IN THIS DOCUMENT:

Membership

Executive Board

Professional Board

IFLA Headquarters Staff

61st IFLA Council and General Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 20-26 August 1995

Future Conferences

Projects

Publications

Grants and Prizes

Relations with other Organizations

Acknowledgments

IFLA Annual Report 1995

This report reflects only the major items of IFLA's activities in 1995. Fuller reports on the activities of IFLA's professional groups can be found in the reports of the Core Programmes in the IFLA Journal or in IFLA Annual 1995, to be published by K.G. Saur in July 1996.

1. Membership

2. Executive Board

Before the elections during the Istanbul Council 1995, the Executive Board was composed as follows:

• Robert Wedgeworth (USA), President
• Russell Bowden (UK), First Vice-President
• Marta Terry (Cuba), Second Vice-President
• Warren Horton (Australia), Treasurer
• Ekaterina U. Genieva (Russia)
• Robert D. Stueart (USA)
• Sun Beixin (China)
• Eeva-Maija Tammekann (Finland)
• Ian Johnson (UK), ex officio, Chair of the Professional Board

After elections in Istanbul, the composition was as follows:

• Robert Wedgeworth (USA), President
• Marta Terry (Cuba), First Vice-President
• Ekaterina U. Genieva (Russia), Second Vice-President
• Warren Horton (Australia), Treasurer
• Christine Deschamps (France)
• Bfrge Sfrensen (Denmark)
• Robert D. Stueart (USA)
• Sun Beixin (China)
• Sally McCallum (USA), ex officio, Chair of the Professional Board

The Executive Board met three times during the report period, and following the tradition begun in April 1993, also held a joint meeting with the Professional Board in April 1995. As the policy making body of IFLA, the Executive Board took action on the following:

• Accepted as new Association Members: Russian Library Association, Canadian Association of Research Libraries; Canadian Council of Library Schools, Association of Danish Public Library Managers, Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees in Denmark, Macao Information and Management Association; Association for School and Public Libraries in Chile

• Appointed Members to Executive Board Committees. To help strengthen the involvement and cooperation of EB members between meetings and to help sharpen the focus on various topics, the EB continued the following EB Committees with new appointments:
  1. Membership Development Committee, chaired by Ekaterina Genieva with Christine Deschamps and Sun Beixin as members;
     
  2. Conference Planning Committee, chaired by Robert Stueart with Sally McCallum and Bfrge Sfrensen as members; and
     
  3. Executive Officers Committee, chaired by Robert Wedgeworth with Marta Terry and Warren Horton as members. Since all EB members could be reached by e-mail, work could more easily be carried out between meetings.

• Met with representatives of Core Programme hosts and the Core Programme Directors during the Istanbul Conference to discuss cooperation with IFLA and the hosting institutions, and projects planned or undertaken by the Core Programmes; approved and allocated funding to the Core Programmes for 1996; also discussed, how IFLA could be more effective in bringing programmes to regions; solicited views on the Medium-Term Programme and the Long Term Plan and priorities for these. Discussions were also held on how the Core Programmes could contribute to IFLANET.

• Held a meeting with library association directors and Presidents during the Istanbul Conference, attended by more than 100 participants. The meeting was designed to exchange views on IFLA's products and services, and to learn what IFLA could do to support its members. The meeting will be a regular feature of IFLA Conferences in Council years. Hospitality for the 1995 meeting was offered by the Istanbul Organizing Committee, which arranged for a dinner at Topkapi Palace followed by a concert.

• Appointed Heinz Fuchs (Germany) as a new member of the Editorial Committee of IFLA Journal

• Agreed that IFLA Journal would be issued 6 times a year beginning in 1997, and welcomed with enthusiasm the new format, in A4 size.

• Approved on a trial basis a 6th sub-region for Africa, to be formally approved by Council in 1997

• Approved the budget for 1996. The budget for 1996 reflected the dues increase approved by Council 1995 from NLG 600 to NLG 750 for institutional members. It also included a new line item for the development of IFLANET, since IFLANET was a fundamental service to IFLA and its members, and its development was part of IFLA marketing, public relations and membership services. The budget also provided for the continued funding of meetings of Regional Standing Committees, and for ungoing activities in the area of membeship development.

