Newsletter of the Section on Document Delivery and Interlending

January 1998

A note from the incoming Chair and Secretary

In addition to the minutes of the two Standing Committee meetings, there is a thorough report of the initial meeting of a new Discussion Group on Reference Work, which is being sponsored by the Section. Also included is a financial report and description of projects that we hope will give members a fuller understanding of how the Section’s funds are budgeted and spent.

Not wishing to be entirely focused on the past, we have included a section on Recent News as reported by members, plus a preliminary schedule of Section activities planned for the next General Conference in Amsterdam. We hope these will be regular features in future issues.

The next issue of the newsletter is intended to reach you just before the Amsterdam conference and focus on upcoming events. It will include the agenda for the Standing Committee meetings, background material on projects and plans that should be of interest even to those not going to Amsterdam, a profile of one of our new Standing Committee colleagues, and a more extensive news section.

Taken together, we hope the two issues will contain everything you will want or need to know about the Section’s activities during the year. Thanks to the efforts of our information coordinator, Una Gourlay, the entire publication will also be available over the Internet.

We would be grateful for your suggestions for the newsletter, and especially for any news that you would like to share with colleagues. Please let us know your ideas.

Agneta Lindh,
Chair

Chris Wright,
Secretary

Recent News from Members

• The Section’s membership is growing fast. 1996:155, 1997:162, and 1998:172. We are still the largest section inside our division which shows that the interest in DOCDEL is thriving.

• IFLA's Committee on Copyright and Other Legal Matters (see description in SC minutes and UAP News) will include two of our sections members: Jim Neal and Elena Eronina.

Loan Star: Mary Jackson

Based on information gathered from a two-year study of borrowing and lending among college and research libraries in the U.S. and Canada, the article includes a list of eleven characteristics (such as individual workstations for staff and no limit on patron requests) common to the top-performing borrowing and lending operations in North America. Arguing that libraries will have to adapt new methods in order to succeed in an era when access is equated with ownership, Mary concludes that "The ILL process as it exists today may not be financially sustainable for libraries in the long run."

Nordic ILL Conference

LC and OCLC to Model Electronic IFLA Voucher Scheme

Preliminary Schedule for the Amsterdam Conference

IFLA General Conference,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Friday, August 14 - Friday, August 21, 1998

Friday:

Coordinating Board

Saturday:

Standing Committee I, Regional Caucuses

Sunday:

Discussion Group on Reference Work

Tuesday or Wednesday:

Open Session: Electronic Publishing and the Transformation of Document Delivery &Interlending

Thursday:

Full-day workshop on Document Delivery and Interlending in Developing Countries

Friday:

Standing Committee II, Coordinating Board

Unscheduled:

Half-day workshop on Union Catalogs, together with UAP and Serial Publications

Report to the Standing Committee from the Chair

From the Chair, August 30, 1997

We have published an Annual report for 1995/96 which, thanks to our information coordinator, Una Gourlay, is available on IFLANET. In addition to completing the Conference Evaluation Form, we had to fill in a questionnaire as to the work of our Section drawn up by the Professional Board. I have also written a report on the Beijing Conference for the information of my colleagues in Germany.

The Secretary and I have again cooperated very closely during the last twelve months and I would like to seize this opportunity to thank her for all the work she has done. We have exchanged nearly 130 e-mails and faxes and were able to meet in Copenhagen in March on the occasion of a coordination group meeting of our project. This gave us the opportunity to discuss among other things the activities of this conference, the two Standing Committee Meetings, the two programme sessions and the poster session.

I would like to thank Mary Jackson, David Kohl, Niels Mark, Ruth Kondrup and Kristine Abelsnes for the work they have invested in this year's programme. Our Section has also been actively involved in the 5th International Interlending and Document Supply Conference which took place from 24-29 August as a satellite meeting of this conference.

We have published two Newsletters - one in January and the second in July - thanks again to Agneta's assistance and the helpful staff at the Royal Library. And thanks to Una Gourlay, our Information coordinator, we also have an electronic version on IFLANET. As to electronic information about our section in general I am proud to say that our web-site is in an excellent state and my tribute again goes to Una and the administrators at the National Library of Canada.

