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IFLA JOURNAL Official Journal of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Volume 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 105–199. ISSN 0340-0352 K. G. Saur München
CONTENTS Editorial: Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: a new theme for a new President Stephen Parker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: IFLA Presidential Theme 2003–2005 Kay Raseroka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 The German Library System: structure and new developments Claudia Lux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science Jean-Claude Guédon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Ruth Rikowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 DANIDA: Wherefore Art Thou? Jeffrey M. Wilhite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 REPORTS Core Activities: Annual Reports, 2002. Summaries
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP) Gunilla Natvig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM) Marianne Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Mare-Thérèse Varlamoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) Susanne Seidelin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC (UBCIM) Marie France Plassard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 IFLA Office for UAP and International Lending Sara Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 NEWS (with separate Table of Contents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 ABSTRACTS 189 – SOMMAIRES 191 – ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN 193 – RESÚMENES 195 – J_n_jZlu klZl_c 197 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Notes for Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
IFLA Journal Official Journal of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions ISSN 0340-0352 Published 4 times a year in March, June, September and December.
Editor (responsible): Ross Shimmon, Secretary-General Editor: Stephen Parker, Tel. +31 (71) 561-9880, Fax: +31 (71) 561-5081, E-mail: [email protected] Editorial Offices IFLA Headquarters, POB 95312, 2509 CH The Hague, Netherlands Tel. +31 (70) 3140884, Fax: +31 (70) 3834827, E-mail: [email protected]., Website: http://www.ifla.org Publisher K.G. Saur Verlag GmbH, Ortlerstr. 8, D-81373 München, Federal Republic of Germany Tel. (+49-89) 7 69 02-0, Fax (+49-89) 7 69 02-150/250, E-mail: [email protected], http://www.saur.de Editorial Committee Ramón Abad Hiraldo (USA) (Chair) Instituto Cervantes – Library 122 E.42nd. Street, Suite 807a, New York, NY 10168, USA Tel. +1 (212) 6894232, Fax: +1 (212) 5458837, E-mail: [email protected] Heinz Fuchs (Germany) Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Platz der Göttinger Sieben 1, D-37070 Göttingen, Germany Tel: +49 (551) 395240, Fax: +49 (551) 395222, E-mail: [email protected] Ludmila F. Kozlova (Russian Federation) Department of Foreign Library Science and International Library Relations, Russian State Library Vozdvizhenka 3/5, 101 000, Moscow, Russian Federation Tel. +7 (095) 2023565/1427, Fax: +7 (095) 2002255/9136933, E-mail: [email protected] Maria Witt (France) Catalogues, Médiathèque de la Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie 30 Avenue Corentin Cariou, 75930 Paris Cédex 19, France Tel. +33 (1) 40057110, Fax: +33 (1) 40057683/40057106, E-mail: [email protected] Claudia Lux (Germany) (Chair, Publications Committee, ex officio) Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin Breite Strasse 36, 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel. +49 (30) 90226450/(177) 2400372. Fax: +49 (30) 90226494. E-mail: [email protected] Stephen Parker (United Kingdom) (Editor, ex officio) Subscriptions Free to IFLA members. Non-members: subscription rates to Volume 29, 2003 EUR 198.00 plus postage; single issues: EUR 52.00 plus postage. Subscription enquiries, orders and claims should be sent to the publishers at the above address. Remittances should be payable to K.G. Saur Verlag GmbH, München. Bank transfers Postbank München 2061 41-804 (BLZ 700 100 80); SWIFT: PBNKDEFF IBAN: DE04 7001 0080 0206 1418 04 Advertising enquiries Constanze Güldner (responsible), K.G. Saur Verlag, München: Tel. +49 (89) 7 69 02-321, E-mail: [email protected]. ∞ ] Printed on acid-free paper © 2003 by International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, The Hague Production editor and typesetting: Dr. Rainer Ostermann, Jakob-Klar-Str. 3, D-80796 München Printed by Strauss Offsetdruck, Robert-Bosch-Str. 6-8, 69509 Mörlenbach
EDITORIAL Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: a new theme for a new President Stephen Parker
When IFLA’s President-Elect, Kay Raseroka, begins her two-year term of office as President at the World Library and Information Congress in Berlin in August 2003, she will become only the third woman President in IFLA’s 76-year lifespan, and the first President of either sex to come from a developing country, and from Africa. In preparation for her Presidential term of office, Kay has for some time been making special efforts to obtain the views of IFLA members on the strategic actions which the Federation should implement in the period 2003–2005. An important element of this consultative process was the brainstorming session on ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’ which was held at the Glasgow Conference in August 2002 and in which nearly 200 IFLA members participated. Based on the results of this process, and after further consultation with the membership at large and with the President-Elect’s Planning Group, Kay has now formulated her Presidential Theme for 2003–2005 as ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’. This issue of IFLA Journal opens with a paper by the President-Elect in which she states and explains the theme and its implications for IFLA members. The theme is directly linked to IFLA’s Core Values and Professional Priorities and thus reflects an element of continuity with the past as well as a vision of the future. Three priority areas for action were identified through the various consultations, namely: advocacy, partnerships and alliances, and continuing professional development. At the World Library and Information Congress in Berlin, representatives of all IFLA Divisions, Sections and other units, and of the membership at large, will be invited to discuss specific actions related to these three areas which they intend to implement during the new President’s term of office. A regular feature of the IFLA Journal each year is an indepth review of the library and information scene in the country in which that year’s IFLA conference is to be held. This year is no exception to this rule, and the second paper in
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this issue is a review of ‘The German Library System: structure and new developments’ by Claudia Lux, Chair of the IFLA National Committee for Germany and a member of the IFLA Governing Board. The paper begins by explaining that the Germany of today has only existed since the unification of West and East Germany in 1990. The two former states had very different library systems, and although the differences have diminished in recent years, they have not disappeared altogether. Claudia Lux’s well-illustrated paper describes the basic principles on which German libraries are expected to operate; the different levels of service provision, including regional libraries, special libraries, university libraries and national libraries; the role of professional associations; and professional education. She discusses new developments in German librarianship, including cooperation in acquisitions, cataloguing and interlibrary loan; programmes for the promotion of reading and new media competency; digitization activities; the financing of libraries and related activities; new library buildings; and new services for customers. Concern for the future of libraries in Germany is reflected in ‘Library 2007’ (Bibliothek 2007), a joint project of the National Federation of Library and Librarians’ Associations (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Bibliotheksverbände – BDB) and the Bertelsmann Foundation on the future development of German libraries. The next paper in this issue was originally presented at a Workshop of the University Libraries and other General Research Libraries Section at the Glasgow Conference in August 2002. In ‘Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science’, Jean-Claude Guédon, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Montreal in Canada, argues that steep increases in the costs of subscriptions to scientific journals and the introduction of licensing schemes are seriously restricting ownership of, access to, and permissible forms of use of published scientific knowledge. As a result, poorer research institutions, particularly in poorer countries, are unable to access current scientific
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Editorial literature and so are condemned to a marginal existence. Dr Guédon believes that the evaluation procedures used by scientific journals do not serve science or the management of research in an optimal manner, while the near-monopoly of such evaluation exerted by large commercial publishing houses helps to explain their ability to manipulate prices. He considers that the development of open access archives, with an associated evaluation system, could help restore the ‘Republic of science’ and create real competition for commercial publishers. He proposes a three-tier structure for institutional open access archives in accordance with the rules of the Open Access Initiative.
ment Agency (DANIDA) for librarians from developing countries to attend the IFLA conference each year. Since 1997, 266 such librarians have been able to attend the IFLA conference thanks to the travel grants from DANIDA, which were made available through IFLA’s Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP). Not only did these grants change the lives of the librarians concerned; they themselves helped to change the lives of those they met at the conference and back in their home countries. In 2002, at short notice, the DANIDA grants were cancelled. The question now is: where can alternative sources of funding to bring third world librarians to the IFLA General Conferences be found?
The fourth paper, ‘TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ is also concerned with restrictions on access to information and knowledge. The author, Ruth Rikowski, who is a Visiting Lecturer at South Bank University in London, discusses the nature of intellectual property rights and provides an overview of the main features of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). She outlines the principles, rules and procedures of the TRIPS Agreement, particularly those related to copyright and their implications for the information and library world. The ethical and moral considerations of TRIPS and its application are discussed, and the author asks if TRIPS is really about trade. She concludes that TRIPS is about turning knowledge, creative works and ideas into tradable commodities. This will help to ensure the success of the knowledge revolution, which is the latest phase of capitalism; TRIPS will therefore help to ensure the perpetuation and success of global capitalism.
The Reports Section of this issue contains summaries of reports submitted to the Governing Board by the Core Activities on the Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP), Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM), Preservation and Conservation (PAC), Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC (UBCIM), and the IFLA Office for UAP and International Lending. These reports reflect both the achievements of the core activities and the difficulties faced by those most concerned with their implementation.
If most of the other papers in this issue have implications for libraries and librarianship in the developing countries, the final paper is directly, and forcefully, concerned with this issue. In his paper, ‘ DANIDA: wherefore art thou?’, Jeffrey M. Wilhite, Associate Professor of Bibliography and Government Documents Reference Librarian at the Bizzell Memorial Library, University of Oklahoma, laments the sudden loss of financial support from the Danish International Develop-
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The News section carries a strong emphasis on the problems faced by libraries and other cultural institutions in areas of conflict, with statements from the International Committee of the Blue Shield on Afghanistan, the Middle East (specifically, the areas administered by Israel and the Palestinian Authority) and Iraq. The efforts of UNESCO to prevent or bring to an end the looting of cultural artefacts and library and archive collections in Iraq are also reported, while an independent ‘Assessment of Damage to Libraries and Archives in Iraq’ by Graham Shaw of the British Library suggests that, while there have undoubtedly been very serious losses, it seems that the staff of many institutions took steps to evacuate at least parts of their collections to safer storage elsewhere before the war in Iraq began. One day, perhaps, we will be able to hear at first hand from our Iraqi colleagues exactly how they carried out this difficult and possibly dangerous task.
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Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: IFLA Presidential Theme 2003–2005 Kay Raseroka
Introduction IFLA is committed to enabling its members to participate in decisions on its overall strategic direction and action plans. As part of this process of participation, a brainstorming session on ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’ was organized during the Glasgow Conference in 2002. The aim was to encourage commitments to the implementation of IFLA’s Core Values and identify strategic actions capable of being implemented during the next Presidency, 2003–2005. The report on the brainstorming session was published in IFLA Journal, Vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 65–77, and on IFLANET (http://www. ifla.org/IV/ifla68/ papers/brainstorming02.htm). One of the outcomes of this consultation has been a reinterpretation of the term ‘bridging the digital divide’ to mean
Kay Raseroka was born in Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. She is a citizen of Botswana and has been in librarianship for more than two decades, during which she has made great contributions to the profession. She is currently Director, University of Botswana Library Services. She has served IFLA in many capacities, including membership of the Governing Board. In 2001 she was voted President-Elect of IFLA, and will take office as President at the World Library and Information Congress: 69th IFLA General Conference and Council, to be held in Berlin, Germany, in August 2003. An interview with Kay Raseroka will appear in the next issue of IFLA Journal (Vol. 29, no. 3, September 2003).
‘the creation of an environment within libraries and information centres that enables individuals from diverse communities to enjoy freedom and equity of access to information and freedom of expression and to participate fully in the information and knowledge society’. IFLA’s goal is thus to facilitate access to, and understanding and effective use of information, however presented, in accordance with diverse information needs in disparate contexts. To achieve this goal, attention must be focussed on developing and maintaining lifelong information literacy in its broadest sense, not only among information users, but also among librarians and other information workers. As one commentator puts it: the information literacy divide, not the digital divide, is the critical issue of the information age. (Bundy 2002) The purpose of this document is to state and explain the Presidential Theme and its implications for IFLA members, to identify the key areas for priority actions to address the theme and to invite all IFLA Divisions and Sections and other units, e.g. Discussion Groups and Core Activities, to consider specific actions in these areas which they plan to address in the coming biennium. These specific actions will be presented and discussed at a Planning Session to be held during the Berlin Conference, 2003, which all Divisions and Sections and other units, as well as representatives of the membership at large, will be invited to attend. Details of the procedure will be provided in a separate document. The considerations outlined above have led to the choice of ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’ as the Presidential Theme for 2003– 2005. Kay Raseroka President-Elect
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Kay Raseroka
Libraries for Lifelong Literacy
• • •
The theme ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’ provides a focus for activities designed to implement IFLA’s Core Values on freedom and equity of access to information, ideas and works of imagination and freedom of expression. By supporting unrestricted access to information as a means of promoting literacy, reading and lifelong learning, it also embodies IFLA’s Professional Priorities in these two areas. Definition and Scope IFLA’s Professional Priority on ‘Providing Unrestricted Access to Information’ aims to ensure that “all persons throughout the world have the same opportunity to participate in the information society without regard to physical, regional, social, or cultural barriers”. The Professional Priority on ‘Promoting Literacy, Reading, and Lifelong Learning’ promotes “increased literacy for all people”, including: •
•
•
•
basic literacy (the ability to use, understand and apply print, writing, speech and visual information in order to communicate and interact effectively) reading (the ability to decipher print and other forms of notation, to understand written language and its construction, and to comprehend the meaning of the written word) information literacy (the ability to formulate and analyze an information need; to identify and appraise sources; to locate, retrieve, organize and store information; to interpret, analyze, synthesize and evaluate that information critically; and to evaluate whether the information need has been satisfied) lifelong learning (providing for the needs of all learners, whether formal or informal, helping to raise the aspirations and achievements of individuals of all ages and abilities).
Various terms have been assigned to different aspects of information literacy, including: • • • • • • • • •
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computer literacy digital literacy hyper-literacy information technology literacy interactive literacies Internet literacy library literacy media literacy or mediacy multiple literacy
network literacy oral literacy, or ‘oralcy’ visual literacy.
The term ‘informacy’ has sometime been used as a collective term covering all or several of these literacies. The Presidential Theme, ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’ embraces all these literacies and envisages that they need to be developed and maintained throughout life, not only by information users, but also by librarians and other information workers. The concept of ‘Lifelong Literacy’ recognizes the impact of the speed of change and the penetration of new technologies and spheres of knowledge. It recognizes that users and librarians need to work at their ability to be information literate over a lifetime. It encompasses the sustained ability to acquire and use information as appropriate to any situation within and beyond the library, both locally and globally (Rader 1991). It involves an array of competencies appropriate for individuals and groups to survive and function successfully in an information continuum through the use of a variety of literacies, acquired as and when necessary. It covers all forms in which information is communicated and carried: visual, textual and sound and all forms by which human beings process information, including Braille, sign language and oral traditions as well as printed, electronic and other kinds of documentary records. The mastery of literacies is the key to the application of IFLA’s core values and to the contribution of librarians and information professionals to the emerging information and knowledge society.
The Role of Librarians The library is a point of convergence for many communities, systems and disciplines that influence access to information. These are, for example: •
•
•
educational systems, from basic education to the sustenance of lifelong learning the meeting place where those with different literacies can discuss their information needs and practise their skills the institution where indigenous knowledge content can be organized, preserved, safe-
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Libraries for Lifelong Literacy
•
•
guarded and made accessible, recognizing the intellectual property rights in the various regimes an institution respecting human rights, specifically as they relate to the right of access to information for all, especially for children and youth, who are vulnerable to information deprivation through deliberate actions by adults a receptive organization for the development and availability of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures, including print and non-print media, for public access to information.
Librarians and information professionals need to develop creative strategic actions to meet the challenges faced, in particular, by the developing world’s diverse communities and by urban and isolated poor people everywhere. Applying the theme to our own continuing professional development will enhance our knowledge and our confidence to build on the different worldviews and different literacies necessary for the diverse indigenous knowledge systems and their intellectual property rights regimes. It will also help us in continuously developing professional expertise in harnessing ICTs as tools for the delivery of local content and the creation of global links. In supporting the theme of ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’, librarians have a unique opportunity and challenge to consolidate their role as contributors to the information and knowledge society: Librarianship is the only profession which is really alert to an information literate citizenry as the prerequisite for personal and democratic empowerment, lifelong learning and societal and economic development. (Bundy, 2002) Librarians must therefore enhance their information literacy teaching abilities beyond that of basic user instruction to include new kinds of outreach activities, services and approaches to meet the needs of those with different and multiples literacies.
Priority Areas of Action for IFLA A number of key strategic directions and priority actions for implementation in 2003–2005 were identified through the Glasgow brainstorming session and subsequent consultations. They are:
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• • •
Advocacy Partnerships and Alliances Continuing Professional Development.
Participants in the brainstorming session also declared that “All librarians have a responsibility to identify and recognize diversity within their communities and to deliver services that are relevant to those communities”. Advocacy Advocacy was a main cross-cutting theme of the Glasgow brainstorming session, where all the discussion groups identified actions in this field as important; numerous actions were proposed in this respect. At the IFLA level, it was felt that IFLA should be more self promoting. It should tell the world about its mission and publicize its objective and how to contribute towards it. IFLA needs to develop a better image to assure the funding that supports services. It should be a leader and initiator and create global pressure. It should put key issues on the agenda for heads of states, promote the image of the profession by introducing library and information services to different countries’ governments and influence governments which create barriers to the free flow of information. IFLA needs to engage in lobbying down to staff and up to managers and government, and should market itself, particularly where there are world gatherings. Partnerships and Alliances The creation and development of partnerships and alliances was supported by many participants in the Glasgow brainstorming session. They recommended that IFLA should define, encourage and build effective partnerships – deeper and richer – for different reasons, including sharing good practice and practical solutions. It should form alliances in support of monitoring, reporting upon, promoting, enhancing and strengthening the Core Value on freedom of access to information and freedom of expression, increase interaction with other organizations in the global arena and encourage wider participation from, and partnerships with, related professions. Continuing Professional Development Participants in the Glasgow brainstorming session recommended that IFLA should give priority to education and training and make them a major theme of its programmes. It should take
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Kay Raseroka steps to enhance skills and competencies in relation to professional service principles and the technical tools that support them. It should organize workshops to promote the good ideas and expertise of IFLA and undertake training more vigorously, especially using distance learning. In particular, IFLA should develop a curriculum for free access to information and organize training programmes, workshops or distance learning programmes on this subject.
•
Monitoring and Evaluation Annual progress reports and presentation of sessions on: • •
Some Proposed Outputs •
Advocacy •
•
policies, plans and programmes for advocacy on the theme Libraries and Lifelong Literacy in all IFLA units, member national library associations and IFLA management regular publicity on IFLA actions on advocacy at local and international levels through the publication of press statements and reports in newspapers and national association journals in IFLA member countries.
Partnership and Alliances •
policies and guidelines on alliances by IFLA units with other organizations in related professions in support of IFLA core values and/or the theme Libraries for Lifelong Literacy.
Continuing Education and Professional Development •
•
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review strategic approaches to continuing education and the use of e-learning and IFLANET policies, guidelines for the IFLA information literacy certificate
plans for adoption and application of the information literacy certificate by IFLA Divisions.
•
advocacy actions at the global level joint strategic actions and partnerships within IFLA units on the application of the theme in their programmes alliances with other organizations in support of the IFLA Core Values and the theme strategic use of IFLANET for continuing education projects.
References Bundy, A. (2002) Growing the community of the informed: information literacy: a global issue. Australian Academic and Research Libraries, 33 (3) Sep 2002, 125–34. Rader, H. B (1991) Information literacy: A revolution in the library. RQ, 31 (1) Fall 1991, 25 29.
Acknowledgments The preparation of this document would not have been possible without the valuable inputs from the participants in the Glasgow Brainstorming Session and subsequent commentators on the Brainstorming Report. Particular thanks are due to the members of the President-Elect’s Planning Group, chaired by Winston Tabb, for their many valuable suggestions and advice, and to Stephen Parker, Editor of the IFLA Journal, for his help in editing this document.
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The German Library System: structure and new developments Claudia Lux
Introduction The Federal Republic of Germany is situated in the centre of Europe. The Republic has sixteen Federal States. Germany’s capital is Berlin. Altogether, there are more than 16,200 communities, including villages, counties, towns and cities, with more than 12,000 public libraries and about 2,000 general research and special libraries.
Claudia Lux obtained a PhD in Sinology from the University of Bochum in 1986. She is Director General of the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin. She has been Editor of Bibliotheksdienst since 2001 and a member of the Editorial Board of Bibliothek, Forschung und Praxis since 1998. Dr Lux was a member of the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Management and Marketing from 1997–2002 and of the Executive Board from 1999–2000. She is a member of the IFLA Governing Board, Chair of the Publications Committee and a member of the IFLA/IPA Steering Group. She is also Chair of the IFLA National Committee for Germany. Claudia Lux may be contacted at: Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin, Breite Str. 36, D-10178 Berlin, Germany. Tel. +49-3090226-450. Fax: +49-30-90226494. E-mail: [email protected].
Germany has existed in its present form only since the unification of West Germany and East Germany in 1990. The two very different states had two very different political systems, one being embedded in the Western bloc with the United States and the other within the Eastern bloc with the Soviet Union. This had a great impact on the library system in each part of the country, evident in different classification systems, different types of libraries and library methods. During the last 12 years this has changed significantly, and the differences between East and West have been diminishing, even though they may not yet have disappeared altogether.
Basic Principles Only three years after the reunification the publication Bibliotheken ‘93 was edited by a group of the BDB (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Bibliotheksverbände, the National Federation of Library and Librarians’ Associations), founded in West Germany in 1989 by four different associations as their head-association. In this document, the BDB acknowledges the ten major principles of library politics: 1. a library must be run in a professional manner by professional
staff 2. financing and staffing should correspond to the library’s
responsibilities 3. the library’s financing should be based on long-term planning 4. it should be possible to collect fees, especially overdue-fees 5. the building and any allocation of space should correspond to
the library’s tasks, some libraries have very special needs 6. cooperation amongst different libraries and with other in-
stitutions of culture and education should be possible 7. good organization and management is an important part of
library planning 8. libraries should be able to work and decide professionally and
independently, without being subject to political or cultural influence 9. a library should have a public relations department to provide information about the library as such, its cultural activities and exhibitions
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Claudia Lux Level 4: refers to highly specialized needs, that can only be met in cooperation on the part of some special libraries, university libraries with their special collections, the three central specialized libraries, and, last but not least, the national libraries. At the basic level, small and medium-sized libraries have a good mixture of different books and media on offer. In serving people on the basic level, the library is a turning point of information and a market for everybody. Libraries at this level are financed by local communities on various levels. Quite a number of them are financed by the Christian churches, which share a concept of public library services based on their own cultural traditions, often with a special focus on children. Figure 1. Germany’s sixteen Federal States are responsible for culture and education.
10. the library must be able to offer education to
its readers, explaining the use of library services, catalogue and technical equipment. In German libraries, these principles are not yet realized in full, but it is important to bear these standards in mind when discussing library developments with political and administrative bodies.
The library’s tasks at levels 1 and 2 include meeting the citizens’ information needs, facilitating orientation in the multifarious world of books and non-books, including the Internet, supporting the use of new technologies, reading, and cultural work within their community, inspiring people to spend their leisure time creatively, motivating learning, helping to integrate different user groups such as people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. According to Bibliotheken ‘93, libraries at level 2 have to meet the following standards: •
Levels of Service Provision
• •
German libraries are working on four different levels to meet the public’s information and literature needs:
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Level 1: the basic need should be met by small and middle-sized public libraries, i.e. by public libraries in villages or small towns, branch-libraries or mobile libraries.
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Level 2: represents a greater need for literature, to be met by city libraries, especially by their central library.
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Level 3: the need for specialized information and literature will be met cooperatively by some metropolitan libraries, special libraries, regional and university libraries.
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two books or non-books per resident a stock of current periodicals 20 percent of the collection should be nonbooks (CD, video, DVD etc.) minimum opening hours of at least 35 hours a week participation in union cataloguing and interlibrary lending systems 5 percent of the collection should be current reference books to provide extensive information should present consumer information – information about products and prices, and about tested technical products libraries at levels 1 and 2 should offer access to some databases.
The traditional organizational system of a public library is still in existence: there is a central library either with district and branch libraries, or just some branch libraries. Some public libraries have special music libraries providing music scores, books on music and Compact Discs (CD).
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Figure 2. A girl happy to borrow talking books. A special home delivery service for handicapped people delivers books and non-books. The mobile library stops at schools and at places outside the city centre where there are no branch libraries. One mobile library can serve approximately 25,000 inhabitants. During the last years, many public libraries have played an important role in reforming the administration at community level. Due to their clear statistical basis they have been participating in new forms of budgeting and accounting.
Figure 3. The Public Library of Gladbeck, a city of 78,000 inhabitants in the former mining industry district with a high rate of unemployment. liography. Over the last years, many regional bibliographies have not only been structured according to a similar classification system, but have also been published on the web as a combined regional bibliography of most of the sixteen federal states.
Special Libraries
Regional Libraries
Usually, special libraries have library functions associated with level 3. They are often part of an institution such as a research institute or an administrative body. Their field of acquisition is fairly restricted; they specialize in tasks relevant to their institution, and collect specialized material related to their special interest. This includes technical instructions and other grey literature, literature from other institutions, some scripts not yet published, and, increasingly, digital material. Special libraries often engage in more intensive classification work than other libraries, creating content information, if applicable, and providing special services to the staff of the institution. Special libraries serve their institutions first, which, at times, implies restrictions for the public, who, for example, may not be able to check out any media items.
Each of the sixteen federal states has at least one regional library. Some may have more due to historical reasons, as is the case with former independent regions or small kingdoms. Some regional libraries are combined with city libraries, many of them with university libraries. Regional Libraries or State Libraries (called ‘Landesbibliotheken’) provide literature and media for loan as research libraries, preserve traditional collections of the region, have the right of a regional legal deposit, and compile a regional bib-
Nevertheless, special libraries play an important role in the library system of the Federal Republic of Germany. There are special libraries at research institutes, such as the Max-PlanckInstitutes or Fraunhofer Institutes, serving basic research programmes; and special libraries connected to museums and archives, government administrations and parliaments, associations and political parties, research institutes and business companies. Besides the Association of Special Libraries, which is a section of the Ger-
Libraries at level 3 serve people with special interests with all kinds of literature. Most of the libraries at level 3 are financed by one of the sixteen German federal states (like provinces). These libraries are university libraries, regional or state libraries (federal state), special libraries, and, at times, metropolitan libraries. At level 3, specialized literature and information requirements are being met, covering the following areas: • • • •
scientific research and teaching professional education lifelong learning recreation.
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Figure 4. A library for young adults with a special social programme in the branch Rostock-Dierkow. man Library Association, medical and law libraries, parliamentary libraries and museum libraries are associated in terms of discussion and cooperation. During the last five years, a reduction of staff changed the role of many special libraries, and one-person-libraries became a new topic in Germany. The Central Subject Libraries such as the National Library of Medicine, are an important category of special library in Germany, operating at level 4.
University Libraries In German universities there are different tasks for the central university library and the departmental libraries or branches. The central university library – which is open to everybody – is the main lending library with a large open access area and centrally located stacks. It is usually involved in building up a digital library with a professional information centre drawing upon national and international databases and reference books. As the centre of acquisition and cataloguing, it supplies bibliographic data related to its holdings to the regional union catalogue database. The central library usually has a textbook collection with multiple copies for students. In some cases, the library is part of a system of special collections, which provides services at level 4. According to ideas dating back to 1993, the departmental or branch libraries should only collect material relevant to the faculty’s actual needs; the branch should not hold more than 10,000 volumes and have no stacks. Older material should be sent to the central university library. Instructors compile class reading lists based on material in the departmental library. This, however, is not the case in many universi-
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ties where faculty libraries are much bigger, and there is currently a discussion about the independence of departmental libraries as to their staff and acquisition funding. This independence partly contradicts their status as part of a central university library. The discussion revolves around the question of whether a university should form a one-level system (i.e. departmental libraries are fully managed by the central library) or a twolevel system (i.e. the central library and the departmental library are both fully independent). For over 100 years, this has been an ongoing discussion rooted in a tradition of German universities which placed subject faculties and departments on various different sites. Many old university institutes are scattered in and around the city. Sometimes the university library is in one place but many of the institutes are not close to it. This gives arguments to those who want to have their own departmental library near their institute. This is why, in old universities, many institute libraries exist which are sometimes not directly connected to the university library but are under the management of the professor of the university institute. In addition, some faculty members like to spend departmental library funds at their own discretion. Libraries of polytechnic universities are far more oriented towards providing study-material and practical material for different studies and professions. They are not very big and have a high rate of duplication in the collection to serve the need of their students.
Level 4 Libraries Libraries at level 4 provide the customer with highly specialized literature. This service can be provided thanks to the special subject collections system of the German Research Society (DFG), whereby the DFG takes over about 50 percent of the cost of foreign literature. Good examples of this system are the psychology collection at Trier University Library, the East-Asian literature collection at Berlin’s State Library, and the collection of English literature at the University Library of Göttingen. The libraries participating in this system have to commit themselves to send this material to every other library via the interlending library system, as and when required. The special material may be searched by subject or region using the website WEBIS. Even more important to the provision of highly specialized literature are Germany’s three large
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Figure 5. Listening to music in the music library of the Central and Regional Library of Berlin. central special libraries. They function as national libraries for •
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science and technology at the Technical Information Library in Hanover medicine and biology at the German National Library of Medicine in Cologne economy at the German National Library of Economics in Kiel.
These three libraries cover the provision of highly specialized literature in their respective fields. They collect preprints, reports, and other grey literature, endeavour to buy everything asked for within their special discipline, and serve customers directly. These Central Special Libraries, especially the one in Hanover, offer a well-known and fast service of sending copies of journal articles by fax or by e-mail. They also provide translations, for example, of a Japanese technological invention.
collecting two copies of each of the 90,000 items published in Germany every year. According to the collection policy of German language literature the library also receives materials from Austria and the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The DDB (Die Deutsche Bibliothek), as it has been called since the unification of East and West, also collects all German language publications worldwide. For several years and in cooperation with some publishers, the DDB has been collecting electronic publications from the Internet. The German Library compiles various national bibliographic products, such as the German National Bibliography, both electronic and still in print, and sells them to other libraries. These services may be ordered via the homepage of the German Library. The Berlin State Library of Prussian Cultural Heritage and the Bavarian State Library were originally royal libraries and developed their collections on the legal deposits of that era. Over the centuries, they have built up a very rich collection of important literature from European countries and from outside Europe. Within the German library system, these libraries have the task of collecting high-level national and international research literature. Maintaining their high standard of collection, Munich focuses on historical subjects and Berlin, among others, on special collections on East Asia, Eastern Europe and foreign law. These priorities are supported by the system of special collections of the Ger-
The National Libraries For historical reasons, there are three libraries in Germany functioning as National Libraries at level 4: • •
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the German Library in Frankfurt and Leipzig the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage the Bavarian State Library in Munich.
The German Library, founded as Deutsche Bücherei in 1912 by publishers in Leipzig, and, again, as Deutsche Bibliothek after the Second World War, in 1945, in Frankfurt (West-Germany), later creating a music archive in WestBerlin, stands for the national legal deposit,
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Figure 6. Special regional collections of precious books in the library of the Cistercian convent Waldsassen, Bavaria.
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Claudia Lux The German Library Association, as an association of institutions, has eight sections; section 1, for example, links big city libraries, section 7, librarian training institutes. In one of the two librarians’ associations, library staff or students may join on a voluntary basis, in the other, only academic librarians can become members. Members pay less for their training and obtain professional journals at reduced prices. Once a year, the librarians’ convention – a one-week conference – is organized by the two associations BIB and VDB; every three years this is combined with the annual business meeting of the German Library Association DBV under the name of the BDB. In August 2003, the BDB will organize the 69th IFLA General Conference and Council in Berlin – for the first time called ‘World Library and Information Congress’.
Figure 7. A library in a church – the economic departmental library of the Catholic University of Eichstätt in Ingolstadt. man Research Society. Both libraries owe their reputation to their precious manuscripts, early imprints and incunables like the Gutenberg Bible or original, hand-written musical scores by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. The Bavarian State Library, with its digital library, shows wonderful paintings from old manuscripts and incunables in digital format on the Internet. The agency of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is located at the Berlin State Library. The three biggest libraries of Germany, as mentioned above, are taking part in numerous important projects.
German Librarians – Associations and Education Cooperation is at the heart of the National Federation of Library and Librarians’ Association (BDB). This association unites the German Library Association (Deutscher Bibliotheksverband, DBV), representative of 1,700 libraries and library institutions, with two librarians’ associations; the BIB (Berufsverband Information und Bibliothek) and the VDB (Verein Deutscher Bibliothekare), representatives of library staff, together representing about 9,000 members. Other members of the BDB are the EKZ bibliotheksservice (a library supplier), the Goethe Institute, which has more than 70 libraries and information centres worldwide, and the Bertelsmann Foundation, which carries out library projects.
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Training and professional education of library staff in Germany takes place on three different levels, based on the German dual system of professional training, with a combination of practical training and theoretical learning. Grade 1 is a three-year-training to become a specialized employee for media and information services. You must have finished grade 10 at middle school level to be eligible for this training. According to the dual system the training takes place for, say 10 weeks at school followed by 10 weeks at a library and so on for a period of three years. A very modern training course focusing on databases and new media, it will provide the libraries with well-qualified young staff able to carry out various tasks like simple cataloguing using the union catalogue, the lending desk, or the periodicals centre, managing the stacks, working at the reference desk – quite often they do a combination of these jobs. Grade 2, a librarian certification or library diploma, requires a secondary school diploma achieved at completion of the 12th or 13th grade. The training programme takes four years and is offered at a polytechnic university. An extensive period of practical training including a special programme in a library is compulsory. To pass the certification examination, the candidates are asked to write a small thesis on a library-relevant topic. Staff completing this degree are involved in high level cataloguing, deal with difficult acquisitions, work as reference librarians, select the literature to be bought – this applies at least to staff in public libraries and special libraries, where they will frequently gain management positions. Over the last years, this training pro-
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acquisition union catalogues interlibrary loan reading and media competence digitalization and digital publishing virtual libraries.
Cooperation in Acquisition The Collection of German Imprints Figure 8. Searching databases at the University Library of Frankfurt/Oder. gramme has undergone major changes and closely resembles information management courses. Grade 3 is the scientific or academic librarian with a two-year course of training, the prerequisite for which is a university diploma. Many applicants have studied German language and literature or German history, but there is still a lack of candidates holding masters’ degrees in science and computer studies, mainly because students in these fields will earn more money outside the library. Academic librarians are responsible for collection development and active in management positions like directors of university libraries and big public libraries. Each year, about 40 scientific or academic librarians are being trained in Germany. This training course is currently undergoing major changes: Up to this year, it included a one-year internship in a library, followed by a one-year instruction period at a special library school. These days, new concepts for alternating between practical training at a library and theoretical training at school during the two year period are being implemented and courses in information science are being added.
The German cultural heritage in print has been collected in the German Library in Leipzig only since 1913. The German history of multiple small kingdoms was never able to create a unified collection of all printed materials produced during the last 500 years in Germany that could compare to other large national libraries in Europe. Therefore, some libraries are working together in the project of collecting German prints. Each of them is responsible for collecting all the material printed in Germany during a certain period of time, a period which is already well represented within the respective library. These prints may be in various languages such as Latin, French, or Italian. The Bavarian State Library, for instance, houses a multitude of first prints (incunables), given that collections from Bavarian monasteries were shipped to the library during the 19th century. The following libraries participate in this project of collecting German imprints:
In addition to the three levels of professional training mentioned, a university degree in library science is offered at the Humboldt University in Berlin (master’s and doctoral degrees) as well as a distance learning course to qualify as an academic librarian. The latter corresponds in principle to a level 3 training.