• Approved with satisfaction the progress made with IFLANET. IFLA's close cooperation with a sponsor, SilverPlatter Inc. resulted in the establishment of the electronic communications network, IFLANET, coordinated by the UDT Core Programme in 1994. During 1995 discussions with the UDT Core Programme it was agreed that the UDT Core Programme would be responsible for IFLANET for the near future and that UDT would assume tasks previously undertaken by SilverPlatter until a measure of self-sufficiency could be obtained within IFLA HQ. UDT has prepared guidelines to define the roles and responsibilities of the UDT staff, IFLA HQ and IFLA Officers. IFLANET has greatly facilitated IFLA's impact in information exchange, and is of particular relevance in involving those who are not able to attend IFLA Conferences on a regular basis. In addition to conference papers posted to IFLANET, it also contains the annual reports of IFLA's professional units, progress reports on projects, information on future conferences, and other IFLA documents. For the future, electronic documents and electronic exhibits would be considered as well as specific listservs.

• Reaffirmed its committment to holding annual IFLA Conferences

• Approved the revision of IFLA's Conference Manual. The revised Manual is applicable to hosts of the 1997 through 2000 IFLA Conferences, and requires a greater percentage of revenue from registration fees, and a percentage of the revenue from exhibitions. IFLA HQ would play a more prominent role in providing relevant databases, and soliciting for exhibitors.

• Accepted the invitations from the Thai Library Association and the Israel Library Association to hold the 1999 and 2000 IFLA Conferences in Bangkok and Jerusalem respectively

• Established an ad hoc Committee on Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (CAIFE). Following a call to all association members to nominate persons for CAIFE, the Executive Board selected 30 persons, who would ensure geographical coverage and expertise. The Committee is charged with gathering membership opinion, reviewing expert advice and then advising IFLA as to how it should implement its commitment to access to information and freedom of expression. CAIFE is expected to complete its work and report to Council in 1997. Formal meetings will be scheduled during the Beijing Conference 1996, one of which will be an Open Forum at which conference delegates may pose questions to the Committee and discuss its work.

• Approved action planned by the Membership Development Committee. The Committee would give special attention to Africa and to actions that could be taken in Africa; it would develop a more aggressive campaign for regions of the world where there were no IFLA members; and would develop partnership strategies between libraries in developed and developing countries. In conjunction with the hosts of the 1995 Conference held in Istanbul, approved free membership for selected libraries in Turkey and the Turkish Republics. Other regional areas will be focused upon in conjunction with the 1996 and 1997 IFLA Conferences.

• Developed IFLA's action plan on copyright. The EB reviewed policy developments reported by IFLA's Copyright Advisor, Sandy Norman, and prepared IFLA position papers on these developments.

• Continued its guest lecture series. In 1995 the guest lecture, delivered by Frances d'Souza, Executive Director of Article 19, focused on access to information and freedom of expression, and will be continued in 1996, with a final report to be delivered during Council in 1997, with a policy action proposal defining what IFLA should do.

3. Professional Board

Before the elections in Istanbul, the composition of the Professional Board, made up of the Chairs of each of the Divisions (or a designated representative), plus a Chair elected from the outgoing PB members was:

• Ian M. Johnson (UK), Chair
• John Willemse (South Africa), General Research Libraries
• Nancy D. Anderson (USA), Special Libraries
• Sissel Nilsen (Norway), Libraries Serving the General Public
• Ross Bourne (UK), Bibliographic Control
• Ulrich Montag (Germany), Collections and Services
• Sally H. McCallum (USA), Management and Technology and Vice-Chair
• Maxine Rochester (Australia), Education and Research
• Maria Elena Zapata (Venezuela), Regional Activities.

