Ride the Global Wave: trends affecting libraries and librarians

NLB Professional Talk Series

Here is the summary of NLB Professional & International Relations (PIR) Talk today: 

Dr. Ingrid Parent, President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, presents the topic on “Ride the Global Wave: trends affecting libraries and librarians.”

Date         : 28 March 2013, Thursday

Time        : 9.30am – 11.00am 

Venue     : The Pod, L16, National Library Building

Speakers’ Topic

Ride the Global Wave: trends affecting libraries and librarians

Speaker’s Profile

Dr. Ingrid Parent, IFLA President & University Librarian, University of British Columbia

 

Dr. Ingrid Parent IFLA President & University Librarian, University of British Columbia

Dr. Ingrid Parent is the 2009 winner of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship, Dr. Parent is recognized nationally and internationally for her outstanding contributions to libraries and to the library profession. Over her career, Dr. Parent has been involved with several international information associations including UNESCO, the International Publishers Association, the ISSN International Network, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the Association of Research Libraries. In 2009 Dr. Parent was appointed to The University of British Columbia as University Librarian after holding increasingly senior positions at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), culminating in her role as Assistant Deputy Minister.

Dr. Ingrid Parent is the 2009 winner of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship, Dr. Parent is recognized nationally and internationally for her outstanding contributions to libraries and to the library profession.

Over her career, Dr. Parent has been involved with several international information associations including UNESCO, the International Publishers Association, the ISSN International Network, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the Association of Research Libraries.

In 2009 Dr. Parent was appointed to The University of British Columbia as University Librarian after holding increasingly senior positions at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), culminating in her role as Assistant Deputy Minister.

I like the trends she shared in this talk and I see her enthusiasm in being the IFLA president.  IFLA will be held in Aug 2013 in Singapore, I anticipate a lot more thought sharing session like this!

LAS Professional Development Scheme (PDS) Points: 46

(Applicable only to librarians who are participants of PDS) 

Future of Libraries and Archives: Convergence or Divergence

Today, I attended the following talk organised by NLB Professional & International Relations (PIR).  The topic for today's  Professional Talk Series (Panel Discussion) is:

“Future of Libraries and Archives: Convergence or Divergence?”.

Date         : 30 January 2013, Wednesday

Time        : 3.30pm – 5.15pm 

Venue     : The Pod, L16, National Library Building

Speakers’ Profile

Hans Jansen is the Head of the Innovation & Development Division at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB), the National Library of the Netherlands.

In the past 20 years, he has been involved in numerous National and European projects in the library field. He has been project manager for the Dutch national programs for preservation (Metamorfoze) and digitisation (Memory of the Netherlands).

In his present position he is responsible for the Digital Library Programme of the KB with a focus on the ICT development projects and overall programme management. The area of research and development into methods and techniques for the long-term preservation of and permanent access to digital objects stored in the e-Depot has his special interest.

Bill Macnaught is the National Librarian and as ex officio member of LIAC. He came to the National Library in 2011 from Puke Ariki, a position held since 2005.

Before coming to New Zealand, he was the Director, Libraries and Arts and later Head of Cultural Development at Gateshead Council in the north of England. He was awarded a CBE in the UK for services to public libraries and cultural life.

He was Chair of the UK Advisory Council on Libraries and was a visiting Professor (Librarianship) at the University of Northumbria.

Marie-Christine Doffey has been Director of the Swiss National Library (NL) since 1 April 2005.

She completed her degree in Antiquity Studies at the University of Fribourg in 1983 and a Master of Advanced Studies in Arts Management at the University of Basel in 2002.

She has worked for the NL since 1991 and held various management positions, including that of Vice Director from 2003 to March 2005.

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Source of above info: Email from NLB dated 25 Jan 2013

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I like the way this seminar was chaired. Mr Gene Tan, Director of NLB was the Chair for the event and the session was well planned and with some humours that made the official event not that heavy going.

NLB Singapore is walking the same path of merging "Libraries and Archive", there are some similar issues facing library management among these three libraries.  The sharing in this professional talk do lights up some thought on common issues/concerns.

Like all the future trends are something that make us look forwards to, the discussion today is just the being of the exchange, and I see the journey for convergence or divergence is a just a task handled in different ways, nothing is right, nothing is wrong, so long it suits the parties concerns!

Dexterine Ho Soo Miang



Europe's Digital Library, Europeana and The Germam National Library

This afternoon, I attended the talks by Dr Elisabeth Niggemann, Director General of the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek).

This event is jointly organised by Goethe-Institut, the Digital Libraries Group of the Library Association of Singapore and Professional & International Relations, NLB.

