Minutes of the Thirtieth Meeting of CDNL, held on Wednesday 25 August 2004, at 10.00 am, at the National Library of Argentina
Note: some agenda items were dealt with out-of-order
The Chair, Jan Fullerton, Director General, National Library of Australia, welcomed members to the thirty-first meeting of CDNL and introduced the host of the meeting, Senor Elvio Vitali, Director, Biblioteca Nacional de la Republica Argentina.
Elvio Vitali welcomed members to the National Library of Argentina and spoke briefly about the importance of libraries in the history and culture of nations and civilization, and their role in promoting the values of democracy.
The Chair introduced Dr Wim van Drimmelen, Director General, Koninklijke Bibliotheek and First Vice-Chair and the secretaries, Jasmine Cameron, Assistant Director General, Executive, National Library of Australia and Gerard van Trier, Corporate Secretary, Koninklijke Bibliotheek. The Chair explained that Dr Chris Chia, Chief Executive, National Library Board of Singapore and Second Vice-Chair has moved from his position at the National Library Board of Singapore and has therefore resigned from his position as Second Vice-Chair.
The Chair advised that the Attendance Register would be circulated and asked that all members to sign the Register. Apologies received prior to the meeting have been noted in the Register.
Mrs Kay Raseroka (President, IFLA), Mr Alex Byrne (President-Elect, IFLA) and Mr Ramachandran Rasu (Secretary General, IFLA) were introduced to members. The Chair informed members that Item 11 would be taken out of order following Item 9 because the IFLA representatives need to return to their conference duties prior to lunch.
The Chair also introduced Mr Abdelaziz Abid, Senior Programme Specialist, Information Society Division, UNESCO; Dr Hartmut Walravens, Director, International ISBN Agency and Dr Francoise Pelle, Director, ISSN International Centre.
At the invitation of the Chair, members introduced themselves to the meeting.
The agenda was adopted without amendment.
The minutes of the thirtieth CDNL meeting held on Wednesday 6 August 2003 at the Reichstag, Berlin, Germany were approved without amendment.
The Chair advised that there was no business arising from the minutes but informed members that there would be an opportunity to continue the discussion on the digital divide that had commenced at the meeting in Berlin under Item 9.
Alex Byrne spoke to members about the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). WSIS is the first summit to be organised in two phases. The first phase was held in Geneva in 2003 where an action plan and a declaration of principles were agreed. All of the issues that are important to libraries and to IFLA are identified in these documents and it is pleasing that governments are now discussing these issues at the highest level. A copy is available from the IFLA website (http://www.ifla.org/lll/wsis070604.html). An important topic is information inequality which must be discussed in terms of access to information content and the skills to find this information. The summit process has recognised three main groups of participants: governments, business entities and civil society or non-government organisations. The United Nations organisations themselves are also important in this process.
The second phase of the summit will be held in Tunis in November 2005 and will be focussed on practical outcomes. IFLA, national libraries, library associations and other library bodies must work together to exploit existing networks to influence discussion and outcomes. IFLA will use its existing manifestos and standards documents in its advocacy, and national libraries are asked to assist with the translation and promotion of these documents within their countries. The IFLA President and President-Elect can assist with promotion.
The Chair invited comment and discussion:
Senor Eliades Acosta Matos, Director, Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti, Cuba and President, ABINIA commented that a program of technology transfer and training was needed from the First World to the Third World to make the principles in the WSIS declaration meaningful. Dato' Zawiyah Baba, Director General, National Library of Malaysia, spoke briefly about the Malaysian Government's program for connecting rural libraries to the Internet. Alex Byrne responded by saying that funding issues are important but that this would best be done through investment by First World countries in technological development in Third World countries.
The Chair invited members of the IFLA Governing Board to speak. Ramachandran Rasu emphasised the importance of the support of national libraries for the IFLA Core Activities and urged national libraries to continue this support and to become involved with IFLA in advocacy and international activities. He also reported that 25,000 Euros has been allocated from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development for the restoration of the Iraq Municipal Library. In response to a question from the Chair about whether IFLA was supporting the redevelopment of libraries in Afghanistan, the Governing Board members indicated IFLA was not active in this area.
Elisabeth Niggemann, Director General, Die Deutsche Bibliothek, reported briefly on the background to ICABS which was established during the IFLA conference in Berlin. ICABS incorporates the work done previously by the IFLA Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC Core Activity and the Universal Dataflow and Telecommunications Core Activity. This has been broadened to include the interests of CDNL in digital preservation and standards. The ICABS Advisory Board currently consists of six national library and two IFLA representatives. Information about the work of ICABS will be presented on Thursday 26 August at the IFLA Conference and can also be found on the IFLA website at http://www.ifla.org/VI/7/icabs.htm .