The Professional Board's composition after the Istanbul elections:

• Sally McCallum (USA), Chair
• John Willemse (South Africa, General Research Libraries
• Edward Valauskas (USA), Special Libraries
• Sissel Nilsen (Norway), Libraries Serving the General Public
• Ross Bourne (UK), Bibliographic Control
• Marjorie Bloss (USA), Collections and Services
• Ralph Manning (Canada), Management and Technology
• Steffen Rückl (Germany), Education and Research
• A.P. Gakhar (India), Regional Activities.

During the report period the Professional Board:

• Assigned specific tasks to PB members. In an effort to divide more evenly the workload among Professional Board members, continued to assign specific tasks to PB members, resulting in more efficient meetings of the Professional Board. The tasks assigned were: Core Programme liaisons (Ms Nilsen for ALP; Mr Gakhar for PAC; Mr Bourne for UAP; Ms Bloss for UBCIM; and Mr Manning for UDT); Publications Committee (Steffen Rückl); Financial Officer (Mr Willemse); Conference Liaison (Mr Valauskas).

• Approved the theme for the Copenhagen Pre-session Seminar: "Bridging Information Gaps through Technology" and appointed members to the planning committee

• Continued planning for a new IFLA/ICA PAC focal point in Africa.

• Sponsored a meeting for the former IFLA Team of Interpreters. IFLA's team of interpreters had been funded by a grant from the W.H. Wilson Foundation for five years to help alleviate the cost of interpretation on the budgets of conference organizers. When the grant came to an end in 1993, the PB set up a small working group composed of some members from the former team to help develop guidelines for future organizers on providing SI services during IFLA Conferences.

• Developed the professional programme for the Istanbul Conference. Reviewed 86 full-text papers to select papers for presentation at the contributed papers session for the Istanbul Conference, and prepared a short-list of 15 papers from which seven were selected; after the conference reviewed comments evaluating the Istanbul Conference and made recommendations for improving the professional programme at future conferences

• Prioritized and allocated project funds to IFLA's professional units; reviewed projects undertaken by the professional units for the past three years, and if progress had not been made, agreed to abandon them and request the return of monies advanced

• Began an evaluation of the work and performance of Sections and Round Tables to assess their levels of activity and overlap; IFLA's professional groups have begun with a self-evaluation considering such items as attendance at programme meetings; availability of translations, timeliness of reports and dissemination of project results and how they contributed to the Medium-Term Programme

• Ensured cooperation between Divisions, Sections and Round Tables with projects of the Core Programmes

• Continued to promote the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto through a series of articles in national and international journals, and by arranging translations of the Manifesto through National UNESCO Commissions

• Prioritized projects to be submitted to the UNESCO Participation Programme for 1996/97.

• Held a training session for new officers in Istanbul to acquaint them with their responsibilities; topics covered included financial reports, annual reports, correspondence, project proposals and monitoring, planning of conference sessions, recruitment and external representation

• Set up a Working Group on Literacy. Although sympathetic to the establishment of a new Core Programme on Literacy, agreed first to begin with a Working Group on Literacy and selected members for the WG;

• Approved the work plans of the Core Programmes at a meeting held during the Istanbul Conference with the Core Programme Directors and Officers.

• Reviewed progress made on UNESCO contracts and made proposals for contracts for the next biennium

• Continued to develop mechanisms for cooperation with other international bodies working in related fields

• Approved the terms of reference for the new Section on Reading and its work plan, which will also include cultural literacy, illiteracy and new ways of dealing with reading developments

• Discontinued the Round Table on Children's Literature Documentation Centres. The work of the group will be carried out by the Round Table on Reading

• Approved name changes for the Section on Acquisition and Exchange to the Section on Acquisition and Collection Development; and for the Round Table on Audiovisual Media to the Round Table on Audiovisual and Multimedia to reflect their larger scope of activities

• Approved the plenary speaker for Beijing 1996, Mr Fei Xiaotong, a world renowned researcher on information provision to rural areas

4. IFLA Headquarters Staff

IFLA Headquarters staff during the report period were Leo Voogt, Secretary General; Winston Roberts, Professional Coordinator; Carol Henry, Executive Officer; Jos de Block, Secretary to the Professional Coordinator; Hanny Duijevestijn, Administrative Assistant; Sophie Felföldi, Office Manager; Theresa Stanton, Publications Assistant; Dini Verschoor, Financial Assistant; and Daphne Vlot, Membership Officer.

