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6th CDNLAO Meeting Report
Warren Horton, Director-General, National Library of Australia (NLA), hosted the 6th meeting of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries of Asia and Oceania in Brisbane on 27 May 1995 prior to the Asia-Pacific Library Conference, 28 May to 1 June.
Twenty one directors of national libraries from the Asia and Oceania region attended the meeting held at the State Library of Queensland. A mix of funding from the NLA the State Library of Queensland, and Australia's international aid agency AusAID enabled attendance of delegates from the less developed countries in the region.
Delegates were welcomed at a reception at the State Library of Queensland on the evening of 26 May with the meeting proper being held the next day.
It was particularly pleasing to welcome Mrs Carmen Temata, Chief Librarian, National Library of the Cook Islands, and Mr Tokintekai Uereti, National Library and Archives of Kiribati. They were the first representatives from the Pacific to attend CDNLAO since its inaugural meeting in 1979. It was also the first time that Cambodia was represented at CDNLAO.
The NLA views this bringing together of colleagues from so many countries as an important contribution to the strengthening of ties throughout the library community of the Asia-Pacific region.
CDNLAO once again provided a valuable forum for information exchange on recent developments in each others national libraries; to candidly share successes, frustrations and problems. Delegates thanked the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Queensland for organising a three day program that balanced an efficient and focused one day business meeting with hospitality that ranged from encounters and Australian wildlife and a relaxing stroll along the beach at Surfer's Paradise to an elegant dinner at the Queensland Art Gallery.
Country Reports
The country reports provided a valuable exchange of recent information on national library developments in the region. Highlights from some of the reports include:
- Bangladesh
- The National Library of Bangladesh compiles the national bibliography and receives some Bangladeshi publications under the Copyright Act.
- Cambodia
- The National Library of Cambodia building, and its collections and staff suffered badly under the Khmer Rouge regime, but since 1979, with the help of library professionals from many overseas countries, the restoration of Cambodian library services is slowly being effected. The many obstacles to their development include lack of funds, no legal deposit legislation, lack of trained staff, and an unstable political climate. Reporting on progress against the Recommendations of CDNLAO5, Ms Ros Sarou, Acting Deputy Director said that draft legal deposit legislation had been submitted to the Cambodian Parliament for ratification, a mission statement on collection development had been drafted, and the process to automate cataloguing had commenced with English and French library materials being catalogued using international standards and CDS ISIS software.
- Cook Islands
- Mrs Carmen Temata discussed the difficulties of providing library services to a small but widely scattered population with only limited funding. She noted the problems in attracting and keeping good library staff. Mrs Temata sought delegates' experiences of their Library Boards.
- India
- Under India's Delivery of Books Act one copy of each publication published in India is deposited in the National Library of India. Publications in India's 15 official languages are collected.
- Indonesia
- Indonesia's legal deposit law was enacted in 1990. The National Library of Indonesia receives two copies of each title, with provincial publishers providing one additional copy to the provincial library concerned. The NLI has a national preservation policy and has established an automated network program in 1991. The cataloguing format used is INDOMARC and the software is VTLS. National and regional seminars on the promotion of reading are regularly held throughout Indonesia.
- Japan
- The Kansai-kan will be a new information facility in the Kansai Science City in Kyoto prefecture. To be completed in eight years time, the new facility will provide additional stack area for the rapidly expanding Diet Library, will house preservation copies of many previous records, will be a document and information and supply centre, an Asian resource information centre and focal point for library cooperation. The National Diet Library is currently digitising a range of Japanese library materials including rare books and frequently used periodicals. A total of 2.2m terbytes will be digitised. The new facility will act as a 'digital library'.
- Kiribati
- The National Library headquarters is in Bairiki on the main island of Tarawa. Opened in 1979, the library provides service to the country's 72,000 people who inhabit twenty two islands spread over 3 million square kilometres. One third of the population lives in Tarawa. The main library has about 38,000 titles. With a very limited budget, the library service is largely dependent on foreign aid. Staff training is a problem. Despite its isolation and limited resources, progress has been achieved in promoting good reading habits among children.
- Korea
- Korean legal deposit legislation was enacted in 1963. Amendments to cover electronic and other non-print media are currently being drafted. The Korean Library Information System (KOLIS-NET) will be established in 1997 as part of the national information infrastructure program. This program will expand information processing capacities, promote balanced regional development, and establish a foundation for the national bibliographic information network. A project to digitise doctoral theses and high-use journals and make them accessible online is about to commence. A new building to house a special preservation stack will be completed by the year 2000.
