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61st IFLA General Conference - Conference Proceedings - August 20-25, 1995

Section on Acquisition and Exchange


Annual Report 1994

Ulrich Montag is Chair of the Section on Acquisition and Exchange
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek,
Ludwigstrasse 16, Postfach 340150,
D-80328 Munich, Germany
Fax: (49-89) 28638293

Marjorie E. Bloss is Secretary

Center for Research Libraries,
6050 South Kenwood Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA;
Fax: (1-312) 9554339;
e-mail: bloss@uhuru.uchicago.edu

Standing Committee and Section Membership

Currently, 110 institutions and associations are members of the Section. The Standing Committee consists of 19 members from 11 countries, with five corresponding members and one observer.

Projects

Survey on Exchange of Non-Official Publications. Considerable rekeying of the data of this project was necessary because of a change in responsibility for the project. It is now hoped that the project will be completed within calendar year 1995. Even so, Section members realize that much of the information will require revision due to major political changes that have occurred in Eastern Europe since the project began.

Handbook on the International Exchange of Publications

See description below. Project temporarily suspended.

Potential Projects

At this time the Section has no further projects underway. However, SC members would like to obtain input from institutional and association members regarding their priorities for potential projects. To this end, a questionnaire will be distributed to Section members and analyzed prior to the 1995 IFLA Conference with the intent of identifying potential projects. Members of the SC identified a n umber of topics for inclusion in this questionnaire. Marjorie Bloss will draft the document and distribute it to Standing Committee members for their review.

Publications

International Exchange of Publications 1981-1989: Bibliographical Index. The latest edition of this work was published and distributed by the Russian State Library in 1993. It includes the ref erences of symposia, reports, articles on international book exchanges published in different countries and in editions of international organizations. It is accompanied by two indexes: an author ind ex and a subject index. Ms Ershova (Russia) stated the intentions of the compilers to continue this work annually, and to have input from other areas of the former Soviet Union.

Newsletter

Two issues of the Section's Newsletter (Nos. 8 and 9) were distributed during the report period. Discussion on whether a second issue of the Newsletter was necessary, given that its contents were pri marily the most recent conference schedule. Committee members indicated that this was the only way they were informed of the conference schedule prior to the conference itself. Committee members agre ed to have the second issue continued until such time as IFLA distributed the preliminary schedule more widely, be it through print or electronic media.

Barcelona Workshop Proceedings

During the IFLA Conference in Barcelona, the Section, along with the Section on Serial Publications, the Section on Information Technology and the Core Programme on UAP jointly sponsored a workshop t itled: "New Ways of Information Delivery and their Impact on Libraries: Problems Solved or Problems Magnified?" The Publications Committee decided that its proceedings can be issued on demand in the series, IFLA Professional Reports. The Section Chair has agreed to provide a camera-ready copy.

Handbook on the International Exchange of Publications

During the report period a questionnaire was distributed, returned and subsequently collated indicating an interest in revising this publication which was last issued in 1978. At that time, there was a particular interest in this publication by two Standing Committees in particular, Acquisition and Exchange and Government Documents and Official Publications. The United Nations Library in Geneva, Switzerland, was also interested in making major contributions to the organization and publication of this work. At the conclusion of the Conference in Barcelona, the Chair of the Section on Acquisi tion and Exchange agreed to make inquiries regarding the formalities of this proposal, both in terms of the actual work plan and in the publication of the work itself. At the Havana Conference it was determined that the person previously identified at the UN Library in Geneva to take on this effort was unable to devote the appropriate time to the project. A number of SC members indicated that th ey had never seen the publication, thus making it difficult to make any commitment toward it. The entire SC agreed that one coordinating editor was needed to make the project truly effective. As a re sult, the project has been put on hold for now.

Liaison with Other Groups

As a result of the Section's Workshop on Differential Pricing held during the IFLA Conference in Stockholm in 1990, a committee consisting of representatives from IFLA, the Publishers Liaison Commit tee has been formalized. The committee is chaired by Graham Cornish, Programme Officer for the UAP Core Programme. IFLA representatives include the Chairs of the Division of Collections and Services, the Standing Committees on Acquisition and Exchange and Serial Publications. The committee held its first meeting at the Havana Conference and intends to meet each year during the IFLA Conference.

Future Conferences

Istanbul 1995

The Standing Committee members decided to take advantage of its open programme theme of the 1994 Conference ("Social Change: The Effects on Librarians' Abilities to Acquire Materials") and carry it i nto the Istanbul Conference. This time, however, the focus will be on the changes found in acquiring material from Eastern Europe. In order to further discussion and audience participation, the Stand ing Committee proposes presenting this as a workshop. The title for the workshop is "East-West-East" and will be coordinated by Standing Committee member Michael McLaren Turner (UK). The Section will join other Sections and Round Tables of the Division in presenting an open programme with a unifying theme. The overall intent of the programme is to trace access to material from the acquisitions p rocess through document delivery and interlending in a changing environment. In addition, the SC, along with the Division, hopes to demonstrate that the Division's units are linked by common interest s.

Beijing 1996

Doa Biblarz (USA) suggested adapting a programme developed at Cornell University (USA) on "Building the Electronic Library". The programme would focus on the overall philosophy and key organizational and service elements needed for such a library. Emphasis would be on a detailed explanation of the practical issues to be resolved in mainstreaming electronic publications and how to approach the va rious issues involved. The topic could be broadly defined (thus could include a number of co-sponsors) or more narrowly defined (thus could be more contained and sponsored by several of the Division' s Sections).

Havana Meetings

Open Session

Three papers were presented at the Section's open meeting. The programme was well attended (the number of attendees estimated at 100).



Problèmes rencontrées pour obtenir la littérature grise by MARIE-CLAIRE DEBACKERE
Abstract
The acquisition of grey literature raises a great many problems for information specialists. After describing this type of literature, its numerous sources and its volume, the principal initiatives t aken on the national or international level with the intention of facilitating access to grey literature are explained. Mention is also made of the possibilities that may be offered by new technologi es such as databases.



The New Economic Situation and Its Impact on Foreign Acquisitions in Major Russian Libraries by GALINA A. KISKOVSKAYA
Abstract
As the Russian economy moves towards a market economy, many of the previously centralized methods of acquiring information have changed. Interlibrary loan which has played an important role previousl y is also facing many problems such as unreliable mail, lack of funds to pay both mailing and/or the cost of copying. Three underlying aspects of materials exchange in Russia (purchase, international exchange, and donations) are examined as they existed in the recent past and as they are evolving today. The paper concludes by describing the growing recognition of the necessity of resource shari ng.



The New Economic Situation and Its Impact on the Acquisitions Policy and Methods in Russian Libraries by TATIANA V. ERSHOVA

Abstract
This paper presents the collapse picture of the supercentralized system of documents and information delivery in the former Soviet Union. It describes dramatic changes in the national library collect ions caused by the absence of a full-value legal deposit law, the disintegration of the central book collectors network, the lack of traditional hard currency allocations for the acquisitions of the most important foreign publications, the unreliability of the new market mechanism, the fading of the national and international book exchanges. The report also provides statistical data on and quali tative analysis of the current and retrospective collection development activities in the major Russian research and public libraries.