Meeting
Asian Collecting Agreements Meeting, 7 November 1995
An important step in forwarding the Distributed National Collection (DNC) was taken on 7 November when representatives of the Australian libraries with the major Asian collections met. The meeting was initiated by an approach to the university libraries by Dr Neil Radford, Librarian, University of Sydney, who is a member of the Reference Group set up following the 3rd National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia held in February 1994. Dr Radford, in co-ordination with the Cliff Law (Director, DNC Office), was supporting the need expressed in the Roundtable resolutions AB1 and AB 2
"That ... Australian libraries with Asian materials ...indicate areas in which they are willing to discuss collecting and access agreements ... that the DNC Office encourage a network ... for Asian materials".
Monash and LaTrobe Universities, the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne and the Australian National University were represented. As well, the President of the Asian Studies Association and senior National Library staff, representing the DNC Office, the National Preservation Office and Reader Services, attended.
The meeting considered progress on the resolutions from the 3rd National Roundtable and then moved on to discuss what were the posible next steps.
As can be seen from the resolutions below, it has been decided to concentrate initially upon the issues related to the collecting of Korean vernacular materials by holding a meeting of the major interested libraries in early 1996. Three other resolutions refer to the importance of improved bibliographical control with resolutions 2 and 3 encouraging the collection of more data on use and collections.
Resolutions
The following resolutions of the 7 November meeting stem from the resolutions of the 3rd National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia.
Collection Development and Collecting Agreements
- That given the increasing interest in Korean collections and services, the National Library convene a meeting on Korean collecting and access issues early in 1996, to include the major stakeholders: the Australian National University, Griffith University, La Trobe University, Monash University, Swinburne Institute of Technology, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney as well as the National Library.
- That the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA), through Professor Beverley Hooper as its President, ascertain the views of ASAA members on the current situation and their needs in relation to document delivery of Asian materials. The results will be forwarded to the DNC Office.
- That libraries with Asian materials be urged to give priority to assessing their Asian studies collections broadly using Conspectus, with the DNC Office as co-ordinator.
- That institutions with major East Asian language serial and newspaper collections be urged to place a high priority on including these on the NBD and report to the DNC Office by February 1996 on their strategy for achieving this over the next two years.
- A. That the Roundtable Reference Group be urged to encourage
preparation of a strong submission in 1996 for Research Infrastructure and
Equipment Funding (RIEF) to allow the inclusion of Australia's existing Chinese
language monograph holdings on the NBD, in particular the holdings of ANU, the
University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the National Library.
B. That in order to improve RIEF funding for Asian collections and services in Australia, the DEET Research Library Infrastructure Group composed of representatives of the AVCC, CAUL, NLA and DEET be advised of medium term priorities for funding. The DNC Office will call for and co-ordinate suggested priorities.
Relevant Resolutions from the 3rd National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia:
AB1: That the DNC Office issue a call for Australian libraries with Asian materials to indicate areas in which they are willing to discuss collecting and access agreements.
AB2: That the DNC Office encourage a network of collecting and access agreements for Asian materials ... Support should be sought from the user community e.g. academics, researchers etc.
AB3: That those libraries with interests in Asian materials document existing collection strengths and current collecting emphases using the Australian Conspectus.
AF1: The most significant files of Australian library data which
should be loaded to the NBD are:
(i) East Asian serials (including
newspapers)