New Developments New developments within the German library system are based largely on cooperation among all library sectors, especially in the following areas:
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Figure 9. Die Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, the first national biographical centre of Germany founded in 1912.
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Figure 10. A digitized manuscript of Beethoven’s ninth symphony at the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage.
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1450–1600 Bavarian State Library, Munich 1601–1700 Herzog-August Library Wolfenbüttel 1701–1800 State- and University Library Göttingen 1801–1870 City and University Library of Frankfurt 1871–1912 State Library of Berlin 1913– German Library, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Berlin.
The libraries collecting German imprints are buying all the early printed works they can get from antiquarian booksellers or as copies from libraries. Step by step, and relying on this collaboration, a new cooperative National Library will be created collecting all German imprints since the early days of Gutenberg’s printing press. In 1999, the year of the project’s 10th anniversary, 53,000 titles had been acquired from antiquarian booksellers, and more than 35,000 items in microform from other libraries. Supra-Regional Literature Supply This is a joint project of numerous scientific libraries throughout Germany, and the acquisition of foreign scientific and research literature is the main goal of this cooperation. Due to the lack of a big national library after the Second World War, libraries in West Germany built up this cooperative acquisition system with the help of the German Research Society. In East Germany, there was a comparable system, based on grants of foreign currency offered to some libraries. After the reunification of East and West, some libraries in East Germany were assigned to special subjects and integrated in the system of the Ger-
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man Research Society. The website WEBIS provides information concerning the German system of supra-regional literature supply. In combination with the German Library and the Collection of German Imprints, this system of supra-regional literature supply can be seen as a complement to a national library, from the perspective of an overall literature supply also in the area of international research literature. All in all, there are 121 special subject collections found in more than 40 libraries of all kinds throughout Germany. The websites of these special subject collections, and those of the libraries in charge offer information about the services available, including addresses, contacts, links to catalogues, document delivery services, and related Internet sources. The Lektoratskooperation In cooperation with the German Library Association (DBV), the BIB and the EKZ, more than 300 persons are taking part in the Lektoratskooperation, a cooperation to select the most important publications recently published in Germany, write an abstract about them, and make suggestions regarding the respective target groups of readers in public libraries. Public libraries throughout Germany request this service in print or online, making use of it for their own selections. Alternatively, they may place a standing order for these customized services with the EKZ. Every year, this service covers a total of about 13,000 titles with their abstracts, including non-fiction and fiction, books and non-books. Licensing Consortia Over the last years, the creation of consortia is a new kind of cooperation in the field of licensing. The lack of funding available to university libraries to buy high-priced international scientific journals has added a lot of pressure to their situation. For some university libraries, this has lead to the decision to cancel subscriptions of highly priced journals; others are working together as a consortium, to get licence agreements from international publishers of scientific online journals, who are often insisting on print forms to be on offer in at least one of the consortium libraries. These consortia exist in various federal states. From time to time new discussions about the pros and cons of national licences for some online material emerge. Some research projects about the usage of these scientific journals in German universities and research organizations are also under way.
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Figure 11. The professional training of librarians is based on the dual system and focuses on long internships.
Figure 12. ‘Wings of Desire’ – the reading room of the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage; well known from the film of Billy Wilder.
Cataloguing
or can be searched as an image catalogue on the Internet. But the focus has already changed to cooperative electronic union catalogues. Nearly all university libraries, many special and public libraries in the sixteen federal states take part in one of the six regional electronic union catalogues; most of them have integrated systems with libraries of other federal states combining data from research libraries and public libraries. The six regional union catalogues are:
Cooperative cataloguing has a longstanding tradition in Germany. There is one cooperative cataloguing project in Germany that has existed for nearly 100 years and is still going on: the project of cataloguing the incunables of the world, i.e. all books printed since the times of Johannes Gutenberg from Mainz between 1450 and 1501; it has been located at the Berlin State Library since 1904. In the same library the department of manuscripts is responsible for compiling a union information system of manuscripts and letters in German libraries, called Kalliope, which has made good progress. More than 470,000 online data on letters, which are in the collections of 150 institutions in Germany, and biographical information about 200,000 European personalities, are supplied by this database. One of the most successful union catalogues based on cooperative work in Germany is the database of serial titles (journals and newspapers), the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB) with more than one million titles of all kinds of journals, in all languages, with holdings in more than 6,000 libraries and in more than 5.7 million locations. More than 4,300 institutions take part in this project, jointly organized by the Berlin State Library, which started the project based on old union card catalogues for serials, and the German Library in Frankfurt. In Germany, the existence of the old union catalogues in the federal states of the West and of the East has always been a basis for interlibrary loans across the country. The old regional union catalogues hardly exist any more in their old form. Not every card catalogue in German libraries has been typed into the new library systems
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• • • •
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Bibliotheksverbund Bayern Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund Hessisches Bibliotheks-Informationssystem Kooperativer Bibliotheksverbund Berlin-Brandenburg Nordrhein-westfälischer Bibliotheksverbund Südwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund.
All these catalogues, together with databases at national level, are integrated in one virtual catalogue, the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog (KVK), and can be accessed with one request only. This catalogue is a wonderful invention. The inclusion of nearly all online catalogues from Germany, Switzerland and Austria makes it the best German language online catalogue resource. Now expanded to include online catalogues from France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Norway, etc., one can search over 75 million books and serials from catalogues of libraries and even booksellers in Europe. For many years, cataloguing has no longer been a hot topic in Germany. This has changed completely since last year, when a discussion was started about a possible change from the German Cataloguing Format MAB (Maschinenlesbares Austauschformat für Bibliotheken) to MARC
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Claudia Lux special hierarchy. With the existence of the electronic union catalogues in the 1980s, the integration of the big East German university libraries in the 1990s, and the development of the Internet, library holdings can now be checked more easily, and orders can be placed directly. Today, librarians and their customers carry out searches in electronic union catalogues like the virtual catalogue of Karlsruhe KVK (Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog). Titles may be ordered electronically by completing a loan request form, or in writing by using the conventional red forms.
Figure 13. Searching electronic journals at the university library Würzburg. Format (MAchine Readable Cataloguing), and from the cataloguing rules RAK (Regeln für die Alpabetische Katalogisierung) to AACR2 (AngloAmerican-Cataloguing Rules). Discussions at conferences and in discussion lists are ongoing, presenting arguments for each side supported by both facts and emotions. Topics like the quality of cataloguing – for example, concerning whether or not there is a hierarchical structure with counted volumes; the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) – where MABlovers prefer to be more close to it than AACR2; the exchange of data and the costs of change affecting all libraries and library systems in Germany are at the centre of this debate. First results of a project about this subject will be presented in summer 2003. Interlibrary Loan The direct interlibrary loan or direct loan now replaces the old German interlibrary loan system which was built upon cooperation between all libraries in West- and East-Germany during the last 50 years, and sometimes even beyond these borders. The interlibrary loan system had been established as a cooperation between the Federal States in the West and between special research levels in the East, whereby libraries sent books or articles from their region to other libraries free of charge. In West Germany, there used to be a two-level system, i.e. the regional and the national levels of interlibrary loan, each with a
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The direct document delivery system SUBITO has been developed with the help of national funds with the aim of installing a quick document delivery system at a high standard. SUBITO is a library document delivery service for articles and books, developed for researchers and students, and can be accessed in many libraries these days. Copies of journal articles can be easily obtained from those libraries. The Internet can be used by everybody to search and order documents. Deliveries are made promptly and directly to the desired address. The fees range from about EUR 4.00 to EUR 11.00 for the electronic delivery of articles up to 20 pages; fax or printed copies are the more expensive delivery services. This service is now requested by more and more users, so that further direct document delivery systems have come into existence. In Germany, the current discussion about document delivery systems does not concern aspects of technology, services or fees. It is first of all to do with copyright. Publishers tried to legally prevent document delivery of electronic material, and the result was an agreement between libraries and publishers about a small refund to be paid, provided document delivery is practised according to certain regulations. It is organized according to a German tradition, as a consequence of which the Federal States have to pay a fee for the right of lending books and other material in public libraries on the basis of the library lending statistics. The fees are collected by rights clearance organizations, which in turn refund publishers and authors. A further issue of discussion is the question of publishers no longer wanting the rights clearance organizations to be involved. Reading Programmes and New Media Competency There is an urgent need for more reading programmes and new media competency training in
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Figure 14. ‘Happy reading’ at the children’s library of Stuttgart Public Library.
Figure 15. The Media Library – a branch of Stuttgart Public Library.
the poets’ and philosophers’ country. Germany is known as the country of poets (Dichter) and thinkers (Denker), from Goethe to Kant, to name but a few of the many outstanding cultural heroes. But over the last decade, problems in the context of reading have not only been a topic of serious discussion for teachers and pedagogues, but also for library staff.
tions and libraries, will take place during the same week as the IFLA Conference 2003 in Berlin. The outcomes of the PISA study have shifted the focus in many small towns and cities increasingly towards reading activities, which had already been part of the libraries’ standard programmes.
Schools in Germany have reading competitions for students aged twelve (6th grade). The students choose a book they like and read out a passage from it for about 5 to 10 minutes. The competition starts at their schools, and the winners from among all the schools in a city participate in another reading competition on the level of city or district, and then on the level of federal state. In 2002, 700,000 children from 8,000 schools took part in this. Sixteen winners are invited to Frankfurt in June 2003, where the final winner of the competition will be chosen. Many libraries and librarians contribute to the organization of this reading competition, which takes part in cooperation with the Foundation of Reading (Stiftung Lesen), a wonderful partner of libraries in many fields. Starting from the weak results of German students documented in the international education study ‘PISA’ (Programme of International Student Assessment) in the year 2000, new activities in reading and cooperation between schools and libraries have gained more public support than in previous years. The Berlin Reading Summer (Berliner Lesesommer) for children, a project of Berlin’s public libraries, sponsored by the Family Foundation (Familienstiftung), will be one of the actions taking place during this year’s summer holidays. Reading in the Park, another cooperative activity among different literature organiza-
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Apart from promoting reading, German libraries also strive to enhance new media competencies in the area of electronic products and computer skills. The multimedia section has become a very important part of the services in public libraries. For children, multimedia learning software plays a major role. High quality computer games from German publishers are suited to develop their feelings and emotions as well as their social and technical competencies. As recently as five years ago, the use of the Internet in German libraries could not be taken for granted, neither by staff nor by the general public. This has changed a great deal, but has not, as yet, been fully accomplished. More and more university and public libraries offer their customers Internet access, and have started to install wireless laptop connections. A big leap forward was the project of media competency centres for public libraries, organized by the German Library Association in the year 2000 and funded by the Ministry of Education and Deutsche Telekom. This highly successful project was realized in only a few months, involving the installation of Internet connections (no less than five computers per media competency centre) in over 1,300 public libraries, and the relevant training for staff. Since then, most German libraries have been connected to the Internet, even though, at times, some obstacles to free and easy use do emerge.
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Claudia Lux Digitization The development of digitization in Germany as an improvement of access to library collections has two major aspects: catalogues and full texts. The idea of digitizing catalogues emerged from the situation in East Germany. Big card catalogues and a scarcity of computers did not prepare East German libraries very well for entry into an electronic age after 1990. In addition to the method of retro-cataloguing old card catalogues by typing everything in, the idea of scanning the cards and arranging them for scrolling came up. This method turned out to be far cheaper, and once Internet access was available in the libraries, it was easy to put the image catalogue on the web. It is a good enough method for searching, even where it cannot be connected to the library’s lending system. Many old catalogues – big or small – are now turned into image catalogues.
Figure 16. A digitised version of the Gutenberg Bible of Göttingen – a Memory of the World – can be accessed via the Internet. In order to raise the media competency of the general public, the public libraries have started to offer courses in how to use the online catalogue, the Internet, and databases. Many university libraries have done the same with students during the last ten years, and the demand for this kind of training remains high. Issues of recent discussions include research projects on the level of media and information competency at German universities, and the question of how to integrate information competency training, as provided by libraries to their customers, into the curriculum of schools and universities. German librarians fear that the German educational system will be noticeably lacking unless students and the public are trained on a regular basis in how to use libraries and library catalogues, how to retrieve information from databases, and how to judge the quality of information on the web. Today, Germany has fewer school libraries compared to the 1970s, but PISA has revived the discussion about this type of library and raised an awareness for the need to engage in lobbying activities, and, simultaneously, start putting things into practice on a local level.
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Digitization of library collections was first of all applied to materials with high value, such as the Gutenberg Bible at the Göttingen State and University Library, or the beautiful illustrated manuscripts and prints at the Bavarian State Library. These two libraries were established as digitization centres. Now further libraries have started to digitize their collections, not only for making them available on the web, but also for the purpose of use and conservation. Many digitization projects related to library collections are financed by the German Research Society (DFG), and there are more projects to come. The Central and Regional Library Berlin (Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin) has just completed the digitalization of the old Berlin address book, which covers more than 250 years, and has made it available on the web for international research. The development of the digital library in Germany goes far beyond these projects. Many libraries have established digital libraries to preserve and to present electronic material. Public and research libraries have started to collect electronic materials of various description such as electronic books and full texts, electronic journals and newspapers. Publications from professors and university lecturers, including classroom materials and conference papers, are being collected and electronically archived on the servers of university libraries. Doctoral theses are now being accepted as electronic documents by university libraries, and the German Library,
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Figure 17. Dortmund’s new public library – modern architecture by Botta.
Figure 18. The public library of Münster is an attraction for tourists.
which has just introduced an identifier for these electronic theses, receives digital publications from some German publishers on a voluntary basis.
and CD-ROM in information centres and in public libraries, the access to more fact-based information, the participation in online union catalogues as well as online databases have brought about changes bridging the gap between public and research libraries and strengthening the cooperation between them.
A digital library brings with it many technical problems for the library to solve. Therefore, some university libraries are cooperating with the computer centres of their respective universities. The German Initiative for Network Information (DINI) is actively supporting the development of publication servers making digital open resource material available in universities. The EZB, the Electronic Journal Library, a cooperation of more than 170 libraries, is a service facilitating the use of scholarly journals via the Internet. It offers a fast, well-structured and unified interface to access full-text articles online. Journals are grouped into three categories: those with freely available full-text articles, others with full-text restricted to a certain kind of users, and others still where full-text articles are not accessible. There are further initiatives from German libraries to offer a multitude of different information sources via a single interface to access library catalogues and collections as well as other resources on the web. One of these is the Digital Library of North-Rhine-Westfalia (DIGIBIB). Many libraries in Germany have built up sophisticated web link collections on their websites. In this field, a very new and successful cooperation of 70 public libraries is the German Internet Library (Die Deutsche Internetbibliothek), a project of the German Library Association and the Bertelsmann Foundation. Free and open to the public and combined with a shared electronic information desk answering e-mails from the general public, this collection of websites is much appreciated. The availability of online databases
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Financing In general, libraries in Germany are financed at different political levels and by the organizations to which they are affiliated. Germany has a federal political structure with less responsibility of the national state for education and culture. The communities and the sixteen federal states are playing a major part in this respect. But since the economic situation is getting increasingly more difficult, and cities and states have less money than in previous years, budget cuts are the order of the day. The closing down of the German Library Institute, which provided a multitude of services for libraries in Germany, for instance the national library statistics, progress work on classifications systems, project work for school libraries, development of SUBITO, etc. which will come into effect this year, is a major setback for the coordination of library developments in Germany considering the different levels of resources. Hidden behind the concept of ‘budgeting’, the financial restrictions go even further, making cuts easier whilst, at the same time, giving more freedom of decision-making to the library. ‘Budgeting’ in German means that the library receives a certain amount of money without any regulation on how much of it is to be allocated for staff or for other expenses. As a consequence, some public libraries have changed into other
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Claudia Lux Library Association DBV and the Bertelsmann Foundation. Using a few central indicators, the performance of public libraries is measured and the annual results published. In 2003 the BIX for research libraries will start.
Figure 19. Waiting to check out – the heavily used Central and Regional Library of Berlin.
kinds of organization such as foundations or public utilities. If a university receives this socalled global budget, there is no further regulation on how much of it the university library should get. Previously, the university library’s budget was allocated by the ministry of each federal state. These days, it has become more difficult for university libraries to obtain the money they require, especially if they have to compete for it among all the other university departments. The poor economic situation in Germany has an impact on all libraries, especially the public libraries. There are very serious financial and personal restrictions, and in many cities it may no longer be possible to run all branch libraries with sufficient staff and media. Over the last three years many branch libraries have closed down, a process still ongoing. Cities provide ever less money for acquisitions, and are asking the libraries to make money from their customers, trying to find sponsors for special activities. Friends of the Library and supporting foundations provide newly developed sources of small income. The concepts of accountability and best practice are topics of interest discussed in both public and research libraries, not least in connection with library funding. The German Library Association (DBV) in cooperation with the Foundation of the weekly newspaper Zeit has installed the Library of the Year (Bibliothek des Jahres), to demonstrate best practice in German libraries. In 2002 the Göttingen State and University Library won the prize. The performance of libraries is measured by the BIX (Bibliotheksindex), which is a cooperative venture of the German
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Despite the financial restrictions for German libraries, it is important to maintain free access to information and multimedia. German libraries want to bridge the gap between the information poor and the information rich in their country, between East and West, and are trying to initiate special activities in this field to this effect. Libraries buy licences from publishers and pay for databases and video films, whilst the customer can use these for only a small fee or even free of charge. New Library Buildings Even though the financial burden following the reunification of Germany remains quite high, there are nevertheless exceptional developments as to library buildings. As part of a programme of university development in East Germany, the university library in Frankfurt/Oder close to the Polish border, for instance, had a wonderful new reading room integrated in a courtyard of the old building, and attractive open access areas added just beneath the roof. The method of integrating old and new parts of buildings for the purpose of creating an attractive library is popular: in Bremen, the city library will have its big future domicile in the former police-station. The Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek in Dresden has only just opened the doors to its latest building with its attractive reading room, integrating some of its libraries, which were previously scattered on the campus and throughout the city of Dresden. Although the financial situation is not always encouraging, many small towns and some big cities in the East and in the West have invested in public libraries. Some have employed wellknown architects and created remarkable buildings, as is the case in Dortmund or the city of Münster. The latter presents its public library in such an attractive building that even tourists consider a visit worthwhile. German librarians have always been very much involved in the planning of library buildings and have worked hard for regulations for library construction. They managed to successfully integrate their ideas into a German Standard for the construction of libraries, taking into account
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The German Library System the standards of modern technology. On the other hand, librarians have newly started to develop visions for the future of library buildings. The public library in Stuttgart is waiting to start its new project, a new library building with an excellent philosophy behind the construction plans worked out by the staff of the library and designed by an architect from Korea. Those who attend the IFLA 2003 conference can join a most interesting tour to visit libraries in and around Berlin. Due to the federal government’s transfer from Bonn to Berlin, ministries like that of Foreign Affairs have moved into brand new buildings which incorporated new special libraries. For the last ten years, Berlin has been the biggest construction site in Europe. Now, some parts have been completed, but there is still a lot of construction work going on, for example at the library of the German Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag), the new library of the Technical University combined with the library of the Art University and the new library for the department of philology at the Free University. Only the new departmental science library of the Humboldt University has already opened its doors. And the vision of the Central and Regional Library of Berlin to partly transfer to the Schlossplatz, where the old castle is to be reconstructed just in the very centre of Berlin, is shown only on paper in a planning document by an architect appointed by the ministries of construction of the German Federal Government and the Berlin State Government. Nice To Have – New Services for Customers and the Future of Libraries in Germany Regular services for library readers are being realized in all German libraries. Some libraries, however, go even further to serve their customers. Konstanz is the first German university library to offer a 24-hour service from the beginning of April 2001. If she or he so wishes, a reader may stay all night in the library. A security service looks after their safety, and if they are hungry, they can even order a pizza. The university library in Trier is one of the few German libraries which are open on Sunday. Trier was the first library in Germany with a chat reference system. The public library of the city of Cologne offers the public an excellent programme of computer training at all levels. The university library of Freiburg has successfully established a sophisticated system of training students in using dif-
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ferent databases. As for Berlin, the customer can order books or media online in public libraries and get them delivered home by post. The special library of the Max-Planck Institute of Educational Research in Berlin has established an Information Clearing House, which is necessary to meet the needs of internationally oriented basic research in various fields of the social and behavioural sciences. The city library of Dresden provides media@age, a media centre for young adults on the top floor of a department store. There are a lot more of these nice-to-have services in German libraries, and a better future of the libraries will be based on the quality of the services for their customers. One Step to the Future Library 2007 (Bibliothek 2007) is a joint project of BDB and the Bertelsmann Foundation on the development of German libraries in the near future. The project will analyse the current situation of German libraries and try to find answers to the following questions: •
•
•
What are the future potentials of the libraries in our country? How will libraries take part in the infrastructure of education and culture in Germany? What changes are needed and how can the performance of libraries be optimized?
The financial and organizational situation of libraries in Germany will be analysed. The project discovered a lack in library planning and in library policy at the responsible levels. By exploring the situation in Germany, the project will focus on international best practice and will work on a model as a basis for future discussions and developments in Germany. The aim of this project is first of all to initiate a process of library strategy at the three political levels in the Federal Republic of Germany. During the last ten years, libraries in Germany have completed a process of unification and have made progress in modern technology. IFLA 2003 in Berlin, the World Library and Information Congress, under the patronage of German Federal President Johannes Rau, is an important event for libraries in Germany. But the real changes will come after this conference, when best practice of the international library world will be installed by the project Library 2007 and changes towards new and better library services will convince not only librarians but also all political levels of our society.
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Claudia Lux Picture Credits Figures 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, Christoph Seelbach, Köln (Collection E. Plassmann) Figures 2, 5, 11, 19 : Jens Gehring, ZLB Berlin Figure 16 Göttingen State- and University Library Figure 10 Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage
Sources Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Bibliotheksverbände (1994) Bibliotheken 93: Strukturen, Aufgaben, Positionen. Berlin – Göttingen. Bürger, Thomas und Ekkehard Henschke, ed. (2002) Bibliotheken führen und entwickeln; Festschrift für Jürgen Hering zum 65. Geburtstag. München: Saur. Busse, Gisela von, Horst Ernestus, Engelbert Plassmann, Jürgen Seefeldt. (1999) Das Bibliothekswesen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Ein Handbuch. 3. Aufl. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Hauke, Petra, Ed. (2003) Bibliothekskalender 2003. Bad Honnef: Bock + Herchen. Lux, Claudia. (2001) Strukturen und neue Tendenzen im deutschen Bibliothekswesen. [http://www.goethe.de/ os/pek/lux/deindex.htm] Seefeldt, Jürgen und Ludger Syré. (2003) Portale zu Vergangenheit und Zukunft – Bibliotheken in Deutschland. Hildesheim: Olms. (This book will be donated to participants of IFLA 2003 Berlin in English or German together with their conference bag.) Verein Deutscher Bibliothekare (2001/2002) Jahrbuch der Deutschen Bibliotheken. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Websites (all accessed May 4th 2003) http://beethoven.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/de/sinfonien/ 9/4/index.html (Access to the digitized Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/de/index.html (The Digitization Centre of Göttingen State and University Library) http://kalliope.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/index_800.html (An information system about manuscripts in German libraries)
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http://mdz.bib-bvb.de/digbib/inkunabeln (Illustrations from Incunabula of Bavarian State Library) http://rzblx1.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/ (A German portal to electronic journals) http://webis.sub.uni-hamburg.de/ (The website of the supra-regional literature supply) http://www.bdb-dachverband.de (The Head-Association of the German Library and Librarians Associations, national organizer of IFLA 2003 Berlin conference) http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de (A partner for library projects like BIX and Bibliothek 2007) http://www.bib-info.de/ (The biggest association of librarians in Germany) http://www.bibliothek2007.de (Website of a project on the future of German libraries) http://www.bibliotheksdienst.de (One of the most read German library journals) http://www.bibliotheksverband.de (The German Library Association) http://www.bsb-muenchen.de/ (The website of the Bavarian State Library) http://www.ddb.de (The website of the German National Library – die Deutsche Bibliothek) http://www.ekz.de (A library supplier) http://www.goethe.de/ (The website of Goethe Institute Inter Nationes, access to Germany and German language training programmes in 77 countries) http://www.internetbibliothek.de (More than 4,000 German links from public libraries for their customers) http://www.sbb.spk-berlin.de/ (The website of the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage) http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ (The website of the Library of the Year 2002: Göttingen State and University Library) http://www.subito-doc.de (Website of the journals and books delivery system) http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/landesbibliographie/ (The catalogue of the regional bibliographies of Germany’s Landesbibliotheken) http://www.vdb-online.org/ (The second association of librarians in Germany) http://www.zeitschriftendatenbank.de/ (The website of Germany’s Serial Database) http://www2.digibib.net/ (A portal to all kinds of digital resources in Germany) http://www.zlb.de (Website of the Central and Regional Library, Berlin)
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Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science Jean-Claude Guédon
Jean-Claude Guédon is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Montreal, Canada. In 1991 he founded the first Canadian electronic scholarly journal, Surfaces. He has published numerous writings on electronic publishing. He is a member of the steering committee of the Canadian National Site Licensing Project and chairs its Advisory Board; is a member of the Information SubBoard of the Open Society Institute; chairs the eIFL Advisory Board; and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Networked Digital Libraries for Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). In 1996 he was one of three winners of the Grand Prix International de la francophonie Charles-Hélou. He was named ‘Leiter Lecturer’ at the National Library of Medicine, USA in 1998. He may be contacted at: jean.claude.guedon@Umontreal. ca
Introduction The recent history of science has been characterized not only by a transition from science to ‘Big Science’, to use Derek de Solla Price’s terminology, but also by a deep transformation which, in retrospect, threatens to subvert the original values of modern science. Originally, science appeared as an offspring of the ‘Republic of Letters’, and as such, it belonged to a certain elite: the social structure of Europe in the late Renaissance would have made any other arrangement most unlikely. However, inside the scientific playground, elitism gave way to a peer-to-peer mode of behaviour. Egalitarianism, of course, never prevailed, at least not as an outcome of scientific pursuits; on the contrary, a strongly competitive, and even contentious, atmosphere has always prevailed in science, leading to sharply defined pecking orders of reputation. However, the playing field was as close to even as it ever was, and seventeenth-century science fairly qualified as a meritocratic system of excellence. A continuum obtained, that ranged from mediocrity and insignificance to excellence and even ‘genius’. Not that things were altogether perfect: some remote participants would have found it a bit more difficult to keep up to date with what was going on in the established centres of Western Europe simply because distance coupled with slow means of transportation imposed important delays in the circulation of research results that were published in the various Transactions, Mémoires, etc. of the main European academies. But, on the whole, scientific research results did reach the peripheral centres in a manner sufficiently timely to allow all would-be contestants to participate in the general race of all against all. In particular, no clear economic barrier interposed itself between natural philosophers, as they were then named, and scientific information: the cost of the publications was either covered by the research institution – be it an academy or, after the eighteenth century, a university – or it was well within the means of genteel practitioners who were personally financing an activity that, more often than not, stood closer to a hobby than to a profession. 1 In more recent times, and for reasons that I have tried to recount elsewhere, 2 the situation has greatly changed. The ‘serial pricing crisis’, as it is commonly named, emerged about thirty years ago: it refers to the rapid and steep increase of the subscription costs of scientific journals. More recently, the advent of licensing schemes has done nothing to relieve the cost pressure, quite the contrary, and it has severely limited ownership, access and permissible forms of use. However, scientists have tended to ignore these negative transformations because they stand in the shadow of much more visible changes: digital technologies have made desktop accessibility to scientific journals a reality and this is what end
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Jean-Claude Guédon users have most enthusiastically embraced, while remaining largely oblivious or indifferent to the costs. Publishers’ marketeers, of course, dwell on these glittery changes while trying to keep the downsides of licensing out of sight. All in all, well meaning librarians have shielded – too well shielded in fact – scientists and scholars from the signals sent by the rising prices of scientific publications. Ironically, the efforts deployed by librarians to serve their constituencies have helped publishers in their ‘divide and conquer’ strategy, and they have led to disastrous results: because the buyers of scientific materials are not the ultimate users, and because scientists and scholars essentially remain insulated from the growing economic pains librarians face, publishers have been able to get away with economic murder. 3 It will be difficult to change this state of affairs so long as scientists and scholars are not actively involved in the buying of the scientific literature. Presently, they are bedazzled by the convenience of easy physical access while publishers use the promise of some added value or better services in order to have them petition the library and thus squeeze a few more dollars from its budget. As a result, scientists tend to ignore the ownership, preservation and circulation issues emerging from the brave new world of licensing. Administrators, for their part, do see the financial problem more clearly, but they are caught in a difficult dilemma: while the cost of scientific information weighs down on the university budget, it affects a very small part of it, generally less than 2 percent. Meanwhile, the need to remain competitive at the research level in the worldwide scientific race cannot be avoided. Consequently, they generally chart a middle course between excessive spending and diminished research environments. The problem is that this pragmatic position generally does not leave much room or time to go at the bottom of the serial pricing crisis. The cost of research essentially depends on two different kinds of inputs that often require being imported from abroad, even in the richest of countries: laboratory equipment and scientific information. It would be most interesting to study how the cost of laboratory equipment has evolved since the Second World War. However, in this paper, I shall limit myself to scientific information. The reasons for this choice are many but the most important one is that here I am addressing librarians: having rapid access to up-to-date,
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validated, scientific information is crucial for any research effort and librarians take this as one of their main tasks. On a world wide basis, the sums devoted to buying scientific information are considerable – around USD 10 billion a year are spent across the planet if we limit ourselves to scientific periodicals. Also, the rapidly increasing information costs have begun to reach such proportions that even rich institutions in rich countries are beginning to feel the pain. Because they are rich institutions from rich countries, their complaints, although similar to those voiced for many years in poorer countries and research centres, are being heard better at last. However, the reaction has been sufficiently delayed that, in the meanwhile, poorer research institutions, particularly in poorer countries, have essentially been left out of the scientific loop and condemned to a marginal form of existence. As a grave consequence, teaching in those countries must essentially proceed without a living contact with research – a situation which severely limits the possibility of training doctors and perhaps even masters in science. It is these kinds of trends that allow me to claim that many recent transformations in scientific publishing have been detrimental to science – so detrimental in fact that they threaten to undermine its basic ethos. The meritocratic system of intellectual competition originally designed to identify and reward excellence is increasingly being replaced by an elitist-building system that adversely affects not only the workings of the scientific enterprise, but also its fundamental meaning. The quest for fundamental knowledge about nature is in the process of being superseded by the quest to control scientific knowledge itself and limit its access to a privileged minority. Furthermore, the circumstances leading to the present situation are not the product of serendipity; on the contrary, I believe that a few commercial publishers shrewdly understood the peculiarities of scientific publications and of their distribution, and they learned to capitalize on it, especially after the Science Citation Index prepared the way for the creation of an inelastic market of scientific journals. 4 The serial pricing crisis, in short, was not born; it was engineered. Furthermore, as the rising prices of scientific periodicals did not hit the very richest laboratories and other research institutions as hard and as early as the rest of the scientific world, it actually contributed to improving their competitive advantages. As a result, wondering whether some tacit, largely unconscious, convergence of inter-
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Open Access Archives ests emerged between large commercial publishers and a fraction of the scientists themselves does not appear completely fanciful. I am not talking about a conspiracy theory here; rather, I am referring to these kinds of gradual trends that simply make some choices marginally more appealing than others, especially if one pursues one’s selfish interest at the expense of some of the basic tenets that stand behind a republic of excellence. The rest of this paper will examine one particular facet of this question: given the growing restlessness generated by the spiralling cost of scientific journals, alternative strategies are being suggested and even initiated. Among them, the open access archives appear most promising. However, given the importance of scientific journals for the scientific pecking order, how should open access archives be designed and organized? The objective here is designing a publishing device that would be better at identifying and encouraging excellence than present journals are, while avoiding to restrict access and slow down the circulation and percolation of cutting edge scientific information in the direction of any brain susceptible of making good use of it. In short, what is at stake here is nothing less than the restoration of a ‘republic of science’ that appears to have been occulted too long by an elitist ersatz.
Scholarly Publishing and Copyrighting: an uneasy relationship The recent development of open-access archives and their active promotion under various names 5 has led to a series of questions which can be classified under three main headings: •
•
•
Where do open access archives fit in the publication process of scientific research? How do open access archives deal with copyright issues? What are the strategic implications of 1 and 2 for the successful implementation of these open access archives?