The Chair then asked members of the IFLA Governing Board if they had any further issues to raise with CDNL. Alex Byrne spoke about the strategic planning process instituted by the new Governing Board which involves business planning and a five year budget cycle. National libraries and library associations have told IFLA that the Core Activities remain crucial and IFLA is therefore looking at how to ensure that programs like ICABS come into the sphere of Core Activities.
The following topics were presented to the meeting:
Libraries in Latin America Eliades
Acosta Matos spoke about the
important role played by the national libraries in Latin America in
contributing to the development of culture and support of democracy for all
citizens. Issues facing libraries in Latin America include literacy and access
to technology. National libraries must continue to preserve the publishing
heritage of their countries and this is difficult because of the need to
compete with funds for health, education and other basic services. National
libraries in Latin America are committed to playing a crucial role in the
development of their societies.
Economic Impact Assessment of the British Library
Ms Lynne
Brindley, Chief Executive Officer, The British Library reported on a recent
economic impact assessment of The British Library. As one of the largest
research libraries in the world, The British Library adds significant value to
the economy. A study was conducted between August to October 2003 to determine
the value based on specific services such as access to resources via the
reading rooms and the document supply service. The study concluded that for
every £1 of public funding The British Library receives each year,
£4.4 is generated for the economy. This reinforces the Library's position
as a sound investment of public funds and will be used to communicate the
Library's role and contribution to stakeholders, in particular the government,
and will inform future strategy concerning products and services offered to the
public.
Libraries and Archives Canada
Ms Ingrid Parent, Assistant Deputy
Minister, Documentary Heritage, Library and Archives Canada reported on the
recent merger of the National Library of Canada and the National Archives of
Canada to form a single body, Library and Archives Canada. Reasons for the
merger included complementary collections and user groups and convergence of
services through technology. Library and Archives Canada has the opportunity to
lead on the development of policy for access to government information. A new
act was passed on 21 May 2004, which includes the extension of legal deposit to
the digital environment. Priorities for the coming year include development of
a learning program and four digital initiatives: a digital collections
initiative, a metadata strategy initiative, an integrated systems initiative
called AMICAN and a service delivery transformation encompassing virtual
reference.
The European Library
Elisabeth Niggemann spoke about The European
Library (TEL), which is moving from the project stage to a full service funded
by CENL libraries, that will go live at the end of the first quarter of 2005.
TEL will incorporate the Gabriel service and use the funding previously
allocated to Gabriel, as well as additional funding from other sources. The
European Commission funded TEL to extend European collaboration beyond the
political and economic to the cultural sphere. CENL libraries own TEL and all
will benefit from the service. TEL aims to provide integrated access to digital
and non-digital resources in all of the languages of the TEL participants.
Digital Object Identifier
Gerard van Trier explained the strategic
importance of persistent identifiers, such as the Digital Object Identifier,
for national libraries in providing a mechanism for overcoming the problem of
broken links to Internet resources and providing long term access to these
publications. DOIs can be used to point to publications on the publisher's site
but also to the same publication held by a national library. CENL is examining
the issues associated with persistent identifiers, including the relationship
between DOIs and Universal Resource Names (URNs). CENL is a member of the
International DOI Foundation and is now a member of the Board.
The Chair announced the results of the election for Chair and Vice Chairs. The Chair for 2005-2008 is Dr Celia Zaher. Following the nomination of Dat'o Zawiyah Baba and the withdrawal of Ms Penny Carnaby's nomination at lunchtime, Mr Erland Kolding Nielsen and Dato' Zawiyah Baba have been elected as Vice Chairs for 2005-2008.
The First Vice Chair introduced panel members and invited them to speak. Eliades Acosta Matos referred to the issues facing national libraries in Ibero-America and the efforts of ABINIA to develop collaborative solutions to these issues which include the lack of legislation relating to the work of national libraries, such as legal deposit legislation; need for funding for technological development and for the employment of trained professional staff and the issues relating to preservation of collections, particularly in hot climates. Dr Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress spoke about priorities for the twenty first century, in particular how to integrate digital and printed collections; curation and preservation of digital collections; staff training in digital collection management and greater collaboration with other national libraries, including the development of a virtual global library. The Library of Congress has undertaken a significant organisational restructure to enable it to successfully manage these issues. Dr Jean-Frederic Jauslin, Director Schweizerische Landesbibliothek, raised two points: the first is multilingualism where the challenge is to provide access to users in Switzerland across four national languages and the second is memopolicy or the safeguarding of national heritage across three levels of government. There is a need for coordination of the efforts of federal, state and local libraries in this area, as well as the development of a national information policy.
Members discussed the issues raised by the three speakers and it was agreed that the IFLA Section on National Libraries be asked to consider hosting an IFLA conference session on collaboration on digital issues across cultural organisations.
