ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

CONFERENCE CIRCUIT: Crimea ’98: Libraries and associations in the transient world

by Lester J. Pourciau

The fifth anniversary of the international conference Crimea ’98, “Libraries and Associations in the Transient World: New Technolo- gies and New Forms of Cooperation,” was held June 6-14 in Sudak, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. Growing almost tenfold since the first Crimea conference in 1994, registration for this year’s event was more than 1,000 and represented people from 30 countries.

As has been the case with each of the pre- vious Crimea conferences, the primary orga- nizer was the Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology. Co-organizers were the Ministries of Culture of the Russian Federation and of Culture and Arts of Ukraine; the Kiev Mohyla Acad- emy; the Ministry of Cul- ture of the autonomous Republic of Crimea; the Russian State Library; the Library for Foreign Litera- ture in Moscow; the Uni- versity of Memphis in the United States; the Inter- national Library, Infor- mation, and Analytical Center (ILIAC); the Book Chamber of Ukraine; and the Ukrainian Library Association. Yakov L. Shraiberg, first deputy director of the Russian National Public Library for Science and Tech- nology, served as executive chair of the Inter- national Organizing Committee and I was deputy chair.

Participating in the opening plenary sessions were Leo Voogt, IFLA secretary general; James Billington, librarian of Congress; and Ekaterina Genieva, president of the Open So- ciety Institute-Russia and director general of the Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow.

Traditional and digital library needed

Billington spoke about “The Historic Library and the Information Age,” describing the digi- tal efforts of the Library of Congress and adopt- ing a very rational and balanced position be- tween endorsement of the traditional library and the forthcoming digital society.

Andrei Zemskov, director of the Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology and, by original training, a plasma physi- cist, spoke of scientific and technical libraries and the Russian approach to what everyone wants to predict as the informa- tion society.

He characterized the situation in Russia as hav- ing sufficient computers and networking to move deliberately toward the information society, but he spoke somewhat skeptically about officials who speak about … information security as opposed to infor- mation transparency.”

Ekaterina Genieva described programs of the Soros Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Culture, and Education in Russia.

Welcoming sign in English, Russian, and Ukranian.

An IFLA update

Leo Voogt provided plenary attendees with an overview of recent developments within IFLA, characterizing them as indicative of a strong period of growth and serious investment in information technology. He pointed out that one of IFLA’s cornerstones has been, and remains, the volunteer effort of many experts and specialists from around the world.

While he applauded the growth and development of information technology within the context of IFLA’s activities, he made a point of stating that “efforts must be fed by electronic communication, but cannot flourish without personal communication.”

For this to occur, he argued for a strong need for IFLA to continue to rely on personal networks, networks that can be established and maintained during IFLA’s general conference, and, he added, during important regional events like the Crimea conference.

The global perspective

Phyllis Spies, vice president, Sales and International OCLC, presented “OCLC and Member Libraries: Architects of the Global Library.” Using a PowerPoint presentation, Spies described the viewpoints of various persons from different countries throughout the world.

Her presentation explored two points: one, the key trends in the global information marketplace and, two, a brief characterization of OCLC’s strategic international directions in light of these global trends. She spoke about the information revolution, comparing and contrasting it to the industrial revolution, pointing out that “technology’s effects on us today are different from those of the industrial revolution. They are more democratic, more personal; more subtle and profound.”

Crimea ’98 was indeed an interesting and rewarding experience. It has become the dominant conference throughout central and Eastern Europe and annually provides an excellent forum and context for large numbers of librarians throughout the region to intermingle, to network, to exchange views and experiences, and to profit from one another.