The collections
Regional officer visits Kupang
Regional officer Oliver Mann (left) with the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr John McCarthy, and the Governor of Nusa Tenggara Timur in Kupang |
Oliver Mann, the National Library's regional officer based in Jakarta, made a quick field trip to Kupang, the provincial capital of Nusa Tenggara Timur 1900 kilometres east of Jakarta, in January. An RAAF jet was scheduled to take Australia's Ambassador, Mr. John McCarthy, to Surabaya (east Java) to hand over a shipment of Australian rice as part of our relief aid to Indonesia, and then on to Kupang to inaugurate Australia's Honorary Consul there. Several days before departure, Oliver was given the opportunity to join the delegation. As air travel in Indonesia is sometimes uncertain in the current economic crisis, Oliver seized this chance to make a brief provincial field trip (the first time a member of the Library staff had visited Kupang on business). Oliver was able to make the most of the short time available in Kupang because he had established contacts at Nusa Cendana University and the provincial branch of the National Library of Indonesia. As well as acquiring sets of the provincial bibliography from the National Library, Oliver was presented with copies of the Library's index to the local newspaper Pos Kupang which is subscribed to by the Northern Territory University Library as part of its agreement with the National Library of Australia for the cooperative collecting of eastern Indonesian library materials. Oliver was also able to acquire a number of recent publications focussing on social conditions in the province, from two local yayasan (non-government organisations). Enquiries regarding resources in the National Library's Indonesian collections can be directed to Ms. Tieke Atikah (tatikah@nla.gov.au), tel. 02 6262 1647, fax 02 6273 4327. Oliver Mann can be contacted at oliver.mann@dfat.gov.au |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au