The first question is best approached from the perspective of the peer-review process. In the print world, the publishing phase must follow some form of filtering, some form of editorial choice, for example peer review. This is simply the consequence of high printing costs and it has led to the connotation of authority attached to many if not most printed documents. By contrast, open access archives deal exclusively with
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digitized documents and would be unthinkable without them. As a result, quality control can now be so wholly disconnected from the publishing phase that it no longer has to precede it. Correlatively, the publishing costs of digital documents are no longer high enough effectively to prevent anyone’s entry into the publishing game, as the explosion of the World Wide Web amply demonstrates. With it, most everyone can be his or her own publisher, an opportunity that the pornographic industry and minority political movements understood apparently faster than anyone else, but which scholars are beginning to recognize as well. Because it lowers the entry barrier to publishing, the Web holds the very real potential to disturb delicate equilibria within academic and research circles because the ability to be published lies at the very heart of one’s reputation, authority, prestige, and, ultimately, one’s scientific career. Tenure and promotion rest on publications. It is no wonder, therefore, if open access archives have led to cautious and protracted academic debates, and it is no surprise either if these issues have often been finessed or addressed in tangential fashion: rather than talking about careers and power relations, academics prefer to focus on carefully distinguishing between various categories such as pre-prints, e-prints, etc. Public access and publishing have also been distinguished, particularly in the case of scientific publishing. Because documents can now be easily accessed from all over the world by about anyone connected to the Internet, the need to distinguish scientific publishing from digital vanity presses increases. Behind these apparently ethereal debates, lie concrete and crucial concerns such as: how will these open access archives affect my present institutional situation, my status, my reputation, etc.? Motivations aside, these discussions have turned out to be quite useful. In particular, they have led to the gradual emergence of important definitions, clarifications and distinctions. Salient among them are the following: •
•
•
An e-print is the digital version of a peerreviewed research article. Before refereeing and publication, the draft is called a ‘pre-print’. Once published, the refereed, final, paper is called a ‘post-print’. 6
Note in passing the irony of retaining the ‘print’ category to describe the passage from pre-peer-
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Jean-Claude Guédon reviewed to post-peer reviewed. Apparently, some security seems to be derived from the familiarity of the print world and it is clearly carried over into the electronic world, with results that may appear somewhat oxymoric or even a little confusing. Note also how transient an e-print can be: it briefly exists between positive peer review and publication. In the digital environment, this phase may be extremely short, and even vanish altogether if the paper has been made public before it is peer reviewed. By contrast, in the print world of the humanities and social sciences, that period of limbo may easily extend for months and even years. Among all of these distinctions, that between preprint and e-print stands as the most important: it is a rigorous distinction and it sometimes serves to define ‘scientific publishing’ (SP) not as an activity or an event, but as a real concept. Let us use Stevan Harnad’s words in this context: ... for scholarly and scientific purposes, only meeting the quality standards of peer review, hence acceptance for publication by a peerreviewed journal [my emphasis, J.-C. G.] counts as publication. Self-archiving should on no account be confused with self-publication (vanity press). (Self-archiving prerefereeing preprints, however, is an excellent way of establishing priority and asserting copyright). 7 While Stevan Harnad encourages all of us to archive “all significant stages of one’s work, from the pre-refereeing preprint to the peerreviewed, published postprint, to postpublication updates ...”, he also reminds us that these forms of archiving do not all amount to scholarly publishing. In other words, he carefully distinguishes ‘making public’ from SP. Is the criterion that Stevan Harnad uses to distinguish SP from other forms of publications completely satisfactory? In particular, and in order to be distinguished from other forms of publishing, does SP need to rely on a peer-review process located exclusively within existing and recognized ‘scientific journals’? The reason why the journal requirement finds such a prominent place in Stevan Harnad’s thesis appears mainly tactical: by linking the peer review process to existing journals, and only to them, Harnad apparently hopes to sidestep the tricky question of designing new forms of peer review. Because such discussions tend to be
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complex, he believes they can only delay reaching the objective of reforming scholarly publishing; they will detract would-be reformists from more urgent issues; they may even end up being counterproductive by generating needless worries on the part of practicing scientists who manage their career on the present, well known, publication system. By insisting that existing journals should remain as the heart of the evaluation loop, he can claim that his own strategy, based as it is on self-archiving, can simply begin by taking advantage of existing peer review processes. Stevan Harnad’s strategy generates a few difficulties of its own: if an article is evaluated and accepted by a journal (and ultimately published), and if the copyright has been signed away, how can one also deposit it in an open access archive? The objection is important because it has led Harnad to suggest solutions that rest on untested legal matters. For example, he suggests that, once the peer review process is successfully completed and the pre-print draft is stabilized into an accepted, publishable, form, the author can legitimately archive an earlier preprint draft and add the corrigenda distinguishing that draft from the publishable manuscript. Although amusing – it reads a bit like a funny prank played on greedy publishers – and quite flawless from a strict interpretation of the copyright tradition, Stevan Harnad’s strategy remains questionable in practice: beyond the fact that its Jesuitic tonality may generate a smile plus some skepticism, one may also legitimately wonder how a court of law would actually react if faced by such a ploy. Copyright, let us remember, rests on the form or the expression and not the themes and ideas of a text, but it can also deal with plagiarism, thanks to notions such as ‘substantial similarity’ and the ‘meaning and feel of a totality’. 8 Stevan Harnad’s suggestion would probably have to overcome this obstacle and, in the absence of an actual, favorable precedent, it is not surprising that his tactic has not rallied large numbers of scholars and scientists: authors, particularly young, vulnerable researchers – e.g. untenured faculty – fear transgressing or even coming close to transgressing copyright laws. They also worry about antagonizing powerful editors and publishers, thereby risking losing access to important, prestigious, journals. In short, legal uncertainties and (all too) human career concerns get in the way of Stevan Harnad’s otherwise impeccably logical argument.
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Open Access Archives These objections notwithstanding, Stevan Harnad’s suggestion remains useful as a thought experiment. In particular, it allows us to look more precisely into the complicated SP process and to distinguish more clearly what depends on copyriht per se and what depends on the editorial or publishing policies of particular journals. For example, the refusal to publish an article because a preprint has already been made available on the Web cannot be justified on the basis of a blanket recourse to copyright because nothing in copyright laws prevents the contracting parties to decide that self-archiving is also permissible. Publishers may well wish to hide behind the copyright laws but such decisions are really part of an editorial policy; unlike copyright provisions, it can be negotiated. 9 In conclusion, Stevan Harnad’s self-archiving proposal shows that, within the present publishing system, there is room for negotiating a number of rights. However, it must also be remembered that if scientific authors do not try harder to capitalize on these opportunities, it is because, in the last analysis, they value the author status far above the owner’s benefits. 10 For scholarly authors, the risks involved in challenging editors and publishers simply appear too great in view of the fact that the present equilibrium essentially satisfies them. A few months ago, thousands of signatories to the Public Library of Science (PLS) petition threatened to refuse publishing in journals that would not free their content within six months after publication. The recourse to a threat, although it dramatically publicized the scientists’ frustration with the present situation of scientific publishing, was probably ill advised: publishers ignored it, safely betting on the inability of the majority of the signatories to follow up on their promise. The fear of losing ground in the great international prestige race prevailed, and submissions to prestigious, yet expensive, journals continued unabated. The unrealistic dimension of Harnad’s suggestions and the failure of the PLS threat must be remembered and integrated into future strategies. One very simple principle must be kept in mind: open access archives will succeed only if they can satisfy the scientists’ needs in terms of their careers. This means incorporating certification or branding tools that are at least as authoritative as those presently provided by existing journals. In other words, it means squarely tackling the branding issue that Stevan Harnad wants to
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avoid. As a consequence, there is an urgent need to discuss how best to integrate evaluation tools within open access archives. The question is all the more important that a revised evaluation system will strongly contribute to weaken the scientific plutocracy that presently reigns and will help restore the republic of science.
Where Intellectual and Financial Matters Mesh Because they are so important for the evaluation of scientists, it repays examining closely how scientific journals reach that objective, and how satisfactorily. How do they evaluate and what do they evaluate? Deans and research managers have come to rely on them to grant promotions and tenures to researchers and faculty. Do they have in hand what is needed to do the best possible job? The answer is largely negative, as we shall see. How Do Scientific Journals Evaluate? Journals present us with two opposite façades: on the one hand, the editor-in-chief and the editorial board are made up of recognized specialists in some scientific domain – in other words, peers. By exercising ‘peer review’, they provide scientific credentials whose value rests on the fame and reputation of the journal. In turn, their decisions loop back into the reputation of the journal. On the other hand, journals also rely on a variety of skills that have nothing to do with the ‘peer’ category: linguistic editors, layout specialists, printers, marketing specialists, and foremost among them, a financial director. The director of a journal may take on several of these tasks and he may end up being more of a manager than a scientist; as such, he or she may be part of a publisher’s structure rather than part of the editorial function. The relationship between the management and financial dimensions of a journal and its intellectual content may thus vary greatly from case to case: sometimes these functions are merged within one person – typically an over-worked faculty member who takes on tasks that reach well beyond academic or research skills – sometimes they involve a complex division of labor between an academic group and the personnel of a publishing house. In other words, a scientific journal can be totally under the control of the relevant scientific communities but it can also be a strong commercial shell within which a number of scientists are allowed to act as gatekeepers.
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Jean-Claude Guédon The word ‘peer’ itself deserves some comments: while commonly used in a descriptive way, it does refer to a situation where some people appear as distinctly “more equal than others” to use George Orwell’s satirical phrase. By exercising peer review, the academic fraction of any scholarly journal enjoys a degree of power that their colleagues simply do not possess. This is simply because directing or playing a significant role within a journal provides extra visibility and an authority that is clearly tied to the journal as social institution. In fact, acting as editor-in-chief, or as senior editor of an important journal is such a good way to advance one’s career that it can easily be compared to receiving something like an important prize. Moreover, both can reasonably be assimilated to a kind of extra academic promotion. A ‘peer’ has actually been silently promoted to the status of a gatekeeper – a fact that, ironically, the word ‘peer’ tends to hide rather than reveal.
broad and many are not strictly connected with purely intellectual or scholarly motives; ideological or even disguised economic objectives can also interfere; yet, the rhetoric almost invariably alludes to some regrettable dearth of publishing opportunities.
What is particularly interesting is that the promotion to gatekeeping does not lie squarely within the research institutions or communities; on the contrary, the process involves a mixture of academic and non-academic factors. For example, in the case of a new journal being created, a group of scholars or scientists band together to try and compensate for what they feel is a lack of publishing outlets or opportunities for their specialty. Note that although this step is purely academic in nature, it already involves a process of self-selection that must not be forgotten. Moreover, behind the arguments in favour of a new journal often lurk a wide variety of interests and situations: it may be that a new specialty is trying to emerge; perhaps the available publishing outlets are perceived as being in the hands of foreign colleagues and this may be viewed as a competitive disadvantage; 11 sometimes growing institutional ambitions suggest that locally supporting an international journal will bring some prestige and visibility, as well as opportunities for fruitful alliances with other powerful institutions; at other times, particularly in the social sciences and the humanities, new schools of thought emerge within established specialties and they must find ways to overcome or circumvent the resistance of the established schools. Linguistic considerations may also play a role, especially in the humanities and a number of social sciences. In short, the reasons standing behind the creation of scholarly journals can be very varied, but they all relate in one way or another to questions of autonomy, power, visibility, etc. The spectrum of agendas is extremely
It is from that angle that a publisher, by virtue of its financial resources, can have an important say in the creation of a new journal. In other words, the extra-promotion to gatekeeping may occur only if publishers or research institutions provide the material means to bring the journal to existence. Often, research institutions do not have those means and the task ultimately falls into the lap of a publisher. However, in divesting themselves of the economic responsibility for scientific journals, scientific institutions do not seem to realize that they are giving up any role they might play in the promotion to the gatekeeping role. This is a curious situation because, while they rely on journals to evaluate their scientists, they act in such a way as to lose most of their input in the fate of these journals. In effect they delegate the evaluation of scientists to a mixed institution – the scientific journal – without examining closely how this affects the quality of the evaluation.
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Whatever their motives, the promoters of a new journal quickly bump into material concerns: money is of the essence, of course, but so is space and secretarial time, etc. At precisely this juncture, intellectual dimensions begin to mesh with practical worries. While a journal will never rise simply because a number of material conditions are present – the academic side of the incipient publication must play its role here – these material factors certainly act as sufficient conditions: only if money is available can the new venture begin; only if the support is maintained for a few years, can the new publication hope to reach sustainability.
The reasoning applied to new, emergent, journals can be easily extended to ongoing publications. It is known that commercial publishers monitor existing journals. They look for intellectually valuable publications that might enjoy forms of economic support that are less than optimal. Actually, they are evaluating whether such journals ought to be drafted into the company’s ‘stable’ and with what inducements. For them, it is an investment strategy aiming at capitalizing on a worthwhile journal, even if it means operating at a loss for a few years, because publishers know that the return on this
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Open Access Archives investment will be ultimately significant and steady. 12 Some academic editors would resist such a shift because they would tend to consider it as a betrayal of their role; others on the contrary may see moving into the collection of a well-established and powerful publisher as an opportunity and even a form of valuable recognition. As it also generally translates into a series of tangible advantages – more financial support for the gate keeping function, more secretarial help, better equipment and software to work with – it is quite difficult to resist. It is even more difficult to resist if it involves some personal financial rewards that are not altogether symbolic. 13 In short, scholars and scientists may begin to feel dependent on their good relationship with a publisher to maintain their gatekeeping advantages, some of which are purely academic, others not. In conclusion, being ‘promoted’ to gatekeeping entails a complex combination of factors where the specific values and forms of authority that characterize a particular specialty tend to mesh with some of the financial and infrastructural underpinnings without which a journal just could not exist. This does not imply that a scientific editor does not enjoy intellectual freedom; on the contrary, publishers know better than to tread in an area that could only discredit the reputation of the journal they publish. However, the editor of a journal that does not pay any attention to his or her publisher’s concerns would do so at the risk of being quickly ‘demoted’. The status of a scientific journal is largely measured by its impact factor. Improving this impact factor has become an obsessively present task. For its part, a commercial publishing house will constantly be monitoring how best to allocate its resources to maximize profit. As a result, a publication with a modest and stagnating impact factor may come to be seen as a problematic business proposition. The touchstone, in this case, will be the profit margin. If the journal, although of decent intellectual or scientific quality, 14 does not manage to be sufficiently profitable, it will be dropped. But this amounts to demoting a particular group of gatekeepers, and for reasons very removed from issues of scientific excellence. Demotion ensues because when a journal is left to its own devices, it may lead to the journal working within much reduced circumstances and even to its ultimate disappearance. Deprived
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of the marketing push that large publishers can provide 15 the cast-away journal will probably see its impact factor decrease and this will translate into a lessened ability to attract first rate authors. The impact factor, as a result, goes further down, and so on. The quality of the financial underpinnings of a journal can feed directly into the ups and downs of the impact factor, thus catalysing a self-sustaining, upward or downward, trend. Financial concerns and quality control issues do interact in journals, and not only at their inception. As a result, it is easy to understand that a complex chemistry made up of financial and intellectual concerns lies at the heart of the device on which rests the whole evaluation process of scientists and scholars. While it is impossible to get rid of the financial dimensions of scientific publishing – it will always cost something – one may question the usefulness of adding the profit motive in this operation. All indications point to the possibility of very unhealthy forms of commercial interference into the process of scientific communication. What to Evaluate? One further question must now be raised: what is the exact function of peer review? What does it really evaluate? Based as it is on the judgement of very few people, can peer review claim to be much more than a filter allowing scientific players to engage in the scientific game? Actually, it cannot, of course, and, from this perspective, peer review amounts to a mere entry ticket into the great scientific debate. At that stage, the evaluation of excellence has hardly begun. Surprisingly few tools exist to measure excellence once an article is published. In fact, impact factors are about the only forms of measurements that may claim some usefulness in this regard, which probably explains their wide (and somewhat overextended) popularity. Moreover, impact factors are not always used felicitously or even judiciously. 16 Other ways to estimate the level of use and the impact of a given paper can certainly be devised, but such statistics are hard to come by with large commercial publishers. However, the possibilities offered by various forms of usage statistics for the appreciation of excellence have not escaped the attention of a number of commercial players and some have begun to explore new possibilities in this regard. Clearly, new forms of
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Jean-Claude Guédon measurement of use and impact are needed and are being investigated. Elsewhere, 17 I have discussed how Elsevier, with its open access chemical archive, appears to be testing new models of evaluation based on factors such as downloading, discussions, commentaries, etc. Elsevier, probably inspired by ISI’s Science Citation Index, appears to understand that controlling the tools of evaluation has a high strategic value which hold the promise of considerable cash rewards. Looking for new forms of excellence measurements, therefore, is not a far-fetched chimera; in fact, its presence on the radar screens of commercial outfits involved in scholarly publishing proves the contrary thesis. Other forms of evaluation that already exist must not be neglected either. Scientists are submitted to forms of evaluation that are a good deal more complex and varied than the simple peer review process found in scientific journals. Many institutions need to identify and hierarchize various forms of scientific excellence and several of these processes keep some distance away from the publishing process per se. For example, research grant agencies rely on some form of excellence measurement, but they do not limit themselves to journals: while publications count, of course, the candidate must often select his or her best papers and the quality of the proposal is often peer reviewed within the context of a jury. Likewise, scientific prizes and distinctions are attributed on jury-based peer review. They matter a good deal and they certainly enter into the art of successful grantsmanship. Finally, being named on important commissions and being invited as an important speaker within high-profile conferences also provide useful indications of excellence. Again, peer review is at work here, but in yet another setting: organizing committees acting as a jury select future speakers on the basis of previous experience and reputation. Some of the evaluations mentioned above are obviously more rigorous than others but journalbased peer review does not entirely avoid criticisms in this regard. In the end, one constant lesson emerges from even a quick survey of the existing range of evaluation procedures: the evaluation of scientists’ work has been going on for a long time and it has relied on a wide variety of techniques and indices among which the presence of peer-reviewed articles is but one
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possibility. Interestingly, as time goes on, not only do more centers and forms of evaluation keep on appearing, but the filtering function of the peer review process seems to lose some of its importance. In some fields such as theoretical physics, such filters appear secondary as the ArXiv bank of articles demonstrates: actual use, comments and criticisms play a far more useful role for science. Given these trends, one may begin to wonder why journals have maintained such a tight grip on the evaluation process: incomplete, unreliable, fraught with interferences from non-academic concerns, they only represent a small and diminishing fraction of the tools that ought to be systematically deployed to achieve a full and fair estimate of research excellence. Open access archives may well be the tool to demonstrate this point fully and rapidly.
Open Access Archives and the Restoration of the Republic of Science As more and more institutions develop open access archives and institutional repositories, one may surmise that the first wave will be made up of wildly varying documents. My own university provides a rather strong example of this chaotic situation: while the library is beginning to test waters with a carefully designed self-archiving system 18 and is proceeding with some caution to include only recent works, presumably peerreviewed, that authors want to promote more widely in this fashion, a competing group located within the computer services is promoting a ‘prepublication’ site as part of a wider e-publishing scheme. In it, documents as old as 1986 can be found, as well as old newsletters from neighbouring research centers, 19 commentaries on governmental reports, etc. The desire to fill the archive quickly has obviously led its designers to resort to pieces of work of doubtful value and, in some cases, probably best forgotten. In the absence of a classificatory scheme that would be a little more sensitive to the career and research needs of scientists, such heaps of materials are of questionable value and may even nourish the skepticism of serious scholars who do not want to see their work buried in such unseemly neighbourhoods. While old working papers from local research teams may generate some local nostalgia for the ‘good old times’ among a few sentimental types, they will gain little respect from the outside world. Best ignored, they will tend to look quite silly and they may actually do more harm than good for institutional repositories.
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Open Access Archives In order to avoid such problems, institutional repositories respecting the Open Access Initiative metadata guidelines should draft guidelines for the selection and the classification of documents. In this manner, we may collectively hope to avoid the kinds of problems that overly eager or competitive groups will generate simply because they are trying to occupy some territory first. Institutional repositories and open access archives should not be confused with the Wild West or some ‘gold rush’ territory with its freefor-all land claims. By contrast, the following structure might be more interesting for institutional repositories in open access: 1. A first entry level would roughly correspond to what the papyrus project at the University of Montreal is trying to achieve: scholars select papers that they consider to be interesting either to give them a second life, if they have already been published in a paper, or to promote some discussion around a paper-in-progress. In the first case, the author may do so either because he or she never signed away the digital rights to a journal – a situation almost universal until quite recently which makes most of us owners of the digital versions of our articles and books. Alternatively, permission has been secured from the publisher either through some blanket statement or through an individualized request. In either case, the fact that this work has been peer-reviewed should be clearly indicated in the document and the metadata that accompanies it. In the latter case, where an author is fielding a working paper that has not been peer-reviewed, this situation should also be clearly established in the document and in the metadata that accompanies it. Note in passing that this entry level agrees well with the self-archiving procedure advocated by Stevan Harnad. Some authors may even want to test the pre-print plus the corrigenda technique he advocates to circumvent the provisions contracted with a publisher, but this will probably require some legal (and political) support on the part of the home institution as we are bound to see court cases testing this approach in the near future. A bit in jest, I will call this entry level archive IH or ‘institutional hell’. It does not carry much prestige or symbolic value, but it does tell the world that a serious member from a serious institution is putting out some work seriously done, some of which has been peer reviewed in other contexts, and some has not. Harvest-
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ing machines can then be configured to include or exclude these sub-categories according to the desires and needs of individual investigators. 2. A second level can now be initiated. This level does not generally exist in our institutions but I believe that its presence could do a great deal to help universities and research labs regain a better control over the evaluation of their own researchers. In effect, each institution could decide that it stands behind all the publications that are located in this level. In so doing, it would have to decide whether it will simply rest on the traditional tools (peer review of established journals, impact factors, etc.) or whether it wants to set up particular procedures that would amount to creating an independent evaluation process for pieces of work that local faculty would submit for acceptance at that level. A given university, for example, might decide to set up an internal jury to deal with these selections, or it could build a mixed jury with external members from other universities, as is already the case for the defense of theses and dissertations. In short, it could devise whatever policy it wants to bring pieces of work to this level, but the important point is that, once admitted at that level, this particular piece of work would have the full backing of the institution. In particular, it could legitimately be used to support promotion or tenure. The point here is that the institution would consciously decide how to evaluate its members rather than lazily delegating the task to outside entities such as journals, with all the attendant problems and ambiguities that have been fleshed out earlier in this text. An institution might even decide simply to use the existing procedure, but even that would require a conscious, lucid and transparent act that would certainly lead to some interesting debates within any given university senate worth its salt. That in itself would be healthy. Let us call this second level IP or ‘institutional purgatory’. 3. Paradise is, of course, the next step. How can we characterize a publication paradise? Simply by having this publication submitted to an evaluation procedure that is demonstrably the best possible, given what is available elsewhere. It should be so good as to put an article in Nature or Science to shame, so to speak. The way to achieve this is to constitute extremely prestigious, international, juries that pass judgement on submitted papers with the utmost
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Jean-Claude Guédon rigour. For example, the top schools of the world in any given field form a consortium to evaluate economics papers or sociological papers and they publish their procedures, their minutes and their results so as to create the greatest possible transparency. And if a given institution feels slighted because it has not been asked to join the first prestigious consortium, let it organize the second prestigious consortium: competing world-wide juries could set themselves up and the quality of their judgement would be quickly evaluated by the kinds of usage and comments their choices would elicit. Being selected by one or several of these juries would indeed be, for any paper, the equivalent of reaching Paradise. Metadata, again, would clearly indicate the presence of a UP or ‘universal paradise’. Structuring an institutional repository in this fashion would clearly indicate that not only is open access of the essence, but that evaluation is also a central concern of such a repository. Obviously, these evaluation procedures will not replace the existing ones, particularly those grounded in journals, but they will allow for a very different mechanism of gatekeeping – one that is no longer so dependent on much financing to work, as is presently the case with journals. Poor countries with good minds will be able to make their voices heard and good minds in peripheral institutions will also be able to participate in the world-wide concert of opinions. In other words, against the unjust, elitist form of globalization that has affected science so negatively, this approach would begin to offer a path toward a better form of scientific globalization. At the same time, the diluting of the evaluation monopoly presently enjoyed by the core journals would gradually translate into a looser grip on the best minds of the planet and, as a result, real competition would have a chance to emerge, and the evolution of serial prices would begin to slow down and would perhaps even begin to fall. One must realize that if most of the major research libraries begin to build institutional depositories, as seems to be the case right now, and if such evaluative schemes begin to develop, the distributed power of such institutional networks can quickly become so enormous as to become the defining criterion of excellence. In other words, the creation of the open access archives accompanied by a suitable evaluation scheme holds the promise of relocating the center of scientific evaluation squarely within academic and research environments. The peer review process
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is, after all, done by peers that belong to our institutions: why abandon part of the privilege to promote some of our colleagues to this important role to bodies that share few, if any, of the basic academic values. It simply does not make sense to see profit-based companies having an indirect, insidious, ill-defined, yet effective, voice in elevating or keeping a few of our colleagues in important gatekeeping roles. This also means that, because they are open access and because they are networked and harvestable as if they were a single gigantic unit, these institutional repositories will offer an enormous amount of information on usage statistics that, presently, are kept in the hands of private companies. As a result, new evaluation tools based on various form of usage become possible and will be developed and tested by academics and for academics. This too is important. Open access archives should also leave room for commentaries, criticisms and rebuttals, so long as they are conducted within the rules that prevail within conferences, colloquia or seminars, and with similar rules of access: we are talking here about scholarly debate and not street side discussions or chat rooms. In this fashion, threads of discussions and debates will emerge that will help identify which questions, concepts, objects appear most interesting at any given moment. And these threads and lines of discussion will begin to implement what Manuel Castells likes to call a ‘space of flux’ and which he sees as a fundamental element of any networked situation. Obviously, these comments, judgements and criticisms will enter into the evaluation of a given scientist’s work because his or her ability to defend, extend or even correct a piece of work in an interesting manner are obviously what is expected of a good scientist or scholar. At the same time, one may see looming over the horizon, a few decades down the line – academics tend to be a very conservative lot and some even pride themselves on that score – the gradual demise of the batch production of knowledge which articles incarnate so vividly. In its place may gradually emerge a more fluid and flexible mode of scientific communication; one where a given individual could contribute as little or as much as he or she wants, so long as it is significant and accepted as such by his or her peers. If open access archives develop in this fashion, the academic networks, on a world wide basis, will be able gradually to reclaim their control over the circulation and the evaluation of scien-
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Open Access Archives tific communication and, correlatively, commercial publishers will tend to move back to their original position when they were marginal players, looking for interesting authors that could write some specialized products such as treatises, manuals and reference works. Their involvement in scientific journals would then become a secondary task but their presence would be as useful as it was in the past, when they helped to keep in check the corporatist tendencies that sometimes haunt academic circles.
academic administrators may have a chance to wrestle a sufficient fraction of the evaluation potential as to create a real competition for commercial publishers and, thereby, create change, as the SPARC pamphlet admonishes us to do. To this end, a three-tier structure fully harvestable according to the rules of the Open Access Initiative has been suggested and it should move us a long way in the right direction while avoiding debasing open access archives into meaningless heaps of shoddy ware as appears to be the case in a few careless ventures.
Conclusion Notes The thrust of this presentation has been to show that the evolution of science had gradually led to an elitist plutocracy, but that open access archives could become part of a solution aiming at restoring what I like to call a ‘republic of science’. However, to do so, a precise study of the evaluation processes presently used in various scientific communities has been necessary. In this regard, the discussions around self-archiving have been illuminating: by focusing clearly on the act of scientific publishing, as a concept, they served clearly to delineate what was of the essence of scientific publishing. At the same time, they show that the intellectual rigor of Stevan Harnad’s analysis does not always take into sufficient account some of the fuzzier realities of scientific publishing, such as the legal interpretations of plagiarism. Nonetheless, these discussions have been useful in showing that rebuilding scientific evaluation would have to accompany the effort to build open access archives. Present evaluation procedures as managed by journals, including periodicals placed within the ambit of vast profitable companies, display a complex of motives that cannot serve science or the management of research in an optimal manner. At the same time, the quasi-monopoly exerted by these large commercial publishing houses over scientific evaluation partially explains their ability to manipulate prices as they do: scientists simply need these publishers too much and they cannot conceive of an alternative way to manage a successful career; as librarians have been too good at protecting them against the bad effects of high prices, at least for those located within rich institutions in rich countries, they have not paid all that much attention to resources that, to them, appear ‘freely’ accessible (but at a high cost to their institution). However, if open access archives are built as suggested, with an associated evaluation system, then scientists, scholars and
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1. Thomas Shadwell lampooned this situation in his play, ‘The Virtuoso’. 2. See ‘In Oldenburg’s long shadow: librarians, research scientists, publishers, and the control of scientific publishing.’ http://www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/138/ guedon.html. 3. This very point was made by John Cox, from Blackwell’s, in his concluding remarks to the First Nordic Conference on Electronic Publishing held in Lund and Copenhagen from the 22nd to the 24th of October, 2002. 4. See again my ‘In Oldenburg’s Long Shadow...’, op. cit. (note 2). 5. For example, ‘Open Repositories’. See: Raym Crow. ‘The case for institutional repositories: a SPARC position paper.’ http://www.arl.org/sparc/IR/ir.html. 6. http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/#What-is-Eprint. 7. http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/#self-archiving-vspublication. 8. Peter Jaszi. ‘On the author effect: contemporary copyright and collective creativity.’ In: Martha Woodmansee and Peter Jaszi. The construction of authorship. textual appropriation in law and literature. Durham, N. Carolina: Duke University Press, 1994. pp. 40–1. 9. The refusal to publish articles previously made public on the Web is often referred to as the ‘Ingelfinger Rule’, named after the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. See: Stevan Harnad, ‘Ingelfinger over-ruled:the role of the Web in the future of refereed medical journal publishing’. http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/ harnad00. lancet.htm. 10. The terms are borrowed from Mark Rose’s excellent study, Authors and owners ... 11. I have heard this argument used in relation to Tetrahedron Letters (Elsevier): European chemists, according to this opinion, need this ‘European’ outlet to compensate for the ‘advantage’ allegedly enjoyed by American chemists in Organic Letters (American Chemical Society)! I will let the reader evaluate the validity of such a claim ... . 12. A full analysis of the publishers’ roles should clearly distinguish between the profit motives of large, in-
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Jean-Claude Guédon ternational, commercial publishers and the scholarly concerns of university and some (not all) learned societies’ presses. One must not confuse businesses driven by profit or professional objectives with presses simply seeking to recoup costs or, at best, turn a modest profit. 13. In a recent conversation, a colleague who will remain unnamed, acting as a journal editor for a commercial publisher, revealed to me that he was receiving USD 50.00 for every article that he dispatched for peerreviewing. Another colleague, also acting in that capacity for the same publisher, mentioned that he was treating around 3,000 articles per year. I do not know whether the editorial inducement in the second case were the same as in the first case, but if this should be the case, it would amount to USD 150,000 a year ... . 14. Again, discretion prevents me from citing names, but this thesis reflects actual conversations with people
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very familiar with the publishing business and, therefore, very much ‘in the know’. 15. Again, see my ‘In Oldenburg’s long shadow...”, op. cit. (note 2), particularly the part dealing with the distorting lens created by the big deals, as exemplified by the statistics provided by Ohio Link. 16. For example, institutions use journal impact factors to evaluate individuals’ publications. This makes about as much sense as using the size of a limousine to gauge the worth of its passengers ... Moreover, within a given publication, impact factors of individual articles can vary by as much as two orders of magnitude and, finally, impact factors vary quite a bit from one discipline to another. 17. See ‘In Oldenburg’s long shadow...’, op. cit. (note 2). 18. http://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/. 19. http://www.erudit.org/prepub/index.html. Five texts are from 1986. About thirty come from local newsletters (Bulletins) that fairly qualify as gray literature.
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TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Ruth Rikowski
Introduction The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is a body that establishes rules for international trade and it currently has nearly 150 members. IFLA has commented on the significance of the WTO for libraries as follows: There is growing evidence that WTO decisions, directly or indirectly, may adversely affect the operations and future development of library services, especially in the not-forprofit institutions. (IFLA, 2001)
Ruth Rikowski has been an information professional and librarian for about 20 years. After obtaining an MSc in Information Science (Computerized Systems) from University College, London, she worked as a Support Librarian for Dynix. She implemented library computer systems at the international law firm Clifford Chance, and at Havering College of Further and Higher Education, and also worked at the Tate Gallery, where she was responsible for information technology. She has been researching, writing and lecturing on globalization, computer studies, knowledge management and management skills, and has published some 50 articles in professional journals. She is a Visiting Lecturer at South Bank University and Book Reviews Editor for Managing Information. She may be contacted at: rikowski@tiscali. co.uk
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Among the many different agreements being developed at the WTO (all of which are due to come into effect in 2005), two are likely to have particular and serious implications for information, intangible assets and libraries. One is the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (WTO, 1994); the other is the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (WTO, 1995). The philosophy behind the GATS is fairly straightforward. It is about liberalizing trade in services and placing an increasing number of services in the market place; it therefore threatens the state-funded provision of libraries. From this basic philosophical stance, one can argue either that it is better if certain services remain funded by the state, or that it would be better if they were placed in the market. The TRIPS agreement is more complex and raises a variety of issues which need to be considered. These include whether TRIPS is really part of trade and whether or not it is concerned with the moral rights of the creators of works, as well as the likely implications for libraries and information.
What Is TRIPS? An Overview of the TRIPS Agreement The TRIPS agreement was established at the WTO on 1st January 1995, along with many other WTO agreements. TRIPS materialized from the Uruguay Round, which also created the WTO itself. TRIPS is concerned with the trading of intellectual property rights (IPRs), these being the rights that society awards to individuals or organizations for their creative works. IPRs give creators the right to be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of their works for a stated period. The main purpose of TRIPS is to:
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Ruth Rikowski … reduce distortions and impediments to international trade … taking into account the need to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights, and to ensure that measures and procedures to enforce intellectual property rights do not themselves become barriers to legitimate trade. (WTO, p.1, 1995)
The most noticeable difference between intellectual property and other forms of property … is that intellectual property is intangible, that is, it cannot be defined or identified by its own physical parameters. It must be expressed in some discernible way to be protectable. (Hefter and Litowitz, n.d., p.1)
The general goals of the TRIPS Agreement are outlined in the Preamble, which reproduces the basic Uruguay Round negotiating objectives established in the TRIPS area by the 1986 Punta del Este Declaration and the Montreal MidTerm Review of the Round in December 1988. From this the ‘Trade Policy Review Mechanism’ was set up, and became part of the WTO in 1995, when intellectual property was included. During the Uruguay Round of negotiations it was also decided that the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works provided most of the basic standards needed for copyright protection.
Intellectual property rights fall into two main categories: Industrial Property and Artistic and Literary Property (Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, 2002). The former includes patents, industrial designs, trademarks and trade secrets; the latter includes copyright, plant breeders’ rights and database protection. However, as the British Copyright Council (2001) points out, these categories were treated separately in the 1880s, when industrial property rights were treated separately from copyright. Industrial property came under the auspices of the Paris Convention 1883 (as revised), while copyright came under the Berne Convention 1886 (as revised). The British Copyright Council notes that the generic term ‘intellectual property rights’ is used both in TRIPS and by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), but also says that:
There has not been a binding international agreement on intellectual property rights on this scale before. As the WTO itself says: The TRIPS Agreement … is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property. (WTO, n.d. (a) p.1) There are three important features of the Agreement, as defined by the WTO. These are: standards; enforcement; and dispute settlement. In regard to standards, the WTO says: … the Agreement sets out the minimum standards of protection to be provided by each Member. Each of the main elements of protection is defined, namely the subjectmatter to be protected, the rights to be conferred and permissible exceptions to those rights, and the minimum duration of protection. (WTO, n.d. (a) p.1) The Agreement defines certain general principles for enforcement procedures and a procedure for the settlement of disputes between WTO members in regard to intellectual property rights issues.
… whilst there may be some conceptual similarities between the different branches of intellectual property, there are also important differences…Thus, any evaluations of patents or trade marks do not automatically or necessarily apply to copyright. (British Copyright Council, 2001, p.1)
The WTO clearly identifies the areas of intellectual property covered under TRIPS, saying that it includes: … copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations); trademarks including service marks; geographical indications including appellations of origin; industrial designs; patents including the protection of new varieties of plants; the layoutdesigns of integrated circuits; and undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data. (WTO, n.d. (a) p.1)
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) There are various definitions of intellectual property rights. According to Hefter and Litowitz, for example:
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Thus, a wide variety of different intellectual property rights are covered in the TRIPS agreement.
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TRIPS into the Unknown Principles, Rules and Procedures in the Trips Agreement
country operating in Britain in regard to intellectual property rights and the trading of IPRs.
The TRIPS Agreement is divided into seven parts (WTO, 1995).