As the outgoing chairman I dare say that also the future officers of our Section will certainly be interested in hearing from the Standing Committee Members in between the conferences and receiving articles and news items for inclusion in our Newsletter. I still believe that the Newsletter is an important source of information for our members and jointly with the electronic version the external presentation of our Section. We now send copies to 165 members around the world (nine more than last year) and continue to be the biggest section in Division V.

I hope that you as Standing Committee members have felt well informed during this last year by our e-mails and the information on the Internet. We have tried to do our best, but as always it is certainly possible to improve.

One of the important items for the future work of our Section that we have tried to discuss with you was the new Medium Term Programme. Most of the work is done now including the Action Plan for the next two years. The few points which are still open will be discussed later on in this meeting. The new MTP 1998-2001 is due to be published early next year.

As to publications I should not forget to mention that the papers from our workshop in Beijing on charging for document delivery and interlending have been edited by Sara Gould and published by the UAP Core Programme. On behalf of the Section I would like to thank Graham Cornish for the initiative and Sara for the work involved. The current projects of our section are doing well, although we had unexpected problems with the release of funds for Mary Jackson's project on interlibrary loan protocols. We will hear about the state of the projects from the responsible persons later on in this meeting. There is a proposal for a further project from Graham Cornish which I am sure he will comment on during this meeting.

I am also happy to let you know that the Voucher Scheme, in which our Section has played an active role from the start continues to prosper. In April this year the Open Society Institute Regional Libraries Programme has purchased vouchers worth US$30,000 and distributed them to libraries in Bulgaria.

Since the last conference I have again worked as a translator for IFLA HQ and for our Section. I continue to be a member of the IFLA Journal Editorial Committee, an editorial adviser to "Interlending and Document Supply" (like other members of this Section) and have been newly appointed to the advisory committee of "Interlending and Document Delivery" an annual published in the United States, thanks to Mary Jackson.

In January this year I have been elected to the Chair of the German IFLA National Committee.

After 8 years I am an outgoing member of this Section and will also give up my post as Secretary to the Division.

Like last year I would like to invite you to let me know about your activities as Standing Committee members in spreading IFLA News or promoting the work of IFLA in general. So don't be shy or too modest. I know that there is something to include in my report.

Heinz Fuchs

Minutes of the first Standing Committee meeting, August 30, 1997

Section on Document Delivery and Interlending

Copenhagen, Saturday, August 30, 1997

Standing committee members present:

Kristine Abelsnes (Norway), Elena Eronina (Russia), Heinz Fuchs (Germany), Una Gourlay (USA), Lone Hansen (Denmark), Mary Jackson (USA), David Kohl (USA), James G. Neal (USA), Else Nilsen (Norway), Uwe Schwersky (Germany), Pentti Vattuainen (Finland), Chris Wright (USA)

Representative of UAP Core Programme/Office for International Lending:

Graham P. Cornish (Great Britain)

Observers:

Judith Greenaway (Australia), Carol Smale (Canada)

Convener of Discussion Group on General Reference Service:

Annsofie Oscarsson (Sweden)

Guests:

Wendy Bartlett (Austria),Peter Lor (South Africa), Edwige Mortyr, (Norway), Jacinta Wese (Kenya)

1. Approval of agenda

The chairman welcomed the members of the Standing Committee and the present observers and guests and everybody introduced themselves. The agenda was approved in the present form.

2. Approval of Minutes of SC Meetings in Beijing 1996

The minutes of the two standing committee meetings held during the last IFLA conference in Beijing were approved. They have been published in our Newsletter of January 1997, pp 6-10.

3. Business rising from the Minutes

None.

4. Chairman's report - Heinz Fuchs

The report will be found as a separate text. The chairman also gave a short account from the first meeting of the Coordinating Board. It was important that the new MTP's should be completed as soon as possible. A divisional Open Forum was suggested for the Bangkok conference and one idea was to cooperate with the Division for Regional Activities. The chairman expressed our gratitude towards Lone Hansen for inviting the Section to the Danish Library Authority for a reception the following day. Chris Wright gave a short and appreciative report from the 5th International Conference on Interlending and Document Delivery, held the week before in Aarhus. Several members from the committee had taken part in the conference.

