ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries October 1989 / 817 The Second National Conference on Librarians and International D e velopment By Carolyn A. Snyder Associate Dean f o r Public Services Indiana University and Larry W. Griffin D irector o f Library Services Indiana University— Purdue University, F ort W a yn e A report on the conference held at Indiana University, May 7-9,1989. T he Second N ational C o n fe re n c e on L i­ brarian s and In te rn a tio n a l D ev e lo p m e n t was held on May 7 -9 ,1 9 8 9 , at In d ian a Uni Bloom ington. T h e first national co n fe re n ce had been organized by representatives o f th e W ashing­ ton State University Librarians and held in Pullm an in 1987. Based on th e responses o f p a rticip an ts in b o th conferences, a co n feren ce will be h e ld every two years in various locations th ro u g h o u t th e U n ited States. T he site selection is based on p ro ­ posals from those libraries interested in hosting th e co n feren ce. T h e site o f th e 1991 m ee tin g will be an n o u n c ed in late 1989. T he conference program focused on libraries in developing c ountries. I t inclu d ed librarians and o th ers from th e U n ited S tates involved in library d e v elo p m en t and rep re sen ta tiv e s o f c ountries w hich had b e e n on th e “receiving e n d ” o f library develo p m en t. T h e topics ran g e d from “A daptive Strategies for W orking A broad” to “T he Philosophy and R ationale for In te rn atio n a l L ibrary D evelop­ m ent.” T he subject o f th e keynote address reflected th e ve strong in te re st o f conference participants in addi­ tional o p p o rtu n itie s for involvem ent in library rsdietyv,e lopm ent; m ost p a rticip an ts h ad at least one overseas library consulting experience. B. R obert T abachnick, U niversity o f W isconsin-M adison, and th e form er M UCIA Program D irector in In d o ­ nesia, focused on academ ic librarians playing a part in oversees d e v elo p m en t p ro jects (T abachnick’s p re se n ta tio n appears on pages 81 9 -2 5 o f this is­ sue). On a re la te d topic, Jan et Gilligan, library program officer for th e U.S. In form ation Service, d e scrib ed th e USIS abroad. She spoke not only abo u t how to get involved in overseas program s, b u t perhaps m ore im portantly, how we m ight help librarians in developing countries find o p p o rtu n i­ ties to com e to th e U.S. M ore specifically, she outlined th e options available through th e In te rn a ­ tional Visitors Program and th e V oluntary Visitors Program for F oreign Librarians already in th e U.S. She also spoke a b o u t services th e U SIS w ould provide to librarians in te re s te d in th e overseas library developm ent. O ne o f th e program s at th e conference focused 8 1 8 / C& RL News on th e reasons w hy w e b e c o m e involved in lib rary d e v e lo p m e n t in o th e r c o u n trie s. R o b e rt B ru ce, ALA fellow 1987/88 in In d o n e s ia a n d h e a d o f th e H isto ry /T rav el D e p a r tm e n t at th e M inneapolis P u b lic L ib ra ry a n d In fo rm a tio n C e n te r, re a d a p a p e r on th e philosophy a n d rationale for u n d e rly ­ ing intern atio n al library developm ent. In fo rm a tio n ab o u t w h at lib ra ries in develo p in g c o u n trie s really n e e d w as p r e s e n te d by lib rarian s w ho h a d w o rk e d in S outh A m erica a n d Africa. M iriam B onham , In d ia n a U niversity, B lo o m in g ­ ton; R obin G ratz, M a n c h e s te r C ollege; a n d B ar­ b a ra Seitz, In d ia n a U niversity, B loom ington, sh a re d th e s e ideas b a sed on e x p erien ces in Brazil, Malawi, and N icaragua, respectively. T h e program was also e n ric h e d by a p a n e l on “A daptive S tra te ­ gies for W orking A broad.” Advice abo u t p re p a rin g at h o m e b e fo re th e c onsulting trip , u n d e rs ta n d in g yourself and cu ltu re shock, and feeling at hom e and m aking friends in a foreign cu ltu re was given by th e U n ite d States d ire c to r o f a cooperative p ro g ram in M alaysia (C harles R eafsnyder, IT M /M U C IA C o ­ o p e ra tiv e P ro g ra m in M alaysia), a p ro fe sso r o f a n th ro p o lo g y w ho has d o n e fie ld w o rk in M exico a n d N e p a l (Alan