Article 8, point 2, emphasizes that ‘appropriate measures’ might be needed to:
Part I: General Provisions and Basic Principles This refers, for example, to the role of the legal systems of member states in introducing and enforcing legislation in connection with TRIPS and IPR issues in their own countries. Article I – Name and Scope of Obligations, point 1, says: Members shall give effect to the provisions of this Agreement. Members may, but shall not be obliged to, implement in their law more extensive protection than is required by this Agreement, provided that such protection does not contravene the provisions of this Agreement. Members shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Agreement within their own legal system and practice. Article 3, ‘National Treatment’ point 1, says: Each member shall accord to the nationals of other Members treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection of intellectual property, subject to the exceptions already provided in, respectively, the Paris Convention (1967), the Berne Convention (1971), the Rome Convention or the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits. Article 4, ‘Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment’ states that: … any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity granted by a Member to the nationals of any other country shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the nationals of all other Members. ‘National Treatment’ and ‘Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment’ are also important aspects of GATS, so all this is very much part of the WTO philosophy. The intention is clear; to create a supposedly ‘fair’ trading environment on a global basis, with no preferential treatment being given to particular companies operating in particular countries. A British company operating in Britain, for example, should not be given more favourable treatment than a company from another
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… prevent the abuse of intellectual property rights by rights holders or the resort to practices which unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology. Once again, enthusiasm for encouraging trade is very clear. Part II: Standards Concerning the Availability, Scope and Use of Intellectual Property Rights The copyright provisions of this section of the TRIPS agreement are dealt with in some detail below; this is the IPR that is particularly relevant for libraries and information. Part III: Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights This states that Members need to ensure that enforcement procedures consistent with the TRIPS are implemented in their own countries under their laws and that: Procedures concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights shall be fair and equitable. They shall not be unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays. (Article 41, point 2 – under Section 1: ‘General Obligations’) There will be a judicial authority overseeing the process. Once administrative decisions have been made they can be reviewed by this judicial authority, if so requested by WTO members. Part IV: Acquisition and Maintenance of Intellectual Property Rights and Related InterParties Procedures This states that when members acquire or maintain intellectual property rights, it is acceptable for them to introduce ‘reasonable procedures and formalities’ to help them operate the process smoothly and effectively, provided that this is consistent with the provisions of the Agreement (Article 62, point 1). If done through a grant or registration procedure, this needs to be completed within a ‘reasonable period of time’. Final
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Ruth Rikowski administrative procedures will be ‘subject to review by a judicial or quasi-judicial authority’ (Article 62, point 5). Part V: Dispute Prevention and Settlement Article 63, under ‘Transparency’, point 1, states that: Laws and regulations, and final judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application, made effective by a Member pertaining to the subject matter of this Agreement (the availability, scope, acquisitions, enforcement and prevention of the abuse of intellectual property rights) shall be published, or where such publication is not practicable made publicly available, in a national language, in such a manner as to enable governments and right holders to become acquainted with them. Agreements concerning the subject matter of this Agreement which are in force between the government or a governmental agency of a Member and the government or a governmental agency of another Member shall also be published. Thus, laws and agreements made in individual nation states that are members of the WTO and that are connected with the TRIPS agreement must be made available to other members, if possible in published form. Members must also notify the Council for TRIPS about these laws and agreements. A Dispute Settlement Understanding will be used for the settlement of disputes under the Agreement. Part VI: Transitional Arrangements
cial problems in the preparation and implementation of intellectual property laws and regulations, may also benefit from a period of delay ... . In addition, developing country Members are entitled to a delay of up to four years. Part VII: Institutional Arrangements; Final Provisions The Council for TRIPS will: … monitor the operation of this Agreement and in particular, Members’ compliance with their obligations hereunder … (Article 65) Furthermore, Members shall: … agree to cooperate with each other with a view to eliminating international trade in goods infringing intellectual property rights. (Article 69 – International Cooperation) The Council for TRIPS will review the implementation of the Agreement after the transitional period has expired and at further defined periods after this. It will also undertake reviews when new developments might need to be incorporated into the Agreement.
Summary The main points covered in Part 1 – Part VII (excluding Part II) of the agreement may be briefly summarized as follows: •
This states that no Member •
… shall be obliged to apply the provisions of this Agreement before the expiry of a general period of one year following the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement. (Article 65, point 1)
•
•
It is also made clear that TRIPS is part of the process of the creation of a world-based market, free-enterprise economy; Article 65, point 3 states that: Any other Member which is in the process of transformation from a centrally-planned into a market, free-enterprise economy and which is undertaking structural reform of its intellectual property system and facing spe-
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•
•
•
IPR legislation in member states must comply with the TRIPS no one member must be given additional favourable treatment over another member in regard to IPRs appropriate measures will be taken to prevent any abuse in regard to IPRs and to prevent any practices which unreasonably restrict trade members must introduce laws and enforcements in their own countries, to ensure that TRIPS is implemented effectively in each member state there will be a judicial authority to ensure that enforcement of TRIPS is carried out effectively laws and agreements made in individual member states in regard to IPRs must be made publicly available the TRIPS Agreement will be monitored and reviewed.
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TRIPS into the Unknown
TRIPS and Copyright and Its Implications for the Library and Information World Part II of the TRIPS Agreement, ‘Standards Concerning The Availability, Scope And Use Of Intellectual Property Rights’, covers many different types of intellectual property rights, but the copyright section is the area of particular interest to librarians and information professionals. According to the IFLA Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM): ... the most important type of intellectual property as far as libraries are concerned is copyright. (CLM, 2002c) While most librarians and information professionals are familiar with copyright as a subject, they might not necessarily think of it as one of the intellectual property rights covered by the TRIPS agreement, particularly since awareness about GATS and TRIPS is still relatively low. This is therefore an important area that needs to be considered further.
Definitions of Copyright Copyright has been defined as an intellectual property right by many different writers. The document ‘Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights: a new regime’, for example, says: Unlike a patent, copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. This means that, in principle, protection is only extended to the form in which an idea is expressed (e.g. the particular writing of instructions in a computer programme), but not to the concepts, methods and ideas that are expressed. Copyright protection is provided to the authors of original works of authorship, including literary, artistic and scientific works. Copyright has also been extended to protect computer software and databases … The owners of copyright can generally prevent the unauthorised reproduction, distribution (including rental), sale and adaptation of an original work. Protection generally lasts for the life of the author plus fifty years or for fifty years or more in the case of works belonging to corporate bodies. (Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights, n.d., p.2)
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Thus, copyright is essentially about protecting the form in which ideas are expressed by authors of original works, rather than the actual ideas themselves, and this protection lasts for a stated period, such as 50 years. Copyright in TRIPS Part II, Section 1 of the TRIPS Agreement deals with ‘Copyright And Related Rights’; and Article 9 of Part II states that: Members shall comply with Articles 1 through 21 of the Berne Convention (1971) and the Appendix thereto. (WTO, 1995, Part II, Article 9) Most of the provisions of the Berne Convention have been incorporated in TRIPS. During the Uruguay Round negotiations, it was recognized that the Berne Convention already largely provided adequate basic standards for copyright protection. However, members also have to comply with the provisions of the Paris Act of 1971 of the Berne Convention (but moral rights are excluded from this, as described below). As the WTO says: The provisions of the Berne Convention referred to deal with questions such as subjectmatter to be protected, minimum term of protection, and rights to be conferred and permissible limitations to those rights. The Appendix allows developing countries, under certain conditions, to make some limitations to the right of translation and the right or reproduction. (WTO, n.d. (a) p.4) The TRIPS Agreement states that: Copyright protection shall extend to expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such. (Article 9, point 2) Other areas that fall within the copyright section of TRIPS includes computer programs and compilations of data and other material, either in machine readable form or other form … which by reasons of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations … . (Article 10, point 2) It also includes rental rights, where authors can authorize or prohibit the commercial rental to the public of their copyright works (Article 11).
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Ruth Rikowski The ‘Term of Protection’ is laid out in Article 12, where it states that: Whenever the term of protection of a work, other than a photographic work or a work of applied art, is calculated on a basis other than the life of a natural person, such term shall be no less than 50 years from the end of the calendar year of authorized publication, or, failing such authorized publication within 50 years from the making of the work, 50 years from the end of the calendar year of making. Article 14 is about the ‘Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms (Sound Recordings) and Broadcasting Organizations’. This enables performers and broadcasting organizations to prevent acts from being performed, without their authorization, for a certain period of time and: The term of the protection available under this Agreement to performers and producers of phonograms shall last at least until the end of a period of 50 years computed from the end of the calendar year in which the fixation was made or the performance took place. (Article 14, point 5) The final section in Part II (Section 8 ‘Control of Anti-Competitive Practices in Contractual Licences’) notes that: Members agree that some licensing practices or conditions pertaining to intellectual property rights which restrain competition may have adverse effects on trade and may impede the transfer and dissemination of technology. (Article 40, point 1) Thus, there is concern in the Agreement that some elements of IPRs might restrict trade, which emphasizes once again the importance of trade in TRIPS. Point 2 of Article 40 says that: Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent Members from specifying in their legislation licensing practices or conditions that may in particular cases constitute an abuse of intellectual property rights having an adverse effect on competition in the relevant market. Members can adopt measures to prevent or control such practices, such as grantback conditions. Thus, this section emphasizes the need to main-
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tain a competitive market environment and introduces measures to try to prevent what it regards as abuses of intellectual property rights. Copyright in TRIPS – Implications for the Information and Library World The IFLA Committee on Copyright and Other Legal Matters (CLM) provides useful information about the Berne convention and TRIPS in its article ‘Tips for TRIPS’ and relates this to the library and information world. It notes that the provisions that TRIPS incorporates from the Berne Convention require member countries to grant basic protection in a number of key areas, and that this is mandatory. ‘Literary and artistic works’ should be protected and these include: books, pamphlets and other writings; lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramaticomusical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show; musical compositions with or without words; cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science. (CLM, 2002c, p.1) Furthermore, the CLM notes that the author (or the owner of copyright) of a work will be able to authorize the production or reproduction of her or his work in various ways. These include its reproduction as a printed publication; a public performance of the work, such as in the form of a play or a musical work; recordings of the work in various forms, such as compact discs, videotapes or cassettes; broadcasting of the work by radio, cable or satellite and the translation of the work into other languages or the adaptation of the work, such as from a novel into a drama script. Endeavouring to unravel the implications of TRIPS for the library and information profession is not easy. There are a number of key issues that need to be addressed. First, the library and information profession is very enthusiastic about trying to maintain a
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TRIPS into the Unknown balance between ensuring the free flow of information and guaranteeing rewards to authors of creative works: The greater public interest is served in two ways: firstly, by giving authors an incentive to create; and secondly, by encouraging the dissemination of new knowledge. (CLM, 2002a, p.2) TRIPS, on the other hand, is not really concerned with trying to obtain this balance, as is made clear by the fact that moral rights are excluded from the Agreement. In this sense, TRIPS does not really fit in with the library profession’s agenda, or with its concept of professional ethics. This must be a cause for concern for the library and information profession. Secondly, it is likely that TRIPS will have a significantly more detrimental effect in the Third World than in the industrialized world, at least in its initial implementation stages. As Denise Nicholson has pointed out As a result of ignorance of their intellectual property and other rights, rural people are often at the mercy of large international corporations and individuals who recognize the potential in their traditional remedies, music, folklore, craftwork and other cultural traditions. These people are not aware of the legal requirements of having to put their oral expressions or traditional methods into a tangible format, before they can claim copyright ownership. Without access to information, they are unaware that their intellectual property is often misappropriated and used for commercial exploitation abroad. (Nicholson, 2002, p.261) Clearly, such misappropriation of the intellectual property of those in the Third World is also likely to have a negative impact on libraries and information in the Third World. If large corporations in the West can simply take advantage of local knowledge in this way there might not even be an opportunity to codify that knowledge and make sure that it is stored in a local library or community centre for the benefit of the local population. Furthermore, the low level of literacy in many countries is likely to intensify this problem. Much local knowledge is passed down from one generation to the next by word-of-mouth and is not captured in any formal way. Librarians and information professionals working in the Third World who are trying to rectify this
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situation might well find that their task is made significantly more difficult as a result of TRIPS. A third concern is the fact that large corporations and rich countries wield a very considerable amount of power and influence in the WTO in general, as well as in the formulation of the TRIPS Agreement itself. In the United Kingdom, the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs, in its report on globalization, had this to say about the influence that rich countries wield at the WTO: We recognise that member countries of the WTO vary in size and economic power. They vary, therefore, in their capacity to influence decisions in the WTO and, more fundamentally, to maintain a presence at the WTO. It would be naïve to believe that an organisation like the WTO would not be dominated by a small number of rich countries. (House of Lords, 2002, p.10) Clearly, there could be many implications here for libraries and information. Knowledge and information encapsulated in IPRs owned by large corporations is less likely to be made freely available; instead, in the spirit of TRIPS, the IPRs will be traded. Libraries may thus find themselves having to pay for this information, in which case they will probably have to pass on the cost to their users. There are many other possible implications which call for further consideration by the profession. A fourth concern is that many important decisions resulting from these agreements will be made within the WTO itself, rather than within individual nation states. Thus, the opportunities for the library and information profession to influence IPR legislation and directives are likely to be very limited. This is of particular concern given the fact that the WTO has a very large representation from big corporations. Furthermore, once the WTO Agreements are in place, it will be very difficult to reverse them. Paul Whitney, who is a member of the IFLA CLM Committee and has given many talks on copyright and trade issues, spoke on this subject at the IFLA conference in Glasgow in August 2002. He informed the audience that Canadian researchers have undertaken extensive research on the GATS (Shrybman, 2001) and are now moving on to look at TRIPS. However, research also needs to be done in other countries and on other aspects, including how copyright in TRIPS
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Ruth Rikowski is likely to impact on the information world in the United Kingdom, other European countries and the Third World, how copyright in the TRIPS agreement differs from other copyright issues, such as the European Copyright Directive, and how decisions made at the European Community level in regard to IPRs and copyright relate to decisions made at the WTO or international level. The importance of the trade aspects of copyright in TRIPS also needs to be considered further, including how TRIPS differs in this respect from other copyright legislation and directives, particularly those that have ethical concerns. Studies are also needed on how the power and influence that many large corporations wield at the WTO are likely to impact on the library and information world.
Ethical And Moral Considerations Many ethical and moral issues arise when considering IPRs. There seems to be an inherent contradiction between safeguarding the ideas of individuals and organizations and the wider ‘good’ of society, which the sharing of those ideas can induce. These issues have been considered on many different occasions, but they need to be considered further in regard to the implementation of TRIPS. According to WIPO, copyright encapsulates two rights – economic rights and moral rights. It says: The economic rights are the rights of reproduction, broadcasting, public performance, adaptation, translation, public recitation, public display, distribution and so on. The moral rights include the author’s right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his work that might be prejudicial to his honor or reputation. (World Intellectual Property Organisation, n.d., p.1) WIPO states that both these sets of rights belong to the creator and he or she can use them as and when appropriate. WIPO makes it clear that, at the international level, the economic and moral rights are conferred by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. It is often assumed that legislation around IPR issues is at least partly about ensuring that creators obtain moral rights in respect of their ideas. However, moral rights, in a formal sense, are not included in the TRIPS agreement, in regard to copyright. The IFLA CLM notes that:
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The only provisions of the Berne Convention which have not been incorporated into TRIPS concern moral rights. Moral rights are the right of the author to control certain uses of their works to protect their reputation as artists, and for their authorship to be recognized. Moral rights are distinct from what are sometimes known as economic rights (such as the right to make copies or the right to broadcast. (CLM, 2002c) The WTO acknowledges that ... Members do not have rights or obligations under the TRIPS Agreement in respect of the rights conferred under Article 6 bis of that Convention, i.e. the moral rights (the right to claim authorship and to object to any derogatory action in relation to a work, which would be prejudicial to the author’s honour of reputation), or of the rights derived therefrom. (WTO, n.d. (a) p.4) A very important part of the Berne Convention that was established over 100 years ago has thus been excluded from the TRIPS Agreement. It would seem that there are no mechanisms in place to ensure that the ideas that creators have are going to be protected within any formal overall moral framework under TRIPS. The European Commission itself has some appreciation of the fact that ‘moral rights’ are not always taken seriously in regard to IPRs. It exposes the fact that the United States is not meeting its obligations in regard to ‘moral rights’ for authors, saying: Despite the unequivocal obligation contained in Article 6 bis of the Berne Convention, to which the US acceded in 1989, to make “moral rights” available for authors, the US has never introduced such rights and has repeatedly announced that it has no intention to do so in the future. It is clear that while US authors benefit fully from moral rights in the EU, the converse is not true, which leads to an imbalance of benefits from Berne Convention membership to the detriment of the European side. It is noted that the US has ratified and implemented the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Adherence to these Treaties by the US requires legislation on moral rights at least for performers. (European Commission, 2002, p.53)
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TRIPS into the Unknown So the USA is not ‘playing fair’ with Europe, let alone the Third World, in regard to IPR issues. The report notes that several parts of US intellectual property legislation are not consistent with various USA international commitments, and that, in this regard, there is a lack of recognition of the moral rights of authors. This could be interpreted simply as America being ‘the bad guys’ but this would surely be missing the point. Instead, it illustrates the fact that ultimately IPRs are not founded and based on a set of moral principles at all; something else is driving IPRs forward, and this is particularly apparent in regard to TRIPS. Various writers have referred to the so-called ‘balancing act’ that they think can be achieved between freedom of information and providing appropriate rewards to the authors of creative works. The CLM, for example, says: The greater public interest is served in two ways: firstly, by giving authors an incentive to create; and secondly, by encouraging the dissemination of new knowledge. Creators enjoy the right to control, and to be remunerated for, subsequent dissemination. Without these incentives some authors might not be motivated to spend their time and effort in creating valuable original expression. However, it should also be noted that a significant number of creators (primarily academics) place a far higher value on dissemination of their creative work rather than direct reimbursement for the use of the work. (CLM, 2002b, p.2) There seems to be an assumption here that all that is required is some sort of ‘balancing act’, and that in this way solutions can be found which will suit all the various parties concerned. However, the TRIPS Agreement itself is not concerned about trying to obtain this so-called ‘balance’.
Is TRIPS about Trade? Another important issue to consider is whether TRIPS really belongs to the WTO at all and whether it is really about trade. Some argue that whereas the WTO is about trade, TRIPS, in contrast, is about the regulation of trade and about protectionism, so should not really be part of the WTO at all. Martin Khor, the Director of the Third World Network is of this opinion. He says that:
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… WTO members should seriously reconsider whether TRIPS belongs to the WTO. IPRs is not a trade issue … It is an aberration that TRIPS is located in a trade organisation whose main functions are supposed to be the promotion of trade liberalisation and conditions of market competition, whilst TRIPS is protectionist and curbs competition. (Khor, 2002, p.10) Khor also says that … the IPR holders, which are mainly large corporations of the North, are given the special privilege of monopoly rights which prevent competition from other or potential producers, and are enabled to obtain super and monopoly profits … . TRIPS has resulted in a very significant shift in the balance in the IPR regime away from the public interest towards the monopolistic privileges of IPR holders. (Khor, 2002, p2) He emphasizes that: Consumers are becoming aware that prices of many IPR-protected products are jacked up, in some cases many times above the cost of production, because the corporations owning a patent or copyright are enabled to prevent competition from other or potential producers. (Khor, 2002, p.3) However, clearly big business itself is a part of trade – big business does not operate outside a trading environment. Although Khor makes some important points, his basic argument seems to be somewhat flawed in regard to the relevance of trade within the TRIPS Agreement itself. Others have also emphasized that TRIPS provides, in particular, protection for big business in areas such as drugs, food and the patenting of life-forms. A statement signed by a wide variety of NGOs including Oxfam International, Christian Aid UK, Public Services International and Grassroots Action, for example, said: For many hundreds of civil society groups and NGOs around the world, TRIPS represents one of the most damaging aspects of the WTO. The legitimacy of the WTO is closely linked to that of TRIPS. TRIPS has, in fact, given the multilateral trade system a bad name. Contrary to the so-called free trade and trade liberalisation principles of the WTO, TRIPS is being used as a pro-
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Ruth Rikowski tectionist instrument to promote corporate monopolies over technologies, seeds, genes and medicines. Through TRIPS, large corporations use intellectual property rights to protect their markets, and to prevent competition. Excessively high levels of intellectual property protection required by TRIPS have shifted the balance away from the public interest, towards the monopolistic privileges of IPR holders. This undermines sustainable development objectives, including eradicating poverty, meeting public health needs, conserving biodiversity, protecting the environment and the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. We all share the common view that TRIPS represents a significant shift in the balance in intellectual property rights protection that is too heavily in favour of private right holders and against the public interest. (NonGovernmental Organisations, 2001) Martin Khor says simply that “IPRs is not a trade issue”. However, the whole purpose of TRIPS is to develop an agreement about the trading of IPRs, so this must surely mean that IPRs can be and, indeed, are a trade issue. To many critics like Khor, it seems that IPRs largely exist for the benefit of large corporations. Large corporations undoubtedly need IPRs in order to protect ideas and knowledge formulated within the company. In one respect, this enhances global capitalism, but it can also inhibit it by stifling competition.
that, under TRIPS, ideas and creativity are being turned into intellectual property rights and thus becoming tradeable commodities. As we enter the knowledge revolution, ideas, intangibles, information, knowledge, intellectual capital and services etc. will ensure the success of this latest phase of capitalism and will become increasingly more important than the production of manufactured goods. As Leadbeater says: We are all in the thin-air business these days. (Leadbeater, 1999, p.18)
Concluding Comments Although the TRIPS Agreement is complex, this should not prevent us from endeavouring to decipher it and understand it. On initial consideration, the TRIPS might appear to be attractive, as it can perhaps be seen to be a vehicle that offers to protect intellectual property rights and the creators of ideas, whilst at the same time also encouraging trade. However, various criticisms can be and have been levied against it. These include criticisms that it favours large corporations and that it is particularly harmful to the developing world. Also, that there will be a lessening in the control that national governments will have in being able to make and enforce IPR laws in their own countries.
These are some of the issues that TRIPS endeavours to address, but fundamentally they are insoluble problems which illustrate some of the many contradictions that exist in global capitalism. However, we should not lose sight of the main aims behind TRIPS, which are ultimately about encouraging a competitive environment, not curbing it. The technical way in which the TRIPS Agreement is written perhaps makes it difficult to understand the main aims behind it. On careful reading, however, it becomes evident that TRIPS is about creating a competitive market environment in which the trading of intellectual property rights can flourish.
I would suggest that one of the most important considerations in regard to TRIPS is whether it is essentially about the trading of IPRs or moral issues in regard to IPRs. Upon reading the TRIPS document it becomes very clear that it is about the former and not the latter. As shown throughout this article, there are many quotes throughout the document which emphasize the importance of trade. An appreciation of this fact takes time. On initial consideration most people would probably assume that any agreements, legislation, directives etc about intellectual property rights would necessarily include concerns and elements in regard to the moral issues, but it would seem that this does not apply to the TRIPS.
The argument that TRIPS should not be part of the WTO and is not part of trade might seem to be appealing and even compelling. Clearly TRIPS is protectionist and encourages some anti-competitive practices. However, upon careful examination it is clear that the TRIPS agreement is definitely part of trade. I am suggesting
I am developing a theoretical analysis which covers many different facets of library and information work. In regard to TRIPS, my theoretical position is that, ultimately, TRIPS is about turning knowledge, creative works and ideas into tradable commodities through IPRs. This process enables value to be more easily created and
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TRIPS into the Unknown extracted from these creative works. This is needed in order to ensure the success of the knowledge revolution – this being the latest phase of capitalism – and thus ensure the continued perpetuation and success of global capitalism. My theoretical analysis of the knowledge revolution and global capitalism in general, particularly in relation to libraries and information, will be extended and deepened in future works. References British Copyright Council. (2001) Intellectual property and human rights response to the sub-commission on Human Rights Resolution 2000/7. (Resolution E/ CN.4/SUB.2/RES/2000/7) Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. (2002) Integrating intellectual property rights and development policy: report of the CIPR, 2nd ed. London: Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM), IFLA. (2001) The IFLA position on copyright in the digital environment. Available at: http://www.ifla.org/ III/clm/p1/pos-dig.htm. Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM), IFLA. (2002a) Report of CLM Meeting: 2002 IFLA General Conference in Glasgow: walls come down for CLM in Glasgow! Available at: http://www.ifla.org/ III/clm/p1/glas02.htm. Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM), IFLA. (2002b) Limitations and exceptions to copyright and neighbouring rights in the digital environment: an international library perspective. Available at: http:// www.ifla.org/III/clm/p1/ilp.htm. Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM), IFLA. (2002c) Tips for TRIPS: a guide for libraries and librarians to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Available at http:// www.ifla.org/III/clm/p1/tt-e.htm. European Commission. (2002) Report on United States barriers to trade and investment. Brussels, Nov. Available at: http://europa.eu.int/com/trade/ink_access/ ustbr2002.pdf. Hefter, Laurence R. and Litowitz, Robert D. (n.d.) What is intellectual property? Available at: http://usinfo. state.gov/products/pubs/intelprp/. House of Lords. Select Committee on Economic Affairs. (2002) Globalisation, Session 2002–03, 1st Report. IFLA. (2001) The IFLA position on the WTO treaty negotiations. Sep. Available at: http://www.ifla.org/III/ clm/p1/wto-ifla.htm. Khor, Martin. (2002) Rethinking IPRs and the TRIPS Agreement. Paper distributed at Commission on Intellectual Property Rights Conference, London, 21– 22 Feb 2002. Original version presented at an international seminar on Intellectual Property and Development: what future for the WTO TRIPS Agreement? in Brussels organized by Oxfam and other NGOs. Leadbeater, Charles. (1999) Living on thin air. London: Viking, Penguin Group.
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Nicholson, Denise. (2002) The ‘information-starved’ – is there any hope of reaching the ‘Information Super Highway’? IFLA Journal, Vol. 28, No. 5/6, pp.259–265. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). (2001) Rethinking TRIPS in the WTO: NGOs demand review and reform of TRIPS at Doha Ministerial Conference. Paper distributed at Commission on Intellectual Property Rights Conference, London, 21–22 Feb 2002. Rikowski, Ruth. (2002a) The WTO, the GATS and the meaning of ‘services’. Public Library Journal, Vol.17, No.2, pp.48–50. (Part 1 of a 2 part article based on a talk entitled ‘The WTO/GATS Agenda for Libraries’). Rikowski, Ruth. (2002b) Takeover by stealth? Public Library Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 73–76. (Part 2 of a 2 part article based on a talk entitled ‘The WTO/ GATS Agenda for Libraries’). Rikowski, Ruth. (2001) GATS: private affluence and public squalor? Implications for libraries and information. Managing Information, December, Vol.8, No.10, pp.8–10. Shrybman, Steven. (2001) An assessment of the impact of the General Agreement on Trade in Services on policy, programs and law concerning public sector libraries. Prepared for the Canadian Library Association, Canadian Association of University Teachers, Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Ontario Library Association, Saskatchewan Library Association, Manitoba Library Association, Industry Canada, British Columbia Library Association, Library Association of Albert and National Library of Canada. Ontario, Canada, October. Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights: a new regime. (n.d.) Available at: http://southcentre.org/ publications/trips/tripsmaintextrans-01.htm. World Intellectual Property Organisation. Collective management of copyright and related rights. Available at: http://www.wipo.org/about-ip/en/about_collective _mngt.html. World Trade Organisation. (1994) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Available at: http:// www.wto.org. World Trade Organisation. (1995) Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Annex IC of WTO. Available at: http://docsonline.wto.org/ gen_search.asp. World Trade Organisation. (n.d.(a)) Overview: the TRIPS Agreement: a more detailed overview of the TRIPS Agreement. Available at: http://www.wto.org/ english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel2_e.htm. World Trade Organisation. (n.d.(b)) Trading into the future: the introduction to the WTO. The Agreements: intellectual property, protection and enforcement. Available at: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/ whatis_e/tif_e/agrm6_e.htm. World Trade Organisation. (n.d.©) Trade policy reviews: brief introduction – overseeing national trade policies: the TRM. Available at: http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp_int_e.htm. World Trade Organisation. (n.d.(d)) TPR: Introduction and objectives. Available at: http://www.wto.org/ english/thewto_3/whatis_e/eol/e/wto08/wto8_4.htm
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DANIDA: Wherefore Art Thou? Jeffrey M. Wilhite
Introduction After attending my first IFLA conference in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in 2001, I became interested in the Danish granting agency, DANIDA, and its work with IFLA. Since 1997 DANIDA has provided funding for 266 librarians from underdeveloped countries to attend the annual IFLA General Conference. This heartfelt and generous work on the part of DANIDA inspired me to write an article for the IFLA Journal. 1 The article presented a brief history of DANIDA and its interaction with IFLA from 1996–2001 and included the following statement: As of Fall 2001, DANIDA has again agreed to support the travel fund for developing world librarians to the IFLA Conferences. DANIDA has agreed to provide USD 120,000 each year for the next three years (2002–2004) to help IFLA in its goal of complete internationalism. 2 These funds failed to materialize.
Jeffrey M. Wilhite is Associate Professor of Bibliography and Government Documents Reference Librarian, Bizzell Memorial Library, University of Oklahoma, 401 W. Brooks, Norman, Oklahoma 73019-0528, USA. Tel. +1 (405) 325-3141. Fax: +1 (405) 325-1841. Website: http://libraries.ou.edu/depts/ govdocs/
DANIDA and IFLA The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs originated in 1963 and is a staterun international development aid agency. DANIDA has been generous in providing IFLA since 1997 with funding for third world library assistance, including offering developing world librarians the opportunity to attend the annual IFLA General Conference. In 1996, at the IFLA Conference in Beijing, China, it was announced that DANIDA would support more than one hundred travel grants for third world librarians for the following year’s general conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. These grants were administered by DANIDA. At the Copenhagen general conference, DANIDA supported 141 librarians from 83 countries. In 1998, at the following conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, DANIDA did not fund any participation. In October 1998, DANIDA announced that it would fund travel grants for the next three-year period to allow librarians from third world countries to attend the IFLA General Conference. DANIDA agreed to allocate approximately USD 100,000 per year for these grants. These grants would be administered through the Secretariat of IFLA’s Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP). At the 1999 IFLA General Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, DANIDA supported 39 librarians from 35 countries. At the 2000 IFLA General Conference in Jerusalem, Israel, DANIDA supported 27 librarians from 27 countries. At the 2001 General Conference in Boston, USA, DANIDA supported 30 librarians from 30 countries.
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DANIDA: Wherefore Art Thou? In 2001, ALP applied for funding from DANIDA for another three-year period. DANIDA had been pleased with the success of the travel grants and informally agreed to increase funding to approximately USD 120,000 per year and provide funds to ALP for the travel grants for the next three years (2002–2004). This, again, was an informal agreement, and was never received in writing by ALP. Nevertheless, ALP began planning the travel grants for the 2002 conference in Glasgow, Scotland, as the monies had been verbally assured. In the spring of 2002, ALP received news that the new Danish government, elected in October 2001, was adopting new policies in the area of foreign aid, which hinted that some of the DANIDA funding might not be available in the future. In June 2002, ALP was notified that funding for the travel grants had been deleted from the budget by DANIDA, effective immediately. As ALP had already planned on funding attendees to the Glasgow conference and now there were not any new DANIDA monies, funding had to be gathered from the existing DANIDA fund (that held monies left over from earlier funding because of denied visas), from within ALP, from the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), and from IFLA headquarters to fund the recipients of the 2002 travel grants. 3 At the Glasgow 2002 IFLA conference, 4,765 attendees from 122 countries gathered. DANIDA/ ALP/SIDA/IFLA headquarters supported 29 librarians from 27 countries to participate. The grantees included representatives from nine African countries, eleven Asian and Oceanic countries and nine Latin American and Caribbean countries. Five countries, out of the 122 present at the General Conference, were represented only because of the DANIDA/ALP/SIDA/IFLA headquarters grants. These were Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Guatemala, and Mozambique. 4
The Benefits of the DANIDA Grants From 1997–2002, DANIDA provided 266 third world librarians the opportunity to attend the IFLA General Conferences. For this act of goodness, the international library community will forever be grateful. For DANIDA’s act of goodwill, the recipients of the travel grants will always be grateful. Mr. Batlang Comma Serema, Lecturer within the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, in Gaborone, Botswana,
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was a recipient of a DANIDA travel grant to attend the 2000 IFLA General Conference in Jerusalem, Israel. The DANIDA grant is one of the good things to ever happen to my life. It opened a gate of hope and progress. Through DANIDA I continue to get its benefits even today and I believe in the future because I am now in touch with a whole network of library brains across the world. I think I benefited both professionally and personally especially as a PhD candidate as I was able to get feedback from knowledgeable colleagues. I think to attend an IFLA conference is by itself alone very enriching. 5 Ms. Anjali Gulati, Lecturer from the Department of Library Science, University of Jammu, Jammu, India, was a recipient of a DANIDA travel grant to attend the 2001 IFLA General Conference in Boston, USA. It was my great privilege to receive a DANIDA Travel grant to participate in IFLA 2001. This was my first IFLA conference and my maiden participation in an international conference outside India. India is a developing country where organizations don’t have enough funds to send their library students or employees to participate in international conferences/seminars. This opportunity came into my life like a boon and totally changed me from a very shy and introverted person to a bold and enthusiastic person who wants to do something positive for the profession and the society. In India, an LIS professional is really recognized if he/she gets a DANIDA grant. My university interview board was impressed that I was a DANIDA grantee and accepted me from a degree college into the university program. Because of my exposure to IFLA 2001, I am particular in motivating budding LIS professionals to be focused toward this professional career. Given my example I encourage not only my LIS students to come to the forefront but also my fellow colleagues. DANIDA gave me the opportunity to meet fellow professionals across the globe, to exchange ideas and common interests. At IFLA 2001, I found out about COMLA (Commonwealth Library Association) and met their executives. I am now the Regional VicePresident of Asia region under COMLA,
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Jeffrey M. Wilhite which is the first opportunity I have had to take up such post, that has proven to be a wonderful learning experience. Besides this, IFLA also apprised me about the IFLA/ OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship, which I have been selected for in 2003. I was greatly overwhelmed and exposed to the world at my first IFLA conference. Back home, I had plenty of ideas to contribute to the profession, but was unable to channel them in a proper direction. The interaction with experienced fellow professionals (both National and International) helped me in channeling my professional efforts. As a result I have started contributing my viewpoints in various newsletters and seeking additional fellowships. I have become more focused now and understand the right approach to becoming a competent information professional, which will further help pave the professional path for younger/fellow professionals. Before IFLA 2001, I had always felt the presence of abyss in my professional career, but after participation in IFLA conferences this void is replaced with ever growing knowledge. As a result my line of thinking has been totally revamped from that of a well to an ocean. 6 Mr. Stephen Visagie, librarian of the NamWater Resource Center, Windhoek, Namibia, was a recipient of a DANIDA travel grant to attend the 1999 IFLA General Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. He also received a DANIDA/ALP/SIDA/ IFLA headquarters grant to attend the 2002 IFLA General Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. If I had to use myself as an example for why and how being able to attend IFLA Conferences has been invaluable, there are several factors: Cost, Professional Refreshment, Exchange of Information, and International Ties. Cost: The exchange rate between the USA dollar and Namibian currency is incredibly poor. Most IFLA Conferences are held in wonderful, but very expensive cities across the world. One can only dream of being able to afford attending an international conference! To give you perspective, I’m considered one of the luckier professional librarians pay-wise in Namibia, yet only earn the equivalent of about 1000 USD per month. The
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cost of living is probably lower here in Africa, but conferences are priced at host country levels. Generally throughout Africa, librarians/information workers are on the bottom rung of remuneration, despite being often highly qualified. Though we have professional associations to which we belong, they’re not nearly as powerful as the ALA or CILIP, and thus they can’t bargain on our behalf for better pay. Professional Refreshment: Being a Corporate Librarian that often works in isolation, attending an IFLA conference is something akin to attending a spa. The rejuvenated and renewed enthusiasm I feel for my chosen career after an IFLA conference is incredible. Though, I must admit that when I walk through the exhibition halls and see the technological developments – it is only with envy, as our tiny budgets could never afford nor compare to those of our European or American colleagues. While we third world librarians still struggle to educate and instill information basics, librarians in the first world possess an educated audience and are thus able to move so much further ahead. Exchange of Information: Namibia has an incredibly small body of professional librarians, most reside in either our Polytech or in the Library of the University of Namibia (UNAM). There used to be many of us in the government libraries, e.g. National Library or National Archives, but due to incredibly poor salaries professionals have left in droves (myself included), and it remains impossible to replace these people. Library Assistants now do a majority of the librarians’ work. Most of the Namibian library professionals know each other personally, and information gleaned from conferences gets quickly disseminated among colleagues, thus despite only one person attending – many more benefit. International Ties: There is always the hope that ties can be made with more privileged libraries, and that they will take us under their wing and help us, whether with books or just sharing information. 7
The Future of DANIDA Funding The future of DANIDA travel grant funding for third world librarians lies in one key question:
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DANIDA: Wherefore Art Thou? Will DANIDA change its political stance and resume funding of the travel grants? As political administrations change, so do policies. For 2003, DANIDA’s policies have changed and all we in the international library community can do is to think gratefully back on their history of giving. ALP is currently in contact with the ‘new’ DANIDA and has applied for 2004 funding. 8 There will be no DANIDA funding for the 2003 IFLA General Conference in Berlin, Germany, and there may not be DANIDA funding from travel grants anywhere in IFLA’s future. After all of DANIDA’s efforts, should we continue to look toward them for a handout? Instead, it may be time to look away from DANIDA and begin to look toward other funding venues to bring third world librarians to the IFLA General Conferences.
