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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 52| August 2001
Thirty
Years in Indonesia:
The National Librarys Regional Office in Jakarta
From right to left: current National Library of Australia Regional Officer, Asia, Oliver Mann with predecessors Andrew Gosling, Ilse Soegito and George Miller
The National Library of Australia has one of the worlds foremost collections on contemporary Indonesia. Collecting began in the 1950s, and was put on a firm footing with the establishment of an Acquisitions Office in Jakarta in 1971.
In the early 1980s the office moved from its suburban residential location to the Australian Embassy. This arrangement works very well, affording administrative efficiency and security. The present day office, comprising one Australian and two Indonesian staff, is one of 10 Australian national agencies based in the Embassy.
The office took on a regional role in 1993 yet its core function remains the acquisition of Indonesian publications. The Indonesian Acquisitions Program acquires material for the National Library and the libraries at the Australian National University, Northern Territory University, Flinders University, Monash University, Murdoch University, the National Library of Singapore and the British Library. Each Library in the Program has its specific profile and budget, and material is collected in a range of formatsbooks, serials, newspapers, maps, and microform.
The reason the Acquisitions Office was established in Jakarta 30 years ago remains as valid today as it did in 1971: the unstructured state of the publishing industry in Indonesia necessitates a presence in the country to seek, select and acquire commercial, government and NGO publications for the Library. The book trade is not equipped to deal with overseas customers. Acquiring publications in Indonesia is a challenge: first one has to find out what has been published, then one has to work out how to acquire it. Even the largest bookstore chain in the country stocks different titles from one store to another in the chain. In addition, titles published outside Jakarta, in the provinces across the far-flung archipelago, are only available locallyto acquire them (and thereby provide a balance to an industry centred in Java) the Regional Officer regularly travels to the provinces on acquisitions field trips.
The Regional Office is a conduit of publications from the region: Indonesian material for the National Library and the seven participant libraries in the Indonesian Acquisitions Program, and publications acquired for the Library from Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Vietnam and the Philippines through the Library of Congress Southeast Asia Cooperative Acquisitions Program, also based in Jakarta.
Aside from acquiring Indonesian publications, the Regional Officer is also called upon to represent the National Library at conferences and meetings in Indonesia and the neighbouring countries of Southeast Asia. Such representation and acquisitions field trips have recently been made to Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. In Indonesia the Regional Officer is in regular contact with institutions such as the National Library of Indonesia, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, universities, the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Bank. A further function entails assisting Australian researchers who are seeking sources of information in or about Indonesia.
In December 1996 Oliver Mann arrived in Jakarta as the Librarys new Regional Officer Asia, taking over the position from Amelia McKenzie who had completed a three-year term. At that time, President Soeharto had been in office for more than 30 years, Indonesia was firmly controlled from Jakarta, and the economy was booming. Four years later the scene is completely different: Oliver has witnessed the passage of four of Indonesias five Presidents, political, social and economic upheaval, a shattered economy, and the devolution of power from Jakarta to the provinces. But the Regional Office, continues to play a pivotal role in representing the Library, acquiring publications from Southeast Asia, assisting scholars and managing the Librarys prestigious Indonesian Internet Sites Web page www.nla.gov.au/asian/indo/indsites.html
Chronology of the Librarys office in Jakarta:
1971 George Miller established the Acquisitions Office
19721979 Ilse Soegito
19791983 Andrew Gosling
1983 The position was abolished by the Commonwealth Review of Functions
1993 The position was re-established as the Librarys Regional
Office, Asia
19931996 Amelia McKenzie
1996present Oliver Mann, assisted by two Indonesian staff, Ibu Nin
Nugroho and Pak Sukirdi.
Oliver Mann can be contacted at the National Librarys Regional Office in the Australian Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia: oliver.mann@dfat.gov.au
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au