IN THIS DOCUMENT: Introductory Remarks Section Pre-IFLA Conference Meeting, Stockholm - Programme, arrangements and general information The 63rd IFLA Conference, Copenhagen - Programme Standing Committee Meetings Workshop Open Meeting Informal Meeting Joint Open Forum Section dinner Special meeting for those with research interests Advice on Arrangements for Copenhagen Communications within the Section Election procedure for Section Officers Standing Committee Members Review of World Directory Section email and fax addresses An alphabetical list of colleagues who have attended recent Conferences Appendix 1: Stockholm Registration Form Appendix 2: Copenhagen Registration Form Appendix 3: Copenhagen Accommodation Form Appendix 4: Workshop Registration Form

Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments

CIRCULAR NEWSLETTER
Vol 16 - No. 2
May 1997

Jennifer Tanfield
Librarian, House of Commons
London SW1A OAA Telephone: + 44 171 219 3635 Fax: + 44 171 219 4285 E-mail: tanfieldjb@parliament.uk

The Circular Newsletter of the Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments is published twice a year, in the autumn and spring. Material for inclusion should be sent to Jennifer Tanfield at the address above.

Introductory Remarks

The most important news since the last Newsletter is that we now have our own Section Internet Home Page, or world wide web site, thanks to Nick Bannenberg and the Queensland Parliament. If you have not yet looked at the site, but have the means to do so, you really should take a look immediately. The address is:

You will find that you can access the pages in English, French or Spanish and that language links in German and Russian are being developed. I had to be prompted to click on the word "Welcome"(or "Bienvenue" or "Bienvenido") to get started. Once in the site you will find pages giving information on IFLA, our Section, the Section officers and Standing Committee, the most recent Annual Report of the Section, the report on our medium and long term projects, the November 1996 Newsletter and (shortly) this Newsletter, the text of the Section's papers for the Beijing Conference and (a few weeks before the IFLA Conference) the papers for the meeting in Copenhagen, Internet addresses for parliaments, email addresses for parliamentary libraries and information about the regional associations of parliamentary libraries. Believe it or not additional useful pages are planned for the future.

A list of fax and email addresses of Section members is included in section 8 of this Newsletter. I would be grateful for additional addresses and corrections.

Items for the Newsletter are always welcome but seem to be in short supply. The deadline for the next edition is the end of September 1997. I have included a review of the Section's World Directory of National Parliamentary Libraries although it contains some mistakes which will be corrected in the July 1997 edition of The Parliamentarian. The most obvious mistake is that Wolfgang Dietz did not edit this edition, which was the work of Ernst Kohl, who also edited the 4th and 5th editions. The address of the distributor and the ISBN are also wrong. The distributor is the Deustscher Bundestag, DF 53113 Bonn, Goerresstrasse 15, Germany and the ISBN 3 89372 014 6.

Jennifer Tanfield
Editor
14 May 1997

IFLA Pre-Conference - Stockholm - 27-28 August, 1997

General Information

• Organizer
  The Library of the Swedish Parliament, S-100 12 Stockholm, Sweden
  Host: Margareta Brundin, Director of the Library of Parliament

• Venue
  The Parliament Buildings and the Library of Parliament in Stockholm

• Languages
  Interpretations will be made to and from English, French and Russian

• Registration and Hotel Reservation
  Please fill in the attached form* and send it to the Library of Parliament, Att: Eva Falk, S-100 12 Stockholm, Sweden no later than 20 July. See further information on the enclosed form.

• Insurance
  Participants are advised to insure against loss, accidents and damage occurring during the conference. The organiser cannot be held responsible.

• Visas
  Participants from some countries may have to apply for visas. Please check with your travel agency.

• Climate
  Late August is the end of the summer season. The average temperature in Stockholm could range from 15-20° centigrade. It may rain. Be sure to bring an umbrella and a warm jacket.