There is an ever-widening gap between first world libraries and those less privileged in Africa. It is difficult to attract professionals, as those with education would rather shoot for higher paying jobs that provide nice suits and flashy cars. The cost of running a library gets more difficult, with the cost of electronic subscriptions, etc., all being in dollars – against which our currencies slide year after year. We would love to pay our own way to conferences, instead of having our palms out for grants, but if IFLA wants to be truly representative (I know Kay Raseroka is there), and representative in its delegates, ways need to be found to get us there. The only hope I have of ever attending again will probably be in 2007 when IFLA will be held in South Africa – our neighbor. 12
If you are moved by the plight of third world librarians, you or your organization can help by funding one of these important individuals to bring them to the next IFLA conference. Although not an official IFLA program at this time, a movement for individuals and organizations to support the travel expenses to bring third world librarians to the next IFLA Conference has already begun. The Harry Campbell IFLA Conference Attendance Grant, Year 2003, has already been established, to support a delegate from a developing country that has not had IFLA Conference participants in the last few years. 9 For USD 2,500, one grantee can be supported to attend the 2003 General Conference in Berlin, Germany. This act of generosity and donation will help to fill the gap that DANIDA left behind and truly make the next IFLA Conference a global meeting point, as it was intended to be. Contact ALP for more information on such donations. 10
DANIDA provided travel grants to IFLA for six years and changed the lives of 266 librarians. These librarians, in part, changed the lives of all they encountered at the conference, and all they encountered back in their home countries. These people then changed the lives of the people they met. Like a ripple on a lake, the effects of’ the generous donations of DANIDA will be felt for years to come. The effects will be felt by the librarians who received the travel grants, by those they met at the conferences, by those that they helped back home, and those that they taught what they learned. One ripple begets another begets another. The next question is though, where will the next ripple arise?
Conclusion Mr. Serema of Botswana sees the need of continuing funding for third world librarians: The fact that some of us from the developing world can not afford to attend IFLA meant that DANIDA was a very important proposition. I will recommend that it be reinstated somehow to continue to expose young librarians and information professionals to the world of information. 11 Mr. Stephen Visagie of Namibia agrees:
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Notes 1. Wilhite, Jeffrey M. DANIDA and the world stage. IFLA Journal, 28 (1), 2002, 24–27. 2. Ibid., p. 26. 3. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Lennart Dahlberg, IFLA/ALP, November 26, 2002– December 3, 2002, and J. Wilhite and Birgitta Sandell, IFLA/ALP, February 14, 2003. 4. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Lennart Dahlberg, IFLA/ALP, August 28, 2002. 5. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Batlang Comma Serema, January 21, 2003. 6. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Anjali Gulati, February 11, 2003. 7. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Stephen Visagie, February 7, 2003. 8. From e-mail correspondences between J. Wilhite and Birgitta Sandell, IFLA/ALP, February 14, 2003. 9. Harry Campbell Conference Attendance Grant-Year 2003. IFLA Journal, 29 (1) (2003), 94–95. Also on IFLANET at: http://www.ifla.org/III/grants/hccgrant. htm.
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Jeffrey M. Wilhite 10. From letter correspondence between F.L. Carroll and Birgitta Sandell, ALP/IFLA, August 9, 2002. Contact ALP at: Birgitta Sandell: [email protected]. SE 11. c/o Uppsala University Library, Box 510, S 751 20, Uppsala, Sweden. Tel.: +46 18 471 3989 / 471 3990.
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Fax: +46 18 471 3994. Telex: 76076 UBUPPS S. E-mail: [email protected]. 12. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Batlang Comma Serema, January 21, 2003. 13. From e-mail correspondence between J. Wilhite and Stephen Visagie, February 7, 2003.
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REPORTS
Core Activities: Annual Reports, 2002: Summaries The complete texts of these reports are available on IFLANET (http://www.ifla.org).
Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP) Gunilla Natvig, Administrative Officer
Background The mission of the Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP) is to further the library profession, library institutions and library and information services in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean. ALP achieves its goals through a carefully planned programme of different activities in close cooperation between the International Focal Point of ALP and IFLA’s Regional Offices, IFLA’s Regional Division and its three sections, and other partners. This cooperation includes fundraising, scholarships and attachment programmes, conferences, seminars and workshops, pilot projects, publications and databases.
Staff and Finance IFLA, Uppsala University and seventeen Nordic library associations and institutions fund the International Focal Point (IFP) for ALP at Uppsala University Library. SIDA funds are also used for the secretariat. To this should be added contributions in kind from Uppsala University Library. The ALP IFP was staffed by: Birgitta Sandell Director of the Programme, Gunilla Natvig, Administrative Officer (half-time) and Lennart Dahlberg, Administrative Assistant (40 percent).
Professional Activities The sponsors in 2002 were SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland (KYO), the Finnish Library Association and the Swedish Library Association. In addition, those responsible for projects in the regions contributed with their own resources and raised considerable funds from external sources. ALP Meetings and Seminars Seminar on the WWW: design, implementation and management, Ibadan, Nigeria, 5–13 August 2002. The ten delegates came from Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. SIDA funded the workshop.
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2002 Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL), South Africa, April 2002. ALP sponsored eight delegates from Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Uganda, Swaziland and Malawi, and part of the publishing of the conference proceedings. Workshop on LIS Curriculum in the Arab Countries, Lebanon, June 2002. Over 50 professionals from Arab countries attended the workshop. The Chilean model of participatory management of public libraries for Southern cone countries, Santiago, Chile, December 2002. Participants came from Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Workshop on library services for the blind and print disabled, Jamaica. Over 80 people from 22 countries attended this workshop. ALP paid for a speaker from South Africa. 4th International meeting of Portuguese speaking librarians, São Paulo, Brazil. Representatives from Cabo Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and East-Timor attended the meeting. Meeting of ALP Advisory Committee, Uppsala University Library, 10–15 October. IFLA’s General Conference in Glasgow DANIDA Travel Grants In 2001 ALP applied for a new three-year grant from DANIDA to enable librarians from developing countries to attend the IFLA conferences. In June 2002 ALP was informed of the decision to reject the application. Fortunately, there was money left from previous years and ALP was able to cover the costs for 21 candidates. With additional money from SIDA and IFLA HQ, funding for 30 travel grants was secured. After the conference three grantees got a 4-weeks in-service training. Speakers Grants With money from SIDA ALP supported three people who had been selected to present papers at the conference in the open sessions of the Regional Sections. Birgitta Sandell and Gunilla Natvig participated in the Glasgow conference and took part in the Regional Standing Committee meetings. IFLA Regional Standing Committee Meetings Birgitta Sandell participated in the Africa Section meeting in Dakar, Senegal and in the meeting of the Section
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Reports for Asia and Oceania in Beijing, China. Gunilla Natvig participated in the Latin American and the Caribbean Section meeting in São Paulo, Brazil. Scholarships and Attachments In Service Training, Attachments, for Middle or Senior Staff Four persons were selected for attachments in 2002 at institutions in the Asia and Oceania region. This project is funded by the Swedish and Finnish Library Associations. Scholarships in Information Technology Three scholarships were awarded in 2002. These scholarships are funded by SIDA. Five candidates were selected for the Bart Nwafor Staff Development Programme in Africa in 2002, with funding from NORAD.. All these three projects have been of great value. Apart from the successful training the projects have developed platforms for networking of professionals, both at individual and institutional levels, and enhancing professional skills. Other Ongoing Projects Journal of librarianship and information science in Africa/Revue de bibliothéconomie et science de l’information en Afrique. Two issues have been published and the editorial committee is working on the third. The aim is to increase
subscriptions to cover the costs of the printing the journal. Self-training package for information retrieval using distance education approach. The project started in 2001 and is carried out in Thailand. It is funded by SIDA. Mekong Regional Network for LIS Training Teaching materials are being created and a training centre is being developed at Mahasarakham University in Thailand. SIDA funded the project. Minor Field Studies (MFS) SIDA has a cooperation programme with Swedish universities, Minor Field Studies (MFS), and the ALP secretariat is administering this programme within the information field. In 2002 two students carried out a study in India.
Publications ALP Project Report Series (ISSN 1023-8212) The following issue was published in 2002: 20. Information and Communication Technologies in Rural Secondary Schools in Africa. Proceedings of the Workshop 29/11–3/12 1999, Harare, Zimbabwe. 117 pp. ISBN 91-85092-61-4.
Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM) Marianne Scott, Chair CLM was established to advise IFLA and its constituent groups with respect to copyright and intellectual property, economic barriers to the acquisition of library materials, trade agreements affecting library services, disputed claims of ownership of library materials, authenticity of electronic texts, subscriptions and license agreements and other legal matters of international significance to libraries and librarianship. The Secretariat of the Committee was provided by the UAP office at Boston Spa, England. The Committee held two formal business meetings during this period and worked electronically between business meetings During the meetings in Glasgow, the Committee reviewed and provided further input to a document on fair
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use; discussed programme topics for Berlin and exchanged information about national developments. CLM issued two documents during 2002, which are available on the website. ‘Tips for TRIPS’ is a brief guide for the library community to help in understanding the implications of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The second document was prepared in response to a request for input into a study by UNESCO on limitations and exceptions to copyright and neighbouring rights in the digital environment. CLM had two successful programmes during the Glasgow conference. The open session was on Repatriation of Cultural Heritage Materials. This was well received, as was the Update session on ever popular topics such as the European Copyright Directive and the WTO and GATS. There were also presentations on Circumvention technologies, Copyright in South Africa and the Public Lending Right.
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Preservation and Conservation During the period of the Report CLM worked on providing more translations of its documents into languages other than English. At the present time: • • • •
the Position on Copyright is available in English, French and Russian the Licensing Principles are available in English, French, Russian and Polish the Position on WTO Treaty Negotiations is available in English and French the Position on the WTO is available in English and German.
During this period CLM continued to monitor and to provide input to meetings and documents relating to
copyright at WIPO, the Ministerial meeting of the WTO in Doha, Qatar, The Hague Convention, the IFLA/IPA Steering Committee as well as the more recent Free Trade of the Americas Agreement. The CLM Strategic Plan for 2002–2003 was approved by the Governing Board of IFLA, March 2002 and is the basis for CLM ongoing activities. CLM continued to work closely with EBLIDA in IFLA’s representation to WIPO and the WTO. It was also necessary to review the implications of the closure of the Secretariat at the British Library.
Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Mare-Thérèse Varlamoff, Director
• •
Reorganization and Management International Focal Point Corine Koch was appointed as the new programme officer in April 2002, in replacement of Virginie Kremp. Advisory Board Jianzhong Wu (Shanghai Library) joined PAC Advisory Board, which met in Glasgow on August 30, 2002. PAC strategic plan 2002–2003 was approved and especially: • • • •
• • • •
the establishment of fields of excellence in each regional centre the project of enforcing the PAC network in Latin America actions concerning the promotion of Blue Shield and of disaster planning actions concerning newspapers: the follow-up of the preservation of newspapers in Africa; digitization of newspapers from the 19th century (Caracas) training activities (organization of workshops in Africa and the Caribbean) publications: IPN, updating of the package on photography by PAC regional centre in Washington standards and guidelines promotion of permanent paper among publishers.
Regional Centres Jianzhong Wu proposed to host an additional PAC regional centre to deal with preservation issues in China. A restructuration of PAC in Latin America and the Caribbean was proposed and adopted. Annual Meeting of PAC Directors – Glasgow, August 16 Each PAC centre made a brief report on its activities:
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• • •
CIS: focused its action on training Australia: focused its action on digital preservation USA: focused action on photography Japan: focused on paper preservation Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East: focused on disaster planning and Blue Shield.
The directors discussed PAC strategic plan in order to set up priorities. Four major decisions were taken: 1. establish partners to support the regional centres 2. develop a better communication between all actors of PAC (centres and partners), particularly by e-mail connection 3. avoid by all means the creation of a new core activity on digital preservation which implies that the centres in Canberra and Washington work under PAC umbrella in this capacity 4. promote Blue Shield and the creation of national Blue Shield Committees; encourage the signature of the Hague Convention (1954) and Protocols for the Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict or natural disasters.
Activities Publications IPN (International Preservation News) the PAC newsletter Due to the absence of a programme officer during four months, PAC could only publish two issues of IPN in 2002. IPI (International Preservation Issues) No. 4: A Blue Shield for the protection of our endangered cultural heritage. Proceedings of PAC Open Session at the General IFLA Conference in Glasgow. The five presentations were translated by Corine Koch and will be published in a bilingual version in 2003.
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Reports Symposium, Paris, 21–24 August 2000 Proceedings of the symposium on ‘Managing the preservation of periodicals and newspapers’ (Paris, 21–24 August 2002) were edited by Jennifer Budd and published by Saur as IFLA Publication 103. CD-ROM The CD-ROM ‘Safeguarding our documentary heritage’ (originally in English and French) was produced in an English, French and Spanish version by the University of Colima thanks to UNESCO support. ‘Guidelines for digitization projects for collections and holdings in the public domain particularly those held by libraries and archives.’ Produced by working group representing IFLA and ICA with the support of UNESCO (available on the IFLANET).
Expertise and Surveys Advisory Boards PAC Director is a member of the following advisory boards or committees: • • • •
Social Sciences Research Centre, NY, USA: Standing Committee on Libraries and Archives in Cuba. Memory of the World Register Sub-Committee. CLIR – Advisory Board for the Web-Based Tutorial on Preservation and Conservation Project. International Council on Archives (ICA). Committee on Preservation of Archives in Temperate Climates.
Survey
Other publications included articles, translations and communications.
The results of the survey initiated by PAC on the existing collections of newspapers in Africa and their state of preservation, were partly analysed in 2002 thanks to Else Delaunay, Section on Newspapers. On a mutual agreement the survey was passed on to the IFLA Section of Newspapers for achievement and follow up.
Standardization and Guidelines
Cooperation
The Director is a member of three standardization working groups (AFNOR: French Association for Standardization):
PAC cooperates with the International Committee of the Blue Shield, and National Blue Shield Committees and has been active in the promotion of the Blue Shield. In the framework of the French Blue Shield, PAC took several initiatives which contributed in sending an expert from the Centre de conservation du livre (Arles, France) to Prague and raising funds for rescue operations. PAC also managed to bring expertise to colleagues whose collections were flooded in Southern France.
Preservation requirements for exhibiting graphic and photographic materials / Prescriptions de conservation des documents graphiques et photographiques dans le cadre d’une exposition. Assessment methods to determine the state of preservation of archives and library materials / Méthode d’évaluation de l’état physique des fonds d’archives et de bibliothèques. A third working group on the terminology of the degradation of items is in process. Training PAC Centre was involved in the organization of an international preservation training course at the BnF in Paris, October 7–25, 2002. Fourteen participants from eleven countries attended the course.
UNESCO The cooperation with UNESCO on the Memory of the World Programme has been ongoing in 2002.
Funding PAC financial situation has been improving, thanks to the support of CLIR and its president, Deanna Marcum. The allocation of USD 20,000 that was offered by CLIR will be spent over 3 years (2002–2004). The first part, USD 6,666 was used to published IPI 4 and to promote Blue Shield at the IFLA Glasgow Conference.
Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) Susanne Seidelin, Director
Financial Situation and Funding Concerns of the instability of FAIFE’s finances were growing through 2002. In spring, the budget was revised with the consequence that additional staff could not be
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hired to further the investigation and monitoring part of our activities and the editorial work on the World Report Series. The Nordic library community and the Swedish and Danish governments have have once again proved their true commitment and strong support, but a broader fund-
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Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression ing base of FAIFE is needed to globally safeguard our work. The principle of having a range of smaller sponsors from all over the world will help initiating a global ‘ownership’ of FAIFE amongst the IFLA membership.
As a result of a NGO meeting in Paris in November, IFLA/FAIFE agreed to be moderator and rapporteur of the Access theme of the UNESCO WSIS online Discussion Forum.
IFLA/FAIFE Activities in 2002
Following the WSIS activities we have increased our working relations with other international NGOs representing media and journalists.
FAIFE’s professional focus in 2002 was on the development of IFLA policy statements and the Summary Report – all embracing the principles of freedom of access to information, freedom of expression and the role of libraries in the information society. Together with WSIS activities this focus reflects a growing need to defend the basic principles of intellectual freedom. Violations of these principles and rights are growing in the wake of 11 September and the current global instability and prospects of war. How IFLA and the international library community could response to this challenge is the subject of a project undertaken by PAC and FAIFE. To this end, FAIFE is currently working on a proposed statement on libraries and wars for the consideration by the IFLA Governing Board. Unfortunately, the necessary resources have not been available to investigate and respond to violations in individual countries. To build an investigation and monitoring unit is therefore at top of our wish list, subject to finances.
The Internet and Freedom of Access to Information Our PhD project, entitled ‘To what extent can libraries provide free equal and unhampered access to Internet accessible information resources on a global scale?’ and co-sponsored by the Royal Danish School of Library and Information Science, is well under way. The Internet Manifesto has, so far, been translated into nine different languages and we expect more to follow.
Policy Implementation With three IFLA policy position papers on access to information – let alone IFLA positions on other issues – IFLA is facing the challenge on how to efficiently implement policy around the world. IFLA will have to seek partners among the membership; the national library associations are likely to undertake this role. We also need a proactive approach on the implementation of IFLA policy statements and lobbying for the role of libraries: this would help promote IFLA policy in libraries around the world, and support the implementation process on national level.
The IFLA/FAIFE World Report Series The IFLA/FAIFE Summary Report 2002: Libraries, Conflicts and the Internet was also launched at a press conference in Glasgow. The report is the first of its kind and comprises the second volume of the IFLA/FAIFE World Report Series. Already in Glasgow we indicated that we would not be able to undertake the research and editorial work of the IFLA/FAIFE World Report 2003 unless additional funding could be obtained. At this point, we cannot guarantee the publication or that the report will be ready to launch at the IFLA Conference in Berlin.
Glasgow Declaration The Glasgow Declaration on Libraries, Information Services, and Intellectual Freedom was adopted unanimously by IFLA Council. IFLA/FAIFE undertook the leading role in the development of the document.
Sustainable Development The FAIFE Office has been heavily involved in developing the IFLA Statement on Libraries and Sustainable Development that was adopted by Council in August.
The World Summit on the Information Society IFLA/FAIFE has been involved in the UNESCO WSIS preparatory meetings and activities throughout the year.
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Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct All over the world, librarians have taken initiatives to develop professional codes of ethics and conduct. Many of these are available in English at: www.ifla.org/faife/ ethics/codes.htm. In August 2002 a significant international survey was published in cooperation with IFLA, The Ethics of Librarianship – an International Survey, edited by Dr Robert Wallace Vaagan of the University of Oslo with an introduction by the Chair of the IFLA/FAIFE Committee Alex Byrne. The topic of the survey will be followed up in Berlin by a FAIFE and LTR joint workshop on ethics and professional conduct when libraries are endangered due to conflicts or natural disasters.
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Reports Conference, Workshop and Meeting Activities
view of the situation worldwide. To this end, we should set up a reporting network. This information would also be of immense help for future world reports.
Seminar in Berlin Prior to the IFLA Conference in Berlin, the IFLA 2003 Secretariat, Freie Universität Berlin and IFLA/FAIFE arranged a very successful seminar on ‘Intellectual freedom and libraries: international aspects’. Three articles on the seminar were published in IFLA Journal, vol. 28 no. 4, 2002.
Cuba In 2002, incidents and harassments were reported but as human rights organizations submit frequent reports on the situation FAIFE has concentrated our resources elsewhere. Zimbabwe
Danish Seminars Unfortunately, a seminar on ‘Censorship and freedom of access to information in libraries and on the Internet’ arranged by FAIFE and the Royal School of Library and Information Science’s Department of Information Studies had to be cancelled. Fortunately, FAIFE had another meeting with Danish colleagues at a seminar on ‘Challenges facing libraries and culture’. Librarians and local politicians showed great interest in our work and the role of libraries regarding censorship and the Internet.
The present situation in Zimbabwe is of major concern and calls for further investigation with regards to libraries and freedom of access to information. East Timor It is clear that the needs of East Timor are very extensive and include the development of a national model for library provision. We are currently looking into how best to support library services in the country. We consulted UNESCO who recommended that the government of East Timor formulate a project proposal for their consideration.
Window or Filter– freedom of speech without limitations The heading refers to a paper given at the Norwegian Library Association’s annual meeting, where the work of FAIFE and the Alexandria international database on censorship were discussed. FAIFE has been appointed a member of the international Steering Committee. Network Centre in Russia In March, Russian colleagues came to Copenhagen to be introduced to the work of FAIFE and discuss the future Russian Network Centre at the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow. The outcome was very positive and the Network Centre will be officially opened by Chair in 2003. IFEX Annual Meeting Committee member Mr Charles Batambuze represented FAIFE at the the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) annual conference in Dakar, Senegal. Charles Batambuze concludes that his attendance opened up for closer working relations with IFEX – also on special cases where we could act jointly.
Special Cases IFLA/FAIFE should concentrate its efforts on libraries and the safeguarding of freedom of access to information for all individuals. Should we fully live up to the intentions this would occupy the time of several full-time positions. Even if more resources were available, we would still need systematic reports to provide an over-
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Afghanistan Unfortunately, there has been no progress with regard to the joint IFLA/UNESCO library mission to Afghanistan. Palestine and Israel During the year we have received reports of the effects on libraries of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. A possible mission to the area was discussed in Glasgow and a proposal is being prepared for consideration by IFLA Governing Board. France At the IFLA/FAIFE business meeting in 2002 we followed up on the situation in France. Gérard Briand and Giles Eboli presented a general overview of the situation followed by an update on the situation of Front Nationalgoverned cities in the South of France.
Conclusion Adoption of three IFLA policy statements on freedom of access to information issues in 2002 demonstrates that FAIFE activities are at the heart of IFLA’s professional concerns and objectives. After four years of operation, FAIFE has demonstrated that it plays a necessary and growing role within IFLA but also that currently available resources are insufficient. IFLA will need to consider its priorities in regard to this work and the support available.
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Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC
Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC (UBCIM) Marie France Plassard, Programme Director This was the last year for UBCIM as such after nearly 30 years of existence. As of 1 March 2003 the UNIMARC Programme will be transferred to the National Library of Portugal, as well as the journal International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control (ICBC). Other activities will be shared by various institutions.
International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) In collaboration with the Division and the ISBD Review Committee, further ISBDs have been posted on the IFLANET, as well as additional lists of translations: there are eighteen so far. The Office liaised with various coordinating centres and new ones were established recently, e.g., in the Ukraine for translation of the ISBD(G) and in Estonia for translation of the ISBD(ER). IFLA Headquarters will deal with this matters as of 2003.
Working Group on Functional Requirements and Numbering of Authority Records (FRANAR) This joint Working Group Division IV/UBCIM was charged with: • • •
defining functional requirements of authority records studying the feasibility of an international authority data number and liaising with other interested groups.
The WG made much progress on the first goal, thanks to the help of Tom Delsey, formerly of the National Library of Canada, who produced a Strawman Model for Name and Title Authorities which was discussed at length during a two-day meeting in London (9 and 10 May) and significantly revised before the meeting in Glasgow. This will result in a publication that meets the first goal of the WG. The second has not been really considered yet, but now that agreement has been reached on the entity-relationship model, that study can begin in earnest. Concerning the third goal, there has been a lot of feedback, as members of the WG are involved in various organizations and projects.
UNIMARC The maintenance and promotion of the UNIMARC format continued to represent one of UBCIM major activities. UBCIM acted as secretariat of the PUC, maintained the file of addition and change proposals, coordinated
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the work for updates to the UNIMARC Manual, made documentation accessible on the IFLANET, and organized relevant meetings. The 13th meeting of the PUC took place in St. Petersburg in March 2002. Various new proposals related to electronic resources and to developments brought about by the ISBD(CR) were on the agenda, as well as additions to the format requested by the Subgroup on Music. Update 4 to the UNIMARC Manual, Bibliographic Format, was finalized. A meeting of the Working Group on the UNIMARC Format for Holdings also took place in St. Petersburg.
Seminars and Workshops Electronic Library Workshops, India, 13–29 January 2002 This course had been conceived a few years ago in discussions with Ms. Kalpana Dasgupta, President of the Indian Library Association (ILA). IFLA secured funding from the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Services (NCLIS) for travel and accommodation of two experts: Alan Hopkinson (UK) and Mirna Willer (Croatia), Chair of the Permanent UNIMARC Committee. Mirna Willer presented UNIMARC and Alan Hopkinson MARC 21; both concentrated on sources of information available on the WWW. In both venues, Delhi and Mumbai, participants were shown how to develop a website using MARC and Dublin Core. Open Forum on UNIMARC This took place during the IFLA Conference in Glasgow. Details about the transfer and future plans were presented by Portuguese colleagues. Representation at Other Meetings Apart from the meetings already mentioned, the Director attended several other events, in most cases representing IFLA at meetings of organizations with which UBCIM liaises.
Publications UBCIM New Series The following were published in 2002: UNIMARC Manual Bibliographic Format. (UBCIM Publications – New Series, v. 14) Update 4. München: K.G. Saur, 2002. ISBD(CR): International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials and Other Continuing Resources. (UBCIM Publications – New Series, v. 24). München: K.G. Saur, 2002.
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Reports Manuel UNIMARC, Version française. 4ème edition. Traduit par Marc Chauveinc. München : K.G. Saur 2002. Subject Retrieval in a Networked Environment. Proceedings of the Pre-IFLA Satellite Conference in Dublin, Ohio, 14–16 August. (UBCIM Publications – New Series, v. 25). München: K.G. Saur, 2002. Translations of UBCIM Publications Other translations have appeared or are planned, e.g. the UNIMARC Manual – Bibliographic Format in Azeri, the
UNIMARC Manual – Authorities Format in Czech, French, Italian and Lithuanian and Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records in Japanese and Lithuanian. International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control (ICBC) The quarterly journal of UBCIM continued to publish IFLA reports and conference papers, commissioned and unsolicited articles, news and events, and book reviews. Tables of contents are posted on the IFLANET.
IFLA Office for UAP and International Lending Sara Gould
The last year in the life of the Office for UAP and OIL has been one of finalizing projects, departing staff and unbundling the complexities of relationships between IFLA, the British Library (BL), Emerald publishers and other organizations. Graham Cornish left the British Library at the end of 2001 and was not replaced. Judy Watkins and Tracy Bentley moved out of the IFLA Office in January 2002 to form the Copyright Department for the BL. Although the formal decision to close the UAP Office was not made until August, it had been clear for a long time that the UAP Programme could not continue in its current format. Lack of funding and lack of focus had been a problem. A consultation visit by a member of the Governing Board concluded that two major pieces of work should be maintained by IFLA, and steps would be taken to bring other areas of work to a conclusion. The UAP Programme Director had undertaken a large EU project in 2001 investigating the role that libraries should play in supporting the use of minority languages in Europe, and examining how access to minority language publications could be improved. Regrettably, the decision was made in 2002 that the project could not be completed by the remaining staff, and the EU was notified of this decision, and the advance of research funding repaid. The Office has acted as Secretariat to IFLA CLM since the establishment of CLM in 1997. Staff continued to carry out secretariat work for CLM during the year, taking the minutes of the business meetings in Glasgow, writing a report of the Glasgow conference, and providing printed brochures relating to CLM’s various official documents.
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The proceedings of the 7th Interlending & Document Supply International Conference, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in October 2001, were published by OIL in March 2002. The Conference series has always been supported with generous sponsorship by Emerald publishers. This has been part of an arrangement whereby the UAP Office has made regular contributions to the journal Interlending & Document Supply, in return for some funding for our work. It was agreed that the OIL would cease all contributions to the journal during 2002. However, Emerald are still enthusiastic about maintaining a relationship with the ILDS Conference. The final issue of the UAP Newsletter was published in November 2001. All of our current publications, except the proceedings of the last two conferences, have now been declared out of print. Consideration has also been given to the future of a number of smaller services run by OIL, including the sale of IFLA International Loan/Photocopy Request Forms, the document International lending and document delivery: principles and guidelines for procedure and the IFLA Voucher Scheme for international ILL payments. The Governing Board decided that the Voucher Scheme should be transferred to IFLA HQ. A physical move to a new location at Boston Spa in December was the final disruption in a chaotic year. The year began with great uncertainty and not a little anxiety over the personal future for some staff. However it is without doubt that the decision to close the UAP Office is the right one, and the last few months have had a clarity of purpose: to unbundle long-standing and confusing relationships, to identify those elements of work which should continue, and to work towards a successful transfer of the Voucher Scheme to a new home and a tidy closure of the UAP Office.
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NEWS
IFLA Policies and Programmes Blue Shield Statement on Afghanistan Statement by the International Committee of the Blue Shield on the International Support Pledged for the Reconstruction of the Cultural Heritage in Afghanistan The situation in Afghanistan has been dramatic in many respects. Many people have suffered severely. It has also been a difficult time for Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. All of us were stunned into speechlessness when we received the news of the destruction of the famous Bamiyan Buddhas. But this was not the only harm done to the Afghan heritage. Many monuments were damaged, documents disappeared and the illicit traffic of cultural artefacts was rampant. The National Museum was already destroyed a long time ago and much of its collection stolen or looted. The situation has certainly changed for the better now, but it is still dramatic. Shocked by the events many people, organisations and countries pledged assistance. Active people from Afghanistan itself and from other countries, full of hope to rebuild the country have decided to roll up their sleeves and start the Herculean task of the reconstruction of the national heritage. The National Museum appeared among the priorities. The building needs to be rehabilitated, the staff trained, the inventory reconstituted and eventually lost collections brought home. Not only the National Museum, but various other monuments, sites libraries and archives need to be reconstructed.
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Notwithstanding the fact that several organisations and individuals are already actively supporting the Afghan people, the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) notes with distress that essential pledges made by governments have not yet been honoured. The National Museum for instance can still not function at a basic level. Hence the ICBS urges all governments that have made those pledges to honour them as soon as possible so that the reconstruction of Afghanistan also includes its valuable cultural heritage.
Blue Shield Statement on the Middle East Statement by the International Committee of the Blue Shield on the Destruction of Cultural Property in the Middle East The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) is alarmed at reports of damage to, and destruction of, cultural property occurring as a result of continuing armed conflict in the areas administered by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In making this statement, the International Committee of the Blue Shield takes no position on any of the other issues surrounding the conflicts that are taking place in the region. Cultural property is priceless and irreplaceable, of vital importance not only to each community, but also to humanity as a whole. This region is universally recognized to have an extremely rich cultural heritage. The loss of parts of that heritage would constitute an impoverishment of the heritage of all the peoples of the world. It would therefore be a tragedy if this were to happen whatever the cause. The ICBS therefore urges all parties to initiate joint actions to
NEWS CONTENTS IFLA Policies and Programmes . . . . . . . . . . . From the Governing Board . . . From the Secretariat . . . . . . . IFLA Conference and Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From the Divisions and Sections . . . . . . . . . . . From IFLA Newsletters . . . . . . Grants and Awards . . . . . . . . IFLA Publications . . . . . . . . . . From IFLA Corporate Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other IFLA News . . . . . . . . . . Other Organizations . . . . . . . . Other Publications . . . . . . . . . Personal News . . . . . . . . . . . .
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protect the rich cultural heritage of the region. In this connection it welcomes the recent decision of the Israel Supreme Court to rule against a decree by the Israel Defence Forces ordering the destruction of Mameluke and Ottoman houses in the old city of Hebron. Whilst the ICBS is not currently in a position to assess reports of damage and destruction to cultural property in the region, it is willing to respond to any requests for technical assistance and coordination which may be required, within the resources available. ICBS urges all competent authorities in the region to take the greatest possible care to protect the cultural heritage represented by the archives, libraries, monuments and sites, and museums located in the area, including the collections held in them, in order to ensure that they are safeguarded for future generations Adopted by the International Committee of the Blue Shield, 13 March 2003.
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News Blue Shield Statements on Iraq Statement by the International Committee of the Blue Shield on the Impact of a War on Cultural Heritage in Iraq The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) expresses its profound concern about the potential damage to, and destruction of, cultural heritage in the event of war in Iraq. Whilst the ICBS is keenly aware that there are other compelling concerns at times of armed conflict, not least the loss of human life, the Committee urges all the governments concerned to work within the spirit of The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to protect archives, libraries, monuments and sites, and museums, if war breaks out in Iraq and in the region. The ICBS believes that, access to authentic cultural heritage is a basic human right. Damage to, and destruction of, cultural heritage represents an impoverishment, not only of the cultural life of the community directly concerned, but of humanity as a whole. This belief is expressed in several international conventions. Iraq is universally recognized to be especially rich in cultural heritage. The area is often described as the ‘cradle of civilisation’. The loss of parts of that heritage would certainly represent a loss to all the peoples of the world. The ICBS wishes to stress that international humanitarian law prohibits the use of cultural property for military purposes or to shield military objectives. In the aftermath of any war in Iraq, the ICBS calls upon all governments in a position to act to provide the necessary resources, human and financial, to assess the damage caused by the conflict to cultural heritage and to implement plans for the necessary repairs and restoration. In the case of looting of cultural property, detailed plans by trained experts should be prepared for the repatriation or restitution of the property con-
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cerned, with the involvement of Iraqi scholars and heritage professionals. The ICBS is willing to respond to requests for technical assistance and co-ordination which may be required by providing advice and assistance within the resources available. Meanwhile, the ICBS calls upon all governments which have not yet become party to The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols to do so. Adopted by the International Committee of the Blue Shield, 7 March 2003. Heritage Professionals Call for Emergency Protection to Save Iraq’s Treasures The International Committee of the Blue Shield representing NGOs in the fields of archives (ICA), libraries (IFLA), monuments & sites (ICOMOS), and museums (ICOM) urges all parties concerned to do everything in their power to protect Iraq’s cultural heritage and to prevent further losses. Aghast at reports of widespread looting of archives, libraries and museums and the destruction of precious artefacts and documents, the Committee’s President, Ross Shimmon said: The destruction of so many priceless and unique records of the past represents an irreplaceable loss, not only to Iraq, but to the memory of the world. The Blue Shield Committee welcomes UNESCO’s initiative in calling an emergency meeting of experts on 17th April in Paris to discuss what can be done. We look forward to participating in that meeting and stand ready to help in any appropriate way, with the involvement and cooperation of Iraqi heritage professionals. We also welcome the statements issued by the Director General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura: ‘Libraries and archives
must be protected as essential parts of the rich heritage of Iraq’ and ‘The Director-General of UNESCO calls for all measures to be taken to ensure the protection and surveillance of Iraqi cultural heritage and effectively fight against illicit trafficking’. We trust that the international community will support his efforts to safeguard the remaining cultural property and to ensure the restitution and restoration of the looted and damaged artefacts and documents. Meanwhile, we call upon the coalition forces and other parties concerned to do everything they can to protect cultural institutions, their collections and the heritage professionals charged with their care. We also welcome initiatives by religious and other local authorities to urge the return of looted items and to provide temporary safe havens for them. We also call upon all those concerned to join the fight against the trafficking of looted heritage. Adopted by the International Committee of the Blue Shield, 16 April 2003. For further information on UNESCO and the safeguarding of the Iraqi cultural heritage, and on the extent of damage to libraries and archives in Iraq, see the ‘From Other Organizations’ section below (pp.178).
