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13th CDNLAO Meeting

May, 2005 Kuala Lumpur

Minutes

Dr. Haji Wan Ali bin Wan Mamat Director-General
National Library of Malaysia (Chairman)
Ms Jasmine Cameron Assistant Director-General
National Library of Australia
Ven. Mynak R. Tulku Director, National Library of Bhutan
Ms Ros Sarou Assistant Director, National Library of Cambodia
Professor Dr. Sudhendu Mandal Director, National Library of India
Mr Supriyanto Executive Secretary, National Library of Indonesia
Mr Mikio Wanaka Director-General, National Diet Library
Mr Kwon Jae-Yoon Director, National Library of Korea
Dr Young-Sook Lee Librarian, National Library of Korea
Ms Khanthamaly Yangnouvong Manuscript Palm Leaf Division
National Library of Laos
Mr Kyaw Oo Director, National Library of Myanmar
Mr Ch. Muhammad Nazir Director-General, National Library of Pakistan
Mr Marvin Sanchez Vanguardia Acting Chief of Administration Division
National Library of the Philippines
Ms Ngian Lek Choh   Deputy Chief Executive
National Library Board of Singapore

Mr M.S.U. Amarasiri

Director-General, National Library of Sri Lanka

Mr M.A. Nguyen Throng Phuong

Research and Professional Guidance Division
National Library of Vietnam

ABSENT WITH APOLOGIES

Bibliotheque Nationale du Mali
Cook Islands National Library
Directorate of Archives and Libraries, Bangladesh
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei
National Library of China
National Library of Indonesia
National Archives and Library of Kiribati
National Library of Maldives
National Library of Mongolia
National Library of Nepal
National Library of New Zealand
National Library Services, Papua New Guinea
National Library Services, Solomon Islands
National Central Library Taiwan
National Library of Thailand

MINUTES OF MEETING

1. WELCOME ADDRESS


1.1
   Dr. Hj. Wan Ali bin Wan Mamat, Director-General of the National Library of Malaysia, welcomed all members to the 13th Meeting of CDNLAO in Kuala Lumpur and expressed Malaysia's pride to be host. The Meeting noted that CDNLAO Meeting do not make decisions but only propose recommendations for IFLA to deliberate as the Meeting is part of the CDNL Meeting. The Chairman added that the outcome of the Meeting will be reported to IFLA.

1.2    The Meeting noted that the CDNLAO Meeting was held to coincide with the Workshop on Leadership Development for Directors of National Libraries in Developing Countries under the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme which will be held from 25 until 27 May 2005.

1.3    All members expressed their sorrow and share the grievances of the countries affected by the 26 December 2004 tsunami and extended their condolences to the families affected by the disaster. The countries affected were Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Maldives and Malaysia. The Chairman will raise the issue to IFLA of possible assistance to those libraries affected by the tragedy.

1.4    According to the IFLA Resolution agreed upon at Buenos Aires, Argentina, it was agreed that a collaborative effort between libraries, museums and archives would be further enhanced within each member country and at international levels.

1.5    At the invitation of the Chairman, the members introduced themselves to the Meeting.

2. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

2.1 Singapore moved for the adoption of the agenda of the 12th Meeting of the CDNLAO with Myanmar as the seconder. The Agenda was accepted without any amendment.

2.2 The Chairman advised that there were no business arising from the minutes and he further informed that no resolution would be tabled. The meeting will be more of experience-sharing among its members.

3. COUNTRY REPORTS

3.1    15 country reports were presented at the Meeting. They were as follows:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Australia
Bhutan
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
India
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Vietnam

4. HIGHLIGHTS OF COUNTRY REPORTS

4.1   Australia
Ms Cameron highlighted the digitisation projects undertaken by the Library and also the provision of less formal unstructured services. They are still searching for the latest technologies in providing quality services to the public. Google-like search of Libraries Australia was developed to enhance public access to resources available in the country. It covers all format including sound, picture, etc. The search goes across the bibliographic records that has metadata and provides alternatives to getting the resources including if it has to be purchased at Amazon.com. On 26-30 September 2005, the Australian National Library will hold the ISSN Directors Meeting in Canberra.