• Letter of Invitation
  If you need a standard letter of invitation to participate, please contact Ms H. Duijvestijn at IFLA headquarters (fax: 31 70 383 4827 or email IFLA.HQ@ifla.nl. Requests for more complicated invitation letters should be addressed to Carol Henry at IFLA headquarters.

• Travel Agency Facilities
  There will be a travel agency desk at the Conference site in the Parliament Building.

• Travel to Copenhagen
  Those who wish to proceed to Copenhagen by train can choose between day train or night train. The trip takes about eight hours and costs between SEK 591 (2nd class, day time) and SEK 1,150 (2nd class night train in a two-bed compartment).

* See Appendix 1 at end of Newsletter

IFLA Conference Copenhagen

3.1 STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The Standing Committee Meetings are scheduled on Saturday 30 August and Friday 5 September. All members of the Section are encouraged to attend these meetings, although for anything that requires an official vote, only the votes of the elected Standing Committee are counted. At the second meeting the new Standing Committee will be officially approved and officers of the Section elected. (See section 5 of this Newsletter for an explanation of the election procedures and section 6 for a list of the Standing Committee including the newly nominated members).

3.2 WORKSHOP

The Workshop will be held on Thursday 4 September at the Danish Parliament, the Folketing.

Preliminary Programme

3.3 OPEN MEETING

The theme of the Open Meeting is Technology and the Modern Legislature.

Three papers will be presented:

• The Parliament's Need for Information: Possible Barriers and Practical Solutions
  by Rob Brian of New South Wales, Australia;

• New Developments in Library Services and Technology
  by Karel Sosna of the Czech Republic;

• New Developments in Parliamentary Research Services and Technology
  by Jacek Michalowski and Ewa Nawrocka of Poland.

3.4 INFORMAL MEETING

Everyone is encouraged to attend the informal meeting. It takes the form of an open discussion of shared problems. Agenda items will be collected during Section gatherings in Stockholm and at the first Standing Committee meeting. One suggestion for this year is that we should discuss how Section members who do not have access to email and the Internet can obtain assistance to allow them to acquire these important information links (see also section 4 of this Newsletter on communication within the Section). The meeting is the opportunity to focus on issues that you believe to be important and is a popular feature of our programme.

3.5 JOINT OPEN FORUM

Two IFLA Divisions, Division 1 - (The National Libraries Section, University/General Research Libraries Section and the Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments) and Division V (Sections on Acquisition and Collection Development, Document Delivery and Interlending, Government Information and Official Publications, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Serial Publications) are holding a joint open forum on "Issues in the Ownership and Availability of Electronic Information". The meeting will include a debate on copyright and access to electronic information, with experts speaking from opposing positions; a report on the ALA International Relations Committee workshop in Lund, Sweden on "Access issues in the transition from paper to electronic formats" which will take place just before the IFLA Conference; and a discussion session with questions from the floor. Frank Kirkwood, who is a member of this Section as well as the Chair of the Government Information and Official Publications Section, is undertaking much of the organisation of this meeting.

3.6 SECTION DINNER

It is customary for the Section to organise an evening when its members plus accompanying persons have dinner together, usually at the expense of participants. Arrangements have been made for this year's Section dinner to be held on Wednesday evening 3 September following the tour of the Workers' Museum. The Folketing will pay the fee for entrance to the Museum and a guided tour, but the participants will be expected to pay the cost of the meal, which will be 125 Danish kronor per person.

3.7 SPECIAL MEETING FOR THOSE WITH RESEARCH INTERESTS

A special meeting has been arranged on the afternoon of Sunday 31 August for section members with Research responsibilities and interests. The purpose of this meeting is to explore whether members with these responsibilities would be interested in a set of parallel meetings during times in which the Section is not active. It would also discuss other issues and techniques. 3.8 ADVICE ON ARRANGEMENTS IN COPENHAGEN

Hotels

Since our Chairman, Bill Robinson, sent out his advice about hotels in Copenhagen the Imperial has been booked out, and alternate choices seem to be filling rapidly. Bill has been allocated the Kong Arthur and I will be staying at the Grand.