Intellectual Freedom in Cuba IFLA and its Committee of Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (IFLA/FAIFE) have expressed their deepest concerns about the arrest, trial and long prison sentences given to Cuban political dissidents in recent weeks. According to Human Rights Watch reports approximately 80 people have been arrested and detained including prominent dissidents, human rights activists, independent journalists, independent un-
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From the Governing Board ionists and directors of independent libraries.
special attention should be given to freedom of access to information.
In a press release issued on 14 April, Amnesty International stated:
Proclaiming the fundamental right of all human beings to access information without restriction, IFLA urges the Cuban library community to monitor violations of freedom of access to information and freedom of expression and to take a leading role in actively promoting these basic rights for all the peoples of Cuba.
Cuba has reversed significant human rights progress made over a period of years. These reports have been corroborated from other sources including announcements by Cuban authorities. IFLA and its worldwide membership urge the Cuban Government to respect, defend and promote the basic human rights defined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To this end IFLA urges the Cuban government to eliminate obstacles to access to information imposed by its policies. IFLA supports the recent resolution of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights which called for an investigative visit to Cuba by a special rapporteur and advises that
As a commitment to intellectual freedom is a core value of the library and information profession worldwide, IFLA supports and assists the Cuban library community in safeguarding free access to print and electronic information, including the Internet, by implementing a code of ethics for the library profession developed by the Asociación Cubana de Bibliotecarios (ASCUBI).
the government of the United States to share information materials widely in Cuba, especially with Cuba’s libraries, and not just with individuals and non-governmental organizations that represent US political interests. IFLA and its worldwide membership support, defend and promote intellectual freedom as expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This intellectual freedom encompasses the wealth of human knowledge, opinion, creative thought and intellectual activity. Contacts: Mr Alex Byrne, Chair, IFLA Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression, Sydney, Australia. Tel: +61 2 9514 3332, Fax: + 61 2 9514 3331 E-mail: alex.byrne @ uts.edu.au.
To overcome the effects of the United States blockade on the free flow of information in Cuba, IFLA urges
Ms Susanne Seidelin, Director, IFLA FAIFE Office, Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel: +45 32 34 15 32. Fax: +45 32 84 02 01 E-mail: [email protected].
Berlin Conference
Auditors’ Management Letter
Barbara Schleihagen, Secretary General of the Berlin conference, explained the current state of planning, Kerstin Mordhorst explained the arrangements for the exhibition. The allocated space for the exhibition was nearly sold out already and consideration was being given to increasing the space available.
Artie van Hooren, representing IFLA’s auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, presented the Auditors’ Management Letter, reporting that the results for 2002 were very good, amounting to a surplus of EUR 111,000 compared with EUR 86,000 in 2001. The downside was that there was now a danger of exposure to corporate tax. He recommended that IFLA should approach the tax authorities for an exemption in common with other international organizations in The Hague.
From the Governing Board Governing Board Meeting, March 2003 The Governing Board of IFLA held its fifth meeting in The Hague on 14–15 March 2003 under the chairmanship of the President, Christine Deschamps. Some of the main points discussed, and the main decisions taken, are summarized below. The summary does not necessarily follow the order of the official minutes of the meeting, which will be available on IFLANET after approval by the next meeting of the Governing Board in August 2003. Welcome In welcoming members, the President, Christine Deschamps, said that this would be the last Governing Board meeting held in The Hague under her Presidency. She had enjoyed the experience of the last six years and wished to express her thanks.
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Domain Names Cary Karp, CEO, Museum Domain Name Management Association (MuseDoma), gave a presentation on the possibilities for a top-level domain name (TLD) for libraries. An innovative solution would be to have a single TLD with two strings, which might be .bib and .lib. The management association could become selffinancing as was the intention for MuseDoma.
IFLANET Sophie Felföldi, IFLANET Web Manager said that she had recently been backing up the system as precaution against the effects of possible terrorist attacks. She had also introduced some improvements recently, including a redesigned search facility which made it easier to locate documents, and an ‘officers’ corner’. She had also
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News added an archive of UDT documents. A similar facility would be provided for UAP and UBCIM in due course. Her report was noted with satisfaction. The President, thanking Sophie Felföldi, said that the Board greatly appreciated her excellent work on the website. Reviews of Effectiveness The Professional Committee announced that a review of all the current core activities would be carried out by March 2005, and a review of the effectiveness of all Sections would be carried out in 2007. All Sections had been informed of the review and encouraged to think of possible mergers beforehand. Structure of WLIC/IFLA Congress The Professional Committee reaffirmed that the Congress would be a five-day conference, with each Section normally being entitled to no more than one programme slot. There would be some extra slots available which could be applied for. Joint sessions could have double slots. These changes were part of the drive to achieve a shorter, higher quality congress. Publications Committee Claudia Lux, Chair of the Publications Committee, reported that The Public Library Service: IFLA/UNESCO Guidelines for Development was being translated into 26 languages, while the School Library Guidelines was at-
tracting similar levels of interest. The Committee recommended that the translation of the abstracts for the IFLA Journal should be prepared by commercial organizations instead of by members of the Editorial Committee. The Board agreed to this proposal. Membership Development Committee Ellen Tise, Chair of the Membership Development Committee, reported that the Committee had discussed the feasibility of a members’ guide, which would incorporate an expansion of the current introduction and list membership benefits. The Committee had considered how best to involve a new generation of librarians, and proposed holding a meeting for new professionals to discuss their ideas. The Board agreed to make arrangements for a ‘New Professionals Forum’ during the Berlin conference. Green Light Task Group Marian Koren, Convenor of the Task Group reported that 23 responses had been received after the ‘Green Light’ report had been posted on IFLANET. There was widespread support for the idea of strengthening library associations and for increasing their role in rolling out IFLA’s strategies and actions. The Task Group was asked to produce a report in advance of the next Board meeting in August which recommended action on the points raised.
Honours and Awards An ad hoc committee on Honours set up by the Executive Committee recommended to the Board the following Honours: • Honorary Fellow: a rare and unusual award for long and distinguished service to IFLA. The expectation was that it would be awarded four or five times a decade. It would confer the Benefit of free IFLA membership and free congress registration. • IFLA Medal: an award for distinguished contribution either to IFLA or to international librarianship. The expectation is that on average two such medals would be awarded each year, one from the congress host country and one for an individual who has contributed to a particular IFLA programme or section, or who has otherwise furthered IFLA’s aims over many years. • IFLA Scroll of Appreciation: an award to be given to the congress host committee, and individuals such as retiring long-serving core activities staff. • Certificate of Service: awarded to those retiring from IFLA activities who have served eight or more years in a capacity as an IFLA officer. Such service would not necessarily be consecutive. The proposals were agreed.
From the Secretariat Introducing Susan Schaepman
Susan Schaepman
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Allow me to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Susan Schaepman and I am the newest member of the IFLA HQ staff. I am originally from Kankakee, Illinois USA; however, I currently live in the Netherlands with my husband and two children. My husband is Dutch and we made the decision to move here two years ago. Once the initial culture shock wore off I fell in love with life here.
My duties at IFLA will be to administer the voucher scheme system. The IFLA vouchers are used as alternative payments for international interlibrary requests. After the closing of the UAP office at the British Library the voucher scheme was transferred to IFLA HQ. I have spent two days at the British Library in Boston Spa with Katharine Rennie and Sara Gould learning all aspects of the voucher scheme. Due to their efficiency, the training went very smoothly. I have worked in the international book environment in the capacity of International Customer Account
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IFLA Conferences and Meetings Manager at Baker and Taylor books in Momence, Illinois, USA. I enjoyed that position very much; thus, when I saw the position at IFLA I consid-
ered it a perfect match. I also have experience in payroll and bookkeep ing capacities. I look forward to working with the libraries and insti-
tutions that use the scheme. I believe that my enthusiasm and previous experience will provide us all with a great working relationship.
IFLA Conferences and Meetings Berlin Conference The preliminary programme for the World Library and Information Congress: 69th IFLA General Conference and Council, to be held in Berlin, Germany from 1–9 August 2003, is now available at: http://www.ifla. org/IV/ifla69/prog03.htm. The list of poster sessions is available at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/ poster-03.htm. The conference website gives full details on the conference as well as travel and tourist information at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/index. htm. Registration forms and online registration at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ ifla69/reg-e.htm. For further information please contact: IFLA 2003 Berlin Secretariat. Barbara Schleihagen, Secretary General; Christoph Albers, Conference Coordinator; Irini Courzakis, Project Manager; c/o Berlin State Library, D-10772 Berlin, Germany. Tel: +4930-26 55 88-74 or –52. Fax: +49-3026 55 88-75. E-mail: ifla2003secr@ sbb.spk-berlin.de. Website: http:// www.ifla-deutschland.de.
can Academy of Languages. As President of the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit (PrepCom) of the World Summit, he is responsible for the preparation of the draft declaration and draft action plan to be considered at the summit. More information about Mr. Samassékou is available at: http://www. itu.int/wsis/samassekou_bio.html.
Pentti Vattulainen Secretary, IFLA Section on Acquisition and Collection Development Director, National Repository Library, PO Box 1710, 70421 Kuopio, Finland. Website: http://www.nrl.fi.
Audiovisual and Multimedia Section Workshop
Preconference on Disaster Planning and Management
During the IFLA World Congress in Berlin in August 2003 the AVM Section offers a workshop on the draft of the ‘Guidelines for audiovisual and multimedia materials in libraries’ on the morning of Thursday, 7 August. The text is available on IFLANET at: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s35/pubs/ avmgl03.htm. The Section invites all interested colleagues to send comments to the Chair, Bruce Royan at: bruce.royan@concurrentcomputing. co.uk or to the Secretary, Monika Cremer at: [email protected].
‘Preparing for the worst, planning for the best: protecting our cultural heritage from disaster’ is the title of a preconference to be held at the Akademie der Wissenschaften, Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin, Germany from 30 July to 1 August, 2003, sponsored by the IFLA Preservation and Conservation Section, the IFLA Core Activity for Preservation and Conservation and the Akademie der Wissenschaften and Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with support from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Monika Cremer Secretary, Audiovisual and Multimedia Section
Adama Samassékou to address Berlin Conference
Preconference on Acquisition and Collection Development
We are delighted to announce that Mr. Adama Samassékou, President of the Preparatory Committee of the forthcoming UN World Summit on the Information Society, has agreed to address the World Library and Information Congress; IFLA 69th Conference in Berlin in August 2003.
‘Is digital different? New trends and challenges in acquisition and collection development’ is the title of a preconference to be held in Munich, Bavaria, on 30–31 July 2003, sponsored by the IFLA Acquisition and Collection Development Section and the Bavarian State Library. The preconference will focus on the question of how principles of acquisition and collection development change in the digital age.
Mr. Samassékou is a former Minister of Education in the government of Mali and is President of the Afri-
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Further information, including programme and instructions for registration: http://www.bsb-muenchen.de/ ifla/ifla_pre.htm.
The intensive 2½ day programme is designed to inform and enable library and archives administrators to effectively prepare for, react and respond to, and recover from disasters, both natural and man-made. See http://www.kb.nl/iflapreconf/ index html for programme and registration information. Further information: Johanna Wellheiser, Information Coordinator, IFLA Standing Committee on Preservation and Conservation. Manager, Preservation and Digitization Services, Toronto Public Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M4S 2G8, Canada. Tel: +1 416-393-7128. Fax: +1 416-393-7147. E-mail: jwellheiser @tp.toronto.on.ca.
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News Satellite Meeting on Management and Marketing A Berlin conference satellite meeting on ‘E-learning for marketing and management in libraries’ will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 28– 30 July, 2003, sponsored by the IFLA Management and Marketing Section, the IFLA Education and Training Section, the University of Geneva, the Ecole nationale supérieure des sciences de l’information et des bibliothèques (ENSSIB), Lyon (France), the Haute Ecole de gestion, Département Information et Documentation, (Genève) and the Ecole de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (EBSI), Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. The objective of this pre-conference session is to share e-learning experiences in these discipline areas. Contact persons: Daisy McAdam. E-mail: [email protected]. Françoise Lerouge. E-mail: Françoise. [email protected].
Conference on Knowledge Management and the Digital Age in Thailand About 200 invited guests and participants from four continents – Asia (including the Middle East), Australia, Europe and North America – attended the International Conference on Challenges and Opportunities for Libraries and Information Professionals in Knowledge Management and the Digital Age, from 20– 21 March 2003 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Organized by Chiang Mai University’s Department of Library Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, under the direction of Dr Tasana Saladyanant, the Conference was also sponsored by the IFLA Regional Office for Asia and Oceania, OCLC AsiaPacific, and the US Educational Foundation (Fulbright), with additional support from the Thai Ministry of University Affairs and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The Conference content included basic and advanced knowledge management issues, concepts, and case studies. The
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Sophie Felföldi, Pensri Guaysuwan and Dr Tasana Saladyanant at the Chiengmai Conference.
first day and a half featured the invited speakers and the second afternoon included two tracks of submitted papers. In addition to a wonderful educational experience, the Conference was notable for sharing the sights, culture and tastes of Northern Thailand and the beautiful city of Chiang Mai.
‘Steps to implementing knowledge management’, taken from the book by Amrit Tiwana, The Knowledge Management Toolkit (Tiwana). The steps would be useful for any new information technology project. They include: • •
The featured speaker for the program was Dr Hwa-Wei Lee, who is currently the Chief of the Asian Division of the US Library of Congress (http://www.library.ohiou.edu/libinfo /staff/personal/leeh/leeh.htm). Dr. Lee was Director of the Library and Information Research Centers at the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) from 1968–1975. In 2001, Dr Lee served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at Chiang Mai University’s Department of Library Science, where he helped design a curriculum in knowledge management. Dr. Lee’s first talk, ‘Libraries in rapid transition: information vs. knowledge management’, framed the rest of the Conference, providing attendees with an understanding of the continuum from data to information to knowledge to wisdom. He also introduced the concepts of explicit or documented knowledge and tacit or personal knowledge. He continued putting the pieces of a successful knowledge management program together at the start of the second day, offering ten
• • •
analyze the existing infrastructure conduct an audit and analysis design a team pilot test system and deploy measure results.
Within the framework of knowledge management, Dr Lee also shared ‘Successful models of library cooperation and resource sharing’ with the attendees, focusing on his own experiences with OCLC and OhioLink, talked about SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) initiatives in scholarly publishing and introduced the new survey tool being used by research libraries to measure library quality, LibQUAL+. The other featured invited speaker on knowledge management was Associate Professor Dr Dong Xiaoying from the Department of Management Science and Management Information Systems at the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. She presented results of a user survey on scholarly use of the Internet in her talk, ‘Knowledge-based service: what users expected and
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IFLA Conferences and Meetings what we can do for them’. Dr. F.J. Devadason, the current director of AIT’s Library, continued the theme of users in his talk ‘Guidelines for identifying information / knowledge needs of users/patrons’. Other invited speakers included Ms. Siriporn Suwanna, Director, Documents Development Center, NIDA and Sophie Felföldi, IFLA’s IT/Web Manager, who both discussed core competencies for library and information professionals, a theme that was continued in the submitted paper sessions on the second day. Thai case studies were presented by Dr Kanchit Malaiwong, who described knowledge management in a private company and Dr Nopasit Chakpitak who talked about knowledge management in government and state enterprises. Andrew Wang and Shu-En Tsai, from OCLC, spoke not only about OCLC but also about the broader aspects of integrated access to digital information and the Dublin core. Alan Hopkinson, the Head of Library Systems at Middlesex University in the UK, talked about ‘Access to electronic resources,’ highlighting e-journals issues. Ruth A. Pagell, from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, presented e-mail issues related to knowledge management. Her talk, ‘E-mail management as knowledge management,’ grew out of a survey and presentation for LAMA (Library Administration and Management Association) at the June 2002 ALA Annual Conference to be followed up by an article in Library Administration and Management (Pagell). Submitted papers, expanding on competencies, library measurements and knowledge management applications, came from authorities in Thailand, Australia, India and Iran. Copies of the proceedings will be available in the fall. Information about receiving proceeding will be posted around September on the Conference web site: http://www. human.cmu.ac.th/~lib/. To place an order for the proceedings, which will cost between USD 15.00 and USD
IFLA JOURNAL 29 (2003) 2
20.00, contact Dr Tasana at tasanas@ chiangmai.ac.th. A highlight for all attendees was the traditional Northern Thai dinner at Sala Dhama at Chiang Mai University, featuring not only wonderful Northern Thai food and dancers but a fireworks display and a singing of Happy Birthday to IFLA’s own Sophie. Librarians worldwide should all have the opportunity to attend a Thai-run conference. It has the support of government officials, the program is well organized, participants are well fed, with both knowledge and food, and most importantly, the Conference benefits from wonderful Thai hospitality. References Tiwana, Amrit. The knowledge management toolkit. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Pagell, Ruth A., Deborah Valentine and Edward J. Lusk. (2003) Communicating by e-mail: how we use it. Library Administration and Management, 17 (forthcoming). Copy of survey at: http://business. library.emory.edu/about/RAPSurveyCM2-25.rtf). Ruth A. Pagell, Executive Director, Goizueta Business Library, Emory University, Atlanta GA, USA.
Workshop on Bridging the Digital Divide in Sri Lanka The IFLA Regional Section for Asia and Oceania Standing Committee held its Mid-Conference meeting in Sri Lanka from 3–5 March 2003. In conjunction with the meeting the Sri Lanka Library Association, with the cooperation of the Regional Standing Committee, organised a one day workshop on ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’. This workshop, attended by 30 librarians, was held at the conference hall of Hotel Janaki in Colombo and was graced by the presence of Mr. N.U. Yapa, President, Sri Lanka Library Association, Mr. Tony O’ Brian, Director, British Council, Sri Lanka and Mr. Mahinda
Abeywardane, Secretary General, UNESCO National Commission for Sri Lanka, who was the chief guest. The following presentations were made: ‘The Digital Divide – access and literacy’, by Prof. G.E. Gorman, Victoria University of Wellington. Professor Gorman spoke about the components of the digital divide – access to computers, access to the means to use the computers, and the literacy divide with its many gradations. He also discussed how libraries and librarians are in an ideal position to help bridge this digital divide. ‘Bridging the Digital Divide: the University of the South Pacific Library’s efforts’, by Elizabeth Reade Fong, University of the South Pacific Library. Ms Fong spoke about the initiatives taken by the USP library to provide information skills training to the academic staff. She also spoke about the digitisation project to support the University’s distance and flexible training learning programme. ‘Bridging the Digital Divide: the Malaysian experience’, by Rashidah Begum Bt. Fazal Mohamed, Chair IFLA/RSCAO. This presentation was a ‘from conception to delivery to raising a kid’ review of consortia efforts in Malaysia. She spoke about the evolution of the Malaysian Digital Library Project, the Academic Libraries Consortium and the Penang Libraries Network and their future plans to harmonise consortia efforts in cooperation with other non-library agencies such as the government and ICT companies. Sri Lanka and Access – the Vishwa Grama Programme, by Rohan Samarajiva, Public Interest Programme Unit, Ministries of Policy Development & Economic Reform. Mr Samarajiva spoke about the Sri Lanka government’s very well thought out plans for a national ICT infrastructure that would be cost effec-
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News tive, sustainable and affordable and the telecentre project. The Current Status and Future Development of CALIS, by Zhu Ziang, Centre for CALIS, Peking University Library. Zhu shared with participants the experiences of the China Academic Library & In formation System (CALIS) that has allowed libraries to share a larger number of commercial databases and locally developed databases such as Chinese Dissertations and Proceedings Abstracts. At the end of the presentations all participants were divided into six groups to discuss issues related to the digital divide in Sri Lanka and in the region. The Sri Lankan hosts have put all the presentations online at http://www.nsf.ac.lk/slla/papers.htm. Rashidah Begum
Lighting the traditional oil lamp to mark the opening of the workshop. (L. to R. Mr Mahinda Abeywardena, Mr Harrison Perera, Rashidah Begum Bt. Fazal Mohamed, Mr N.U. Yapa, Mr Tony O’Brian.)
Membership New Members IFLA is pleased to welcome a total of 42 new and returning members who have joined us between 1 February and 12 May 2003. In the past few months, we have added new members to almost every possible category of membership. We welcome all of you to the IFLA community. Bronze Corporate Partner Dynix, United States National Associations Gambia Library and Information Services Association (GAMLISA), Gambia Indonesian Library Association, Indonesia Institutions Curtin University of Technology Library & Information Service, Australia National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia & Herzegovina
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Imprensa Oficial do Estado de São Paulo Library, Brazil Canadian Space Agency Larkin-Kerwin Library, Canada Corporation des bibliothécaires professionels du Québec, Canada Red Deer Public Library, Canada Chinese University of Hong Kong, China National School of Administration PRC, China Suzhou Library, China Universidad del Norte, Colombia Main Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic Odense Centralbibliotek, Denmark Sibelius Academy Library, Finland Library & Documentation Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, India Centro Inter-Bibliotecario CIB – Università di Bologna, Italy Discoteca di Stato e Museo Audiovisivo, Italy School of Library Archives and Documentation Studies, Tanzania Glasgow University Library, United Kingdom School of Pharmacy, University of London, United Kingdom
Carnegie Corporation of New York, United States National Assembly of Zambia Parliamentary Library, Zambia
Institutional Sub-units Veterinary Medicine Library, University of Helsinki, Finland
One-person Resource Centres Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland, Library, Greenland
Personal Affiliates Ms Joyce Kirk, Australia Md. Mozibur Rahman Sarker, Bangladesh Ms Novella Castagnoli, Italy Ms Martha Alicia Añorve, Mexico Juan Jose Calva, Mexico Ms Fabiola Castillo Tord, Peru Mike McGrath, United Kingdom Ms Isabel Dale Silver, UnitedStates Geoffrey Swindells, United States
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Grants and Awards Student Affiliates Ms Suzanne Tracey Ottewell, Canada Ms Olimpia Bartolucci, Italy
Ms Sarah Danser, United States Carl Feucht, United States Ms Rebecca Pernell, United States Ms Jordana Vincent, United States
Bodies with Consultative Status International Association of Library Centres, Denmark.
From the Divisions and Sections Section of Science and Technology Libraries The Section of Science and Technology Libraries is working on a project to gather information regarding studies and reports about the needs of scientific and technological libraries in less-developed and developing countries. When the project is completed later this year, the in-
formation will be accessible on IFLANET, and from the Section of Science and Technologies Libraries home page at: http://www.ifla.org/ VII/s7/sstl.htm. Readers who know of any such publications or sources are requested to please send the information to Linda Watkins at the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences, Simmons College, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA. E-mail: linda. [email protected]. For additional information about the project, contact: Tovah Reis, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. E-mail: Tovah_Reis@Brown. edu. Julia Gelfand Chair, IFLA Science and Technology Section
From IFLA Newsletters Section on Classification and Indexing
Section of Library Services to Multicultural Populations
NEWSLETTER. Classification and Indexing Section. Nr 26 November 2002.
Newsletter, No. 1, Fall 2002.
International Developments in Classification and Indexing, 2001–2002: Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA.
Section of Libraries for the Blind Newsletter: IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section. 2003/1 Spring. Croatian Library for the Blind. Sanja Frajtag.
Book fairs – a marketplace for librarians. Benedikte Kragh-Schwarz. Book fairs ... grounds for an educator. Lorna Peterson. Book fairs ... a place for researchers. Tatiana de la Tierra. The logistics of international book buying. Robert Pestell. Multicultural libraries in Andalucía. Carmen Madrid. Newsletter, No. 2, Spring 2003.
York and the Saga City Municipal Library, Saga City, Japan. Library service to ethnic minorities. Benedikte Kragh-Schwarz. “You can’t build bridges long distance”: Project Cross-Cultural Bridge Building. Bente Weisbjerg and Søren Dahl Mortensen. NA&T: Nordic database for newspapers and periodicals. Benedikte Kragh-Schwarz. kvinde.finfo.dk Benedikte KraghSchwarz.
Section on Rare Books and Manuscripts Newsletter. Winter 2003.
Marketing the library using the business model. Amy Gische Lyons. Sister Library relationships: Crandall Public Library, Glens Falls, New
Provenance information: steps towards cooperative recording and indexing. Jürgen Weber.
Grants and Awards Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature in 2003
the following reasons for choosing this year’s winners:
Christine Nöstlinger and Maurice Sendak share the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The jury gave
Christine Nöstlinger (Austria) is a reliably bad child-rearing influence of the same calibre as Astrid Lind-
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gren. Her diversified and highly committed authorship is characterized by disrespectful humour, clear-sighted solemnity and inconspicuous warmth. She is a staunch supporter of children and
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News those living on the margin of society. Maurice Sendak (USA) is the modern picture-book’s portal figure. He is unparalleled in developing the picture-book’s unique possibilities of narrating – to the joy of constant new picture-book illustrators. Furthermore, he is one of the most courageous researchers of the most secret recesses of childhood – to the delight of constant new readers. The Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs has invited 372 institutions and organizations around the world with affiliation to literature for children and young adults to put forward nominees for the 2004 award. The nominations, which the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs must receive no later than 1 July 2003, will be official documents. The catalogue of the nominating bodies and more information about the award is available at the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs’ website at www.kur.se. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature, established by the Swedish Government, is an annual, international prize for children’s and young adults’ literature. The SEK 5 million prize (approx. EUR 540,000) can go to authors, illustrators and promoters of reading whose work reflects the spirit of Astrid Lindgren. Contact: Anna Cokorilo, Project Manager, The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature. Tel: +46-8-519 264 00/ 08, +46-70-602 51 15, E-mail: anna. [email protected].
GKP Youth Award The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) has launched the GKP Youth Award to bring international recognition to the outstanding work of young people who have used ICTs for the promotion of development in their communities. The winner will be selected from finalists who pre-
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sent their projects at the ICT4D Platform, to be held in conjunction with the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in December 2003. Submission deadline: 31 August 2003. Further information: globalknowledge.org.
http://www.
Two Winners of Frederick Thorpe Award IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section and the Ulverscroft Foundation are delighted to announce two winners of the first Frederick Thorpe Award. They are: Nomathonga Bell of the South African National Library for the Blind, and Suvada Ruvic of the Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille. The Award is designed to encourage the development of best practice in library services for the blind by assisting an individual to spend up to one month in a similar organization in another country. Nomathonga will work with the National Library for the Blind, UK and Suvada will be placed with the Sarajevo Library for the Blind, Bosnia. The Ulverscroft Foundation sponsored the Award providing up to GBP 5,000 to cover travel, accommodation and other expenses. The winners will begin their new experiences with the host organizations later this year. Nomathonga Bell is a 21 year old Xhosa woman who has worked for the South African National Library for the Blind for 3 years. She has obtained her Diploma in Library and Information Studies and is now studying for her degree via distance learning. She has learnt how to Braille and wants “to work my way up the very top”. Nomathonga will spend a month later this year at the National Library for the Blind in the United Kingdom. Suvada Ruvic was born in Bosnia and emigrated to Norway in 1993. She has worked for the Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille
since 1999. Suvada intends to return to Bosnia for a month later this year to work with The Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Sarajevo. Suvada wants to use her experience in Norway to help develop the services in Sarajevo and her Director has promised to help her achieve this in material ways. For further details please contact: Helen Brazier, Secretary of IFLA LBS at [email protected] or Joyce Sumner, Secretary of the Ulverscroft Foundation at foundation@ ulverscroft.co.uk.
IFLA Member Wins SLA Award Eighteen outstanding individuals have been selected by the Special Libraries Association (SLA), USA for their exemplary contributions and achievements in the information industry. The winners were announced by SLA President Bill Fisher at the Winter Meeting in New Orleans, LA, and will be officially honoured during the 94th SLA Annual Conference in New York, 7–12 June, 2003. One of the winners this year is an IFLA Personal Member, Pradnya Yogesh, Librarian, Mahindra-British Telecom Ltd., Pune, India. Another winner from the region is Christina Birdie, Librarian, Indian Institute of Astrophysics Library, Bangalore, India. The SLA Diversity Leadership Development Award (DLDA) recognizes individuals from multi-cultural backgrounds who display excellent leadership abilities in the profession and demonstrate a willingness to develop and strive for leadership opportunities within the Association. Further information: http://www.sla. org/content/memberservice/commu nication/pr/pressrelease/2304.
Venezuelan Winner of Guust van Wesemael Literacy Prize 2003 IFLA is pleased to announce that the Asociación Civil Banco del Libro of
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From IFLA Corporate Partners Caracas, Venezuela, is the winner of the Guust van Wesemael Literacy Prize 2003. The objective of this award of EUR 3,000 is to sponsor a public or school library in a developing country to perform activities in the field of literacy: collection development, promotion, training, policy development or otherwise. Banco del Libro is a private, nonprofit Civil Association dedicated to investigate, experiment, innovate and carry out formative activities for readers. Its main objective is to encourage the reading of high-quality books in libraries, schools and homes. Leer para vivir, or Read to Live, is the award-winning project that was submitted for IFLA’s Guust van Wesemael Prize this year. It was conceived in the bibliotherapy setting, as a means of support to those affected by the landslides which took place in December 1999 in the State of Vargas. Fundamental activities within the project include storytelling and workshops for information dissemi-
nation to teachers and librarians. Its most important achievement has been the establishment of a significant ‘human network’ which currently comprises 62 schools and four communities filled with readers. The Jury of the Guust van Wesemael Literacy Prize 2003 consisted of Ellen Tise (Chair), Glenys Willars and John Day. They were unanimous in their choice of the proposal submitted by the Venezuelan colleagues for the following reasons: 1. What is done by Leer para vivir could provide valuable experience and evidence to help librarians, teachers and storytellers in other parts of the world where books and stories could make a difference to people’s lives where living has become difficult. 2. The work done here will help to maintain and develop the literacy of young people, and the adults around them, during a time of extreme difficulty and stress. 3. It was the most interesting of this year’s applications, giving clear, and very moving, evidence of the
work that has been done and how the prize money will contribute to furtherance of that work. On hearing the news of the Prize, Maria Elena Zapata, Project Officer, Banco del Libro, was very gladly surprised. She stated that the money will be used in the framework of Leer para vivir. An article containing further detailed information will be submitted for a future issue of IFLA Journal. This Prize was established in 1991 by IFLA’s Executive Board to commemorate the late Guust van Wesemael, Coordinator of IFLA’s Professional Activities from 1979 to 1990 and Deputy Secretary General of IFLA from 1979 to 1991. Funded by donations, the Guust van Wesemael Literacy Prize has been awarded biennially since 1997. The Guust van Wesemael Literacy Prize 2003 will be handed to representatives of Banco del Libro during the World Library and Information Conference in Berlin (1–9 August 2003).
IFLA Publications ISBD(CR) on IFLANET The ISBD Review Group is pleased to announce that the ISBD(CR): International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials and Other Con-
tinuing Resources, which was published in print in summer 2002 and is available from K.G. Saur (ISBN 3598-11599-7) has now been made available in electronic format (PDF) on IFLANET. This document is accessible via a link available at: http:// www.ifla.org/VI/3/nd1/isbdlist.htm.
Comments on the contents of this ISBD are welcome and may be sent to: John D. Byrum, Jr., Chief, Regional & Cooperative Cataloging, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 205404380, USA. Tel: +1 (202) 707-6511. Fax: +1 (202) 707-2824.
From IFLA Corporate Partners TAGSYS RFID Systems for Libraries: speed, accuracy and efficiency for the management of your collection TAGSYS Overview TAGSYS has been designing and manufacturing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems for over 15 years and is today the industry’s largest independent player for RFID
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products operating at 13.56 MHz, the frequency mostly used for item tracking applications around the world. TAGSYS has implemented RFID solutions in various market segments including libraries, medical, textile rental services, food production and automotive. TAGSYS draws on many years of experience in RFID design, to offer a system that performs book identifica-
tion and antitheft, including multiitem processing in one single operation. In 1998, TAGSYS introduced the first RFID system at the National Library Board of Singapore, revolutionizing the security and management of library books and other media. As of early 2003, TAGSYS had installed its RFID system at more than 40 libraries in North America, Europe
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TAGSYS Converted Folio Tag
TAGSYS Folio CD Tag
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and Asia, representing over 7 million books in circulation. •
As an RFID products manufacturer and a provider of complete RFID systems, TAGSYS has invested significantly in developing and certifying an international communication standard for RFID and state of the art RFID systems offer. TAGSYS provides an intelligent way for libraries to maximize their investment in RFID with optimized chip memory and built-in security features (EAS). And instead of providing basic solutions, TAGSYS offers cost-effective customizable RFID components that can be tailored to meet the architectural and logistic needs of any individual library. TAGSYS has built strong partnerships with library software and automated system equipment providers to offer complete integrated solutions for libraries management (including self-service stations and automatic handling/sorting systems). TAGSYS RFID integrates easily to the library information system and to the existing infrastructure. Key Benefits of TAGSYS RFID for Libraries •
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Performing two functions in one: identification and security, TAGSYS RFID Folio Tag replaces both the barcode and the antitheft (EAS) device. This unique feature greatly improves material handling and makes circulation activities fast and accurate in one single operation. TAGSYS RFID features a reliable and efficient Security System. It is low cost as it requires a single
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RFID tag and a single piece of hardware equipment. Unlike barcodes, RFID tags do not require line-of-sight to be read and written to, and therefore items can be processed more quickly. Additionally, the TAGSYS RFID tag has a multi-read function. This time-saving feature enables several items to be borrowed or returned at once. TAGSYS RFID brings new functionalities for librarians such as rapid inventories on the shelves and book returns with instant item identification, antitheft re-activation and database update. TAGSYS RFID tags can co-exist with traditional security systems, as identification device only. TAGSYS RFID stations have been designed to improve ergonomics and increase material handling efficiency. TAGSYS’ goal is to facilitate the librarian’s daily tasks.
