Section on Regional Activities: Asia and Oceania

Annual Report 1994-1995

A.P. Gakhar (Kala Nidhi, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Janpath, New Delhi 110 001, India (fax: +(91-11) 3381139; e-mail: apg@ignca.ernet.in)) was elected Chair of the Section on Regional Activities: Asia and Oceania, succeeding Donita Simmons (Fiji). Ms Amelia McKenzie (Australian Embassy, Jl. Rasuna Said, Kav C15 C16, Jakarta 12940, Indonesia (fax: +(62-21) 5227229; e-mail: amckenzi@indo.net.id)) was elected Secretary, succeeding A.P. Gakhar.

Standing Committee and Section Membership

There are 10 persons from 10 countries on the Standing Committee, one corresponding member, and three special advisors. Ms Pensri Guaysuwan (Thailand), as Regional Office Manager, is an ex officio member. There are 193 IFLA members registered for the Section.

Projects

Scholarships in Information Technology

This is the new name for the IFLA/ALP Scholarship Scheme, whereby selected participants are funded to attend information technology training courses, up to now at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. The project is now coordinated by Daruna Somboonkun. Two participants attended courses in July 1995, and a third has been postponed until later in the year.

In-service Training Attachments for Middle or Senior Staff in Asia and the Pacific

Four applicants for 1995 were accepted. They are: Ms Luisa Gomez Calanag (Philippines), Padith Arya (Laos), Jai Pal Singh (India) and Ms Ragashiri Kishore (India). The selection criteria for the Attachment Programme will be widely publicized in forthcoming issues of the Newsletter.

Arabization of Ten Selected Books

This project, under the supervision of the ALP Core Programme in cooperation with Yaser Abdel-Motey, is ongoing. Two titles were translated into Arabic and published by the ALP Core Programme during the report period: Guidelines on Library Services by the IFLA Round Table on Audiovisual Media; and Guidelines for School Libraries by Frances Laverne Carroll.

Database for Libraries and Information Centres in RSCAO West Sub-region

This project was first submitted in 1991. Discussion continued on the utility of a database of this kind, the desirability of extending its coverage to the other sub-regions, and the practical logistics of carrying it out. It was desirable to build such a regional database using common standards (software, format, etc.) so that data could be shared. Recognizing that many databases of this nature were already in existence, the Standing Committee agreed that the Indian Library Association's database could form a core and that the processes used could be investigated and reported at the next meeting.

Establishing a Database on Vietnamese Union Catalogue of Foreign Periodicals

This project is underway, with support from the ALP Core Programme.

Publications

Two issues of the Newsletter for Asia and Oceania were published during the report period, in December 1994 and in June 1995. The Newsletters were prepared by the Regional Office Manager, Pensri Guaysuwan, who used the facilities of the IFLA listserv to call for contributions to the Newsletter.

Future Conferences

Beijing 1996

The Regional Section will participate in the organization of the Divisional Open Forum and will organize a workshop on the Medium-Term Programme 1998-2003.

Istanbul Meeting

The Section did not have its own open programme session, but contributed the paper of Zaiton Osman to the Open Forum organized by the Division of Regional Activities with the theme: "Enhancement of the Library Profession".

Enhancement of the Library Profession: An Asian Perspective
by ZAITON OSMAN

Abstract:
The focus of this paper is the library profession, particularly the enhancement of its image and status. The topic is discussed as follows: scope of the paper; the Asian background; defining the library profession; enhancement of the library profession; and the library profession in the virtual library environment.

Latest Revision: June 10, 1996