4.2   Bhutan
Ven'ble Mynak Tulku talked about the library's rich collection. He also mentioned the library's digitised collection of 150,000 titles which are mainly in Bhutan language. The Legal Deposit Act was passed in 1999 and consequently the National Library was made the depository centre for all printed and non-printed documents. The National Library was also recognised as the National Archives of Bhutan.

4.3   Cambodia
Ms Sarou reported that efforts are being made to redraft the Legal Deposit Act and also to publish the Cambodian National Library Collection - Cambodiana Collection. Efforts were also being made to get the support of the Asia Foundation and non-governmental organizations to donate books for "Rooms to Read" project for students taking language lesson in English rather than Khmer.

4.4   China
In 2004, the National Library of China (NLC) had been actively involved in cooperative relationships with university libraries and as host to several international conferences. The NLC established the China Center of IFLA PAC, translating articles into Chinese and distributing them to libraries in China. Among the conferences held were the 12th Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Oceania, the Sogdiens in China International Symposium, the International Symposium of Local History Documents and the Digital Library-Advance: the efficiency of knowledge utilization. The NLC also started its phase II of the National Digital Library.

4.5   Indonesia
Mr Supriyanto reported the development of libraries in Indonesia, their collection and the services of the National Library to the public. The country has seen a keen interest in the establishment of new libraries in government institutions. This is further enhanced with the loans obtained from the World Bank to implement the Library Development Project for public and school libraries in three provinces. Non-governmental organizations have also participated in the library development by establishing libraries in rural and remote areas.
Protection of copyright was placed under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

4.6   India
Professor Dr. Sudhendu Mandal, a botanist, joined the National Library as the new director on 27 August 2004. He highlighted the background of the National Library, its collection development and publications.
On 8 October 2004, the National Library moved into its new building called the Bhasha Bhavan (the House of Languages) with its state of the art technology and modern facilities. In 2004, the National Library also celebrated its 50th year of the Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act, 1954 which aimed at preserving the country's cultural and intellectual heritage, embodied in readable materials, be they printed, lithographed or manuscript forms. Some of the activities carried out in 2004 were as follows:

(a)
(b)
(c)

(d)
(e)

Sanskrit Day on 19 July 2004
Training on Conservation of Library Materials, 5 - 9 July 2004
Workshop for trainers on Preventive Conservation of Manuscripts, 23 - 28 August 2004
Incentive Scheme for doing work in Hindi, 1- 9 September 2004
Golden Jubilee of the Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC), 3 September 2004

4.7   Japan
In 2004, the National Diet Library (NDL) had made a few upgrading exercises which involved the following:

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

"NDL Vision 2004" which will provide better services to its three outlets, namely the Tokyo M Library, the Kansai-kan and the International Library of Children's Literature,
The NDL also introduced an evaluation system to inform the public of its performances, and
Launching of new services by the Tokyo Main Library and the change in the infrastructure system

4.8   Korea
In 2004, the National Library introduced a new system for cataloguing materials received from overseas. The Library was training more subject specialists to deal with the increasing number of reference enquiries. The Library had also been reorganised, creating Library Policy & International Relations Division, Serials and Government Publication Division; and merging two divisions into the Acquisition and Technical Processing Division.

4.9 Lao PDR
Ms Yangnouvong highlighted various projects undertaken in 2004, namely the English language project, microfilming of manuscripts for research purposes and scanning of English books. She welcomed foreign support for her English language project.

4.10 Malaysia
The National Library of Malaysia (NLM) had embarked on a few important projects in 2004. They were as follows:

(i)  Digital initiatives:

(ii) Reading Promotion

(iii) Regional and International Programs

4.11 Myanmar
Mr Kyaw Oo gave an insight into the history of the National Library, its services, collection development and staff training. Under the ASEAN-COCI Digitisation Project, the National Library was provided with the relevant hardware and accessories to convert rare books into digital formats.

