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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 53| October 2001


Regional Cooperation Program 2000–2001

Regional Cooperation Program 2000–2001

Onsite training in the DB/TextWorks cataloguing software for the Nelson Memorial Public Library in Samoa and funding for study carrels for the National Library and Archives of Kiribati are just two of the projects supported last year under the National Library of Australia’s Regional Cooperation Program.

The program aims to strengthen cooperation with national and major libraries in neighbouring countries. Seventeen libraries were invited to participate in the program last year. Funding was provided for equipment, training, books, interlibrary loan (ILL) vouchers and other projects related to library services and infrastructure.

Highlights

Mr Aung Ye Htut, from the Universities’ Historical Research Centre at the Yangon University in Myanmar, was sponsored to do preservation and conservation training at the University of New South Wales. He spent three weeks working with Library preservation staff after his training and attended lectures at the University of Canberra. He also attended his first Australian barbeque while here. More information about his visit can be found in the April 2001 issue of Gateways.

Forty-eight study carrels and chairs were locally constructed for the National Library and Archives of Kiribati. Users were extremely pleased with the improvement in study facilities resulting from this project—demonstrated by the speed and volume with which students and researchers filled the seats. The Australian High Commission in Tarawa in Kiribati provided valuable support for the facilitation of the project.

Ms Patricia Numa from the National Library of the Cook Islands undertook cataloguing training using DB/TextWorks at the University of New South Wales in February this year. The National Library of the Cook Islands has since transferred its national bibliography records into DB/TextWorks and found the training to be a key factor in undertaking and completing this process.

The National Library of Laos completed a major project to establish a National Plan for the Development of Library Services in Laos. A consultant from the non-government organisation, Partnerships for Development, assisted the National Plan Working Group (NPWG), which included staff from the National Library of Laos and the Ministry of Information and Culture. The NPWG took over a year to produce a final draft of the plan after making site visits to most provinces in Laos to record the level of library service currently available throughout the country. There is much isolation at present and it is hoped that the plan will provide a framework for strategic aid and development work in the future.

Ms Maureen Henninger from the University of New South Wales undertook an extremely successful trip to the Nelson Memorial Public Library in Samoa where she trained all library staff in the use of the DB/TextWorks cataloguing package becoming widely used in the Pacific. The Nelson Memorial Public Library was effusive in praise of Ms Henninger’s work and staff subsequently catalogued a huge number of bibliographic records into the local database. As a result of Ms Henninger’s visit, a simple circulation system was also established and has proved a valuable addition to the Library’s administrations.
—Kristen Ritchie and Danielle Freeman

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