ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 596 / C&RL News ■ Septem ber 1998 C O N F E R E N C E C I R C U I T Crimea ’98 Libraries and associations in the transient world by Lester J. Pourciau T he fifth anniversary o f the international conference Crimea ’98, “Libraries and Asso­ ciations in the Transient World: New Technolo­ gies and New Forms of Cooperation,” was held June 6-14 in Sudak, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. Growing almost tenfold since the first Crimea conference in 1994, registration for this year’s event was more than 1,000 and represented people from 30 countries. As has been the case with each of the pre­ vious Crimea conferences, the primary orga­ nizer was the Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology. Co-organizers were the Ministries of Culture o f the Russian Federation and of Culture and Arts of Ukraine; the Kiev Mohyla Acad­ emy; the Ministry of Cul­ ture of the autonomous Republic o f Crimea; the Russian State Library; the Library for Foreign Litera­ ture in Moscow; the Uni­ versity of Memphis in the United States; the Inter­ national Library, Infor­ mation, and Analytical Welcoming sign in Center (ILIAC); the Book Ukranian. Chamber of Ukraine; and the Ukrainian Library Association. Yakov L. Shraiberg, first deputy director of the Russian National Public Library for Science and Tech­ nology, served as executive chair o f the Inter­ national Organizing Committee and I was deputy chair. Participating in the opening plenary ses­ sions were Leo Voogt, IFLA secretary general; James Billington, librarian of Congress; and Ekaterina Genieva, president of the Open So­ ciety Institute-Russia and director general of the Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow. T ra d itio n a l an d d ig it a l lib ra ry needed Billington spoke about “The Historic Library and the Information Age,” describing the digi­ tal efforts of the Library of Congress and adopt­ ing a very rational and balanced position be­ tween endorsement o f the traditional library and the forthcoming digital society. Andrei Zemskov, director o f the Russian National Public Library for Science and Tech­ nology and, by original training, a plasma physi­ cist, spoke o f scientific and technical libraries and the Russian approach to what everyone wants to predict as the informa­ tion society. He characterized the situation in Russia as hav­ ing sufficient computers nglish, Russian, and and networking to move deliberately toward the information society, but he spoke somewhat skeptically about officials who speak about … information security as opposed to infor­ mation transparency.” Ekaterina Genieva described programs of the Soros Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Culture, and Education in Russia. (continued on p. 603) E About the author LesterJ. Pourciau is director o f libraries a t the University o f Memphis, e-mail: pourciau@memphis.edu mailto:pourciau@memphis.edu C&RL News ■ Septem ber 1998 / 603 for electronic reserves systems, home deliv­ ery of monographic and other “hard-copy” materials, and remote (probably Web-based) library use instruction. We will be installing wireless networking in the library and elsewhere on my campus. With more and more students, faculty, and staff using laptops instead o f specially- configured and hard-wired public PCs, we will need a common interface. That interface will likely remain the Web. We will spend less time configuring machines and more time design­ ing user interfaces/front ends. There will be less focus on the acquisi­ tion and servicing of technology— whether that technology is in the library, on a fac­ ulty/staff member’s desktop, or in a com­ puter lab. More important will be fostering the effective use o f that technology to im­ prove research, learning, and service; to streamline administrative processes; to re­ duce costs; and to increase revenue. A great deal o f attention will be given to process reengineering. In the library, this will mean reconceiving library technical processes and helping users redesign tried-and-true but now obsolescent research methodologies. Finally, I expect to spend a greater portion of my time on the values of higher education, discussing all, protecting some, discarding oth­ ers. (I see this as an extension of the impor­ tant dialogue ACRL began last year.) Progres­ sively more confused by our fast-changing world, we in higher education will check this headlong progress against our ethical bedrock, asking some important questions along the way. “Who are we? What do we stand for? What are we trying to accomplish?” In planning services and systems, it will be in part my responsibility to ensure that new services and systems take advantage of tech­ nological advances without betraying our core values.— Mark Cain You r opinion is sought C&RL News wants opinions from librarians, faculty, and administrators in all types of aca­ demic institutions, holding a variety of posi­ tions. To be considered as a respondent to a question-based “Way I See It” column, please send your name, title, institution, e-mail ad­ dress, and photo to “Way I See It,” C&RL News, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago IL 60611- (Crimea ’98 continued fro m p. 596) A n IFLA update Leo Voogt provided plenary attendees with an overview of recent developments within IFLA, characterizing them as indicative of a strong period of growth and serious invest­ ment in information technology. He pointed out that one of IFLA’s cornerstones has been, and remains, the volunteer effort of many ex­ perts and specialists from around the world. While he applauded the growth and de­ velopment of information technology within the context of IFLA’s activities, he made a point of stating that “efforts must be fed by elec­ tronic communication, but cannot flourish without personal communication.” For this to occur, he argued for a strong need for IFLA to continue to rely on personal networks, networks that can be established and maintained during IFLA’s general confer­ ence, and, he added, during important regional events like the Crimea conference. The g lo b a l perspective Phyllis Spies, vice president, Sales and In­ ternational OCLC, presented “OCLC and Mem­ ber Libraries: Architects of the Global Library.” Using a PowerPoint presentation, Spies de­ scribed the viewpoints of various persons from different countries throughout the world. Her presentation explored two points: one, the key trends in the global information mar­ ketplace and, two, a brief characterization of OCLC’s strategic international directions in light of these global trends. She spoke about the information revolution, comparing and con­ trasting it to the industrial revolution, point­ ing out that “technology’s effects on us today are different from those of the industrial revo­ lution. They are more democratic, more per­ sonal; more subtle and profound.” Crimea ’98 was indeed an interesting and rewarding experience. It has become the domi­ nant conference throughout central and East­ ern Europe and annually provides an excel­ lent forum and context for large numbers of librarians throughout the region to intermingle, to network, to exchange views and experi­ ences, and to profit from one another.