LIS 559U : Issues in International Librarianship

Judith Henchy

This course will focus on the Southeast Asia region as a means of highlighting the problems facing under developed and rapidly developing nations dealing with evolving information markets and technologies. It will trace the histories of publishing, library development and the emergence of cooperative bibliographic projects in the Southeast Asia region and around the world. The course will address the role of international funding agencies and library organizations such at IFLA in promoting issues of literacy, book production, library management, preservation, and bibliographic control. The course will also emphasize the relationship between these international initiatives and the needs of the research libraries of North America and Europe, as they strive to create and maintain collections for the study of many regions of the world from which information is inaccessible and poorly organized.

The course will be of value to any student contemplating a career in academic librarianship with an international focus, and to those with an interest in multi-cultural or international issues in librarianship.

General Bibliography

Libraries: Global Reach - Local Touch / edited by Kathleen de la Pena McCook, Barbara Ford, and Kate Lippincott. Chicago : American Library Association, 1998.

International Dictionary of Library Histories / Editor, David H. Stam

Chicago ; London : Fitzroy Dearborn, c2001

Wise, Michael and Anthony Olden, eds. Information and Libraries in the Developing World.London: Library Association, 1990-3. 2 vols.

Publishing and Development in the Third World. Edited by Philip G. Altbach.

London ; New York : H. Zell, 1992

Class 1: Issues Affecting Library Development

Conceptual issues in library development: Whose standards, whose knowledge?

Epistemology: Cultural understanding and theories of knowledge

Is information a global commodifiable product or culturally specific artifact.

Prevailing attitudes to information dissemination and management.

Censorship, control of government information

Information Industries

Literacy and social conditions – linguistic diversity

Economics of the book trade

NGO movement

Technology

Required reading: Jennifer Lindsay. “The Keepers.” A short story written for the International Conference on Preservation in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai, Feb 2000.

p. 301-

Assignment 1: Search the library science literature, or equivalent web-resources, to find 3 sources referring to the role of information in a society or country of your choice (not North America). Prepare one page of notes to be handed in after class, and be prepared to discuss in class. Pay attention to the role of National Libraries in this process of information management and representation.

Class 2: The Role of National Libraries

Enabling Acts, Legislation

Professional Associations

Training standards

Legal Deposit

National Bibliography, ISBN

Guest speaker: Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Library, Hanoi.

Assignment 2: Choose a different country, but one which might be compared with that selected for Assignment 1. Find 3 sources which describe the position of the National Library in that country. What is it legal standing, legal obligations, role within the profession of Librarianship. What are its links to international organizations?

Prepare a one-page description in note form, and be prepared to discuss the significance of this information to cultural environment of the country.

Class 3: International Organizations and Professional Associations

IFLA, UNESCO, ICA, SARBICA, SEAPAVAA

US International Activities

US Government : AID, State Department

NGOs: CLIR (Commission on Preservation and Access)

ALA: Book Fellows Program

International Funding Agencies

Ford, Toyota, Luce, Soros, Rockefeller, Asia Foundation, Japan Foundation, Mellon

IMF, World Bank

Assignment 3: Search the Web for sources on funding agencies. Choose one and describes its programs in relation to libraries in developing countries.

Class 4: Area Studies Librarianship

U.S. Dept. of Education, Title VI structure

Role of Librarians

Professional Associations

Cooperative partnerships

Institutional Challenges

Guest speakers: Dr. Michael Biggins, Head, Slavic Section, UW Libraries

Ms. Mary St. Germain, Head Near East Section, UW Libraries

Required reading: Jutta Reed-Scott. Scholarship research libraries and global publishing : the result of a study funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Washington, DC : Association of Research Libraries, 1996.

Henchy and Mitchell. "Report to the Association for Research Libraries, Task Force on Foreign Acquisition." 1994.

Assignment 4: Preparatory research for Final assignment (below).

Class 5: International Cooperation

Regional Consortia

International Consortia

Areas of Cooperation

Standards

Cataloging

Preservation

Academic Exchanges

Technology

Final assignment: Chose a country or two countries in comparison; select one aspect of library development (technology, establishment of standards, preservation etc) and describe the challenges and opportunities for international cooperation in this field. Your project should address issues of funding, appropriate transfer of technologies, political and cultural sensitivities to questions of training, access to cultural patrimony etc). Your report should be 3 to 4 pages.