5. Financial report - Agneta Lindh

The report which is preliminary will be found after the Chairman's report at the end of the minutes. It was approved by all SC members present. The section has still money left for the project "Document Delivery and Interlending in Developing countries". This project is now financed by the Danish and Norwegian Development Aid Organizations and it was discussed if the remaining money could be used in another way. One idea was to transfer it to the organizing committee for the 6th International Interlending Conference which will be held in Pretoria in two years. The matter will be taken up for discussion with IFLA Headquarters and the Professional Board.

6. Matters concerning the Amsterdam Conference

Two program ideas for Amsterdam were discussed. Jim Neal had prepared a short outline for a programme on the influence of electronic publishing on interlibrary lending and document delivery activities - Title: "Transformation of ILL". Proposed to be an Open Forum.

The section's project "Document Delivery and Interlending in Developing Countries" was suggested as a workshop. Responsible for the programme are Kristine Abelsnes and Lone Hansen. A presentation of the project to create a World Directory of Union Catalogues should take place during a special session in Amsterdam - or in Bangkok. Responsible for the presentation is Graham Cornish.

7. Report from the IFLA Office for International Lending and the UAP Programme

Graham Cornish decided to divide his report into two parts of which the first - a report of the year following the last conference was given at the first SC Meeting. The description of future plans and developments was postponed to the next meeting. Parts of the report is included in the UAP Newsletter which is regularly included in our section's Newsletter. The recent International Interlending Conference in Aarhus was a big success with participants from more countries than ever and especially from Developing Countries. The proceedings from the conference will be published in a couple of months. Graham Cornish also reported on projects from the IFLA and UAP Offices: "Visually Impaired People", "Twinning of Libraries" and the "Voucher scheme" which is now financially viable with 147 participating libraries in 27 countries. IFLA Office for Interlending has been responsible for the training of librarians from Ghana as a part of our section's project on "Document Delivery and Interlending in Developing Countries".

Agenda items 8 (Programme for 1999 conference in Bangkok) and 10 (Reports on our section's projects) were postponed to the SC meeting on Friday.

9. The Medium Term Programme 1998-2001

The new MTP was discussed. It was suggested that the goals which were not included in the planned programme for the next two years should be added to the Action Plan for 1998-2001. An additional project on copyright was suggested and formulated by Mary Jackson and Jim Neal.

11. Formation of a General Reference Discussion Group. - Annsofie Oscarsson.

The section had been asked by Annsofie Oscarsson from Umea university library in Sweden if it was willing to serve as an initial home for a new Discussion Group on General Reference work. The section was positive to the idea but felt that Reference issues should have their own place in IFLA's organization. After some discussion the section decided to support the creation of a General Reference Discussion Group temporarily affiliated with it, but without any financial obligation to the section. The matter of a proper home for this group should be discussed and evaluated during the Amsterdam and Bangkok conferences and brought back to the Coordinating Board of the Division for a decision in 1999.

12. Election of SC Chair and Secretary 1997-99

The Chairman informed the persons attending that only standing committee members present at the meeting who would be SC members during 1997-99 had voting rights. Agneta Lindh was the only candidate for the Chair and Chris Wright the only candidate for the post of Secretary. Both were elected by acclamation.

13. Resolutions

No resolutions.

14. Other business

Virginia Boucher had sent a message where she expressed her wish to retire as an observer to the section. Carol Smale from Canada was officially accepted as an observer.

Minutes of the second Standing Committee meeting, September 4, 1997

Section on Document Delivery and Interlending

Copenhagen, Thursday, September 4, 1997

Standing Committee Members present:

Kristine Abelsnes (Norway), Elena Eronina (Russia), Heinz Fuchs (Germany), Una Gourlay (USA), Lone Hansen (Denmark), Mary E. Jackson (USA), David Kohl (USA), Agneta Lindh (Sweden), James G. Neal (USA), Uwe Schwersky (Germany), Chris Wright (USA)

Representative of UAP Core Programme/Office for International Lending:

Graham Cornish (Great Britain), Sara Gould (Great Britain)

Observers:

Marjorie Bloss (USA), Judith Greenaway (Australia), Carol Smale (Canada)

Convener of the IFLA Discussion Group on Reference Work:

Annsofie Oscarsson (Sweden)

Guests:

Wendy Bartlett (Austria), Poul Erlandsen (Denmark), Shirley Huang (China), Ruth Kondrup (Denmark), Peter Lor (South Africa), Danielle Mincio (Switzerland), Edwige Mortyr (Norway), Birute Railiene (Lithuania)

Marjorie Bloss, Chair of Division 5, thanked the members of the Section for their willingness to support the Discussion Group on Reference Work. She stressed the fact that it was for a limited time and that a formal decision on the group's organizational creation should be made after two years. Annsofie Oscarsson also expressed her gratitude towards the Section for its support and gave a short report from the first meeting of the Discussion group where 32 participants from 18 countries were present.

Agenda Items continued from the first Standing Committee meeting:

Report from the IFLA Office for International Lending - Graham Cornish

Graham Cornish continued his report from the last SC Meeting and described future activities of the UAP and IFLA Office for International Lending. The Offices are involved in a couple of conferences and workshops this fall: 'Copyright exceptions' in Amsterdam in October, 'Grey Literature' also in Amsterdam and 'Electronic Management Systems' in London in November.
The planning of the next international ILL Conference - in Pretoria - had already started.
Publications in preparation were papers from the conferences in Zimbabwe, Ljubliana and Ghana and also last week's ILL conference in Aarhus.

The Voucher scheme has been accepted by the CDNL and Graham Cornish expressed his gratitude to the section for their support for the scheme through the years.

The project 'Twinning of Libraries' was quite successful but in need of more funding.

Graham Cornish also reported on a new IFLA committee reporting direct to EB on 'Copyright and other Legal Matters'.

Reports on the Section’s Projects:

Interlibrary Lending and Document Delivery in Developing Countries:

Ruth Kondrup (Denmark) gave a state of the art report from the Danish part of the project in Ghana which is very successful. A detailed report can be found on IFLANET. Kristine Abelsnes reported from the Norwegian part in Kenya where the project has met with unexpected problems. If they can't be solved another country might be chosen. Both projects were presented in a poster session during the conference in Copenhagen.

Expediting the Implementation of the ISO ILL Protocol:

Mary Jackson reported on the first part of this project. The development of a model presentation was successfully tested during the Copenhagen conference in the session 'The ILL Protocol Standard: Interlibrary Loan in an Open Networked Environment'. The project will continue and a workshop with 3 vendors is planned to demonstrate the use of the protocol at the Bangkok conference.

1. Continuation of Planning for Amsterdam Conference

   No changes were made in the planning made at the last SC meeting.

2. Planning for Bangkok Conference
   a) A full day workshop on training of specialists in Document Delivery and Interlending. Experiences from the Ghana project could be used as a model. Graham Cornish and his offices are responsible for the programme.

   b) A divisional Open Forum together with Division 8 (Regional Activities) on interlending and document supply in the Asia/Pacific region.

   c) As mentioned above, a workshop or poster session in cooperation with 3 vendors on the section's project on the ILL Protocols.

3. Feed-back on Copenhagen conference

   The comments on the conference were as a whole very positive.

4. Adoption of the new Medium-Term Programme

   The new MTP for the period 1998-2001 was adopted with the additions which were decided at the last meeting. The MTP can be found after the Minutes as a separate text.

5. Review of the Section's Project Plan

   Two new project ideas were put forward. One by Mary Jackson on packaging/mailing international loans and trans-border delivery services and the other by Graham Cornish on a list of symbols in lieu of words for answering. It was decided that Graham Cornish's project should be given priority when presenting the projects at the Coordinating Board of the Division. Another idea for a future project was to support the development of an 'electronic voucher.'

6. Other business

   On behalf of the whole Section the secretary thanked the outgoing Chairman, Heinz Fuchs for his excellent work and he was also elected observer of the Section.

