ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries Association of College & Research Libraries A Librarian’ s Visit to China Priscilla C. Yu Documents Bibliographer Collection Development Division University o f Illinois-Urbana In October, 1981, at the invitation of the Chinese governm ent, I took part in a conference held in Beijing, W uhan, and Guangzhou celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. About 140 Chinese scholars and 43 scholars from other countries, including 14 from the U nited States, participated in the event. The conference opened with a plenary session commemorating the 1911 Revolution in the G reat Hall of the People in Beijing, but the main academic sessions w ere held in W uhan, during which papers w ere p resented dealing with various aspects of the 1911 Revolution. Topics ranged from the role of the Chinese bourgeois class in the rev­ olu tio n to th e re la tio n sh ip b e tw e e n th e rev o lu tio n ary p a rty and Chinese secret societies. In betw een the meetings and visits to m useums and revolutionary sites, I made arrangem ents to visit libraries in each of the m etropoli­ tan areas of Beijing, W uhan, and Guangzhou. My first visit was to the University of Peking Library. I was m et by Guo Songnian, deputy director of the library. Guo discussed the es­ tablishm ent of the library in 1902, its 3.3 million holdings, and its 22 departm ental libraries. He w ent into some detail discussing the im­ portance of exchange, which began at the University of Peking Li­ brary in 1953. By 1981 Peking had exchanges with over 300 institu­ tions in fifty countries. Most of the exchanges are with Japan, the United States, and W est Germany. Peking is interested especially in receiving publications in the fields of philosophy, economics, sociol­ ogy, and all of the social sciences. My next visit was to the National Library of China, the equivalent (continued on p. 118) 118 In this issue: A Librarian’s Visit to China . . .117 Washington Hotline................... 121 Copyright and Academic Library Photocopying...........123 Letter............................................. 125 Model Policy on Photocopying 127 View from HQ ............................131 People............................................. 133 News from the F ie ld ................. 137 New Technology..........................139 Publications.................................. 143 C alendar.......................................147 Classified Advertising................. 148 College & Research Libraries News (ISSN 0099-0086) is published by the Association of College and Research Librar­ ies, a division of the Am erican Library Association, as 11 monthly (combining July-August) issues, at 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Annual subscription: $10. Single copies and back issues, $3.50 each. Second-class postage paid for at Chicago, Illinois, and at additional mailing offices. Editor: George M. Eberhart, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; (312) 944-6780. President ACRL: David C. Weber. Executive Director, ACRL: Julie Carroll Virgo. Production and c ircu la tio n office: 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Display advertising should be sent to Leona Swiech, Advertising Traffic Coordinator, ALA, at above address. Send classified ads to ACRL. Change of address and subscription orders should be addressed to College & R e se a rc h Lib ra rie s N ew s, for receipt at the above address at least two months be­ fore the publication date of the effective issue. Inclusion of an article or advertisement in C & R L N e w s does not constitute official endorsement by ACRL or ALA. A partial list of the services indexing or abstracting the con­ tents of C & R L N e w s includes: C u rre n t C o n te n ts: S o cia l & B e ­ h a v io r S c ie n c e s ; C u rre n t In d e x to Jo u rn a ls in E d u c a tio n ; In ­ fo rm a tio n S c ie n c e A b s tra c ts ; L ib ra ry & In fo rm a tio n S c ie n c e A b s tra c ts ; L ib ra ry L ite ra tu re ; and S o cia l S c ie n c e s C ita tion In ­ dex. To th e postm aster: Please send undeliverable