5. 61st IFLA Council and General Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 20-26 August 1995

The theme, "Libraries of the Future" attracted an attendance of 2639 delegates from 104 countries, a record number of countries for an IFLA Conference. The hospitality for which Turkey is well known, also played a part in the attendance figures, our hosts sponsoring five persons from each of the five Turkish Republics, and offering free registration to many Third World participants. For the first time IFLA welcomed participants from Mongolia (20 in total) and the largest number of delegates from the former Soviet Union (200+). In the 65 open sessions and 18 workshops, a total of 205 papers were presented. IFLA Officers, responsible for obtaining translations into IFLA languages, arranged for 43 translations into French, 23 into Spanish, 21 into Russian, 20 into English, and 20 into German. The Turkish organizers are preparing translations of all papers into Turkish. Talat S. Halman, Professor and Chair in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature at New York University, and in 1971 Turkey's first Minister of Culture, who also established the Ministry, delivered the Plenary address, "From Babylon to Librespace". The conference also began a series of discussions and presentations on the worldwide dimensions of freedom of expression issues. As Guest Lecturer, Frances D'Souza, Executive Director of Article 19 based in London, presented a paper entitled, "IFLA: A Force for Free Expression: Defending Free Expression Is Everyone's Business". In his Presidential Address, "Beyond the Limits of Time and Space", IFLA's President, Robert Wedgeworth, reminded the audience that the most dramatic change faced by the library community was the rapid pace of technological change stimulated by telecommunications and the existence of international computer networks, and highlighted what IFLA was doing to address this change.

A Pre-Session Seminar on the theme, "Influencing the Decision-Makers: Impact Strategies for Libraries in Developing Countries" was held in Ankara, 14-18 August 1995. Its 40 participants were invited from 22 countries. Organized under the auspices of the Round Table on Management, its intention was to assemble a number of "rising star" librarians from developing countries in an intense week-long workshop and to provide them with the necessary skills in presenting to decision-makers in their home country the argument that investment in libraries has a positive effect on national development. Support for the Seminar was received from UNESCO, the DSE, and the host country.

During the Council meetings elections were held for five seats on the Executive Board: candidates were: Abad Hiraldo (Spain), Warren Horton (Australia), Christine Deschamps (France), Ross Shimmon (UK), Bfrge Sfrensen (Denmark), Robert Stueart (USA), and Marta Terry (Cuba). Those elected were: Mr Horton, Ms Deschamps, Mr Sfrensen, Mr Stueart, and Ms Terry. In the absence of opposing candidates, Mr Wedgeworth was re-elected President for a final term of two years. Council also approved an increase in dues from NLG 600 to NLG 750 for Institutional Members; approved the Executive Board's reaffirmation that IFLA would continue to hold annual conferences; and approved the exclusion from membership of those members which were more than three years in arrears with dues. Council also elected Russell Bowden (First Vice-President of IFLA, an Honorary Fellow of the Federation.

6. Future Conferences

During the Istanbul Conference, Mr Wedgeworth and Mr Voogt met with delegations from Beijing, 1996; Copenhagen, 1997; and Amsterdam, 1998. The President and Secretary General travelled to Bangkok and Jerusalem in November 1995 for site visits before the invitations to host the 1999 IFLA Council and General Conference and the 2000 IFLA General Conference were accepted by the Executive Board. Although no decisions were taken, they also met during the Istanbul Conference with delegations from library associations in countries which were interested in hosting future conferences.

7. Projects

The 60+ projects undertaken by the professional groups during the report period and funded by the Professional Board budget are noted in IFLA Annual 1995. Other funded activities include seminars and meetings, and UNESCO projects and are recorded elsewhere in this report or in those of the Core Programmes.

