), Tonny Skovgård Jensen (vice-chair), Ellen V. Knudsen (auxiliary), Jytte Nielsen, Anita Frank Goth (auxiliary) | |
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Parent organization
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Ministry of Culture (Denmark) |
| Affiliations | Danish library sector |
The Danish Center for Research on Women and Gender (KVINFO) is a special center in Denmark. It helps people learn about topics related to women and gender. KVINFO shares information from studies about women and gender, both from Denmark and around the world.
KVINFO has a huge library with over 20,000 books and magazines. These are all about equal opportunities and women's topics. But KVINFO is more than just a library. It also creates an online magazine and an online encyclopedia of Danish women's lives. They also have a database of women experts and stories about Danish women's history. KVINFO also runs special programs, like a mentor network for women from different backgrounds in Denmark. They also help with women's rights in the Middle East.
Contents
What Does KVINFO Mean?
The name KVINFO is a short way of saying some Danish words. These words are køn (gender), viden (knowledge), information (information), and forskning (research). The name also sounds a bit like "kvinde" (woman) and "info" (information).
How KVINFO Started
KVINFO's story began in 1964. A woman named Nynne Koch worked at the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen. She started a special service to collect information about women's topics. Every day, she spent 15 minutes writing down new books about women in a card catalog.
Nynne Koch created a special way to organize and find information about women and gender studies. This system made it easy for researchers to find what they needed.
By 1982, KVINFO became an official project. It received money from the Danish Ministry of Culture. Nynne Koch and her team of volunteers moved to a new place. They started doing even more activities. In 1987, KVINFO became its own independent organization.
Elisabeth Møller Jensen was the director of KVINFO from 1990 to 2014. During her time, KVINFO grew a lot. Its budget and staff became three times bigger. The center's magazine was updated, and its number of readers doubled. They also put their database of women experts online, which was the first of its kind in Europe.
Nina Groes became the new director on February 1, 2014. KVINFO also uses a lot of computer technology in its work. It helps coordinate a cultural network project for the Danish Ministry of Culture.
Sharing Information and Knowledge
KVINFO started in the Danish library world. But it has also helped bring women's issues and research into public discussions in Scandinavia for many years.
KVINFO collects and organizes books and articles on many topics. These include women's studies, gender studies, men's studies, and equality. They also gather statistics and biographies. KVINFO shares this information with people in Denmark and around the world.
Online Magazine for Gender and Culture
KVINFO's magazine, called Forum, first came out on paper in 1982. For ten years, it was the only journal in Denmark about women's studies. In 1998, it became an online magazine. This helped it reach more readers and put gender topics on their minds.
Forum's main goal is to show more about Danish women and gender issues. It also connects researchers around the world who study these topics. Most of the magazine is in Danish.
An Encyclopedia of Danish Women's Lives
In 2003, KVINFO launched an online encyclopedia called Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon. This encyclopedia has about 2,000 stories of Danish women. These women were pioneers in fields like education, science, and music. Some were important in the fight for women's right to vote, politics, or business. Anyone can read this information online for free.
A Database of Women Experts Online
In 1995, KVINFO created a database called Women Online. It lists women experts in Denmark. This database makes it easy to find information about many modern women. These women are leaders, managers, politicians, researchers, and experts in many areas. It helps people find candidates for jobs, committees, or as speakers and consultants.
A Website About Women's History
KVINFO launched a website in November 2001. Its goal is to tell the story of how Danish women gained equal opportunities from 1850 to 1920. You can find documents online in Danish about important moments. These include women getting the right to vote, access to education and jobs, and their fight for independence.
Other Important Projects
KVINFO is involved in many other projects. They organize lectures, seminars, and cultural events. The center has also improved its services by coordinating programs that support women's rights in the Middle East. They also create opportunities for immigrant women in Denmark.
Mentor Program for Immigrant Women
In 2001, some people felt that the Danish women's movement was not doing enough for immigrant women.
So, in 2003, a mentor network was created for refugee and immigrant women in Denmark. The idea was to connect KVINFO's network of strong, educated women with refugee and immigrant women.
Through one-on-one meetings, experienced women (mentors) help others. They share their professional connections and give advice on job applications, interviews, and workplace culture. They also help women understand their job potential.
It is believed that more than half of all job openings in Denmark are filled through personal connections. Having a network is very important to succeed in Danish society. Immigrant women are matched with Danish mentors based on their education, job, and personal wishes.
By 2013, over 3,300 women had joined KVINFO's network. This network is organized in four different branches across four Danish cities.
Women in Dialogue in the Middle East
KVINFO started its Middle East project in 2006. This project aims to connect Denmark with different Arab countries. The goal is to promote gender equality and women's rights.
The program supports projects that help civil society groups, especially women's organizations. It focuses on four key areas: changing laws, women taking part in public life, stopping domestic violence, and research and information on gender issues.
In its first phase, KVINFO's project included Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
See also
- Knowledge organization
- Timeline of women in Denmark
