Development of information and library networks in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as a part of the global exchange of information 5–9 May 1995, Sofia, Bulgaria
| Pages | 407-409 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045399 |
| Date | 01 April 1995 |
| Published date | 01 April 1995 |
| Author | Nina Stoyanova |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Conference
Reports
Development of information and
library
networks in the
countries of
Central and Eastern
Europe
as a
part
of
the global exchange
of information
5-9
May
1995,
Sofia,
Bulgaria
Nina Stoyanova
NACID,
Boul.
'G.M.
Dimitrov'
52-A,
Sofia
1125,
Bulgaria
E-mail:
nina.stoyanova@mcr1.poptel.org.uk
or cisti@bgcict.bitnet
Introduction
The conference was organised by the
National Centre for Information and
Documentation (NACID), Sofia,
Bul-
garia and the National Library of Sts
Cyril and Methodius, Sofia, Bulgaria,
and was supported
by Unesco.
The objectives of the conference
were:
• to present
the
current
state
of
development and
computerisation of information
and
library activities
in
different
countries;
• to outline technological
organisational problems in the
development of information and
library systems
and
networks;
•
to
define
and
examine the
potential for
cooperation;
•
to
discuss common problems
and the
potential for their
resolution with
the
assistance of
international organisations.
Summary of
the
sessions
The conference
was attended
by
repre-
sentatives of national libraries, univer-
sity libraries
and
national information
centres from the Czech Republic,
Hungary, the Republic of
Macedonia,
Poland,
Romania,
the
Slovak Republic
and the
Republic of
Bulgaria;
and
also
by experts from the UK, the Nether-
lands and Unesco's Programme of
General Information (PGI).
After
the
official
opening
speeches,
the plenary sessions of the first day
were dedicated to the present state of
computerisation of information
and
li-
brary activities. The director of the Sts
Cyril
and
Methodius National Library
in Sofia described the objectives and
outlook of
the
Bulgarian project for a
national automated library and infor-
mation
network.
The
participants were
acquainted with
details of
the
activities
and
services of
the National
Centre for
Information and Documentation
(NACID), Bulgaria; the National In-
stitute of Information
and
Documenta-
tion of
Romania;
the
National Library
of Romania; and the St Kliment
Ochridski National
and
University Li-
brary of
Macedonia.
The influence of
the
results of the transition to
a
market
economy
on the
working conditions of
library
and
information services in Po-
land was
discussed.
All these institutions said that they
were doing their best to update their
working processes and functions by
the application of computer technol-
ogy;
to develop projects
that
would
al-
low them to become central nodes in
the library and information systems
for their respective countries; and to
develop international cooperation,
data
exchange
and shared use
of infor-
mation resources.
The second day was dedicated to a
variety of
topics,
including the recent
activities of Unesco's PGI and their
provision of technical
and
financial
as-
sistance, and a method for the eco-
nomic analysis of investment
solu-
tions concerning the building of
information
and
library
networks.
Par-
ticipants had the opportunity to hear
detailed information about two library
networks in use
at
Imperial College in
London
and the
University of
East
An-
glia,
and about
the
impact of
network-
ing
on
library services, staff
and
users.
Examples were given of the use of
BIDS and SilverPIatter's Electronic
Reference Library networking system
for CDROMs
at Imperial
College.
De-
sign and use
of
the online
public access
catalogue (OPAC) and the electronic
document delivery system of the
Uni-
versity of East Anglia Library were
discussed,
together with the manage-
ment of change and the marketing of
new services.
The audience was acquainted with
some very important data describing
development trends at the Hungarian
Technical Information Centre and Li-
brary (OMIKK), its activities and
services, and experiences with ALEF
software for shared cataloguing at the
Hungarian Technical Library. A posi-
tive aspect was that the problems of
small public and specialised libraries
were not forgotten. The Institute of
Scientific, Technical and Economic
Information
in Poland had developed a
CDS/ISIS micro application support-
ing the basic activities of small librar-
ies.
This
could be used
for
the
creation
of a database of retrievable bibliog-
raphic records which was used for
cataloguing, monitoring loan and re-
turn transactions, and checking an
item's availability.
The third day's session was an op-
portunity to share experiences of im-
plementing library and information
The Electronic Library, Vol. 13, No. 4, August 1995 407
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