With the insight of the speaker, first, I learned more about Europeana, Europe’s digital library, archive and museum and initiatives. In the second half of the talk, I have the opportunity of hearing the approaches the German National Library are adopting against the backdrop of digital revolution as the library celebrates its 100th anniversary next year.

Here are some details of the two talks:

TALK 1:

Date: 9 Dec 2011, Friday
Venue: Possibility Room, Level 5, National Library Building

Programme Outline

3.00pm Registration
3.30pm Professional Talk: EUROPE’S DIGITAL LIBRARY, ARCHIVE AND MUSEUM: EUROPEANA

4.15pm Light Refreshments

Synopsis:

Europeana is the name the portal that integrates the digitized holdings of Europe’s libraries, archives, museums and audiovisual collections. Currently it gives access to 20 million items held by 1.500 content providers.

Apart from being an aggregator, Europeana is also playing an important role as a facilitator and a distributor and it is engaged in many topics like standards, open linked data, public domain, copyright etc.

TALK 2:
4.15pm Registration
4.45pm Professional Talk: THE GERMAN NATIONAL LIBRARY AND THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

5.30pm End of Programme

Synopsis

The German National Library will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2012. The tasks today are not very different from the tasks 100 years ago. What has changed dramatically are the publications and the processes (technical and organizationally) in the workflow. Constant change is necessary to cope with the digital revolution.

Speaker’s Profile

Dr Elisabeth Niggemann is the Director General of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library) in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main.

In 1987 she started her career as a librarian at the German Central Library for Medicine in Cologne as head of the acquisitions department.

In 1989 she became head of the cataloguing and subject indexing department at the University and State Library at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf.

In 1994, she became the director of the Düsseldorf University and State Library. She came into her present position in 1999.

She has been involved in many national and international working groups and committees. Until recently she was Chair of the Board of Directors of CENL (Conference of European National Librarians), and Chair of the Europeana Foundation.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees of OCLC and a member of several Advisory Councils, a Board member of the “Stiftung Buchkunst” and one of the editors of the “Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie”.

Source of information:
Email from las.honsec@gmail.com dated 29 November 2011.

LAS Professional Development Scheme (PDS) Points: 46
(Applicable only to librarians who are participants of PDS)

The Services of the National Library of China

Today, I attended the following professional talk organized by Professional & International Relations (PIR), NLB.

Topic : The Services of the National Library of China (delivered in Mandarin)
Speaker : Mr Sun Yigang, Assistant Director-General, National Library of China
Date : 7 Dec 2011, Wednesday
Time : 3.30pm – 5.00pm (Please be seated by 3.15pm.)
Venue : Possibility Room, Level 5, National Library Building

Mr Sun Yigang is the Assistant Director-General of the National Library of China (NLC). He leads a delegation of five senior NLC staff for a visit to NLB and I felt very privileged to have a chance to listen to his speech today.

This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to learn about the services offered in NLC, one of the many fast-developing libraries in Asia.

Synopsis of Talk
This presentation mainly introduces the services of the National Library of China, which include the service structure and modes to the general public, libraries and government bodies. The services of the NLC refer to public services, reference services, digital library services, etc.

本报告主要介绍中国国家图书馆的服务。其中包括服务格局与服务模式，面向社会公众、图书馆业界、政府机构和社会组织所开展的各种服务的基本情况。内容涉及公众（特色）服务、参考咨询服务、立法决策服务以及数字图书馆服务等各个方面。

Speaker’s Profile
Mr Sun Yigang was born in March 1961 in Qingdao, Shandong Province. He is a research librarian. He graduated from Department of Optics, Shandong University with bachelor degree in July 1983, and graduated from Computer Science and Engineering Department, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics with master degree in March 1996. He joined People's Liberation Army in July 1983 after he graduated from university, and had successively worked in Institute of Artillery Equipment and Technology, General Staff Department, and Weapon System Integrated Demonstration Research Institute, General Armament Department.

He was transferred to the National Library of China in July 2000, and then had successively acted as director of NLC Information & Network Department, vice-general manager of China Digital Library Corp., Ltd, director of NLC Scientific Research Division, Centennial Events Office, Computer & Network System Department, and General Office. He was appointed NLC Assistant Director-General in November 2010.