- Laos
- Legal deposit legislation was presented to the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1993. Until ratified the National Library of Laos collects publications under an interim arrangement. The NLL is working on a national strategy for the development of Lao libraries. A national preservation policy to promote the preservation of palm leaf manuscripts has been formulated. Ten manuscripts of important national heritage have been microfilmed, translated into modern Lao, and published. The NLL promotes children's reading by publishing and distributing Lao folk tales through its very successful mobile library project. The NLL has started to computerise its cataloguing processes but needs assistance in computer training.
- Malaysia
- Under the National Library of Malaysia Deposit of Library Materials Act, 1986 Malaysian publishers are required to deposit five copies of printed materials and two copies of non-printed materials with the National Library of Malaysia. Ms Mariam Abdul Kadir reported on some of the MLM's recent initiatives such as the project to produce talking books in Malay for the blind. Encouraging children to use libraries is a high priority for the NLM with August being nationally promoted as 'Reading Month'.
- Maldives
- Legal deposit legislation has been drafted but not ratified by Parliament. Work to computerise the Library's technical services will commence, with the help of a Sri Lankan adviser, following the National Library of the Maldives' Golden Jubilee celebrations on 12 July 1995.
- Mongolia
- The State National Library of Mongolia has started work on legal deposit legislation and was investigating the computerisation of its information services. In 1994 the Mongolian Library Association has ben formed and it has joined the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.
- Nepal
- Hampered by a lack of funds, staff and space the National Library of Nepal has been unable to provide extensive service to the public. Recently DANIDA in cooperation with UNESCO has assisted the Nepali government to develop a five year plan for upgrading library services in Nepal.
- Papua New Guinea
- The National Library and Archives Act was gazetted in May 1995. The Act includes legal deposit legislation to enable the National Library to claim two copies of most material published in Papua New Guinea. Progress in automating library and archives activities has been hampered by lack of funds. No integrated library automation has been purchased and the Library continues to use CD-ROM technology. The NLSPNG is, however, a partner in the Community Communications Network (COMMNET) project which is a two year pilot project to provide a data communications link between communities and government departments, NGOs, provincial literacy units and multi language resource centres.
- Sri Lanka
- A new National Library act has been drafted. Since 1993 the Sri Lankan National Bibliography, the union catalogue, acquisitions and some administrative activities have been computerised. Under the 1992 national preservation plan the National Library has established small conservation and preservation centres in major public libraries in the country.
- Thailand
- Under the Press Act 1941 the National Library of Thailand received two copies of all materials published in Thailand. The NLT has automated its technical services and is investigating links to the Internet.
- Vietnam
- In 1993 Vietnam's legal deposit legislation was reviewed to require publishers to provide four copies, instead of eight, of each publication to the National Library of Vietnam. The NLV has computerised its technical services and is now the hub for a computer network linking 53 provincial libraries. With the assistance of an Australia Department of Employment Education and Training (DEET) funded, Australian National University (ANU) and National Library of Australia initiative, the NLV has recently established a connection to the Internet. It is currently building a new facility at the rear of the existing building to house climate controlled stacks and other facilities.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
Mr Winston Roberts, Coordinator of Professional Activities, IFLA, described the recent activities and benefits of IFLA and urged all delegates to consider participating in the organisation.
Memory of the World Project
Dr Jan Lyall, Director, National Preservation Office, National Library of Australia outlined the background to UNESCO/IFLA's Memory of the World project. She urged those who had not already done so, to complete and submit the 'Memory of the World: Survey of Preservation activities in Libraries' questionnaire.
The purpose of the questionnaire is to collect information on nationally significant collections and the existing procedures used to safeguard and preserve them. Using the data collected, UNESCO will prepare a database of important library collections. The data will assist in the selection of projects for the MOW.
Recent Regional Developments
- Singapore
- Mr R. Ramachandran, Acting Director, National Library of Singapore reported on some of the recent developments in Singapore including the provision of a home delivery service, actively encouraging children in library use, and the Biznet service to the business community. The Library 2000 vision seeks to continuously expand the nation's capacity to learn through a network of libraries and information resource centres providing services and learning opportunities to support the advancement of Singapore.
- New Zealand
- Mr Peter Scott, National Librarian, National Library of New Zealand spoke on the National Document and Information Service, a joint project between the NLNZ and the National Library of Australia. This project aims to develop a new computer system which will replace and extend the functions of the existing Australian Bibliographic Network, New Zealand Bibliographic Network, Ozline and Kiwinet systems.
Australia's International Library Activities
Helen Jarvis, Director of BISA and Lecturer at the University of New South Wales reported on her library development work in Cambodia and Vietnam; Robyn Stokes discussed the role of ACPAD, ALIIS and IDP; Elizabeth Watt outlined the National Library of Australia's international activities; and Anthony Ketley, Convenor of the Asia and Pacific Special Interest Group (APSIG) discussed the activities of this Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) special interest group.
Recommendations of the Meeting
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Last updated
Tuesday 27-May-2008 |