Financial report and project descriptions for 1997-98

Funds = NLG (2 NLG = US $1.00)

Funds     Opening   Income Interest Spent   Balance   Requested
          Balance  from HQ  income  in 1997 10/27/97  for 1998    

Admin      ,105.85  495.00   90.11  1,618.81   72.15     72.15 Carryover
Expenses: 
Newsletter

Project:  2,693.71                  1,171.99 1,521.72  1,521.72 Carryover- 
ILDS in                                                         requested
Developing                                                      for ILDS 
Countries                                                       Pretoria

Project:    600.00                    600.00             600.00 Second year
Expediting                                                      of 2-year
ISO Protocol                                                    funding

Project:                                                 700.00 Approved 
ILL Response                                                    by CB 
Codes                                                           9/5/97

Totals    3,799.56   495.00  90.11   3,390.80 1,593.87                

Text of the Medium Term Program, 1998-2001

Section on Document Delivery and Interlending

Nature and Purpose

Objectives

Goals for 1998-2001

Studies and projects:

1. Optimize international access to document location information.
2. Monitor the impact of electronic publishing and other forms of automation on document delivery and ILL.
3. Monitor the impact of copyright and other legal matters on document delivery in all forms.
4. Develop principles and models in charging for document delivery and interlending.
5. Address the special problems of document delivery and interlending in developing countries.
6. Provide regional seminars and other forms of training for specialists in document delivery and interlending.
7. Training in meeting users needs (satisfying the user).
8. Develop and implement protocols and standards.
9. Develop statistical methods in document delivery and interlending.

Annex: Action Plan, 1998-1999

1. The project intends to gather information about the world's national union catalogues and is done in cooperation with the UAP Core Programme and the IFLA Sections on Serial Publications, Bibliography and the ISBN and ISSN International Centres.

2. The results of the survey are to be published on IFLANET and as a hard copy.

3. The presentation of the hard copy publication should take place during a special session at the IFLA Conference in Amsterdam or Bangkok. (Graham Cornish and UAP Office.)

Goal 2: Monitor the impact of electronic publishing and other forms of technology on document delivery and ILL.

1. Present a programme in Amsterdam on the topic of Electronic Publishing and the Transformation of Document Delivery and interlending. (Jim Neale)

2. Develop an action agenda as a result of the programme in Amsterdam.

3. Support the UAP Office in its efforts to create an electronic version of the voucher scheme.

Goal 3: Monitor the impact of copyright and other legal matters on document delivery in all forms.

1. Serve as an advocate for a balance in copyright issues by providing technical and specialist expertise to the new IFLA Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters. Raise issues regarding customs barriers, cultural exports, and disputed collections. (Graham Cornish, Jim Neale)

2. Monitor national developments and share with committee and other appropriate bodies.

3. Contribute articles to appropriate print and electronic resources.

Goal 4: Develop principles and models in charging for document delivery and ILL. (No action pending.)

Goal 5: Address the special problems of document delivery and interlending in developing countries.

1. Present intermediate results of the Section's project on "Document Delivery and Interlending in Developing Countries," which is conceived as a model project for future projects of a similar nature, by organizing a programme at the Amsterdam conference where African partners join Danish and Norwegian sponsors to provide an evaluation from both sides.

2. Because of the model character of the project, emphasis shall not only be put on the results but also on the way the results have been achieved. Spreading project management experience will be an important point.

3. The members of the Section will take care to make the project and its results known both nationally and internationally and in conferences and through publications.

Goal 6: Provide regional seminars and other forms of training for specialists in document delivery and interlending.

1. Arrange a training session for interlending specialists within the Bangkok conference in cooperation with the UAP Office.

2. Investigate the Standing Committee's ability to provide early financial support for the 6th International ILDS Conference in Pretoria, South Africa in 1999.

Goal 7: Training in meeting users' needs - satisfying the user.

(No action pending.)

Goal 8: Develop and implement protocols and standards.

1. Expedite the implementation of the ISO ILL Protocol by developing an IFLA-sponsored model presentation and resource packet for use in conferences, workshops and similar gatherings to promote the use of the ISO ILL Protocol 10160 and 10161. The responsibility for the project lies with Standing Committee Member Mary E. Jackson (USA).