4.12 Philippines
The number of libraries had increased over the past 10 years, from 595 units (1994) to 977 units (2003), an average increase of 108 libraries per year. The National Library of the Philippines (NLP) has also set up the National Library Information Network (NLIN). The NLP had also carried reading promotion programmes, information literacy programmes and digital library services to its readers.

4.13 Singapore
On April 20, 2005, the National Library opened its door to the public at its new library building which also houses the National Arts Council's Drama Centre, programmes zone, gardens cafe, an open plaza. An insight was also given on the development of the public libraries, the academic libraries and special libraries. NLB has taken steps to make the libraries more attractive and appealing to their younger readers. To cater for adult users, they have created quiet reading rooms/corners and allows users to bring their personal computers. Among the major events that had taken place in 2004 were as follows:

(i)
(ii)

(iii)

INTAMEL Conference, 26 September - 2 October 2004
4th Asian Children's Festival, 18 November - 5 December 2004. Singapore chose 12 titles for their best children's books through panels of teachers and parents
1st Meeting of the ASEAN University Network Inter-Library Online (AUNILO), 28-30 April 2004

4.14 Sri Lanka
Mr Amarasiri gave an overview of the library development in Sri Lanka which also included the development of ICT. He informed in great detail the devastation of libraries in Sri Lanka by the Tsunami that originated in the Indian Ocean. He also informed the Meeting about the local initiatives undertaken to overcome the effects of the disaster.

4.15 Vietnam
Libraries in Vietnam were set up under the Ordinance on Library which saw the establishment of the national library, public, special and academic libraries. The `Electronic Library' had entered its 3rd phase of implementation.

5. COLLABORATION AMONGST LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS AND ARCHIVES - POSSIBLE PROJECTS

5.1   Ms Cameron reported that the National Library of Australia and all cultural institutions are under one ministry which makes it easier for projects to be executed. Australia has put a lot of effort to take the lead in this area and the National Library of Australia must be prepared to take the leadership role.

5.2 The Chairman told the Meeting that the collaboration will be much easier for the National Library of Malaysia since it is now placed under the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage together with the National Archives and the National Museum and Antiquities.

5.3 Ms Ngian informed the Meeting that digitisation in Singapore have been made easier with the collaboration of the museums and archives in the Republic. She said that having the relevant institutions together under one ministry may again not necessarily made it easier since every agency has its own priorities.

5.4 Ven'ble Mynak Tulku reported that in Bhutan the National Library, Archives and Museums and the Performing Arts are placed under the Ministry of Home Agricultural Affairs and most of the work are shared between the agencies, but each agency will have its own separate budget. He reiterated that collaboration ensures no duplication of activities among these institutions.

5.5 Professor Dr. Mandal is of the opinion that a department will lose its identity if a collaboration existed and believed that it must be treated separately. However, he conceded that collaboration is feasible in areas such as research projects.

6. PRESENTATIONS

(i)    World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2006

The Chairman invited Dr. Young-Sook Lee from the National Library of Korea to talk about Korea's preparation for the World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2006. Dr. Lee also distributed promotional documents to all members present and invited them to the WLIC 2006 to be held in Seoul from 20 until 24 August 2006 which will be the first Asian venue in the 21st century.

She further informed the Meeting about the International Meeting of Expert Catalogers in Seoul in 2006, which will precede the WLIC.

(ii)   Universal Service Provision (USP) by Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication (MEWC)

Due to some unforeseen circumstances the paper was not presented but a writeup on the topic was distributed to all members of the Meeting.

7. FUTURE MEETINGS

The 14th CDNLAO 2006 will be held in Manila, Philippines. Australia has agreed to hold the 15th CDNLAO 2007 should no other country is willing to host it.

 

 

 

 
 

 


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