TOC 500 College & Research Libraries July 2001 Editorial International Library Cooperation: We Have Come a Long Way and Have a Long Way to Go Five years ago (August 1996), I partici­ pated in the first China–U.S. Library Con­ ference in Beijing. In August 2001, I par­ ticipated in the second China–U.S. Library Conference. The second meeting was held in the Flushing (Queens Bor­ ough) Public Library in New York. Much progress in library cooperation has oc­ curred in the time between the two meet­ ings. Both conferences were purposefully limited in attendance and highly focused in content. Four themes were addressed at the Flushing conference: information policy, resource-sharing, human re­ sources, and the role of libraries in inter­ national developments. Originally signed in 1996, the agreement between the Na­ tional Library of China and the Queens (N.Y.) Public Library was resigned at the Flushing conference. This agreement in­ cludes various joint projects, including the exchange of library staff, exhibits, and technology. The Global Virtual Library The dream of developing a global virtual library is becoming closer to reality. Of course, technology is the driving force in the realization of international resource- sharing. The greatest strides in coopera­ tion will occur in the sharing of electronic resources. We in the United States are wit­ nessing more cooperation/resource-shar­ ing in the use of electronic resources than in sharing books. It was only a few years ago that libraries in China would not share books with libraries across the street. Al­ though much of this hostile/competitive attitude has subsided, it still exists in some Asian countries. Because of the difficulty in getting books cleared through customs, the ability of some countries to share books does not exist. Although database-sharing also presents problems, databases are easier to deal with thanks to advances in telecommunications. Site licenses and other issues requiring legal disentangle­ ments are significant bugbears associated with electronic databases in the U.S. as well as abroad. New digital and telecommuni­ cation technologies offer possibilities for improving resource-sharing and for pro­ moting collaborative collection develop­ ment. Obstacles/Challenges One could surmise that the lack of money/ technology is the major obstacle in the path of developing a global virtual library. It is true that many countries simply do not have the funds to purchase the nec­ essary computers/telecommunication systems. Unfortunately, the digital divide widens. Some countries do not have the means for effective interconnection with other telecommunication systems. Not­ withstanding the lack of money/equip­ ment, however, the greatest obstacle is the lack of policies that either promote or pro­ hibit cooperation. Some countries do not enjoy the freedom to share information with other countries. Overcoming limited experience with the outside world and dealing with limited knowledge of other cultures are challenges that are not given appropriate consideration by planners of library cooperation. The inability to meet required language competencies is cer­ tainly a factor that affects international library cooperation.1 Moreover, copyright 500 Editorial 501 in the electronic era has become even more complex. Copyright laws must be followed and respected throughout the world; this vital issue was addressed dur­ ing the second China–U.S. Library Coop­ eration Conference. Finally, I would be remiss if the infor­ mation infrastructure were not included as a challenge. Essentially, an information infrastructure consists of four compo­ nents: software, hardware, human re­ sources, and data/information. Several developing countries cannot participate in international library cooperation be­ cause of the lack of one or more of these components. Opportunities There are many opportunities to improve international library cooperation, and many more will be on the horizon in the near future based on advancing technol­ ogy. Several of these obstacles/opportu­ nities will be with us for some time; we should exploit the existing opportunities for improving the sharing and delivery of information throughout the world. A good case in point is the University of Pittsburgh’s successful efforts to imple­ ment a document delivery system with libraries in China, Hong Kong, and Tai­ wan. Known as the Gateway Service Cen­ ter for Chinese Journal Articles, this ac­ tivity was funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. An obvi­ ous opportunity that should be exploited is the sharing of human resources. Some librarian exchange programs already are in place; however, some countries have not participated in these exchange pro­ grams and should be provided the avenue to do so. Human expertise is one of the library’s greatest assets, and it should be continually strengthened. Unlimited op­ portunities abound in creating and facili­ tating library cooperation conferences among various countries. Eventually, this will become a common practice through­ out the world. Conclusion International library cooperation will not—and should not—occur by happen­ stance. Careful and thoughtful planning with superb organization is required to promote cooperation among the world’s libraries. The China–U.S. library confer­ ences could serve as a model for other, similar conferences. The reality of a glo­ bal virtual library is approaching; how­ ever, there are many gaps in the infra­ structure that must be filled. The technology of the global virtual library may be realized before some of the hu­ man elements (e.g., freedom, cultural dif­ ferences) are resolved. In time, via inter­ national library cooperation we will achieve collectively what no one nation can achieve individually—a classic ex­ ample of synergy. DONALD E. RIGGS Editor, College & Research Libraries Note 1. Ching-chih Chen, Planning Global Information Infrastructure (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Pub­ lishing, 1995). << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /All /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Warning /CompatibilityLevel 1.3 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default /DetectBlends true /DetectCurves 0.0000 /ColorConversionStrategy /CMYK /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedOpenType false /ParseICCProfilesInComments true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false /MaxSubsetPct 1 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveDICMYKValues true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveFlatness false /PreserveHalftoneInfo true /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts false /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /CropColorImages false /ColorImageMinResolution 151 /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.10000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages false /GrayImageMinResolution 151 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.10000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages false /MonoImageMinResolution 600 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.16667 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False /CreateJDFFile false /Description << /ENU (IPC Print Services, Inc. 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