ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 2 4 2 /C&RL News W e must be a p a rt o f The W a y in te rn a tio n a l lib rarian ship I S e e It By Hannelore B. Rader Librarians can help develop global com m unication o f the fu tu r e I h o p e th e r e is e n o u g h in te llig e n c e in th e hum an organism to m ake a small leap to w ard m ore cooperation b etw een p eo p les an nations. O therw ise, w e w o n ’t b e a ro u n d for the n e x t really b ig le a p ” (A n d re w G re e le y in A ngelfire). This statem ent points to th e im portance o f international cooperation not only for the w orld to survive, b u t also to en su re global com m uni cation an d inform ation sharing. In this age o f inform ation an d technology, physical, e m o tional, an d econom ic survival is o f global co n cern. With the em ergence o f w orldw ide com m unication systems, inform ation anyw here in the w o rld can b e m ade available instantly to everyone w h o is willing an d able to listen, look, o r read. T hough libraries are regarded as im p ortant inform ation providers thro u g h o u t the w orld, unfortunately m any p eo p le are still ei ther u n aw are o f this idea or d o not accept it. O ften in discussions about the im portance o f scholarly com m unication in the age o f tech nology, th e im portance o f libraries an d librar ians is n o t apparent. It is p redicted that in a very short time scholars will b e able to com m unicate an d collect inform ation for research electronically and on an international level. With the help o f com puter a n d telecom m unication technologies, as w ell as artificial intelligence, w orkstations are being d e v elo p e d an d linked w orldw ide to create global systems o f schol arly an d user-friendly com m unication. Librar ians m ust becom e involved in this developm ent an d similar cooperative efforts w orldw ide. Li brarians m ust ensure that scholars as w ell as all citizens will have access to global informa d tion an d com m unication resources developed an d m aintained b y expert inform ation special ists, using global inform ation technologies and access to effective an d efficient inform ation d e livery system s w orldw ide. More U.S. librarians m ust assum e a vital glo bal role in the d evelopm ent o f national and international standards, softw are an d inform a tio n ev alu a tio n m eth o d o lo g ies, copyright li cense agreem ents, full-text electronic publish ing an d preservation, and helping p e o p le to b eco m e inform ation literate. In addition, they must take the initiative to w ork with ethnic, minor ity, and international groups within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with the ultimate goal of creating citi zens w ho are information literate. T he American Library Association (ALA), the w o rld ’s largest professional organization for li brarians, m ust take a leadership role in these im portant endeavors to place librarians in the forefront of inform ation technology d evelop m en t an d utilization. A lthough ALA has b een involved in international relations since its first annual conference in 1876 an d supports a suc cessful B ook/F ellow program fu n d ed by the U.S. Inform ation Agency, ALA m ust intensify these efforts if U.S. librarianship is to assum e a. ital international role. Many librarians, especially those n ew to the profession, continue to express their interest in international librarianship through w ork ex changes overseas, visits, an d study tours. But ALA d o es n o t provide a central place to handle such exchanges. In 1985 ALA’S International R elations C o m m ittee a n d th e In te rn a tio n a l R ound Table form ed a joint subcom m ittee on international exchanges for librarians and in form ation professionals. This g ro u p has ad dressed a n u m b er o f n eed s an d recently p u b lished G oing International, a librarian’s guide (Cont. on page 244) v Hannelore B. Rader is director, university libraries, Cleveland State University (Bitnet: P 1 761@CSUOHIO) 2 4 4 /C&RL News Figure 1. Percentage o f respondents offering searching o f computerized catalogs and databases, by type o f source. n d Statistics (ORS) an d ACRL h o p e to gather Ed. Note: A lternative Sources o f R evenue in ata o n access tech n o lo g ies again in a few A c a d e m ic Libraries is available for $10 from: ears. Will w e w an t to ask ab o u t the sam e four O rd er D epartm ent, American Library Associa chnologies? O r will o ther access technologies tion, 50 E. H uron St., Chicago, IL óO óll; (800) e m uch m ore im portant then? 545-2433. ISBN: 0-8389-5742-0. ■ a d y te b (Rader cont. fro m page 242) for w o rk experience an d job exchange abroad. Likewise o ther library associations are estab lishing international com m ittees an d taskforces to address library-related international concerns. But m uch m ore w ork is n e e d e d o n a b ro ad er scale to dev elo p international library co opera tion an d inform ation sharing, an d ALA must assum e a leadership role in this area. American librarians n eed to su p p o rt inter national library activities in term s o f global in fo rm atio n tech n o lo g ies. T hey m ust b eco m e leaders in building the global library com m u nity an d share their library expertise w ith li brary com m unities in u n d erd ev elo p ed co u n tries an d new ly em erging dem ocracies. This becom es especially im portant at a time w h en m any U.S. citizens see m ore o f an isolationist role for th e U.S. in w orld affairs. It is notew orthy that U.S. librarians’ interest in international activities continues to grow , especially since Eastern Europe has changed so dramatically. O u r international colleagues are hop in g that w e will share o u r experience, expertise, an d resources w ith them to guide th em in the developm ent o f their o w n library a n d inform ation services. To h elp bring this about, w e must w ork to w ard increasing the n u m b e r o f libraries an d institutions w hich will actively support exchanges w ith foreign librar ians o r offer internships an d practica. We must also internationalize the curricula in the library schools across the country to provide future librarians w ith the understanding o f an d skills to deal w ith international library an d informa tion concerns. T h ro u g h n ew electronic inform ation an d com m unication technologies th e w orld is b e com ing a global inform ation village, and librar ies m ust b e a vital p art o f that developm ent. Librarians m ust be d eep ly an d meaningfully involved in helping to sh ap e the global infor- m ation/scholarly comm unity o f the future. Only through involvement in international library and inform ation activities can w e ensure this will h ap p en . ■