Library Reception on Thursday 4 September

Thursday 4 September is the day on which we shall be holding our Workshop in the Folketing. One of the library receptions is to be held in the Folketing, but the Registration form for the Conference (Form A1) does not provide a box for you to register specifically for this reception. If you have not yet sent in Form A1 please tick Box 3 "Other libraries, Institutions and Partners" and write on the form that you are a member of the Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments. You should then be guaranteed a place at the Folketing reception.

What to see in Denmark

Nick Bannenberg spotted the following article written by Barbara Hebden in his local Brisbane newspaper - the Sunday Mail - in November last year. It may help you with some suggested place to visit, but please be aware that none of the information or observations have been checked for accuracy.

When Copenhagen was declared the Cultural Capital of Europe earlier last year, Queen Margrethe II promised Danes "Copenhagen will show the world what we can do''.

There is still time to join the party and there is certainly much to do in this lively capital which offers a fascinating blend of old and new.

If this is a first visit, take a local City Tour to get your bearings. Buses leave from the foot of the tower of the imposing Town Hall and the journey passes landmark sites such as the beautiful Church of Our Saviour, Christiansborg Castle with the Danish Parliament and its opulent reception rooms, the Court Theatre, the Royal Library and the Arsenal which houses a spectacular collection of old firearms.

A must for museum fans and art lovers is the Glyptotek, with its outstanding collection of Greek, Roman and Egyptian art as well as the finest works of French impressionists and Danish masterpieces from the Golden Age of 1800 to 1850.

There are many memorable sites to visit quite inexpensively by using public transport or simply walking. Bus No 50 from Town Hall Square leaves every 30 minutes and goes directly to Copenhagen's most famous symbol, The Little Mermaid, created in honour of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale.

The waterfront is always a scene of activity with ships, huge ferries and hydrofoils entering and leaving the harbour.

In spring, the new Amalie Garden is ablaze with colour, a spectacular entrance to the Amalienborg Palace, the home of the royal family. Further ahead is Nyhavn, once sailors' quarters, now the setting for a cluster of fine restaurants and cafes ­ an opportune time to indulge in some Danish specialities, Frikadeller (Danish rissoles), Smorrebrod (open sandwiches), Danish pastries, layer cakes and the Danish beer.

The beer is a must. Join the Danes in a Carlsberg or Tuborg. Denmark is the world's biggest exporter of beer and, it would seem, also the world's biggest beer drinking population.

Refreshed, brave the crowds in the bustling Stroget, a pedestrian street that is a shopper's paradise - or nightmare if you are in a hurry.

Don't miss the Crown Jewels of Denmark displayed in the beautiful renaissance castle of Rosenborg situated in the King's Garden, one of the many lovely parks; and, of course, no visit to Copenhagen would be complete without experiencing the magical world of the Tivoli with its flowers, fountains and myriad coloured lights which transform the parklands at night.

Try to visit the nearby Konditoriet, noted for its Danish pastries, layer cakes and coffee. If you go, forget about calories.

Living up to its cultural honour, Copenhagen has hosted special musical events, opera and ballet delights. The Tivoli's Concert Hall, renowned as one of the world's finest stages for classical music, will welcome a host of international guests including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, James Galway and Inga Nielsen, while the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, and Royal Danish Ballet have a series of exciting programs planned until the "end of the year and a day'' as this is a leap year.

While there is so much to do in Copenhagen itself, a little further afield has surprising interests. For example, the suburb of Ballerup, 20 minutes by train from the Central Station is the city of the future with visitors eager to see Egebjerggard, a district of 900 houses designed by the best Danish architects which has recently been awarded a world prize for housing.