孙一钢，1961年3月出生，山东青岛人。研究馆员。1983年7月山东大学光学系本科毕业，1996年3月北京航空航天大学计算机科学与工程系计算机应用专业硕士研究生毕业。1983年大学毕业后，先后在总参炮兵装备技术研究所和总装武器装备综合论证研究所工作，1997年5月任总装武器装备综合论证研究所二室副主任。

2000年7月转至国家图书馆，先后任信息网络部主任、中国数字图书馆有限责任公司副总经理、科研处处长、百年馆庆筹备办公室主任、计算机与网络系统部主任、办公室主任。2010年11月聘任为国家图书馆馆长助理。

Source of information: email from las.honsec@gmail.com dated 24 Nov 2011

LAS Professional Development Scheme (PDS) Points: 46 (Applicable only to librarians who are participants of PDS)

On Being a Librarian" by Ms Ch'ng Kim See

Professional & International Relations (PIR) at NLB kickstart 2011’s Professional Talks Series with an up close and personal session with Ms Ch’ng Kim See, Head of ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) Library today:

Topic : On Being a Librarian
Speaker : Ms Ch’ng Kim See, Head, ISEAS Library, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Date : 11 May 2011, Wed
Time : 4.00pm – 5.30pm
Venue : Possibility Room, Level 5, National Library Building

Ms Ch’ng's personal insight into her choice of librarianship as a profession, with almost forty years’ experience under her belt is something interesting to me and it does evoke emotions and memories for many of us.

As Singapore librarians rarely share their personal stories, hence this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity for me to hear from her.

Among many stalwarts of the library profession, Ms Ch'ng is one who remains steadfast in her unwavering belief and conviction of libraries and librarians amidst today’s rapidly changing environment.

Synopsis of Talk

After nearly 40 years on the library hustings, some reflection is natural.

Librarianship as a profession was not a first choice, but in the late 60s, it was a new opening for women in Malaysia who had hitherto only two other choices: teaching (in schools) and nursing.

There was of course the law, medicine and engineering, but they were not within the grasp of the majority. Law was a first option, but it was not available in the peninsula, and it would be a financial burden.

Determined to avoid the trappings of teaching (a pervasive profession within the family), and nursing, was journalism. After a short stint, circumstances got in the way, and librarianship came into the fore the next best choice .

It was more than a year after postgraduate studies and practice, that the need to settle down and move on became a reality.

What does it mean to be a librarian? Is it a profession? Is it a calling? What are the benefits? Are there risks and hazards associated with its practice?

In the mid-eighties there was a passionate debate amongst Singapore librarians on the stress and lack of stress on being a librarian.

The raging debate spilt into the public arena, carried in the Straits Times. What does it take to be a librarian?

Is there a consensus today?

Speaker’s Profile

Ms Ch’ng Kim See is Head, ISEAS Library, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.

A library and information specialist on Southeast Asian studies, she has written more than 40 articles, edited and indexed a number of books, and compiled several bibliographies, one of which is the Bibliography of Southeast Asia: A Decade of Selected Social Science Publications in the English Language 1990-2000 published by Scarecrow Press.

Her academic interest is in the history and politics of Malaysia, Southeast Asian Chinese, and the international relations of Southeast Asia and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

She is currently researching on Tan Cheng Lock, a Malaysian politician, founding president of the Malay(si)an Chinese Association. Prior to her present position, Ms Ch’ng worked in Kuala Lumpur as a journalist in the Straits Times Press; Head of Cataloguing, National Library of Malaysia; and Director/Chief Librarian of the U.S. Information Service Lincoln Cultural Center.

In Vienna, she was also Head of Technical Services, VIC Library, (a U.N. common-user service for 12 agencies in Vienna), Vienna International Centre. Ms Ch'ng has a B.A. (Hons.) (University of Malaya), Postgrad. Dipl. in Librarianship (University of New South Wales, Sydney), and M.Sc. (Soc. Sc. - Information Studies) (University of Sheffield).

She is a seventh-generation Baba/Nyonya, has travelled widely, and is interested in the arts, Buddhist meditation, qi gong, holistic and healthy living, charitable causes, environmental issues and human rights.

In 2001, Ms Ch'ng was nominated Outstanding Librarian of the region (for Singapore) by Ms Yolanda Beh, Chief Librarian of Regional Language Centre (RELC) . She has served in both Library Associations of Singapore and Malaysia – for over ten years in each association.

She was the President of the Library Association of Malaysia (Persatuan Perpustakaan Malaysia, PPM) from 1977 to 1978. After she moved to Singapore in 1988, she served in the Library Association of Singapore (LAS) from 1989 in various capacities, such as Council Member, Chair of various Committees and represented the LAS in the Committee to study the feasibility of a postgraduate school (PRIM).

She was the Hon. Secretary, Executive Board, CONSAL V (Fifth Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians), the conference of which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25-30 May, 1981.

LAS Professional Development Scheme (PDS) Points: 46 (Applicable only to librarians who are participants of PDS)

Source of information: email from lassec@las.org.sg dated 3 May 2011