Dr Fernanda Campos, Deputy Director, National Library of Portugal and Chair of the IFLA Section on National Libraries reported on the key aspects of the new strategic plan: to promote the educational role of national libraries in life long learning and literacy, and in e-learning; to develop disaster plans for the preservation of national cultural heritage; to promote digital cultural heritage including collaboration with museums and archives; to support the work of ICABS; continue work on performance measurement and to share expertise and best practice in building and equipment. Sessions are being held on disaster planning and the educational role of national libraries at this conference, and next year there will be a session on digital cultural heritage with a focus on collaboration, including relationships with museums and archives. The Section now has a discussion list and an online newsletter to raise awareness of its activities.
Abdelaziz Abid addressed the topics of information literacy and the UNESCO/JIKJI Memory of the World Prize. The World Summit on the Information Society acknowledged information literacy for life long learning as a key priority for achieving its objectives. UNESCO's new information literacy program aims to: foster the development of technical and critical thinking skills needed to analyse and use information in people's work and personal lives; identify effective information literacy practices; promote information literacy through regional approaches and exchanges; propose innovative curricula about information literacy and improve cooperation between key actors such as governments, educators and librarians. Aziz also outlined the strategies for achieving these objectives (see item 15.21 CDNL Papers).
The Memory of the World Prize aims to promote the objectives of the Memory of the World programme, which at present has national committees in sixty one member states.
In view of the comprehensive reports in the printed papers from CENL and CONSAL the Chair asked that only the representatives from ABINIA, CDNLAO and SCANUL-ECS speak to their reports.
Mr Alfonso Quintero, Secretary General, ABINIA drew attention to the issues reported on earlier in the meeting and stressed the important role played by ABINIA in strengthening the role of national libraries in each member country's information technology development and policies relating to preservation and access to national heritage.
Dato' Zawiyah Baba reported on the eleventh meeting of CDNLAO, held on 19 October 2003 in conjunction with the CONSAL conference in Brunei Darussalam. Twelve member countries were represented at the meeting and many reported good progress with legal deposit legislation or national library acts, and also new digital services. This year's CDNLAO will be hosted by the National Library of China in Beijing on 4-5 September and in 2005 it will be hosted by the National Library of Malaysia.
Mr John Tsebe, National Librarian, National Library of South Africa spoke on behalf of SCANUL-ECS. The sixth conference was held on 2-4 July 2004 in Uganda on the theme User Information Literacy. This is a continuing challenge for African national and university libraries and attendees were encouraged to initiate or strengthen information literacy programs in their respective countries.
Dr Hartmut Walravens, Director, International ISBN Agency reported briefly on two important ISBN developments. The revision of the ISBN standard has been completed and on 1 January 2007 the thirteen digit ISBN will be introduced. National libraries will need to ensure that their systems are updated to accommodate the thirteen digit ISBN. There is no requirement for retrospective conversion of existing ISBNs. The structure and governance of the International ISBN Agency will also change and national agencies will be asked for a contribution towards the cost of the International Agency. This will be discussed at a meeting in Berlin on 4-5 November 2004, to which all members are invited.
Dr Francoise Pelle, Director, ISSN International Centre, spoke about the current revision of the ISSN standard. The main topic is whether to keep separate ISSNs for the print and electronic versions of the same title. Some users, for example subscription agents, need the separate ISSN while others prefer a single identifier. The new ISSN standard will have an information annexe outlining best practice for using the ISSN in relation to open URLs and DOIs.
The Chair thanked all those who had contributed country reports and noted that these reports form a valuable source of information for national libraries.
The Chair invited Mrs Patricia Zephyrine, Executive Director, National Library and Information System, Trinidad and Tobago, to propose a vote of thanks to the past Executive Director, Mrs Pamella Benson. Patricia Zephrine also offered Pamella Benson's thanks to CDNL.
Jean-Frederic Jauslin spoke about the achievements of Dr Vladas Bulavas, Director of Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania who died on 11 March 2004. Dr Bulavas had been Director since 1982 and had made a significant contribution to the development of the National Library of Lithuania and to CENL.
The Chair noted that there would be an opportunity to nominate topics for the 2005 meeting during the period leading up to the meeting.
The Chair invited Ms Vigdis Moe Skarstein, National Librarian, National Library of Norway, to speak about the IFLA and CDNL meetings in Oslo in 2005. Vigdis Skarstein invited members to the grand opening of the restored national library building to be held during IFLA 2005.
Wim van Drimmelen proposed a vote of thanks to Jan Fullerton on completion of her four year term as Chair of CDNL, praising her firm leadership, openness to cultural differences and professionalism. He also thanked Jasmine Cameron for her work as Secretary of CDNL. The Chair thanked Wim van Drimmelen for his strong support as First Vice-Chair and Gerard van Trier for his support as Assistant Secretary.
The Chair also thanked the Director and staff of the National Library of Argentina for their generous help and support for the meeting.
Celia Zaher also thanked Jan Fullerton, Wim van Drimmelen and the secretaries for their contribution to CDNL.
The meeting closed at 4.35pm.