Or for a wonderfully relaxing day, catch a train at Central Station, get a 24­hour ticket and head through the picturesque North Zealand countryside to Hillerod. It's easy then to get a bus to Denmark's most magnificent Frederiksborg Castle built by King Christian IV. This Renaissance masterpiece in the middle of an idyllic park bordering the serene Esrum Lake, is now a national historical museum containing unlimited artistic treasures. Don't leave without glimpsing the Castle Chapel with Jacob Mores' magnificent altar in silver and ivory.

Back by bus to the station, 15 minutes at the most, and catch the next train to Elsinore (Helsingor) where you will find the imposing Kronborg Castle, in splendid isolation in its views of the Sound separating Denmark from Sweden. Kronborg Castle was the setting of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet and one can only imagine that this former fortress was itself the scene of untold tragedies.

Even if time in Copenhagen is limited, go to Odense on the island of Funen, home to Hans Christian Andersen. Best take a tour for this one. Cross the Great Belt by bus and join one of the modern ferries which constantly run between the islands. Experience the beauty of the countryside, "The Garden of Denmark".

Copenhagen can be expensive for accommodation and eating out. Get some seasoned advice from travel specialists.

Communications within the Section

Yet it is too expensive to use fax to communicate with every member of the Section, especially if the information to be sent out is lengthy.

At present only about a quarter of libraries eligible for membership of the Section have email, although coverage is higher amongst libraries which attend IFLA conferences.

We also have our Section Home Page/web site http://www.citec.com.au/iflaparl where mailing information and Newsletters can be duplicated. To complement this we may need a controlled Internet LISTSERV (i.e. the sort of electronic mail which sends a simultaneous message to everyone who is signed up). If we did have a LISTSERV we might want to allow it to be used only to draw attention to new information available on the Home Page, to the publication of the Newsletter, or to the issue of a general mailing. A LISTSERV can become counter-productive if too many messages are sent out.

It would be useful for the Section to discuss in Copenhagen the most efficient ways of communicating with its members and potential members. For example, Bill has suggested that we might use email to contact those who have this link and then fax an abbreviated version of the information to the remaining members. How do you feel about this idea? Can you suggest any other solutions? How do you feel about using a LISTSERV?

On these questions we need also the views of those who will not be at the Copenhagen meeting. Please email, fax or mail comments to Bill or me. You will find our telephone and fax numbers and our email addresses in the Standing Committee list in section 6 below.

Jennifer Tanfield

ELECTION PROCEDURES FOR SECTION OFFICERS

The Chairman and Secretary are elected by the Standing Committee from amongst the members of the Standing Committee. Any member of the Standing Committee can nominate a candidate for Chairman or Secretary. Officers serve in the post to which they are elected for a term of 2 years but may be re-elected to the same office for one consecutive term of 2 years.

Under the IFLA Statutes and Rules of Procedure, each Section has a Standing Committee of not less than 5 and not more than 20 persons, who are nominated and elected by the qualified members of the Section. Qualified members are those who registered for the Section at least 3 months before the Standing Committee meeting. We have a full complement of 20 Standing Committee Members, plus 4 Corresponding Members. Standing Committee Members are elected for a term of 4 years and may be re-elected for one consecutive term of 4 years. Nominees for the Standing Committee are accepted on a personal and not an institutional basis. They are required to state that they have a working knowledge of at least one IFLA working language (the working languages are English, French, German, Russian and Spanish) and that they have a reasonable expectation of attending meetings of the Standing Committee without cost to the Federation. Under the rules meetings must be held at least once every 2 years but our Section holds meetings every year at the IFLA Conference.

1997 is a year for the election of new members of the Standing Committee. As seven members of our Section stood down and seven new members have been nominated there was no need for a postal ballot and IFLA headquarters has approved the nominations made (see the list of the new Standing Committee included in this Newsletter).