2. The project includes the following steps:
   • development of the presentation and the resource packet
     
   • test of the presentation and the resource packet
     
   • promotion of materials in appropriate conferences and workshops

3. A presentation and one test of the material in the form of a poster session is planned for the Bangkok conference.

4. A workshop is planned for the Bangkok conference with 3 vendors demonstrating the ability to pass a request across dissimilar systems by using the protocol. (Mary Jackson.)

Goal 9: Develop statistical methods in document delivery and interlending.

(No action pending.)

Selections from the UAP Newsletter, October 1997

THE IFLA VOUCHER SCHEME

COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND OTHER LEGAL MATTERS

DOCUMENT SUPPLY FOR AFRICA

WORLD DIRECTORY OF UNION CATALOGUES

IMPRIMATUR (Intellectual Multimedia Property Rights Model And Terminology for Universal Reference)

COPEARMS (CO-ordinating Project for Electronic Authors' Rights Management Systems)

LIBRARY TWINNING

On the basis of its initial success the Office is seeking more funding as maintaining and adding to the database involves a considerable amount of staff time. If more time could be allocated to the project, not only would it improve the efficiency of the current management of the database but there is also huge potential for promoting it even further. Meanwhile, we shall be delighted to hear from any library interested in forming links with another library, particularly with one from a less developed country.

NEW PROJECTS FROM THE IFLA SECTION ON DOCUMENT DELIVERY & INTERLENDING

CONFERENCES:

The event was organized jointly by the IFLA Programme for Universal Availability of Publications (UAP), and the Central Technological Library, Ljubljana, and sponsored by the Slovenian Ministry of Science and Technology, Open Society Institute, British Embassy, Chamber of Economy of Slovenia, UMI, EBLIDA, EBSCO Subscription Services, and OCLC. The conference attracted around 90 delegates from 9 European countries. Delegates represented libraries, University Faculties of Information Science and of Economics, and commercial organizations.

The conference was split into 6 sessions: The Vital Role of the Library; Practical Experiences; Libraries and Economic Development; The Development of Infrastructure; Practical Ways to Succeed; and, Influencing the Future. The conference ended by compiling a list of recommendations for further action. A lot of the conference was devoted to discussing the changing roles of libraries in countries in transition from a socialist to market economy. One of the most noticeable similarities between these countries was the recognition that librarians had to change their own attitudes as well as those of their customers and budget holders. At several points in the conference it was stressed that librarians reduce their reluctance to charge for information. Particularly when the customer was a big business, the information provided could help generate a great deal of money. Another theme that ran through the conference was the need for librarians in different countries to co-operate. Although there were a lot of differences between the transitional states there were still a lot of common problems. The conference provided a useful opportunity to share experiences, discuss the merits of different strategies, and to promote their own library services.

The proceedings have been published by the IFLA Office for UAP. For further information please contact Pauline Connolly.

The 5th Interlending and Document Supply International Conference
(Aarhus, Denmark, August 24 - 28 1997)

The Conference was a great success with many interesting and stimulating papers and discussions, on the theme of "Resource sharing: possibilities and barriers". The papers will be published by the UAP Office, and are likely to be available early next year.

COMMUNICATIONS

Director of the UAP Programme and Head of IFLA Office for International Lending:

Graham Cornish

Research Officers:
Sarah Keates, Judy Watkins, Sara Gould, and Pauline Connolly

Officer Administrator:

Louise Huddlestone

The Office is fully linked to the Internet system. All staff can be reached on a general Email address IFLA@bl.uk and individual members of the team can be reached by using the formula: firstname.lastname@bl.uk. The General Office telephone number is +44 1937 546255 (which is also the number for Judy Watkins). Other numbers are: 546123 (Graham Cornish); 546124 (Sarah Keates); 546465 (Louise Huddlestone); and 546254 (Sara Gould and Pauline Connolly).

The UAP Office has a home page on the WWW at http://www.ifla.org/VI/2/uap.htm
The UAP newsletter can be received electronically by contacting Pauline Connolly.

Report on the first meeting of the Discussion Group on Reference Service

The meeting was chaired by Annsofie Oscarsson, Sweden, who also took the initiative to begin the Discussion Group. There are several reasons for creating a Discussion Group on Reference Work and Annsofie Oscarsson started the meeting by pointing out some of them:

1. Reference work is one of the ground-pillars in library activities, not only serving visitors but also for internal library work. The need to share our experiences in order to form strategies for the future is strong.