A Complete RFID System Tailored for Libraries Programming Station TAGSYS has designed a small and ergonomic RFID station for the cataloguing and conversion of a collection from barcodes to RFID tags. Barcode scanning, tag programming and the activation of the anti-theft function are performed at once, making the operation convenient and fast. Circulation Station Circulation operations are much quicker and more efficient as stacks of books can be processed with simultaneous antitheft status update. It therefore reduces queuing lines and gives librarians the opportunity to work at higher-level cognitive tasks, have more time to spend advising patrons.
TAGSYS Self -AdhesiveFolio Tag
Self Checkout Self checkouts are more intuitive and efficient with RFID, as the patron does not have to care about the antitheft device. Check-out and deactivation of the antitheft are done simultaneously without additional material handling. It significantly reduces librarians’ workload and gives patrons more autonomy . Security Gates TAGSYS approach has been to leverage the latest design innovations to merge RFID and anti-theft functions into a single device. As both identification and security features are merged into one single device, libraries do not have to support the cost and operational burden of two separate tags or readers solutions. TAGSYS has designed a highly secure solution for item protection which is transparent to patrons and librarians and require neither extra material handling nor infrastructure. TAGSYS Security Gates detect the antitheft setting stored in the TAGSYS RFID tag. If the antitheft function has not been de-activated during check-out an audible and visual alarm will alert the staff. Material Return RFID enables smart and painless self-service return station. Items are checked in, their antitheft function is activated and the library database is updated without human intervention. Placed outside the library, such stations provide a 24 hour return service. In addition, it can be equipped
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Other IFLA News with an automatic sorting system to make the material handling process even more efficient. Inventory Management The unique design of the TAGSYS inventory reader makes it easy to record items on all shelves at normal walking speed and even in hard-toreach areas. Entire shelves can then be quickly recorded. This is useful for inventory taking and item search (of missing items or misplaced ones). Inventory taking is no longer a painful operation and can be performed more often. Complementary Third-Party Offer for Customized Solutions TAGSYS RFID readers and antennas are state-of-the-art RFID components that easily integrate into traditional library stations. TAGSYS has built strong partnerships with library management system and automated equipment providers all over the world. They have already integrated our RFID system and delivered custom solutions to fit with the library environment and local needs.
rial handling operations. They are easy to implement in new library facilities as well as in libraries moving to a new information system. RFID for identification only: adapts to existing security systems Some libraries have made significant capital expenditures in security technologies and do not wish to replace their system in the short term. The TAGSYS RFID Folio™ tag can coexist with any existing security device by performing only the identification of the library item. TAGSYS RFID system can co-exist with any security system and hardware equipment on the market. It thus enables a smooth transition to a security system based on RFID. Co-existence of barcodes and RFID tags Some libraries moving to RFID need to maintain the ability to scan barcodes in such situations as interlibrary loans and smooth RFID conversion process. Using dual technology readers, they can scan barcodes and read/program RFID tags. This also makes the transition to a full RFID system easier.
TAGSYS RFID System Adapts to the Library Infrastructure and Needs
Compatibility with existing Integrated Library Systems (ILS)
TAGSYS RFID system has been designed to facilitate the move to RFID whatever the existing library infrastructure.
Whatever the information system in place, TAGSYS and its partners are able to develop an appropriate interface to enable an efficient use of the RFID system’s performance. This interface has already been developed for the majority of ILS on the market.
RFID for identification and security: an all-in-one solution Featuring both item identification and security in one label, TAGSYS RFID tags improve librarians’ daily tasks by speeding and easing mate-
North America, Europe, Asia, representing over 7 million RFID tags on books in circulation. Among the most recent ones: In Asia: • • •
UPM University (Malaysia) in partnership with Icontech Shinawatra University (Thailand) in partnership with Libnets Thammasart University (Thailand) in partnership with Libnets
In North America: •
•
•
Allentown Business School (Pennsylvania) in partnership with VTLS Harford County Public Library (Maryland) in partnership with VTLS Rose Creek Library (Georgia) in partnership with Vernon
In Europe: • • • •
Moss Public Library (Norway) in partnership with Gemsys Ostre Toten Public Library (Norway) in partnership with Gemsys St Seurin Public Library (France) National Library of Slovakia
For more information, visit: www. tagsys.net and contact us at info@ tagsys.net or at +33 4-9127-5700. Moreover, TAGSYS will welcome you at IFLA 2003 Exhibition, on Booth no. M8A to present its RFID system and build together your RFID project.
TAGSYS References TAGSYS has installed its RFID system at more than 40 references in
TAGSYS is a Gold Corporate Partner of IFLA.
IFLA and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
tives hampered the ability of ‘civil society’ representatives to contribute in a meaningful way to the discussions.
The second Preparatory Committee meeting (PrepCom2) of WSIS was held in Geneva from 17–28 February.
However, a substantial IFLA delegation, consisting of President Christine Deschamps, President-elect Kay Raseroka, Governing Board members Alex Byrne and Ellen Tise, IFLA/ FAIFE Director, Susanne Seidelin,
Professional Co-ordinator Sjoerd Koopman and Secretary General Ross Shimmon participated on a ‘shift’ system to cover the whole two weeks. They were ably assisted by a team of Swiss librarians, led by Daisy McAdam and Danielle Mincio.
Other IFLA News
The strict rules of procedure adopted by the governments’ representa-
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All of the team intervened at appropriate points in the discussions in
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News various fora, to emphasise the potential role of library and information services in delivering the ideals behind the concept of the information society. We participated in many different group meetings, formed alliances with other like-minded organisations and lobbied representatives. However, despite all this effort and much preparatory work beforehand, libraries feature in only a minor way in the current drafts of the proposed Declaration and Action Plan to be considered at the Summit in December. Before then there are further meetings in Lugano, Paris and Geneva at which we hope to make some progress. IFLA members are urged to contact their governments, UNESCO national commissions and appropriate NGOs as soon as possible, to ensure that they are well informed about the potential role of libraries in the information society and in efforts to bridge the digital divide. It is important that governments brief their national representatives to the Summit and the next Preparatory Committee of the ability of libraries to contribute to the development of
an equitable global information society. Please check relevant reports and briefing papers on IFLANET at http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis.html. More information on the World Summit is available at: http:// www.itu.int/wsis/. Ross Shimmon Secretary General
Libraries@the Heart of the Information Society: tell us your success stories! As part of the preparation for the World Summit on the Information Society (for more see www.ifla.org and click on the WSIS logo), IFLA and other organizations from the archival world are lobbying to underline the importance of archives and library and information services as key actors to provide unhindered access to essential resources. We will shortly be announcing a pre-conference in Geneva (3–4 November 2003) where librarians will be able to meet their delegates to
WSIS to impress upon them the importance of content in the Information Society and the role of libraries in delivering it. We want to show them concrete examples of how libraries all over the world successfully apply ICT – and we need your help. What are you doing? How has it been received in the press? Send us your short descriptions and photos (or URLs) showing how your library is at the heart of the information society. We will compile a leaflet (in five languages) to be distributed at WSIS and other venues to promote our services in the Information Society. We need to strengthen the perception of libraries in the WSIS – help us to do this by telling us about your achievements. Deadline: 15 July 2003. Further information: Genevieve Clavel-Merrin, Swiss National Library, Hallwylstrasse 15, CH-3003 Bern. Tel. +41 31 322 89 36. Fax: +41 31 322 84 63. E-mail: Genevieve. [email protected]. Website: http:// www.snl.ch.
Other Organizations UNESCO and Iraq Resolution of Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme The Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme, at its 2nd session (Paris, France, 22– 24 April 2003): 1. Having taken note of the declarations of the Director-General and the decision of the 166th Session of the Executive Board concerning the events in Iraq; 2. Observes that they adequately reflect the principles and responsibilities of UNESCO in its fields of competence; 3. Supports the declarations of the Director General as well as his actions in all fields of competence of
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UNESCO, particularly in the area of the safeguarding of the cultural heritage in Iraq; 4. Requests the Director-General, in doing so, to a. Pay particular attention to libraries and archives as they are essential parts of the rich heritage of Iraq and to governmental records as they are vital for the functioning of public administration and for the protection of the rights of Iraqi citizens; b. Cooperate with the competent non-governmental organizations such as the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Council on Archives (ICA) and the International Association of Sound
and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) in his actions to safeguard, preserve, reconstruct and develop libraries and archives in Iraq and to further develop an information and knowledge based society. c. Urge all countries to take immediate steps to monitor the trade in historical documents, and to call on all archives, libraries and museums, together with antiquities dealers and collectors worldwide to report all items proposed to them which they suspect may have been looted from Iraq. Statements and Actions by the Director-General In a recent statement, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of
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Other Organizations UNESCO, warned of the devastation and looting of libraries and archives in Iraq, which may have irreversible consequences for maintaining and strengthening the country’s cultural identity. Addressing a meeting of experts held at UNESCO headquarters on 17 April, Mr Matsuura said: Despite all your expertise and good will, the fate of Iraqi heritage does not lie in your hands. It lies in the hands of the international community as a whole, and the only way that we will be able to safeguard these treasures and give them back to humanity is if we can count on the cohesion, coordination and determination of all concerned, at every level. He renewed his appeal to all States to adopt the emergency legal and administrative measures required to prevent the importation into their territory of any cultural, archaeological or bibliographical object having recently left Iraq and again called upon all museums, art dealers and private collectors to exclude these objects from any commercial transactions. Mr Matsuura also announced his intention to request the Secretary-General of the United Nations to submit the question of illicit traffic to the Security Council so that a resolution can be adopted which imposes an embargo, for a limited period, on the acquisition of all Iraqi cultural objects and calls for the return of such goods to Iraq if acquisitions or exports of this kind have already taken place. This resolution could thus be made applicable to the 191 Member States of the United Nations and not only to the 97 States Parties to the 1970 Convention. After recalling all the initiatives taken by UNESCO before the conflict and
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following the news of the looting and destruction of numerous Iraqi cultural institutions and archaeological sites, the Director-General stressed the necessity to take emergency measures, such as the setting-up by the authorities on the ground of a nation-wide ‘heritage police’, entrusted with the task of watching over cultural sites and institutions, including libraries and buildings where archives are stored. He also said he would like a database to be compiled as soon as possible, combining all of the archives, lists and inventories relating to the Iraqi heritage, which would enable customs and police authorities, as well as art dealers and all concerned parties, to identify and check the status of a particular object. Naturally, this database could only become operational once a precise appraisal has been made of the objects which have been stolen or destroyed, something that could only be done by an onsite mission. The Director-General thanked the numerous states which had expressed their readiness to contribute to emergency measures taken by UNESCO by means of expert help or financial support. Such initiatives will boost the Special Fund for the Iraqi Cultural Heritage that he has established. Resolution of Meeting of Experts The meeting of experts held at UNESCO Headquarters on 17 April issued the following statement: The meeting deplores and is deeply shocked by the extensive damage to, and looting of the cultural heritage of Iraq caused by the recent conflict. It calls on the coalition forces to observe the principles of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols. The meeting agreed on the following recommendations to those responsible for civil order in Iraq: 1. That all museums, libraries, archives, monuments and sites in Iraq be guarded and secured immediately by the forces in place. 2. That an immediate prohibition be placed on the export of all antiques, antiquities, works of art, books and archives from Iraq. 3. That an immediate ban be placed on the international trade in objects of Iraqi cultural heritage. 4. That a call be made for the voluntary and immediate return of cultural objects stolen or illicitly exported from Iraq. 5. That there be an immediate factfinding mission under UNESCO coordination to assess the extent of damage and loss to cultural property in Iraq. 6. That there be the facilitation of international efforts in assisting cultural institutions in Iraq. The full texts of these and other UNESCO documents relating to Iraq are available at: http://portal.unesco. org/.
Assessment of Damage to Libraries and Archives in Iraq A report by Graham Shaw of the British Library, published on IFLANET on 1 May 2003 (http:// www.ifla.org/VI/4/admin/iraq0205. htm.) concluded that: The overall picture is still far from clear – particularly for libraries and archives outside Baghdad – but there are encouraging reports that many institutions took steps to evacuate at least parts of their collection to safer storage elsewhere. The most serious ‘irreplaceable’ loss is at the National Archives – probably some documents from the Ottoman period will be duplicated in archives in Turkey – some documents from the British period will
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News also be found in the British Library (India Office Records) – but by no means all.
formation services, for the benefit of communities’ and individuals’ freedom, prosperity and development.
would together develop a set of Guidelines based on the IFLA Internet Manifesto.
Equally serious are the losses at the National Library and university libraries; the two largest of the four principal university libraries have apparently been destroyed (universities of Baghdad and Mosul). In the worst case scenario, 2 million printed books and serials out of a total combined stock of 2.5 million could have been destroyed. Despite some material now known to have been evacuated, the extent of the loss may still be very considerable, representing a devastating blow to teaching and research.
I pointed out that this Manifesto forms one of IFLA’s many activities in the context of bridging the Digital Divide and that it is intended to have it followed up by guidelines for implementing the principles contained in it.
This was approved: see the Recommendation, below.
Islamic manuscripts collections – only one important collection destroyed (5,000 volumes in the AlAwqaf Library in Baghdad). This part of Iraq’s unique cultural heritage – of world importance – appears to have emerged remarkably unscathed.
UNESCO and the IFLA Internet Manifesto IFLA Professional Coordinator Sjoerd Koopman has sent the following report on his participation in discussions on the IFLA Internet Manifesto by the Intergovernmental Council of the Information for All Programme on Wednesday 23 April 2003: First of all I was invited to introduce the Manifesto. I set out sketching its history from the preparations by our FAIFE Committee, via approval by our GB and the proclamation on 1 May 2002, to the unanimous approval by the IFLA Council in August last year. I explained that this forms the third of a series of three manifestos, and that the previous ones (on Public Libraries and School Libraries) had proved their usefulness in advising and influencing local, regional and national governmental bodies in matters of library development. After that I underscored the importance of giving unhindered access to the Internet by libraries and in-
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I testified that it was a great pleasure to learn that the Bureau of the IFAP Council had welcomed the spirit and objectives of our Manifesto and that it recommended endorsement. I said that IFLA was happy to “offer” this declaration to UNESCO. As a kind of a “frivolity” I ended by stating that it was hoped that after this meeting we could speak of the IFLA UNESCO Internet Manifesto. Following was a long discussion, of nearly two hours! From the very beginning it was clear that the support was broad and massive. Speakers representing the IFAP member states Benin, Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Russian Federation and Tanzania, as well as observers (Belgium, Denmark, Israel) all stated that they were very much in agreement with the objectives of the Manifesto. IFLA was commended on this statement. It was a sometimes passionate debate which circled around the issue of FREE access, i.e. free of charge or not. After long discussions it became apparent that our Manifesto could not be transferred into a joint one with UNESCO. The Chair stated that the IFAP Council is legally not entitled to do so. Only by means of a resolution of the UNESCO Conference could this be realised; that then could not be done before November 2005. I stated on behalf of IFLA that we could not possibly ‘wait’ for that and would not be willing to cooperate. I also said that we would be grateful if IFAP would endorse this IFLA Manifesto and UNESCO would disseminate it widely. As a ‘compromise’ I proposed that IFLA and UNESCO
In conclusion: a good debate, followed by another proof of powerlessness of this Council, but as a result: praise for IFLA and hours long maximum exposure of the library profession, including its Federation. The Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme adopted the following recommendation on the IFLA Internet Manifesto: The Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme ... 1. Having examined document IFAP2003/COUNCIL.II/5, particularly the ‘IFLA Internet Manifesto’ contained in this document; 2. Welcomes the spirit and the objectives of the ‘IFLA Internet Manifesto’; 3. Decides to endorse the ‘IFLA Internet Manifesto’; 4. Requests the Director-General to disseminate the IFLA Manifesto to all UNESCO Member States; 5. Recommends that the Director General collaborate with IFLA in the preparation of IFLA-UNESCO Guidelines based on the IFLA Manifesto, and taking into account the discussions of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme at its 2nd Session.
World Summit on the Information Society To facilitate the participation of Civil Society entities from developing countries at PrepCom-3, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 15–26 September 2003, a limited number of fellowships will be available, with priority being given to participants from Least Developed Countries. Selected participants will be entitled to:
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Other Organizations •
•
International air travel round-trip to Geneva selected and pre-paid by the Civil Society Division of the Executive Secretariat via the most direct and economical route. Daily allowance for meals, accommodation and incidental expenses for the duration of the meeting. No additional daily allowance will be paid for alternative lodging.
Applicants must register to the conference on: http://www.geneva2003. org. The fellowship’s application form may be found on the funding web page: http://www.geneva2003. org/wsis/index_c01_3_15.htm. A nomination form must be duly completed, then signed and endorsed by the person officially responsible to nominate candidates. The form must be received no later than: 12 July 2003 by: WSIS – Civil Society Fellowships, Geneva. Fax: +41 22 730 63 93. Email: [email protected].
Gates on Libraries An article by Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, was published recently in the Seattle Times and is available on the Times website at: http://archives.seattletimes. nwsource. com/cgibin/texis.cgi/web/ vortex/ display?slug=gates21&date= 20030221. Entitled ‘Investing in libraries connects us to the future’, the article emphasized that In the United States, computers and the Internet are still out of reach for many individuals living in poorer communities, rural areas and inner cities. ... America’s public libraries are making a tremendous difference. Today, more than 95 percent of community libraries offer free Internet access, up from 73 percent just four years ago. For many people who cannot afford computers or do not have Internet access at school or at work, the public library is the only place to go. ... I am excited about what’s
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happening in my hometown and in libraries across the country. But I worry about whether our society will support public libraries so they can sustain this critical community service. In my view, investing in public libraries is an investment in the nation’s future. After describing the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has worked to help public libraries provide free computing services, Mr Gates went on: Melinda and I have a special place in our hearts for community libraries. Egalitarian by nature, libraries have a rich history of offering knowledge, information and opportunity to all who pass through their doors. Libraries are often open in the evenings and on weekends, and are staffed by people who are experts at managing information. Libraries play a vital role in providing access to technology. ... We must all pitch in to keep our libraries vibrant and strong, whether through volunteer hours, donations or government spending. We must continue to support our libraries so they can keep the doors of knowledge open to all.
13-Digit ISBN Announced The formal ISO Committee Draft of the revised ISBN standard has now been sent out to national standards bodies for the first round of voting. If the revision committee’s recommendations are accepted, the new style ISBN will come into use on 1 January 2007. The most substantial change is the extension of the ISBN from 10 to 13 digits, incorporating the EAN.UCC prefix which is already used to form the barcode. Until the current stock of numbers is exhausted the prefix will be 978. At that point 979 will be introduced and, subject to agreement with EAN.UCC, further prefixes to ensure that the ISBN is secure going forward.
If approved, the change will affect virtually everyone in the book supply chain. Publishers, distributors, wholesalers, booksellers, libraries and any other organisations that record, store or exchange ISBNs will have to ensure that their systems can accommodate and read the 13 digit ISBN by January 2007. Also, for the first time, there will be a core set of descriptive metadata elements, based on ONIX, associated with the ISBN and required from publishers when registering ISBNs. In countries where the national ISBN agency also operates a ‘Books in Print’ service, this will be incorporated into the information gathered from publishers as part of that service. Major changes are also being made to the governance and administration of the ISBN system internationally to ensure the independence and long term viability of ISBN International, the co-ordinating body for the 164 ISBN agencies worldwide. Voting on the Committee Draft of the revised ISBN ended on 5 May 2003. The next stage will be a Draft International Standard, addressing comments received in the current voting process. Following further voting processes, the final standard should be published at the beginning of 2005. For further details and a comprehensive set of FAQs about the changes to ISBN, go to: http://www.nlc-bnc. ca/iso/tc46sc9/isbn.htm. All other enquiries may be made to: Michael Healy, Nielsen BookData and Convenor, ISO TC46/SC9/WG 4. E-mail: [email protected] or to: Michael Cairns, R.R. Bowker. Chair, ISBN Executive Committee. E-mail: [email protected].
Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management A charitable trust, the Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management, has been formed
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News as an initiative of many former colleagues, friends, admirers, students and relations of the late Mr B.S. Kesavan as a token of admiration and respect. The initial funding for the trust has been provided by voluntary contributions by many of Mr. Kesavan’s colleagues and others. Mr. Kesavan was a pioneer institution builder and was responsible for many initiatives including the creation of the Indian National Bibliography and for restructuring the National Library into a pre-eminent institution in India. His leadership of INSDOC (Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre) resulted in it becoming not only an important institution in India but also a model for other developing countries. Mr. Kesavan was awarded the prestigious Padmashri by the Government of India in 1960 for his contributions to and leadership of the National Library. His services were used by UNESCO and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in several library and information projects in different parts of the world. Mr. Kesavan was also active in international fora such as the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) and FID (International Federation for Information and Documentation), and in many national committees of the University Grants Commission, the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Education and several Indian universities. Above all Mr. Kesavan was a dynamic leader of men, a warm human being, and a mentor to many young minds whom he lovingly nurtured and imbued in them the human and professional values that were dear to him. A web site for the Institute has been created at http://www.kiikm. org/. The current trustees of the Institute are S. Parthasarathy, A.K. Dasgupta and L.J. Haravu. Mr T.N. Rajan, also a long time colleague of Mr Kesavan, has taken the role of Settler of the Trust. The Institute is committed to collaborating with like minded individuals and institutions on activities envisaged in the objectives of the trust
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and comments and suggestions are welcomed. L.J. Haravu, Trustee, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management.
The Rwanda Bookmobile Foundation A foundation is being set up to provide and maintain a bookmobile for the African nation of Rwanda. At the present time there is not a single public library in the entire country, but that is about to change, as the first library is currently under construction in the capital city of Kigali. It is hoped that as soon as the doors open at the new Kigali Public Library, the Bookmobile will be ready to start travelling to all of the accessible towns and villages in that impoverished country. Support is urgently needed to help get this program off the ground. The Rwanda Bookmobile Foundation is requesting help from concerned organizations and individuals that want to help make the first Bookmobile in Rwanda a reality. Donations may be sent to: The Rwanda Bookmobile Foundation, PO Box 1061, Okotoks, Alberta, Canada T1S 1B1. Michael Giberson, Founder, The Rwanda Bookmobile Foundation.
ALA Website Redesigned The American Library Association has begun the transition to its new website, starting on April 7. The new site features a better search engine, one-stop pages detailing ALA’s work in major areas of interest, a more modern look and feel and more content to help library professionals in their daily work. The URL for the ALA site will remain the same http:// www.ala.org, but other sections of the site will receive new URLs. Many of former most often requested URLs will have automatic redirects to the new site. If you have links to the ALA site please check to see that your specific link is still active. If you
have any problems finding the information you linked to on the new site please contact Delin Guerra at the ALA International Relations Office for assistance: [email protected].
Online Usage Statistics for Oxford Journals Oxford University Press (OUP) is among the first group of vendors to make COUNTER compliant usage statistics available for its online journals. The COUNTER Code of Practice (COP) has been developed to provide a consistent and credible means of measuring the usage of online products. Release 1 of the (COP), which focuses on journals and databases, was released in January 2003 and is published in full on the COUNTER website: www. projectcounter.org. Oxford University Press signed a formal declaration of compliance in March 2003. Launched in January 2003 the OUP usage reports are available both to consortia and individual organisations using one or more titles from the Oxford Journals Online Collection, and can be accessed online in HTML format or downloaded as .csv files providing easier manipulation by library administrators. OUP usage reports are compliant from those dated January 2003 onwards. Historic reports from 2001 onwards will also be compliant by the end of May 2003. Further information, along with a demonstration of the usage statistics package is available at: http:// www.oupjournals.org/statistics. COUNTER is an international initiative whose aim is to create an internationally accepted, extensible Code of Practice for gathering and display of online usage statistics. More information is available at: http://www.projectcounter.org. For more information on OUP Journals and the Statistics package please contact: Amy Tucker, Library Marketing Manager. Tel: +44 (0) 1865 354420. E-mail: amy.tucker@ oupjournals.org.
IFLA JOURNAL 29 (2003) 2
Other Publications
Other Publications Library and Information Science Bibliographies
New Electronic Newsletter and Database for Information Professionals
International Bibliography of Bibliographies in Library and Information Science and Related Fields. Henryk Sawoniak. Edited by Maria Witt. Foreword by Michael Gorman. Munich, K.G. Saur Verlag. Volume 1: 1945–1978. 2003. 3 part volumes, together LXX, 996 pages. Hardbound. EUR 410.00. ISBN 3-598-11144-4. (Already available: Volume 2: 1979– 1990. 1999. 3 part volumes, together LXXXIII, 1,208 pages. Hardbound. EUR 410.00. ISBN 3-598-111452).
Libraryevents.com has launched a new service for information professionals. The service, available on the Library Events website, consists of a current awareness database and a monthly newsletter, LIS Events. It includes:
The first volume of the International Bibliography of Bibliographies in Library and Information Science and Related Fields records some 10,000 bibliographies focusing on library and information science and published between 1945 and 1978. It also covers publications from related fields such as archives, publishing, the book trade, copyright law, book art, and the history of script, books, paper and letterpress print. Each entry commences with bibliographical details: author or editor, title, publisher, series title, year of publication, number of pages; in the case of essays the respective title of the book or journal complete with page number. These are followed by explanatory notes, an English version of the original title if applicable, references to parallel and other editions, a brief synopsis of the contents as well as references to reviews including those written outside the period covered by the bibliography. Four indexes (by author, title, subject and place) provide quick access to this multi-layered and extensive reference work, thus facilitating easy and targeted searches. Published by: K.G. Saur Verlag GmbH, Ortlerstrasse 8, 81373 Munich, Germany. Tel: +49 89 76902 0. Fax: +49 89 76902 150/250. E-mail: [email protected].
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• • • • •
training courses from a range of organizations conferences exhibitions and trade shows library association meetings national book and library events in many countries.
Digital Services in the Pacific Digital Community Services: Pacific libraries and archives. Future prospects and responsibilities. A survey conducted for UNESCO. Esther B. Williams.
Available online at: http://portal. unesco.org/ci/file_download.php/ williams.pdf?URL_ID=6607& filename=10395389010williams.pdf &filetype=application%2Fpdf &filesize=1419631&name=williams. pdf&location=user-S/ or at:
The website and the current awareness database are available at: http:// www.libraryevents.com where you can also sign up for the newsletter.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php? URL_ID=6607&URL_DO=DO_TO PIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload =1041529756.
Contact: Stuart Urwin, Libraryevents. com, Stora Vastergatan 45, SE-271 35 Ystad, Sweden. Tel. +46 411 121 70. Fax: +46 411 121 10. E-mail: [email protected].
This study, commissioned by UNESCO as part of the Pacific Pathway project, sought to establish the situation in the Pacific with regard to the impact of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The primary focus of the Pacific Pathway project is the promotion of digital access to Pacific culture represented in the documentary holdings of libraries and archives, or the wider access to information by the community in the public domain.
New Report Profiles Biblored, Gates Award Recipient for 2002 The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has published a report on Biblored, the library network in Bogotá, Colombia, that received the 2002 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award. The report, Biblored, Colombia’s Innovative Library Network, is available in PDF format in both an English version and a Spanish version. Print copies of the English version can be ordered by using the dialog at the bottom of the abstract page.
Further information: http://www. clir.org/whatsnew.html#biblored.
Based on the survey results, a group of experts will devise a number of model projects for possible submission to UNESCO PP-fund in 2004–5 and other funding sources.
For further information: Ms. Tarja Virtanen, Adviser for Communication and Information (CI), UNESCO Asia-Pacific Bureau for CI, Safdarjung Enclave B5-29 New Delhi 110029, India. Tel. +91-11-2671 3000. Fax: +91-11-2671 3001, 3002. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.unesco.org/webworld/.
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News
Personal News
Marie-France Plassard
Die Deutsche Bibliothek (DDB) assumed responsibility for the IFLA/ UBCIM Programme from 1 April 1990. Mr Kurt Nowak, Deputy Librarian of DDB, became its Director and Marie-France Plassard was appointed as the new Programme Officer. She succeeded Mr Nowak as Programme Director when he retired in 1999.
introduced transcend their period and will be forever part of the intellectual foundation of cataloguing. His mind remained active: just prior to his death he was pondering the relationship between the book and life.
Marie-France can look back at an IFLA career of 25 years. During that long period she has travelled a lot, edited numerous publications, both from the UAP and UBC(IM) programmes and has organized and conducted many meetings, workshops, courses, trainings. She has presented papers and participated in projects.
John Sumsion, OBE, died peacefully at home at Rotherby, Leicestershire, UK, aged 74, on 21st February. After obtaining an MA in economics from Yale University in the USA, John entered the shoe trade in the UK, becoming a Director of K Shoes. In 1981 he was invited to become the first Registrar of the Public Lending Right in the UK. For his service in this capacity he received the OBE, and was also made an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association. After retiring as PLR Registrar, he became Director of the Library and Information Research Unit (LISU) at Loughborough University and was also appointed to the Library and Information Services Council (England). He became Chair of the IFLA Section on Statistics in 1995 and was also an active member of the Library and Information Research Group in the UK.
Marie-France Plassard Marie-France Plassard has retired as from 1 March 2003 as Director of the IFLA/UBCIM Programme, which was closed on the same date at Die Deutsche Bibliothek in Frankfurt am Main (Germany).
All of us, as well as many colleagues who have worked with her during this long period will always keep good memories of a capable expert, a friendly French-English-German lady, and an amiable colleague. Sjoerd Koopman
A native of France, Marie-France Plassard graduated in English language and literature from the University of Toulouse (maîtrise ès-lettres) and from Columbia University in New York (Master’s in Library Science). During the period 1963–1983, she was Head of the American Library in Toulouse (France). Marie-France’s involvement with IFLA began in 1978 when she joined the team of IFLA Interpreters, which served annually at the conferences. In April 1987 she was appointed Programme Officer of IFLA’s Programme for Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) at the British Library in London. Three years later she switched to the other ‘classic’ IFLA Core Programme, for Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC), which had grown to include International MARC and moved from the British to the German national library in 1990.
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Seymour Lubetzky Seymour Lubetzky died on 5th April, shortly before his 105th birthday. The library world mourns his passing. His was a great mind, which focused on the problems of cataloging, changed that discipline from a rote mastery of rules to a creative activity. He will be remembered for his incisive critique of the 1949 ALA Cataloging Rules for Author and Title Entries, which began with the famous question “Is This Rule Necessary?” and for the distinction he made between the Work and the Book, a distinction that epitomizes the catalogue’s objective to bring like information together. During the late 1940s and 1950s his thinking dominated Anglo-American cataloguing and during the 1960s it came to dominate cataloguing worldwide. And it influences us still, in that the philosophy and methodologies he
John Sumsion
Alice Bulogosi Alice Bulogosi, who served as General Secretary of the Kenya Library Association for some years, and who had become a member of the IFLA FAIFE committee in 2001, passed away on 10th April.
Elena V. Nebogatikova Elena V. Nebogatikova, First Deputy Director of the National Library of Russia died in a fatal accident on 29th of March. Ms Nebogatikova had recently been nominated by the Russian Library Association to the Standing Committee of the IFLA Management and Marketing Section.
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INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR
2003 July 7–11, 2003. Durban, South Africa. 32nd International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) Conference. Theme: School Libraries: Breaking Down Barriers. For more information: www.iasl-slo.org/conference 2003-call.html. July 14–18, 2003. Pori, Finland. Conference on E-Training Practices for Professional Organizations. Further information from: Pori School of Technology and Economics, Pohjoisranta 11, PO Box 300, FIN28101 Pori, Finland. Tel. +358-2-627 2700. Fax: +3582-627 2727. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.pori.tut.fi/etrain/. July 28–30, 2003. Geneva, Switzerland IFLA Conference Satellite Meeting on Management and Marketing: ‘E-learning for marketing and management in libraries’. Sponsored by IFLA Management and Marketing Section, IFLA Education and Training Section, University of Geneva, Ecole nationale supérieure des sciences de l’information et des bibliothèques (ENSSIB), Lyon (France), Haute Ecole de gestion, Département Information et Documentation, (Genève) and Ecole de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (EBSI), Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. Contact persons: Daisy McAdam. E-mail: Daisy. [email protected]. Françoise Lerouge. E-mail: Franç[email protected]. July 30–31, 2003. Munich, Germany IFLA Preconference on Acquisition and Collection Development: ‘Is digital different? New trends and challenges in acquisition and collection development’ Sponsored by IFLA Acquisition and Collection Development Section and Bavarian State Library. Further information, including programme and instructions for registration: http://www.bsb-muenchen. de/ifla/ifla_pre.htm. July 30–1 August, 2003. Berlin, Germany IFLA Preconference on Disaster Planning and Management: ‘Preparing for the worst, planning for the best: protecting our cultural heritage from disaster’. Sponsored by IFLA Preservation and Conservation Section, IFLA Core Activity for Preservation and Conservation and Akademie der Wissenschaften and Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with support from the Council on Library and Information Resources. Programme and registration information from: http:// www.kb.nl/iflapreconf/index.html.
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August 1–8, 2003. Berlin, Germany. World Library and Information Congress: 69th IFLA General Conference and Council. Theme: ‘Access Point Library: Media – Information – Culture.’ For more information: Ms Barbara Schleihagen, Secretary General, or Mr Christoph Albers, Conference Coordinator, IFLA 2003 Berlin Secretariat, c/o Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage, Potsdamer Str. 33, D-10785 Berlin, Germany. Tel: +49-30-26 55 88-52, and –74. Fax: +49-30-26 55 88- 53, and –75. E-mail: [email protected]. URL: http:// www.ifla. org/IV/ifla69/. August 7, 2003. Berlin, Germany IFLA Audiovisual and Multimedia Section. Workshop on the draft ‘Guidelines for audiovisual and multimedia materials in libraries’. Further information: Secretary, Monika Cremer at: [email protected]. August 11–27, 2003. Tilburg, The Netherlands. Eighth International Summer School on the Digital Library. Course 1: Leaders’ Visions on the Library of the Future. (Tilburg, 11 August–12 August 2003) Course 2: Change: Making it Happen in your Library. (Tilburg, 13 August–15 August) Course 3: Libraries, Electronic Resources, and Electronic Publishing. (Tilburg, 25 August–27 August). More information: Ms. Jola Prinsen or Mrs Leonne Portz, Ticer B.V., PO Box 4191, 5004 JD Tilburg, The Netherlands. Tel. +31-13-4668310. Fax: +31-13-4668383. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www. ticer.nl. September 8–9, 2003. Espoo, Finland. Toward a User-Centered Approach to Digital Libraries: The 2003 Conference on Users in the Electronic Information Environments. For additional information: Conference Coordinator. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www. lib.helsinki.fi/finelib/digilib/. September 22–26, 2003. Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa. LIASA Sixth Annual Conference. Theme: Tsoga o itirele: Libraries as agents of change. Further information: Ms Naomi Haasbroek. Tel. 021 843 1259. Fax: 021 843 3525. Cell: 082 895 9931. Email: [email protected]. 6–8 de octubre de 2003. Maputo, Mozambique. 1er. Seminario Nacional de Bibliotecas, Archivos, Centros de Documentación y Museos. Tema: Facilitando el acceso a la información. Para mas informaciones dirigirse a Fondo Bibliográfico de Lengua Portuguesa (FBLP), Av. 25 de Sep-
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International Calendar tiembre n° 1230, 7° piso. Caja Postal n°1330, Maputo, Mozambique. Tel. +258-1-429531/2. Fax: +258-1429530. E-mail: [email protected]. Página Internet: www.teledata.mz/cidoc.
