ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


October 1991 / 583

national significance. Suggested agenda items in­
clude: technology, budgetary issues such as serial 
commitments and prices, access to government 
information, electronic information products, 
shared resources agreements, building renovation 
plans and space needs, technical processing issues 
and retrospective conversion plans, collection de­
velopment issues, library use instruction programs, 
online catalog plans, staffing levels, preservation 
programs, fundraising and developing activities, 
and library friends groups.

In summary, the major goal of any orientation 
program for FACs should be made to make com­
mittee members feel that they have an important

role in celebrating library successes as well as ad­
dressing library concerns. This can be accomplished 
by educating committee members about the library 
as an organization. Only through the free flow of 
information about the library will members of the 
FAC “buy in” to the tasks at hand, and remain 
“friends of the library” after their term is complete.

Ed. note: The task fo r c e submitted its fin al report 
to the ACRL Board at the 1991 Annual Conference. 
Members o f  the task fo rce were David Ferriero, 
Massachusetts Istitute o f  Technology; Brigid Welch, 
Association o f  Research Libraries; and Florence 
Doksansky, Brown University, chair. ■  ■

Latin American seminar on official publications makes 
recommendations

Librarians from 19 countries participated in the 
Latin American Seminar on Official Publications 
held in Mexico City from June 10-12, 1991. The 
meetings were held in the Biblioteca Nacional, a 
part of the Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliograficas 
(IIB) on the campus of the Universidad National 
Automona de Mexico (UNAM). This is the fourth 
seminar sponsored by the International Federation 
of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 
Government Information and Official Publications 
Section.

Presentations on official publications were made 
by individuals from the 17 Latin American coun­
tries invited to attend (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, 
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, 
Republica Dominicana, El Salvador, Uruguay, 
Venezuela) and in the English speaking Caribbean. 
The overview was followed by other papers that 
examined the definition of official publications, the 
need to study these materials, the use of official 
publications, bibliographic control of these materi­
als, publications of the United Nations and the 
World Bank, and teaching about official publica­
tions in library schools.

A series of recommendations dealing with ac­
cess, regulation, editorial policies, and dissemina­
tion were developed. Latin American governments 
were asked to adopt measures to strengthen the 
national libraries and other depository libraries so 
these may fulfill their responsibilities of acquiring, 
preserving, organizing, and disseminating the na­
tional official record, including state, provincial, 
departmental, municipal, and other publications. 
Government organizations charged with the plan­

ning of information policies were requested to 
regulate the production of official publications. 
Government agencies in general were asked to 
establish directives for an editorial policy which 
would include what, how, when, how much, and for 
whom to publish and that these consider elements 
of bibliographic control such as cataloging-in-source, 
ISBN, ISSN, etc. National libraries or depository 
institutions of official publications were asked to 
create the mechanisms to facilitate the fulfillment 
and dissemination of the legal deposit laws and 
related regulations, and to implement international 
standards for bibliographic description and access.

Following considerable discussion about teach­
ing official publications in library schools, profes­
sional associations and library schools were asked to 
promote the education and training of human re­
sources for the management of official publications 
and research on production, use, and availability of 
official publications. IFLA was asked to recom­
mend to international organizations that periodic 
short courses for personnel who manage collections 
of official publications be offered. IFLA was also 
asked to sponsor a research project and bibliogra­
phy to determine the state-of-the-art of official 
publications in Latin America.

The seminar, organized by Rosa M aria Femandez 
de Zamora of IIB, received assistance from IFLA’s 
Government Information and Official Publications 
Section and IFLA’s program on Advancement of 
Librarianship in the Third World, the Organization 
of American States, and the Biblioteca Nacional of 
UNAM in Mexico. Plans are to publish the proceed­
ings of the seminar.—Barbara J. Ford, Virginia 
Commonwealth University I  I