Organizer and Chair: Mya Thanda (Helen) Poe, Library of Congress
Discussants: Ren Jiyu, National Library of China; D. N. Banerjee, National
Library of India; Mastini Hardjoprakosa, National Library of Indonesia; Kyung-moon
Lee, National Library of Korea; Shin-ichiro Ogata, National Diet Library,
Japan; Thara Kanokmani, National Library of Thailand
Throughout Asia the information revolution is transforming libraries and archives. The pace of change varies greatly, but it is everywhere-Nicholas Negroponte (MIT) has written that the digital age has four powerful qualities. It is decentralizing, globalizing, harmonizing and empowering (Being Digital, 1955, p.229). The speakers will provide a unique opportunity to see how the libraries of Asia are adapting to this new digital age.
The round table will include six national library directors (or their designees) from Asia chaired by Helen Poe, Chief, Asian Division, Library of Congress.
The two-hour session will consist of three rounds of discussion during which participants will be given five minutes to discuss a topic, followed by half an hour for questions from the floor. The topics are:
(1) Information Access: Describe the two or three most innovative information access projects of your country in the past year. Give specific information, but also discuss how these fit into longer term plans for information access.
(2) Preservation: Describe one or two current initiatives related to the preservation of the national heritage of your country and discuss how these exemplify the goals you have for using new technologies in archives.
(3) Intellectual Property: Discuss recent intellectual property cases relative to copyright laws in your country. In particular, describe how they affect access to and the use of research materials.
Although time allotted for open discussion is limited, it is expected that there will be other opportunities during the conference when specific information access concerns/needs can be raised with participants.