• NCLIS (National Commission for Library and Information Science). The US Government, through NCLIS, offered support for a symposium on copyright issues for library and information services, to be held before the Beijing IFLA Conference; an expert seminar to be held in Southern Africa on networking of public libraries in developing countries (1996); and support for a meeting of the Directors of the regional centres for Preservation and Conservation, to be held before the Budapest Symposium on Preservation and Conservation in August 1995.

8. Publications

In addition to the newsletters issued by the majority of IFLA's Core Programmes, Divisions, Sections and Round Tables and the promotional brochures of the professional groups, many in two or more languages, the following periodicals and monographs were published by IFLA (for ALP, PAC, UAP, UBCIM, and UDT, see their annual reports elsewhere in this issue of IFLA Journal).

Periodical Publications

• IFLA Journal, Vol. 21, was issued quarterly in February, May, August and November in the new A4 format, which was well received by the membership. Issue No. 3 is traditionally a special theme issue. In 1995 the theme was "The UNESCO 'Memory of the World Programme'" with David Clements and George Boston serving as guest editors. Beginning with volume 21, the Journal also carries a column, "From Patron Sponsors" in which IFLA sponsors are offered the opportunity to announce their products and services. IFLA's publisher also provided 600+ offprints of the news section of IFLA Journal, so that Standing Committee members received individual copies

• IFLA Annual 1994 was issued in July 1995 and contained the annual reports of the Sections and Round Tables. It gave an overview of the 1994 IFLA General Conference, plus abstracts of papers presented during the open programme meetings of the professional groups. Speeches delivered during the opening and closing ceremonies and the Presidential and Plenary Addresses were also included. The 1995 IFLA Annual will be the last one published and it will be replaced by a biennial Council report, issued in 1997.

Monographs in the series, IFLA Publications

• The Image of the Library and Information Profession: How We See Ourselves: An Investigation, by Hans Prins and Wilco de Gier for the Round Table on the Management of Library Associations, No. 71

• World Guide to Library, Archive and Information Science Education, edited by Josephine Riss Fang, Robert Stueart and Kulthida Tuamsuk, No. 72/73

• Bibliotecas de arte: arquitectura y diseño: perspectivas actuales/Art, Architecture and Design Libraries: Current Trends, No. 74 edited by Lluisa Pons and Conxita Sangenis for the Section of Art Libraries

The series, IFLA Professional Reports

• School Librarians: Guidelines for Competency Requirements, by Sigrun Klara Hannesdottir under the auspices of the Section on School Libraries, No. 41

• The Impact of Electronic Data Interchange on Library Operations: Implementation Issues, by Craig Farley, IFLA Robert Vosper Fellow, Class of 1992, No. 42

• Proceedings of the Pan-African Conference on the Preservation and Conservation of Library Materials, Nairobi, Kenya, 21-25 June 1993, No. 43

• Actes de la conférence panafricaine sur la préservation et la conservation de matériels de bibliothèques et d'archives, Nairobi, Kenya, 21-25 juni 1993, No. 44

• Richtlinien für Bibliotheksdienstleistungen für Gehörlose, No. 45 (German translation of No. 24)

• Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners, 2nd revised edition, No. 46 by Frances E. Kaiser under the auspices of the Section of Library Services to Disadvantaged Persons

• Richtlinien zur bibliotheksversorgung van Häftlingen, No. 47 (German translation of No. 46)

• New Ways of Information Delivery and their Impact on Libraries: Problems Solved or Problems Multiplied?, edited by Ulrich Montag for the Section on Acquisition and Exchange, No. 48

Other titles

• SSID Bibliography of Social Science Information and Documentation, published by the Helsinki School of Economics Printing Office for the Section of Social Science Libraries

• The Education and Training of Librarians in the U.S.S.R., papers from an IFLA workshop held during the 57th IFLA Council and General Conference, August 1991. Published by the Moscow State Institute of Culture for the Section on Education and Training

• Education for Librarianship at the Grassroots Level: Papers Presented at a Pre-Session Seminar held in Nairobi, 13-18 August 1984 (issued on disk by IFLA Headquarters for the Section on Education and Training)

Publications Committee

Following the elections in Istanbul, the members of the Publications Committee are Christine Deschamps, Executive Board representative, replacing Russell Bowden, and Steffen Rückl, Professional Board representative, replacing John Willemse. Leo Voogt is an ex officio member. Other members will be coopted when necessary. The Committee meetings are scheduled to coincide with Board meetings held at Headquarters.