copies to ACRL, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. © A m e ric a n Library Association 1982. All material in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Associa­ tion may be photocopied for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement. of o u r L ib ra ry o f C o n g re ss. I was g r e e te d by H uang Zungui, head of th e D e p a rtm e n t of R ead­ ing Rooms and L en d in g Service, and Jiang Bin­ xin, staff m e m b e r in th e F o reig n Relations D e ­ p artm en t. T he library c u rre n tly has a collection of som e 10 m illio n books a n d s e ria ls. S in ce th e fo u n d in g of th e P e o p le ’s R e p u b lic o f C h in a in 1949, th e N ational L ib rary h a d e sta b lish e d ex­ change relations w ith over 3,000 in stitu tio n s in m any countries. In 1980 th ey receiv ed approxi­ m ately 3,000 periodical titles and 10,000 m ono­ graphic and p am p h let titles on exchange. W e d is­ cussed various p ro b lem s of exchange an d w hat changes could be m ade to im prove w orking re la ­ tions. O ver and over th e em phasis was on C hina striving for m odernization, th e n e e d for th e in­ troduction of new technologies, th e estab lish m en t of library netw orks, and especially th e n e e d to acquire new know ledge th ro u g h exchange of p u b ­ lications. T h e n ex t stop was W u h an in c e n tra l C hina, w h ere I visited W uhan U niversity Library. In a vast contrast to th e N ational Library, W uhan has established only sixteen exchanges w ith libraries th ro u g h o u t th e w o rld . In th e p a st, ex ch an g es w ere se t up only w ith in C hina, b u t since 1979 th e em phasis has b e e n on foreign countries. D u r­ ing th e C ultural Revolution of 1966-1976 w hen Books to China C h in a to d a y is e m b a rk e d on o n e o f th e g reatest educational efforts in its history. To su p p o rt this effort, th e F o undation for Books to C hina has organized an extensive program of p u b licatio n s assistance to e d u c atio n al in ­ s t i t u t i o n s in t h e P e o p le s R e p u b lic . T h e Found ation has sen t over 160,000 volum es in 1981 a n d h o p e s to e x c e e d th a t n u m b e r in 1982. T h e y a re se e k in g d o n a tio n s o f a c a d e m ic books and journals for C hinese institutions in m ost fields in th e sciences, social sciences, a n d h u m a n itie s . P u b lic a tio n s for d o n a tio n should be in at least fair physical condition, reasonably free of religious or political p ro p a ­ ganda, an d p u b lish e d w ithin th e last fifteen y ears. Jo u rn a l sets sh o u ld b e in ru n s of at least two years in length. Send any publica­ tions only after p rio r discussion of th e q u a n ­ tity and quality of th e m aterials available for donation. The F oundation is a tax-exem pt, non-profit organization, and its w ork has th e ap p roval and active cooperation of th e educational au ­ thorities in China. F o r fu rth e r inform ation, or to offer p u b lic a tio n s for d o n a tio n , co n tact: D ale B ratton, E xecutive D irecto r, T he F o u n ­ d a tio n fo r Books to C h in a , 601 C a lifo rn ia S treet, San Francisco, CA 94108; (405) 765- 0664. 119 the university and th e library w ere closed, all ex­ change arrangem ents w ere term in ated , producing a large gap in W estern language holdings. A cquir­ ing m aterials from this p erio d is now one of th e ir prim ary goals. W uhan U niversity also has one of th e oldest li­ brary schools in th e country. F o u n d ed in 1920, it now graduates over 100 students annually as p a rt of a four-year program for a b ach elo r’s degree. T he school had se v e n te e n graduate stu d en ts in 1981 and twenty-five faculty. W u h an has se t up an exchange w ith lib rary science faculty at Sim m ons C ollege in Boston. Last year W uhan sent two lecturers to Simmons for advanced study, and in re tu rn they in v ited th e p re s id e n t of Sim m ons C ollege to C hina to le c tu re on lib ra ry a d m in istra tiv e m an ag em en t. The school’s d ep u ty director, Sun Binyang, com ­ m en ted th at W uhan’s level of m