2. The changing role of libraries has diminished the barriers between different types of libraries and reference matters should be handled from a joint point of view.

3. Certain qualification skills are necessary for reference librarians, i.e. interviewing technique, pedagogical skill, empathy, communication ability, resistance to stress situations, self-criticism.

The Standing Committee on Document Delivery and Interlending (Section V, Collections and services) has agreed to affiliate the Discussion group on Reference Work.

1. Comments on the establishing of the DG on General Reference Service

   The discussion, in which delegates from many countries took part, showed that the need for an organ to discuss reference work is strongly needed. As one delegate put it: "reference librarians have identity crisis - everything is moving towards artificial intelligence". Furthermore, an international discussion of the quality on reference work is needed as well as the cross-cultural function of reference services within the library world.

   The professional reference librarian is important for the availability of the collections and information retrieval. One delegate cited Tove Jansson: "What shall you do with a whole bag of stones if you cannot show them to anybody?".

2. The scope of the DG

   After a discussion it was agreed that the scope of the Discussion Group will include all aspects of reference work in all types of libraries in all regions.

   The discussion focused on the importance of the new electronic environment and that a change is taking place in reference work. The future role of reference work is an important issue as well as the quality aspect. It was generally agreed that the most important topics to discuss are:

   • Organization
     
   • Ethics
     
   • The impact of electronic materials
     
   • Reference collections
     
   • Continuing education of reference librarians.

3. Approval

   Those who wish to approve the establishment of the DG were asked to send their endorsements by e-mail to: Annsofie.Oscarsson@ub.umu.se.

4. Name of the DG

   It was agreed that the name should be IFLA Discussion Group on Reference Work.

5. Methods of working

   Many interesting topics arose during the meeting and it was agreed that the topic of the first year should focus one of the basic issues:
   

   Organization of Reference Work.

   The delegates were divided into four groups depending on the type of library and with one coordinator for each group:

   Public libraries Coordinator:
   

   Eva Olsson, Malmoe Stadsbibliotek, Sweden (samhalle.hb@msb.malmo.se)

   University, research and academic libraries Coordinator:
   

   Yolanda Maloney, University of Colorado, USA (yolanda.maloney@colorado.edu)

   Special libraries
   

   Coordinator: Taina Koivula, Library of Statistics, Helsinki, Finland (taina.koivula@stat.fi)

   National libraries
   

   Coordinator: Birgitta Fogelvik, The Royal Library, Sweden. (birgitta.fogelvik@kb.se)

   One participant from Library Education and Training, Ekbal AL-Othaimeen, Kuwait, (eoth@paaetms.paaet.edu.kw), will send a report to the convener regarding education and training.

   Each coordinator collects reports from the members of each group regarding the organization of reference work and with the following aspects taken into consideration:

   1. Where in the organization is the reference department found?

   2. Which services are offered; are there different levels?

   3. Positive and negative effects?

   The convener collects the reports from the coordinators and the issues will be put on the agenda next year. Deadline for the reports is February 28, 1998.

6. Convener

   Convener of the DG is:

   Annsofie Oscarsson
   

   Umea University Library
   S-901 74 Umea, Sweden
   Tel. +46-90-786 54 91
   Fax: +46-90-786 74 74
   
   E-mail: annsofie.oscarsson@ub.umu.se

7. Next meeting: Amsterdam 1998.

Report submitted by:

Birgitta Fogelvik

List of Standing Committee members, 1997-99 - appendix

Kristine Abelsnes

Ved Arora

Maria Cecilia Cuturi

Elena A. Eronina

Una M. Gourlay

Judith Greenaway

Lone Hansen

Mary E. Jackson

David Kohl

Agneta Lindh

Céline Ménil

James G. Neal

Else Nilsen

Uwe Schwersky

Pentti Vattulainen

Christopher Wright

IFLA Office for International Lending/UAP Core Programme:

Observers:

Rudolf Frankenberger

Heinz Fuchs

Niels Mark

Maria Jesus Lopez Manzanedo

Carol Smale