Who should the Standing Committee elect as its new Chairman? And who should be the Secretary? Persons accepting nomination as an officer need to fulfil certain requirements as well as being prepared to undertake tasks such as preparing and sending out two Newsletters per year, organising the Section's programme for the annual conference, looking after the budget allocated by IFLA, proposing and implementing special projects of the Section, and returning various forms to IFLA Headquarters. They must plan to attend all IFLA Conferences and need to have access to good communications (telephone, fax and email) and to have the approval of their parliament to use these facilities on behalf of IFLA. It is also useful if the parliament can agree to cover the cost of postage on material sent out to members of the Section. The meetings of our Section are conducted in English, so the officers need to have a reasonable working knowledge of English.

There is quite a lot to learn about how IFLA operates and particularly about the steps which have to be taken to organise the annual conference, so persons accepting nomination for office should be prepared to serve for at least four years to provide continuity.

Last year Nick Bannenberg was appointed as the Section's first Information Coordinator. We think that it would be appropriate to include this post amongst the elected officers of our Section and will hold an election for the post at the Copenhagen meeting. Information Coordinators have been appointed by each IFLA section to assist communications between IFLA Headquarters and sections and between sections and their members. The Information Coordinators need to have some experience in publishing and access to the WEB. The maintenance of a Home Page like our Section's depends on the Coordinator's parliament having a developed and reliable information technology system and agreement of the parliament to this resource being used on IFLA's behalf.

All members of the Standing Committee are asked to think about the forthcoming election. Should we appoint a nominating committee to recommend officers to the Standing Committee for election? Should we entertain all nominations from the floor, in lieu of a nominating committee? Or permit nominations from the floor after hearing the nominations of the nominating committee? Or do you have other suggestions for how we can make the election process more open and responsive to your interests?

Please be prepared to make nominations (check in advance that the nominees are willing to accept nomination and that their parliament will agree to the nomination) and think about whether you are prepared to become an officer of the Section. Members of the Section who are not currently on the Standing Committee are also invited to think about the election and to pass any views to a member of the Committee. We all want our Section to continue to be an active and innovative one.

STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND CORRESPONDING MEMBERS

Book Review, reprinted from The Parliamentarian, January 1997, Page 101

The sixth edition of the World Directory of National Parliamentary Libraries displays considerable and welcome changes in comparison to the fifth and previous editions. The two-volume directory is compiled by Ernst Kohl, who took over from Wolfgang Dietz as Editor.

The directory, primarily, is aimed at Librarians of Parliament, although it is a valuable resource and bibliographic tool for any legislative-oriented body.

The directory is compiled first in types of Parliaments: national, regional and supra-regional, the latter of which is a new category which describes the European Union Parliamentary Library. The second division is an alphabetical sequence by country. The content description ranges from the typically stark directory style, such as the description of Antigua and Barbuda Library, to the very detailed, such as the submission by the United Kingdom. Each country's description is itemized by category according to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) questionnaire that is sent to each parliamentary library for completion. It is a pity that several countries failed to respond to the request for updated information, although this may be interpreted as an indication that their previous information has not changed.

Each country's submission lists the address of the Parliamentary Library, full name and address of the organization, description and scope of the library's collection and names and contact numbers of librarians or relevant staff. A cursory comparison to previous editions reveals an interesting addition of e-mail and facsimile devices to libraries and perhaps future editions of the directory would also list Internet addresses for accessing libraries' home pages.

The small maps of each country serve not only to approximate the geographical position of each nation in relation to its immediate neighbours. but also to keep users informed of rapidly changing politics as in the former Soviet Union and in changes to the names of countries.

The layout is fairly readable, especially since the paper quality has changed to a crisper, whiter variety than in the previous editions. The enumeration scheme used for the questionnaire is maintained in the directory and, although well suited to the former, is somewhat vexatious in the directory because it does not make for quick and easy reference and comprehensibility for a novice user.

To understand the meaning of the numbering system, the user has to skip through the pages to the fold-out reference chart at the end of each volume. While the first four questions are self-explanatory several of the others are not, and neither the numbering nor the information gives any indication as to what the original question might be. For example, there is the mysterious answer to questions 3.6.1 and 3.8.7, "yes, by the library". Only a reference to the chart will elucidate any understanding of that statement. Yet the insistence on not printing the questions for each country's submission ensures that the information is compressed into the specified format with which we are familiar in this directory.