S a n d stro m , In d ia n a U niversity- P u rd u e U niversity at F t. W ayne), an d th e spouse o f a p ro g ra m d ire c to r in In d o n e s ia (Je a n n e T a b a ch - nick, C ross Plains, W isconsin). School o f L ib ra ry a n d In fo rm a tio n S cience p ro fe sso r D avid K aser’s presentation focused on cultural differences affect­ ing lib ra ries a n d how lib ra ry c o n su lta n ts sh o u ld take th o se into consideration w hen trying to decide w h at k in d o f lib ra ry th a t c o u n try n e e d s . A n o th e r a re a o f in te r e s t e x p re sse d by p a rtic i­ p an ts in th e first conference was inform ation about p a rtic u la r e x p e rie n c e s— b o th from th e p o in t o f view o f c o n su lta n ts a n d from th o se p e rso n s in th e d ev e lo p in g c o u n try receiv in g th e services. Hw a- W ei L ee, O hio U niversity, o rganized a p a n e l p r e s ­ e n ta tio n th a t in c lu d e d his p re s e n ta tio n on re c e n t lib ra ry d e v e lo p m e n ts in th e P e o p le ’s R e p u b lic o f C hina. Zi-W ei M a, lib rary d ire c to r at B eijing U n i­ versity, H u i-jie C h e n , lib rarian at F u jia n T each ers U niversity, a n d R o b e rt H o u d ek , O hio U niversity, d e s c rib e d lib ra ry d e v e lo p m e n ts fro m th e ir p e r ­ spectives. All o f th e m d isc u sse d th e p ro g re ss to d a te in m aking lib ra ry re so u rc e s available a n d in c o o p e ra tio n am o n g lib ra ries in C hina. A bdul Kadir, Indonesian C e n tre for Scientific D o c u m e n ­ ta tio n a n d In fo rm a tio n , spoke a b o u t his e x p e ri­ en c es w ith c o n su lta n ts from th e p o in t o f view o f a lib rarian in a develo p in g country. T h e f o u rte e n p o s te r sessions p ro v id e d a forum for th e in fo rm al sh a rin g o f in fo rm a tio n a b o u t li­ b raries a n d library exchange p ro g ram s a ro u n d th e w o rld in clu d in g th e F a r E a st, S outh A m erica, Af­ rica, an d E u ro p e . T h e e valuations o f th e c o n fe re n c e by p a rtic i­ p an ts in d ic a te d a high level o f satisfaction w ith th e c o n te n t o f th e c o n fe re n c e in w hich th e r e was a good b le n d o f p ra c tic a l in fo rm a tio n a n d scholarly p re s e n ta tio n s , along w ith an o p p o rtu n ity to d e ­ velop o n e ’s n e tw o rk in specific areas. T h e re is a co ntinuing n e e d for a forum for perso n s in this area to sh are in fo rm atio n and id e a s . C o n fe re n c e a tte n ­ dees in clu d e d librarians, faculty, rese a rc h e rs, c o n ­ su ltan ts, a n d a d m in istra to rs w hich also a d d e d to th e o p p o rtu n itie s to sh are e x p e rien c e s across d if­ fe re n t fields o f expertise. ■ ■ ACRL continuing education scholarships A C RL will offer two tu itio n -free scholarships for A C R L c o n tin u in g e d u c a tio n courses h e ld p rio r to th e ALA A nnual C o n fe re n c e in Chicago. T h e ap p lic an t m ust; 1. b e a m e m b e r o f A C R L by th e a p p lic atio n d e a d lin e (D e c e m b e r 1,1989). 2. hold a m a ste r’s d e g re e in library science from a p ro g ra m a c c re d ite d by ALA. 3. have at least th re e years experience in a library p rio r to th e applicatio n d eadline. 4. b e c u rre n tly e m p lo y e d in a lib ra ry in a p o si­ tio n g e n e ra lly a c c e p te d as “p ro fe ssio n a l,” as d e ­ fin e d by th e ir in stitu tio n . 5. have not b e e n previously g ran te d a n d utilized this scholarship. 6. have given evidence o f professional grow th as in d ic a te d by co m m ittee work, m em b e rsh ip in p r o ­ fessional organizations, etc. 7. have th e p re re q u is ite b a c k g ro u n d to b e n e fit from th e c o u rse selected . A w ards will b e m ad e b a se d on: 1. evidence o f c o m m itm en t to librarianship as a profession. 2. p o te n tia l b e n e fit to th e individual a n d th e profession. 3. rele v an c e o f th e co u rse re q u e s te d to c u rr e n t p osition or clearly d e fin e d c a re e r track. 4. financial need. 5. service to A C R L , ALA, o r th e w id e r p ro fe s ­ sion. F o r additional inform ation ab o u t th ese scholar­ ships, c o n ta c t ACRL/ALA, C E Scholarship, 50 E. H u ro n St., C hicago, IL 60611-2795. ■ ■