anagem ent could be im proved by applying th e m anagem ent te c h ­ n iq u e s a n d n ew tech n o lo g y available in m any foreign universities. She said th e ir main objective is to m odernize and im prove the level of teaching and enhance th e ir staff. My next visit was to the Provincial L ibrary of H u b ei in W uhan, which functions as a provincial public library. In th e th irty -th ree years after the establishm ent of th e P eople’s R epublic of China, th e Provincial L ib rary has b e e n expanding. By 1981 th e holdings included 2.2 million volum es, 5 00 ,000 o f w h ich w e re C h in e se classics (rare books p rin te d before 1911), and 130,000 of which w ere foreign language books prim arily in Russian an d E n g lish . H u b e i m a in ta in s exchanges w ith over 1,000 units w ithin C hina and they have es­ tablished program s w ith several libraries in Ohio, Australia, and Japan. My last stop was G uangzhou (Canton) w here I visited Zhongshan U niversity Library. The old li­ brary building had long ago proven inadequate to m eet th e increasing n e e d for study and storage space, and many of th e ir 2.5 million volum es are stored in dorm itories and old cam pus buildings. A new library building cu rren tly u n d e r construc­ tion will accom m odate 1,200 seats and make th e ir holdings m ore accessible. C u rre n tly Z hongshan has exchanges w ith 63 overseas universities and o th e r academ ic in stitu ­ tio n s. P u b lic a tio n s u s e d for ex ch a n g e in c lu d e books and journals pub lish ed by th e ir own u n i­ v ersity as well as com m ercially p ro d u c e d texts. T h eir m ost prolific exchange is w ith Japan, fol­ lowed by th e U nited States, Australia, England, F rance, and G erm any. Zhongshan n eed s books in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and law. As w ith o th er libraries I visited, Z hongshan’s b u d g et is n o t sufficient to b uy th e books an d jo u rn als they need. Exchange is an extrem ely im portant acquisition tool. F rom my visits to th e C hinese libraries and my Reading Room area, Zhongshan University Library, Canton 120 p re v io u s r e s e a r c h in to t h e s u b je c t, I am c o n ­ v in ced m o re th an e v e r of th e im p o rtan ce a n d u til­ ity of in te rn a tio n a l exchange, especially for lib ra r­ ies in d ev elo p in g co u n tries w h e re reso u rces are scarce. My visit to C hina was b o th p erso n ally an d p ro ­ fessionally rew ard in g. T h e contacts a n d exchanges th a t I e s ta b lis h e d w ith C h in e s e lib ra ria n s a n d scholars e n a b le d m e to gain m u c h in sig h t in to th e ir lib raries and th e p ro b lem s th e y face in o b ­ tain ing ev en basic academ ic m aterials. ■■ RBMS PRECONFERENCE T h e T w e n t y - T h i r d A C R L R a re B oo k s a n d M anuscripts P re co n feren ce, “G row th in th e F ace of A dversity: T he B usiness o f Special C ollections in th e 1980s,” will b e h e ld July 6 -9 , 1982, at th e U niversity C ity H oliday In n , P hiladelphia. F o cu sin g on th e practical w ork th a t librarians perfo rm in a v ariety of in stitu tio n al settings, th e pro g ram will c o n sid er th e p ro sp ects facing special co lle c tio n s in th e s tr a ite n e d ec o n o m ic c irc u m ­ stances ch aracteristic of th e 1980s. P artic u la r e m ­ phasis will b e on sm aller collections a n d th e ways in w h ic h t h e i r staffs m ig h t w o rk w ith in t h e i r larg er in stitu tio n a l en v iro n m en t. K ey n o te sp eak er will b e D avid H . Stam , A n­ drew W. M ellon d ire c to r of th e R esearch L ib ra r­ ies, N ew York P u b lic L ib ra ry . O th e r sp e a k e rs are: Sam uel A. S treit, Brown U niversity; D avid F a rm e r, U n iv ersity of Tulsa; E dw in W o lf II, Li­ b rary C om p an y of P hiladelphia; L ynda C. C laas­ sen, L ib rary of C ongress; A nn G wyn, Johns H o p ­ kins U niversity; E le a n o r H. Pinkham , Kalam azoo College; a n d Jam es Tanis, B ryn M aw r C ollege. T h e A n t iq u a r i a n B o o k s e lle rs A sso c ia tio n o f A m erica w ill sp o n so r th e o p e n in g re c e p tio n