The introduction of the directory is far more analytical than the previous editions. Although it is always tempting to skip any introduction, this should be avoided in the case of this directory because too much valuable information and content analysis, especially of the aims of the directory, would be missed.

Although Ernst Kohl warns in the introduction that "the disparateness of the parliamentary libraries assembled ... cannot be used as a basis of comparison" a close examination of the description of libraries' collections shows that some are rather bare-boned in comparison with others. For example, Australia's librarians completing the next questionnaire should be encouraged to take a more detailed approach to describing their library collections, particularly in the areas of the chronological scope of the varied special collections.

IFLA's World Directory of National Parliamentary Libraries is the only one of its kind. It is a successful directory, listing a specific type of information which accomplishes the aims set out in the introduction. I am sure it has contributed to and continues to encourage co-operative development between parliamentary libraries especially in these days of shrinking budgets where the demand for timely quality documents can not always be entirely satisfied by any single parliamentary library.

Ms Caroline Kangalee
Librarian of Parliament
Trinidad and Tobago

E-MAIL (and FAX) ADDRESSES

An alphabetical list of colleagues who have attended recent Conferences

Appendix 1: Stockholm Registration Form

Please fill in (print or type) and return on or before 20 July 1997 to:

Library of Parliament, Att: Eva Falk	Phone:	+46 8 786 40 00; +46 8 786 56 38
S-100 l2 Stockholm, Sweden	Fax:	+46 8 786 58 71

Family name	______________________________________________________
First name or initial	___________________________________________ [ ] Mr [ ] Ms
Parliament	______________________________________________________
Address	______________________________________________________
Postal code and city	______________________________________________________
Country	______________________________________________________
Phone	__ _______________________Fax _____ ___________________
E-mail	________________________ _____________________________
Date of arrival	_______________________Date of departure_________________
Arrival by flight No	_______________________Dep. by flight No_________________
Name of accompanying person	______________________________________________________

SOCIAL PROGRAMME

Please indicate below which activities you wish to attend. You will find further details in the Newsletter on General Information at Item 2, immediately after "Introductory Remarks".

HOTEL ACCOMODATION

Reservations for accommodation will be processed on a first come, first served basis and must be received no later than July 20, 1997. We are cooperating with Bennett Travel Agency. Your hotel reservations will be confirmed by fax. The prices below are indicated in SEK (Swedish crowns).

Payment

Your hotel costs are to be settled directly with the hotel. The cost for the Parliament rooms are to be paid at the registration desk at the conference site.

Cancellation

Cancellations have to be made in writing to the address above by August 18, 1997, In case of no show or late cancellation a fee will be charged, corresponding to the price for one night.

Reservation guaranteed by my credit card [ ] Master-/Eurocard [ ] Visa American Express [ ] Diners

Appendix 2: Copenhagen Registration Form

Appendix 3: Copenhagen Accommodation Form

Appendix 4: Workshop Registration Form

Dear Colleague,

Please register me for the Workshop of the Parliamentary Libraries Section of IFLA:

Name (Please Print):- _________________________________________________________

Parliament: ______________________________________________________________

will arrive in Copenhagen on (day date): _______________________at (time)_____________

My airline. and flight number are: ____________________________________________

I will be accompanied by:______________________________________________________

I will be staying at: ____________________________________________________Hotel

My departure from Copenhagen will be on (day, date);___________________________

on: ___________________________________________________________________ airline

Please register for guided tour in the Folketing at 16.30-17.30_____________________________

Date:__________________________________________________

Signature:_____________________________________________

Telex number:__________________________________________

Fax number:____________________________________________

E-mail address:________________________________________

Address:_______________________________________________

Please return (fax) this form to:

Elise Holt
Folketingets Bibliotek, Arkiv og Oplysningstjeneste
Christiansborg
1240 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Fax number: 33147060