ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 910 / C&RL News an d im p lem e n t retro sp ectiv e conversion o f th e A lexander T u rn b u ll C ollection o f pre-1801 im ­ p rin ts (approxim ately 9,500 titles) fo r th e N ational L ibrary o f N ew Z ealand, W ellington. His ap p o in t­ m e n t ends in S e p te m b e r 1990. D o ro th y C. W oodson, social sciences su b ject specialist at th e S tate U niversity o f N ew York at Buffalo, will w ork w ith th e special collections d e ­ p a rtm e n t at th e U niversity o f Swaziland L ib rary to identify an d collect m aterials o n Swaziland h e ld in U.S. libraries. She will also h elp develop th e Swaziana collection by advising on acquisition p ro ced u res. T h e a p p o in tm e n t runs from O cto b er 1989 to A ugust 1990. F aye Powell, social science librarian at P o rtlan d S tate University, will advise o n collection analysis an d d ev elo p m en t at th e A m erican Studies R e­ search C e n te r in H y d erab ad , India. H e r a p p o in t­ m e n t runs u n til January 1990. K ath erin e Van d e Vate, A rabic cataloger at P rin ­ ce to n U niversity Library, will train 12 library em ployees in cataloging at th e Asad N ational L i­ b rary in D am ascus, Syria, from April to S ep te m b er 1990. L ibrary/B ook Fellow positions available for 1990-1991 will b e an n o u n c ed in late D e c e m b e r 1989. The 2nd Pacific C onference on N ew Inform ation Technology By Augurio Collantes Catalog L ibrarian Hostos C o m m u n ity College L ib ra ry /C U N Y T h e 2n d Pacific C o n fere n ce on N ew In fo rm a­ tion Technology, a n o n -p ro fit forum for library and inform ation professionals, ed u catio n al m ed ia s p e ­ cialists, an d technologists, was h e ld on M ay 2 9 -3 1 , 1989, at th e Glass H o tel in Singapore. It was d e ­ signed to give librarians an d inform ation specialists from Asia an d th e Pacific region an o p p o rtu n ity to see for th em selves som e o f th e m any inform ation systems an d p ro d u cts available in o th e r p arts o f th e w orld, to m ake th e m aw are o f th e tre n d s in in fo r­ m ation technology an d th e ir application to lib rar­ ies, to en ab le th e m to talk ab o u t th e ir accom plish­ m en ts in th e field, an d to discuss th e ir needs, in terests, p roblem s, an d req u irem en ts w ith o th e r know ledgeable colleagues. M ore than 2 0 0 p articip an ts from th e Asia/Pacifìc region an d th e U n ite d States w ere p rese n t. D u e to logistical p ro b lem s th e location h ad to b e ch an g ed from Bangkok to Singapore. T h e L ibrary Associa­ tio n o f S ingapore an d th e S ingapore C onvention B u reau w ere k ind an d gen ero u s to co-sponsor th e forum. C h in g -C h ih C h en , ch ie f organizer, o p e n e d th e co n fe re n ce by looking back a t th e success o f th e F irs t Pacific C o n fere n ce h e ld in Bangkok in 1987. T h e th re e official p ro g ram days f e a tu re d ab o u t 24 m eetings w h ere a t least 74 p ap e rs w ere p rese n ted . M ost o f th e se w ere le ctu res o r forum s, c o n trib u ted p ap ers on topics ranging from C D -R O M , in fo rm a­ tion retrieval, m ic ro co m p u te r applications, n e t­ works, databases to h y p erm edia, hypertext, an d p ro d u c t reviews. Specific topics in clu d ed P ro ject Z E N (Zoom E ncyclopedic N avigator) an d ZGJKJ (C hinese C o m p u te r Science an d T echnology D o cu m en tatio n D atab ase System) w ere discussed. Exhibitors c o n d u c te d inform al talks to p artici­ p an ts an d th e y show ed systems in operation. C om p an ies b ased in S ingapore h ad optical p ro d ­ ucts, h y p erm e d ia applications, eq u ip m en t, and softw are on display. Especially for d eveloping countries, fu n d in g to a tte n d such regional co n feren ces as this is a luxury unless you h ap p e n to live h ere . As an incentive th e organizers o ffe re d free registration to p a p e r p r e ­ sen ters from th e region an d p artial fellowships to som e p a rtic ip a n ts. I t is gratifying to learn o f th e efforts th a t librari­ ans an d in form ation professionals in developing co u n tries (particularly in Asia an d th e Pacific) have m ad e in applying inform ation technology in th e ir respective organizations. Professional librarians in this area have th e skills an d know ledge; given th e p ro p e r reso u rces th ey could p ro d u c e as m uch and b rin g o u t results th a t are a t least com parable to th o se from th e m o re d ev elo p ed countries. A 480-page volum e containing th e co n feren ce p ap e rs was m ade available o n o p en in g day. E d ite d by C hing-chill C h e n an d D avid I. Raitt, th e volum e m ay b e o rd e re d for $57.50 from M icroU se In fo r­ m ation, 1400 C om m onw ealth Ave., W est N ew ton, MA 02165. ISB N 0-931555-06-X. ■ ■