in c o n ju n c tio n w ith re g is tra tio n on T u esd ay e v e n ­ ing, July 6. T he Van P e lt L ibrary of th e U n iv ersi­ ty o f P en n sy lv an ia has in v ite d p a rtic ip a n ts to a re c e p tio n in th e ir Special C ollections on W e d n e s ­ day evening, an d th e L ib rary C om pany of P hila­ d e lp h ia , 1314 L o c u s t S tr e e t, w ill also h o s t a recep tio n on T h u rsd ay evening. A v ariety of sem inars are also p la n n e d as p a rt of th e p re c o n fe re n c e pro g ram . S em inar topics in ­ clude: th e sm all special collections library; d e a c ­ c essio n ; c o n s e rv a tio n ; g ra n t a p p lic a tio n p r o c e ­ d u re s a n d accounting re q u ire m e n ts ; m arking s p e ­ cial m aterials; teach in g th e h isto ry o f books and p rin tin g ; exhibitions; sam pling collections for co n ­ servation n eed s; a n d form ats for au to m a te d m an ­ u sc rip t cataloging. P re c o n fe re n c e re g is tra tio n w ill b e lim ite d to th e first 250 ap plicants an d shou ld b e se n t in by M ay 31. T h e re g is tra tio n fee o f $90 for A C R L m e m b e r s , o r $140 fo r n o n - m e m b e r s , in c lu d e s lu n ch es on July 7 an d 9, a n d e n try to th e p re c o n ference re c e p tio n s a n d to all p a p e rs a n d s e m i­ n a rs. L a te r e g is tr a tio n s w ill b e a c c e p te d on a space-available basis w ith an addition al fee of $15. T h e p re c o n fe re n c e h o tel is th e U n iv ersity C ity H oliday In n , 36th and W aln u t S tre e ts, close to th e U niversity of P ennsylvania in W est P h ilad e l­ phia. This h o tel is also an ALA co n feren ce h o tel a n d r e s e r v a tio n s a re m a d e b y u s in g th e ALA housing form in th e Jan u ary Am erican Libraries. P a rtic ip a n ts are u rg e d to re g is te r e a rly for th e hotel; ALA reg u latio n s re q u ire a first com e, first serv ed approach to room assignm ent. A d d itio n al in fo rm atio n a n d re g is tra tio n form s fo r th e p r e c o n f e r e n c e m ay b e o b ta in e d from : RBMS P re co n feren ce, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. H u ro n St., Chicago, IL 60611. ■■ HUMANITIES GRANTS STILL AVAILABLE T h e 1983 b u d g e t s u b m it te d b y th e R e a g a n A dm inistration to C ongress has re q u e s te d fun ding $3.4 m illion for th e R esearch R esources Program of th e N ational E n d o w m e n t for th e H u m an ities. This le v e l of fu n d in g , id e n tic a l to th a t of fiscal y ear 1982, will en ab le th e p ro g ram to co n tin u e its su p p o rt for p ro jects to m ake re se a rc h m aterials in th e h u m an ities available to th e public. T h e pro g ram m akes aw ards for th e p re p a ra tio n of catalogs, in v en to ries, reg isters, guides, bib lio g ­ rap h ies, an d o th e r finding aids for collections of d o cu m en ts, p rin te d works, and n o n -p rin t m a te ­ rials o f significant value for ad v an ced re se a rc h in th e h u m a n itie s. I t also fu n d s arch iv al su rv ey s, m o d e l c o n s e rv a tio n a n d p r e s e r v a tio n p ro je c ts , a n d p ro jects to im p ro v e th e ways in w hich lib ra r­ ians a n d archivists care for an d m ake available r e ­ search m aterials of in te re s t to h u m a n ist scholars. T he d ead lin e for subm ission of applications is June 1, 1982. P o ten tial applicants should first call or w rite th e R esearch R esources P ro g ram , Mail S to p 3 5 0 , N a tio n a l E n d o w m e n t fo r t h e H u m an ities, 806 15th St. N W , W ash in g to n , D C 20506; (202) 724-0341. ■■ D irecto ry Available A C R L now has av a ila b le its D ir e c to r y o f E xtended Library Campus Personnel. C opies are free to m e m b e rs; n o n -m e m b e rs m ay o rd e r th e m for $1 each. All o rd ers should in clu d e a self-ad d ressed m ailing label a n d 50¢ for p o st­ age a n d h a n d lin g . S e n d r e q u e s ts to A C R L / ALA, 50 E. H u ro n S t., C hicago, IL 60611. Also available at th e sam e ra te are offprints of “ G u id e lin e s for E x te n d e d C a m p u s L ib ra ry Services” (C&RL News, M arch 1982).