Theme: Reference Roundup. For more information: Pat Grimsley. Tel. +1 (800) 4649107. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www. vrd2003.org/.
October 16–22, 2003. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. SEPIA Workshop on management of photographic collections. For more information: European Commission on Preservation and Access, PO Box 19121, 1000 GC Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel. +31 20 5510839. Fax: +31 20 6204941. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/.
December 8–11, 2003. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 6th International Conference of Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL 2003). Theme: Digital Libraries: technology and management of indigenous knowledge for global access. Further information: Co-Chairs Malaysia: e-mail: [email protected]. ICADL website: http://www. ftsm.ukm.my/ICADL2003.
October 20–23, 2003. Long Beach, California, USA. American Society for Information Science and Technology. Annual Conference. Theme: Humanizing Information Technology: From Ideas to Bits and Back. More information: Richard Hill, Executive Director, American Society for Information Science and Technology, 1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. Fax: +1 (301) 495-0900. Voice: +1 (301) 495-0900. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM03/am03cfp.html.
December 10–12, 2003. Geneva, Switzerland. World Summit on the Information Society. Phase 1. (Phase 2: Tunis, Tunisia, 2005). Further information from: News Section Mr. A. Levin, Chief a.i., Coordination, External Relations and Communication Units, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Place des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. Tel. +41 (22) 730 6113. Fax: +41 (22) 730 5881. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.itu. int/wsis/.
October 23–26, 2003. Memphis, Tennessee, USA. EEI21 – Memphis – 2003. The Ethics of Electronic Information in the 21st Century. More information: Tom Mendina, Chairman, EEI21 – MEMPHIS. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.memphis.edu/ethics21. October 28–31, 2003. Canberra, Australia. 8th Interlending and Document Supply International Conference. Further information from: Tom Ruthven, Director, Interlending Services, National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia. E-mail: truthven@ nla.gov.au. November 3–4, 2003. Geneva, Switzerland. Pre-conference to the World Summit on the Information Society for librarians. Further information: Genevieve Clavel-Merrin, Swiss National Library, Hallwylstrasse 15, CH-3003 Bern. Tel. +41 31 322 89 36. Fax: +41 31 322 84 63. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www. snl.ch. November 2–8, 2003. New Orleans, LA, USA ACM CIKM 2003. Twelfth International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM). Further information: Padmini Srinivasan, University of Iowa. Tel: +1 (319) 335-5707. (U. of Iowa); +1 (301) 435-3262 (National Library of Medicine); Fax: +1 (301) 480-3035. November 17–18, 2003. San Antonio, Texas, USA. VRD 5th Annual Digital Reference Conference.
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2004 February 3–5, 2004. Bielefeld, Germany. 7th International Bielefeld Conference 2004. Theme: Thinking beyond Digital Libraries – Designing the Information Strategy for the next decade. Further information: Dr. Norbert Lossau, Direktor, Universitaetsbibliothek Bielefeld. Tel. +49 521 1064050. Fax: +49 21 106-4052. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de. April 1–6, 2004. New York, USA. Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) Conference. Further information: Margaret N. Webster, Chair, Visual Resources Facility, College of Architecture, Art & Planning, B-56 Sibley Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Tel.+1 (607) 255-3300. Fax: +1 (607) 255-1900. E-mail: [email protected]. August 20–27, 2004. Buenos Aires, Argentina. World Library and Information Congress: 70th IFLA General Conference and Council. Theme: “Libraries: Tools for Education and Development”. For more information: Buenos Aires 2004, Argentine Organizing Committee, Asociación de Bibliotecarios, Graduados de la República Argentina. Tucumán 1424, 8° piso Of. D, C1050AAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Phone/Fax: +54(11) 4371-5269 or 4373-0571. E-mail: [email protected]. August 23–29, 2004. Vienna, Austria. 15th International Congress on Archives. Theme: Archives, Memory, and Knowledge.
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International Calendar More information: Evelyn Wareham, Programme Officer International Council on Archives (ICA), 60 rue des Francs Bourgeois, F-75003 Paris, France. Tel. +33 (0)1 40 27 61 37. Fax: +33 (0)1 42 72 20 65. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.ica.org. September 1, 2004. South Africa. Books for Africa: IBBY Congress 2004. Contact: Genevieve Hart, IBBY 2004 Programme Committee, South African Children’s Book Forum, PO Box 847, Howard Place 7450, South Africa. [email protected]
Norway. Tel: +47 23243430. Fax: +47 22672368. Email: [email protected].
2006 August 22–28, 2006. Seoul, Korea. World Library and Information Congress: 72nd IFLA General Conference and Council. For more information: IFLA Headquarters, POB 95312, 2509 CH, The Hague, The Netherlands. Tel. +31 70 314-0884. Fax: + 31 70 383- 4827.
2007 2005 August 20–26, 2005. Oslo, Norway. World Library and Information Congress: 71st IFLA General Conference and Council. Theme: Libraries: a voyage of discovery; linking the future to the past. For more information: IFLA 2005 Oslo Secretariat, Ann Margret Hauknes, Secretary General, Norwegian Library Association, Malerhaugveien 20, N-0661 Oslo,
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World Library and Information Congress: 73rd IFLA Council and General Conference, Durban, South Africa, 2007. Further information from: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), PO Box 95312, 2509 CH The Hague, Netherlands. Tel. +31 (70) 3140884. Fax: +31 (70) 3834827. E-mail: IFLA@ ifla.org. Website: http://ifla.inist.fr/index.htm.
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Abstracts ABSTRACTS These abstracta may be reproduced without charge.
Kay Raseroka. Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: IFLA Presidential Theme 2003–2005. IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 109–112 Following a brainstorming session on ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’ organized during the 68th IFLA General Conference in Glasgow in 2002, the author, President-Elect of IFLA, chose ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’ as her theme for her term of office as IFLA President, 2003–2005. The paper explains the Presidential Theme and its implications for IFLA members, identifies areas for priority actions (advocacy, partnerships and alliances, and continuing professional development) and invites IFLA Divisions, Sections and other units to present their plans for actions in these areas during the 69th IFLA General Conference in Berlin, 1–8 August 2003.
Claudia Lux. Libraries in Germany – structure and new developments. IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 113–128 Provides an outline of the German library system, which experienced great changes after the country’s reunification in 1990. The system consists of four levels, all of which are working together; the similarities between the different sectors are steadily growing. This can also be seen from new concepts of professional education in librarianship, and has led to visible progress by library schools. Many contemporary topics are effecting changes in German libraries. One is the interlibrary lending service, making use of new technologies and having special impacts. The vision of the digital library has led to a new form of cooperation between libraries of all kinds and is financially supported by different projects. The Internet serves as the starting point for information competency, and is a hot topic for German libraries, regardless of whether it is offered as a
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service to students in research libraries, or to members of the general public in public libraries. In view of the poor results of German students in the international education study ‘PISA’, new activities in reading and cooperation between schools and libraries are obtaining more public support than in previous years. The concepts of accountability and best value are being discussed in public and research libraries. They have become of increasing importance, especially in connection with library funding. Over the next few years, German librarians will have to face many more challenges. The article is published to mark the World Library and Information Congress, the 69th General Conference and Council of IFLA, held in Berlin, Germany, from 1–9 August 2003.
Jean-Claude Guédon. Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science. IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 129–140 Edited version of a paper presented at a Workshop of the University Libraries and other General Research Libraries Section of IFLA at the 68th IFLA General Conference, held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 18– 24 August 2002. Argues that the scientific quest for fundamental knowledge about nature is being superseded by the quest to control scientific knowledge itself and limit its access to a privileged minority. Steep increases in the costs of subscriptions to scientific journals and the advent of licensing schemes have severely limited ownership, access and permissible forms of use of published scientific knowledge. Poorer research institutions, particularly in poorer countries, have been left out of the scientific loop and condemned to a marginal form of existence. Reviews the evaluation processes used in various scientific communities, focusing on scientific publishing. Claims that
evaluation procedures managed by scientific journals, including those published by commercial firms, do not serve science or the management of research in an optimal manner. The quasi-monopoly exerted by large commercial publishing houses over scientific evaluation partly explains their ability to manipulate prices. The development of open access archives with an associated evaluation system could help restore the ‘Republic of science’ and create real competition for commercial publishers. Proposes a three-tier structure for institutional open access archives in accordance with the rules of the Open Access Initiative.
Ruth Rikowski. TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 141–151 Provides an overview of the main features of the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Discusses the nature of intellectual property rights. Outlines the principles, rules and procedures in the TRIPS Agreement, with an emphasis on the copyright section of Part II: Standards Concerning the Availability, Scope and Use of Intellectual Property Rights. Provides definitions of copyright and discusses the treatment of copyright in TRIPS and its implications for the information and library world. Discusses ethical and moral considerations of TRIPS and its application and asks if TRIPS is really about trade. Concludes that TRIPS is about turning knowledge, creative works and ideas into tradable commodities through tradeable intellectual property rights. This will help to ensure the success of the knowledge revolution, which is the latest phase of capitalism. TRIPS will thus help to ensure the perpetuation and success of global capitalism.
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Abstracts Jeffrey M. Wilhite. DANIDA: wherefore art thou? IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 152–156 Since 1997 The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided funding for 266 librarians from underdeveloped countries to attend the annual IFLA General Conference. This funding continued until summer 2002, when the Ad-
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vancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP) secretariat received news that the DANIDA funding was no longer available. Funding had to be found quickly to provide for the travel grantees for the 2002 Glasgow, Scotland, conference. DANIDA provided travel grants to IFLA for six years and changed the lives of 266 librarians. These librarians, in part, changed the lives of all they encountered at the conference, and all they encountered back in their home
countries. Mr. Batlang Comma Serema of Botswana, Ms. Anjali Gulati of India, and Mr. Stephen Visagie of Namibia, were recipients of past DANIDA travel grants. They unanimously agree that the DANIDA grants that they received deeply influenced their professional and personal lives for the better. The current question is where will funding to bring third world librarians to the IFLA General Conferences arise from now.
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Sommaires SOMMAIRES Les sommaires analytiques peut être reproduites sans frais.
Kay Raseroka. Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: IFLA Presidential Theme 2003–2005. [Les bibliothèques au service d’une alphabétisation permanente : thème de la présidence de l’IFLA 2003–2005.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 109–112 À l’issue d’une séance de remueméninges sur le sujet ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’ [‘Colmater la brèche numérique’] organisée lors de la 68ème conférence annuelle de l’IFLA à Glasgow en 2002, l’auteur, présidente élue de l’IFLA, a choisi ‘Les bibliothèques au service d’une alphabétisation permanente’ comme thème pour la durée de son mandat en tant que présidente de l’IFLA de 2003 à 2005. Cet article explicite le thème retenu par la présidente et ses implications pour les membres de l’IFLA, identifie des domaines d’actions prioritaires (plaidoyer, partenariats et alliances, ainsi que poursuite du développement professionnel) et invite les divisions, sections et autres unités de l’IFLA à présenter leurs plans d’action dans ces domaines au cours de la 69ème conférence annuelle de l’IFLA à Berlin, du 1er au 8 août 2003. Claudia Lux. Libraries in Germany – structure and new developments. [Les bibliothèques en Allemagne: structure et évolution récente.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 113–128 Donne un aperçu de la structure d’organisation des bibliothèques en Allemagne, considérablement modifiée après la réunification du pays en 1990. Cette structure comporte quatre niveaux, collaborant tous entre eux ; les similarités entre les différents secteurs sont de plus en plus nombreuses. C’est également ce qui ressort des nouveaux concepts de formation à la profession de bibliothécaire et ce qui a entraîné de véritables progrès au niveau des écoles de bibliothécaires. Nombreuses sont les thématiques contemporaines ayant suscité une évolution des bibliothèques allemandes. Ainsi le service de prêt entre
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bibliothèques, fonctionnant selon des technologies nouvelles et ayant ainsi un impact particulier. L’apparition de la bibliothèque numérique a donné naissance à une nouvelle forme de coopération entre bibliothèques de tous ordres ; ce concept est soutenu financièrement par divers programmes. Internet est à la base des compétences en matière d’information et est véritablement le thème incontournable pour les bibliothèques allemandes, que son accès soit mis à la disposition des étudiants dans les bibliothèques de recherche ou à celle du grand public dans les bibliothèques publiques. Au vu des résultats médiocres obtenus par les élèves allemands dans le cadre de l’étude scolaire internationale ‘PISA’, de nouvelles activités de lecture et de coopération entre les écoles et les bibliothèques se voient actuellement accorder un soutien plus important qu’au cours des années précédentes de la part des instances officielles. L’obligation de rendre compte et le souci de la qualité font l’objet de débats dans les bibliothèques publiques et dans les bibliothèques de recherche. Ils ont pris une importance accrue, particulièrement en ce qui concerne le financement des bibliothèques. Au cours des prochaines années, les bibliothécaires allemands vont être confrontés à des défis plus nombreux encore. Cet article est publié à l’occasion du Congrès mondial des bibliothèques et de l’information, lors de la 69ème conférence annuelle de l’IFLA qui se tiendra à Berlin en Allemagne du 1er au 9 août 2003. Jean-Claude Guédon. Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science. [Archives d’accès libre : de la ploutocratie scientifique à la république des sciences.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 129–140 Version publiée d’un exposé présenté à l’occasion d’une journée d’étude de la Section des bibliothèques universitaires et des bibliothèques générales de recherche de l’IFLA lors de la
68ème conférence annuelle de l’IFLA, tenue à Glasgow, Ecosse, 18–24 août 2002. Cet exposé prend pour argument le fait que la quête scientifique de connaissances fondamentales sur la nature a été supplantée par la volonté de contrôler les connaissances scientifiques elles-mêmes et de limiter leur accès à une minorité privilégiée. L’augmentation excessive des tarifs d’abonnement aux magazines scientifiques et le développement des systèmes d’obtention de licence ont considérablement réduit la propriété des connaissances scientifiques publiées ainsi que l’accès à ces connaissances et les formes acceptables d’utilisation de ces connaissances. Les organismes de recherche les plus pauvres, en particulier dans les pays les plus démunis, ont été tenus à l’écart du circuit scientifique et condamnés à une forme marginale d’existence. L’auteur réexamine les méthodes d’évaluation utilisées par diverses communautés scientifiques, en se concentrant plus particulièrement sur les publications scientifiques. Il estime que les méthodes d’évaluation mises en place par les magazines scientifiques, y compris ceux publiés par des entreprises commerciales, ne servent ni les sciences ni la recherche de façon optimale. Le quasi-monopole exercé sur l’évaluation scientifique par de grandes maisons d’édition commerciales explique en partie leur capacité à manipuler les prix. La création d’archives d’accès libre assorties d’un système d’évaluation pourrait contribuer à restaurer la ‘République des sciences’ et concurrencer véritablement l’édition commerciale. L’auteur suggère une structure à trois niveaux pour des archives institutionnelles librement accessibles conformément au règlement de l’Initiative pour la liberté d’accès aux connaissances. Ruth Rikowski. TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. [Voyages à l’inconnu: les bibliothèques et l’accord ADPIC de l’OMC sur les aspects des droits de pro-
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Sommaires priété intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 141–151 Passe en revue les principaux thèmes de l’accord sur les aspects des droits de propriété intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce (ou accord ADPIC) de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC). Débat de la nature des droits de propriété intellectuelle, expose les principes, les règles et les procédures de l’accord ADPIC, en mettant l’accent sur le chapitre consacré aux droits d’auteur dans la deuxième partie de l’accord : Normes concernant l’existence, la portee et l’exercice des droits de propriete intellectuelle. Soumet des définitions des droits d’auteur et examine comment l’accord ADPIC régit les droits d’auteur et quelles sont les implications de cet accord pour le monde de l’information et des bibliothèques. Aborde les considérations éthiques et morales de l’accord ADPIC ainsi que son application et se demande si cet accord est vraiment de nature commerciale. Conclut en estimant que l’accord ADPIC
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a pour objet de transformer les connaissances, les œuvres de création et les idées en marchandises négociables par le biais du commerce des droits de propriété intellectuelle, ceci devant contribuer à assurer le succès de la révolution du savoir, phase ultime du capitalisme. L’accord ADPIC devrait ainsi permettre d’assurer la perpétuation et le succès du capitalisme mondial.
Jeffrey M. Wilhite. DANIDA: wherefore art thou? [DANIDA: qu’êtesvous devenue?] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) No. 2, p. 152–156 Depuis 1997, l’Agence danoise pour le développement international (Danish International Development Agency ou DANIDA) du Ministère Royal des Affaires Etrangères mettait des fonds à disposition pour que 266 bibliothécaires originaires de pays en voie de développement puissent assister à la conférence annuelle de l’IFLA. Ce financement s’est poursuivi jusqu’à l’été 2002, période à laquelle il a été fait savoir au secrétariat
pour l’Avancement du programme des bibliothécaires (ALP) que ce financement par DANIDA était supprimé. Il fallut trouver rapidement d’autres fonds afin de permettre à ceux qui bénéficiaient auparavant de ces bourses de voyage de se rendre à la conférence 2002 à Glasgow en Ecosse. Pendant six ans, DANIDA avait changé la vie de 266 bibliothécaires en leur accordant des bourses de voyage pour se rendre à la conférence de l’IFLA. Ces bibliothécaires ont à leur tour changé la vie de tous ceux qu’ils ont côtoyés à la conférence et de tous ceux qu’ils ont retrouvés en rentrant chez eux. M. Batlang Comma Serema, du Botswana, Mme Anjali Gulati, d’Inde et M. Stephen Visagie, de Namibie, ont été par le passé bénéficiaires des bourses de voyage attribuées par DANIDA. Ils se sont tous accordés pour dire que ces subventions avaient eu une influence extrêmement positive sur leur vie professionnelle et personnelle. Le problème qui se pose maintenant, c’est de savoir où trouver les fonds pour permettre aux bibliothécaires du tiers-monde d’assister aux conférences annuelles de l’IFLA.
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Zusammenfassungen ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN Diese Zusammenfassungen können gebührenfrei vervielfältigt werden.
Kay Raseroka. Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: IFLA Presidential Theme 2003–2005. [Bibliotheken setzen sich zur Förderung des lebenslangen Leseverhaltens ein: IFLARegierungsprogramm 2003–2005.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nr. 2, S. 109– 112 Im weiteren Verlauf einer Brainstorming-Sitzung zum Thema ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’ [Überbrückung der digitalen Kluft] anlässlich der 68. IFLA-Generalkonferenz in Glasgow im Jahr 2002 wählte die Autorin, Vorsitzende der IFLA, das Thema ‘Libraries for Lifelong Literacy’ zum Leitthema für ihre Amtzeit als IFLAPräsidentin von 2003 bis 2005. Dieser Vortrag erläutert das Regierungsprogramm und seine Implikationen für die IFLA-Mitglieder, identifiziert Bereiche für Prioritätsmaßnahmen (Interessengruppen, Partnerschaften und Verbände sowie die ständig weiterführende professionelle Entwicklung) und lädt die einzelnen IFLADivisionen, Sektionen und andere Einheiten ein, ihre Aktionspläne in diesen Bereichen bei der 69. IFLAGeneralkonferenz in Berlin vom 1.– 8. August 2003 zu präsentieren. Claudia Lux. Libraries in Germany – structure and new developments. [Büchereien in Deutschland – Struktur und Neuentwicklungen.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nr. 2, S. 113– 128 Dieser Beitrag erläutert das deutsche Bibliothekswesen, das seit der Wiedervereinigung im Jahr 1990 erhebliche Änderungen erfahren hat. Das System umfasst vier Niveaus, die alle zusammenarbeiten; die Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den einzelnen Sektoren nehmen immer mehr zu. Dies zeigt sich auch in den neuen Konzepten der professionellen Ausbildung im Bibliotheksbereich, und es hat sichtbare Fortschritte bei den Bibliotheksschulen mit sich gebracht. Die Bibliotheken in Deutschland passen sich vielen der heute aktuellen Themen an. Dazu zählt beispielsweise der gemeinsame Leihservice
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verschiedener Bibliotheken, wobei neue Technologien zum Einsatz gelangen und neue Horizonte erschlossen werden. Die Vision der digitalen Bücherei hat die Kooperation zwischen allen möglichen unterschiedlichen Bibliotheken gründlich revolutioniert und wird von diversen Projekten finanziell unterstützt. Das Internet dient dabei als Ausgangspunkt für Informationskompetenz und gilt als heißes Thema für die deutschen Bibliotheken. Beispielsweise wird es als Service für Studenten in Forschungsbibliotheken angeboten, oder es wird in öffentlichen Bibliotheken der Allgemeinheit zugänglich gemacht. Angesichts der schlechten Ergebnisse deutscher Schüler in der internationalen Ausbildungsstudie ‘PISA’ erhalten neue Aktivitäten im Zusammenhang mit dem Leseverhalten und der Kooperation zwischen den einzelnen Schulen und Bibliotheken mehr öffentliche Unterstützung als in den vorhergehenden Jahren. Die Konzepte der Verantwortlichkeit und des “Best Value“ stehen heute in den öffentlichen Bibliotheken wie auch in den Forschungsbibliotheken im Zentrum der Diskussion. Dieser Aspekt wird immer wichtiger, insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit der finanziellen Unterstützung des Bibliotheksbereichs. In den nächsten paar Jahren werden sich die deutschen Bibliotheken vielen neuen Herausforderungen stellen müssen. Dieser Artikel wird anlässlich des Weltkongresses über das Bibliotheks- und Informationswesen, der 69. Generalkonferenz und dem IFLA-Council in Berlin in Deutschland vom 1.–9. August 2003 veröffentlicht. Jean-Claude Guédon. Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science. [Archive mit offenem Zugang: von der wissenschaftlichen Plutokratie zur Wissenschaftsrepublik.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nr. 2, S. 129– 140 Überarbeitete Version eines Vortrags, der bei einem Workshop der IFLASektion für Universitätsbibliotheken
und andere allgemeine Forschungsbibliotheken anlässlich der 68. IFLAGeneralkonferenz in Glasgow in Schottland vom 18.–24. August 2002 gehalten wurde. Diese Veröffentlichung argumentiert, dass die wissenschaftliche Neigung zur Akquisition von Grundlagenwissen über die Natur von der Bestrebung überlagert wird, die wissenschaftlichen Kenntnisse selbst zu steuern und den Zugang dazu einer privilegierten Minderheit vorzubehalten. Ein steiler Anstieg der Abonnementskosten für wissenschaftliche Fachzeitschriften und die Einführung entsprechender Konzessionierungsverfahren haben den Besitz wissenschaftlicher Kenntnisse, den Zugang zu ihnen sowie die erlaubte Nutzung veröffentlichter wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse stark eingeschränkt. Weniger begüterte Forschungsinstitutionen, insbesondere in den ärmeren Ländern, sind infolgedessen aus der wissenschaftlichen Welt ausgeschlossen und damit zu einer Randexistenz verdammt. Zudem erörtert dieser Beitrag die Bewertungsprozesse in diversen wissenschaftlichen Kreisen und konzentriert sich dabei insbesondere auf die wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichungen. Der Autor ist der Auffassung, dass die Bewertungsverfahren der wissenschaftlichen Fachzeitschriften, einschließlich derjenigen, die von kommerziellen Firmen veröffentlicht werden, der Wissenschaft beziehungsweise der Verwaltung der Forschung nicht optimal dienen. Das QuasiMonopol der großen kommerziellen Verlage im Hinblick auf die wissenschaftliche Bewertung erklärt teilweise, warum sie auch die Preise manipulieren können. Die Entwicklung von Archiven mit offenem Zugang und einem dazugehörigen Bewertungssystem könnte dazu beitragen, die “Wissenschaftsrepublik“ wieder aufleben zu lassen und eine tatsächliche Konkurrenz für die kommerziellen Verlage zu schaffen. Der Artikel schlägt eine dreistufige Struktur für institutionelle Archive mit offenem Zugang vor, die sich an den Regeln der Open Access-Initiative orientiert.
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Zusammenfassungen Ruth Rikowski. TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries und the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. [Reisen (TRIPS) ins Unbekannte: Die Bibliotheken und das Abkommen der Welthandelsorganisation über die handelsrelevanten Aspekte der intellektuellen Eigentumsrechte.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nr. 2, S. 141– 151 Dieser Artikel bietet einen Überblick über die wesentlichen Eigenschaften des Abkommens über die handelsrelevanten Aspekte der intellektuellen Eigentumsrechte (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS) der Welthandelsorganisation (World Trade Organization, WTO). Der Beitrag erörtert die Art der intellektuellen Eigentumsrechte. Er erläutert kurz die Prinzipien, Regeln und Verfahren des TRIPS-Abkommens, mit besonderem Schwerpunkt auf der Urheberrechtssektion im Teil II: Standardvorgaben bezüglich der Verfügbarkeit, des Umfangs und der Nutzung intellektueller Eigentumsrechte. Hinzu kommen Definitionen für das Urheberrecht und eine Erörterung des Umgangs mit dem Urheberrecht im TRIPS-Kontext sowie deren Implikationen für den Informations- und Bibliotheksbereich. Dies beinhaltet ebenfalls ethische und moralische Betrachtun-
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gen der TRIPS sowie ihrer Anwendungen und stellt die Frage, ob sich die TRIPS tatsächlich mit Handelsaspekten beschäftigen. Die Schlussfolgerung läuft darauf hinaus, dass die TRIPS versuchen, Wissen, kreative Arbeiten und Ideen über die Etablierung handelsfähiger intellektueller Eigentumsrechte in handelsfähige Güter umzuwandeln. Dies trägt dazu bei, den Erfolg der Wissensrevolution, die letzte Phase des Kapitalismus, sicherzustellen. Die TRIPS tragen somit dazu bei, die Fortsetzung und den Erfolg des weltweiten Kapitalismus gewährleisten zu können.
Jeffrey M. Wilhite. DANIDA: wherefore art thou? [DANIDA: Wofür bist Du?] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nr. 2, S. 152– 156 Seit 1997 hat die dänische internationale Entwicklungsagentur (Danish International Development Agency, DANIDA) des Königlichen Außenministeriums in Dänemark finanzielle Ressourcen für 266 Bibliothekare/ -innen aus unterentwickelten Ländern bereitgestellt, um ihnen die Teilnahme an der jährlichen IFLAGeneralkonferenz zu ermöglichen. Diese Subventionen wurde bis zum Sommer 2002 weitergezahlt. Zu dieser Zeit wurde das Sekretariat des
Programms zur Förderung der im Bibliotheksbereich Tätigen (Advancement of Librarianship Program, ALP) dahingehend informiert, dass die DANIDA-Subventionen nicht länger verfügbar seien. Daher mussten innerhalb kürzester Zeit neue finanzielle Ressourcen gefunden werden, um die bereits zugesagten Reisestipendien zum Besuch der Konferenz im Jahr 2002 in Glasgow in Schottland bezahlen zu können. DANIDA bot der IFLA daraufhin Reisestipendien für einen Zeitraum von sechs Jahren an und veränderte damit das Leben von 266 Bibliothekaren/-innen. Diese Bibliothekare/ -innen wiederum beeinflußten teilweise das Leben aller Personen, die sie bei dieser Konferenz trafen, und diese trugen ihre neuen Erfahrungen in ihre jeweiligen Länder weiter. Zu den Empfängern dieser DANIDAReisestipendien zählten Herr Batlang Comma Serema aus Botswana, Frau Anjali Gulati aus Indien und Herr Stephen Visagie aus Namibia. Sie sind sich dahingehend einig, dass die erhaltenen DANIDA-Stipendien ihr professionelles wie auch ihr persönliches Leben sehr positiv beeinflusst haben. Dabei stellt sich nun die aktuelle Frage, woher die nötigen finanziellen Ressourcen beschafft werden sollen, um den Bibliothekaren/ -innen aus der Dritten Welt den Besuch der IFLA-Generalkonferenzen auch in Zukunft zu ermöglichen.
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Resúmenes RESÚMENES Se puede reproducir estas resúmenes sin gastos.
Kay Raseroka. Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: IFLA Presidential Theme 2003–2005. [Bibliotecas del Alfabetismo Tradicional: Tema Presidencial de IFLA 2003–2005.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nº. 2, p. 109– 112 De acuerdo con la sesión de ideas sobre ‘Llenar el Espacio Digital’ organizada durante la 68 Conferencia General en Glasgow en 2002, el autor, el Presidente de IFLA, escogió ‘Bibliotecas del Alfabetismo Tradicional‘ como tema durante su período de Presidencia de IFLA de 2003 a 2005. El documento explica el Tema Presidencial de IFLA y sus implicaciones para los miembros de IFLA, identifica las áreas de actuación prioritaria (recomendaciones, asociaciones y alianzas, y continuación del desarrollo profesional) e invita a las Divisiones, Secciones y otras unidades de IFLA a presentar sus planes de actuación en estas áreas durante la 69 Conferencia General IFLA en Berlín, del 1 al 8 de Agosto de 2003.
Claudia Lux. Libraries in Germany – structure and new developments. [Bibliotecas en Alemania – estructura y nuevos avances.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nº. 2, p. 113– 128 Proporciona un esbozo del sistema bibliotecario alemán, el cual experimentó grandes cambios después de la reunificación del país en 1990. El sistema consiste en cuatro niveles, que funcionan juntos; las semejanzas entre los diferentes sectores crecen sin parar. Esto también se pone de manifiesto en los nuevos conceptos de formación profesional en biblioteconomía, y ha llevado a un visible progreso en escuelas de biblioteconomía y documentación. Numerosos temas contemporáneos están produciendo cambios en las bibliotecas alemanas. Uno de ellos es el servicio de préstamos entre bibliotecas, que hace uso de las nuevas tecnologías y que tiene un importante impacto. El concepto de biblioteca digital ha
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llevado a una nueva forma de cooperación entre bibliotecas de todos los tipos y está apoyado económicamente por diferentes proyectos. Internet sirve de punto de partida de competencia informativa y, es un tema de última hora para las bibliotecas alemanas, sin tener en cuenta si es ofrecido como un servicio para estudiantes, en bibliotecas de investigación, o para el público en general, en bibliotecas públicas. En vista de los malos resultados de los estudiantes alemanes en sus estudios de enseñanza internacional ‘PISA’, las nuevas actividades de lectura y cooperación entre escuelas y bibliotecas están ganando un mayor apoyo público que en años anteriores. Los conceptos de responsabilidad y máximo valor se debaten en bibliotecas públicas y de investigación. Han alcanzado una creciente importancia, especialmente en relación con la financiación bibliotecaria. Durante los próximos años, los bibliotecarios alemanes tendrán que hacer frente a muchos más retos. El artículo se ha publicado para destacar el Congreso Mundial de Biblioteconomía y Documentación, la 69 Conferencia General y el Consejo de IFLA, celebrado en Berlín, Alemania, del 1 al 9 de agosto de 2003. Jean-Claude Guédon. Open Access Archives: from scientific plutocracy to the republic of science. [Archivos de Acceso Abierto: de la plutocracia científica a la república de la ciencia.] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nº. 2, p. 129– 140 Versión revisada de un periódico presentado en el Taller de las Bibliotecas de la Universidad y la Sección de IFLA de otras Bibliotecas de Investigación General en la 68 Conferencia General IFLA, celebrada en Glasgow, Escocia, del 18 al 24 de agosto de 2002. Debate que la búsqueda científica del conocimiento básico sobre la naturaleza está siendo suplantada por la búsqueda del control del conocimiento científico y limita su acceso a una minoría privi-
legiada. Los aumentos excesivos en los costes de suscripción a periódicos científicos y el advenimiento de proyectos de licencia han limitado seriamente la propiedad, acceso y modos lícitos de utilización de los conocimientos científicos publicados. Instituciones de investigación con menos medios, en concreto en países más pobres, han sido excluidas científicamente y condenadas a una existencia marginal. Revisa los procesos de evaluación utilizados en varias comunidades científicas, centrándose en la publicación científica. Reivindica que los procedimientos de evaluación dirigidos por periódicos científicos, incluyendo los publicados por compañías privadas, no están al servicio de la ciencia o de la gestión de la investigación de un modo óptimo. El “casi” monopolio ejercido por compañías editoriales privadas sobre la evaluación científica explica en parte su capacidad para manipular los precios. El desarrollo de archivos de acceso abierto con un sistema de evaluación asociado podría ayudar a restablecer la ‘República de la ciencia’ y crear una verdadera competencia entre editoriales. Propone una estructura de tres niveles para archivos institucionales de acceso abierto de acuerdo con las normas de la Iniciativa de Acceso Abierto. Ruth Rikowski. TRIPS into the Unknown: libraries and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. [Viajes a lo desconocido: bibliotecas y el Acuerdo de la OMC sobre los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio [ADPIC].] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nº. 2, p. 141– 151 Proporciona una visión de conjunto de las principales características del Acuerdo de la OMC sobre los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio (ADPIC) de la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC). Analiza la naturaleza de los derechos de la propiedad intelectual. Pone de re-
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Resúmenes lieve los principios, normas y procedimientos en el Acuerdo ADPIC, haciendo hincapié en la sección de los derechos de autor, en la 2ª Parte: Normas relativas a la existencia, alcance y ejercicio de los derechos de propiedad intelectual. Proporciona definiciones de derechos de autor y debate el trato de los derechos de autor en el ADPIC y sus implicaciones en el mundo de la biblioteconomía y documentación. Estudia consideraciones éticas y morales del ADPIC y su aplicación, y se pregunta si el ADPIC tienen realmente que ver con el comercio. Concluye en que esto ADPIC está convirtiendo el conocimiento, trabajos creativos e ideas, en materias primas comerciables a través de derechos de la propiedad intelectual, también comerciables. Esto ayudará a asegurar el éxito de la revolución del conocimiento, lo que constituye la última fase del capitalismo. El ADPIC ayudarán a asegu-
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rar la perpetuidad y el éxito del capitalismo global.
Jeffrey M. Wilhite. DANIDA: wherefore art thou? [DANIDA: ¿Dónde estás?] IFLA Journal 29 (2003) Nº. 2, p. 152– 156 Desde 1997 La Agencia de Desarrollo Internacional Danesa (DANIDA) del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores ha provisto de fondos a 266 bibliotecarios de países subdesarrollados para asistir a la Conferencia Anual IFLA. Esta financiación continuó hasta el verano de 2002, cuando la secretaría del Programa de Fomento de la Biblioteconomía (ALP) fue informada de que la financiación de DANIDA ya no estaba disponible. La financiación tuvo que ser conseguida rápidamente para proporcio-
nar las concesiones para viajar durante la conferencia de 2002 en Glasgow, Escocia. DANIDA proporcionó subvenciones de viaje a IFLA durante seis años y cambió la vida de 266 bibliotecarios. Estos bibliotecarios cambiaron, en parte, la vida de todos aquellos a los que encontraron en la conferencia y de todos aquellos a los que encontraron de vuelta a sus países de origen. El Sr. Batlang Comma Serema de Botswana, la Srta. Anjali Gulati de la India y el Sr. Stephen Visagie de Namibia, recibieron las concesiones de viaje de DANIDA, en el pasado. Están unánimemente de acuerdo en que las ayudas de DANIDA que recibieron, influyeron profundamente en una mejora de sus vidas tanto personal como profesionalmente. La pregunta que hoy se plantea es de dónde procederá ahora la financiación para llevar a los bibliotecarios del Tercer Mundo a las Conferencias Generales IFLA.
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