9. Grants and Prizes

The juries appointed by the Executive Board selected the recipients of the Hans-Peter Geh Grant for Conference Participation (Aleksey Kassatkin, Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow, Russian Federation, who attended the 61st IFLA Council and General Conference, Istanbul, and who will work on establishing a Russian branch of IFLANET) and the Gustav Hoffman Study Grant (Ms Patricia Marchiori, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil) who studied curriculum development, didactic strategies and applications of new information technologies in schools of library science in the UK and the Netherlands). Since applications for the Guust van Wesemael Literacy Prize, which is awarded biennially, were not of the necessary qualitiy, the jury agreed to reexamine the terms of reference and not to award the Prize in 1995.

10. Relations with other Organizations

UNESCO

During the report period the following contracts were signed with UNESCO and were executed by the Core Programmes or IFLA Sections and Round Tables under the close supervision of the Professional Coordinator:

401.724.4

To organize a five-day seminar entitled "Information for Development: Influencing the Decision-Makers" to take place in Ankara, Turkey preceding the 61st IFLA Council and General Conference.

401.728.5

On the basis of existing studies and work already accomplished in the field of twinning, to set up a system of records of libraries, mainly public libraries, wishing to establish a twinning relationship. The objective of this system is to promote and facilitate the establishment of twinning arrangements. The database will include basic information on the library, such as its size, specific areas of interest, areas of cooperation sought, financial details, etc.

401.729.5

To follow up the recommendations of the UNESCO-sponsored workshop held in December 1994 to examine the legal restrictions affecting access to audiovisual archives by preparing a study of existing forms of agreement between institutions which conserve audiovisual records and the respective donor or depositing organizations.

FID, ICA, IPA, and CDNL

During the Istanbul Conference representatives of FID, ICA and CDNL met with the Executive Board and UNESCO representatives. IFLA continued to cooperate closely with FID on an implementation plan for the Tokyo Resolution: Strategic Alliance of International Information Organizations to Serve Better the World Community. Consultations with FID and ICA are held on a regular basis and plans are in place for additional joint projects in 1996. ICA, which will be holding its annual conference immediately following IFLA's in Beijing, the first time the two organizations have met at the same time in the same place, is planning some joint meetings with IFLA. During the report period ICA and IFLA cooperated on two UNESCO projects, 1) the preparation of a world list of library collections that have suffered irreplacable damage since 1900; and 2) preparation of a world list of major current activities aimed at the safeguarding of the documentary heritage.

Representation at Meetings of other Organizations

January 27-29
London, UK. Joint Technical Symposium 95, organized by IFLA, FIAF, FIAT, IASA, and ICA, Catherine Pinion, Chair of the Round Table on Audiovisual Media

February 2-3
London, UK. 15th International Round Table on Audiovisual Records, Catherine Pinion

May 3-5
Paris, France. Second Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the "Memory of the World" Programme. IFLA observers: Ian Johnson; Marie-Therese Varlamofff, Winston Roberts and Jan Lyall

May 16-20
Tunis, Tunisia. ICA Interregional Conference on Archival Development, Kay Raseroka, Chair, Regional Section for Africa

May 22-24
Mexico City. WIPO Worldwide Symposium on Copyright, Sandy Norman

May 23-27
St Petersburg. National Library of Russia. International Seminar on Libraries and Modern Societies, Leo Voogt

May 28-June 1
Brisbane, Australia. Asia-Pacific Library Conference. Warren Horton represented IFLA; Winston Roberts delivered paper

June 10-17
Ukraine. 2nd International Conference "Crimea 95", Winston Roberts.

June 14-18
Calgary, Canada. 50th annual conference of Canadian Library Association, Robert Wedgeworth

June 22-28
Chicago, Illinois. ALA Annual Conference, Robert Wedgeworth

July 17-21
Worchester, UK. 24th Annual IASL Conference, Blanche Woolls

September 4-8
Geneva. 5th session of Committee of Experts on Possible Protocol to the Berne Convention, Sandy Norman

September 5-9
Tokyo. UNESCO Division of Basic Education. 12th Collective Consultation of NGOs on "Literacy for All", Françoise Danset

September 8-9
Paris. 22nd meeting of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for PGI, Winston Roberts

September 25-30
Petropawlowsk-Kamchasky, Russia. International Conference on "Library Services to Culturally Isolated Populations:", E. Genieva

Oct.25-Nov.16
Paris, France. UNESCO General Conference, Robert Wedgeworth and Winston Roberts (8-11 November)

December 4-7
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. UNESCO meeting on proposal for an international network of schools of library and information sciences (SLISNET), Ian Johnson

11. Acknowledgments

The support of many of the funding bodies - UNESCO, the US Government through NCLIS, the French Government through the Ministry of Culture, DSE (Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Entwicklung), the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sciences, the H.W. Wilson Foundation, SIDA (Swedish International Development Authority), BIEF (Banque internationale d'information sur les Etats francophones), - has been noted throughout this report. Not to be forgotten is the support given by the National Libraries (of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wales) for the development of the Core Programmes. To the list of national libraries contributing to the Core Programmes is the National Library of Turkey whose support is gratefully acknowledged. IFLA's appreciation to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands), the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Die Deutsche Bibliothek, the National Library of Canada and Uppsala University, Sweden for hosting IFLA Headquarters and the Core Programmes is gratefully recorded. A vote of thanks is also extended to the support of the Deutsche Bücherei (Leipzig), the Biblioteca Nacional (Caracas), the Library of Congress (USA), the National Diet Library (Tokyo), and the National Library of Australia (Canberra) for hosting the Regional Centres for the Core Programme for PAC. IFLA's thanks is also recorded to the Bibliothèque de l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal; the Thai Library Association, Bangkok; and FEBAB, Sao Paulo, Brazil for hosting the Regional Offices for Africa, Asia and Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

IFLA's Patron Sponsors (Belser Wissenschaftlicher Dienst (Germany), Lange & Springer Scientific Booksellers (Germany), K.G. Saur Verlag (Germany); Swets & Zeitlinger BV (Netherlands); GEAC Computers Benelex BV (Netherlands); SilverPlatter Information Ltd. (UK); B.G. Blackwell Ltd. (UK); Contract Agencies Ltd. (UK), Apple Computer, Inc. (USA); Silver Platter, Inc. (USA); H.W. Wilson Foundation (USA); Inmagic Inc. (USA)) must also be acknowledged for the funds or support in kind provided, which were used for automation, publications, and professional activities. Thanks are also accorded to IFLA's Sustaining and Basic Sponsors.

During the report period the Dutch Public Library Centre, the Sveriges Allmänna Bibliothekforening, and the National Library of Sweden sponsored members in the Netherlands Antilles, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mauritania, Malawi, Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, and Sierra Leone. The Margreet Wijnstroom Fund for Regional Library Development was used for the dues for members from Ethiopia, Namibia, Romania, Seychelles, and Suriname. Seven Honorary Members or other individuals sponsored the personal affiliation of persons from Cuba, Mexico, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Surinam and Vietnam.

Also to be recorded is the support given to the Istanbul Conference Organizers by many commercial firms (including Apple Computers, K.G. Saur Verlag, Kluwer Academic Publishers, SMI, Swets Subscription Agency), and local institutions for the IFLA 1995 Council and General Conference and the surrounding satellite events.

Finally, IFLA's gratitude is extended to all IFLA officers and their parent institutions without whose voluntary services much of IFLA's activities could not have been realized.