Patricia Layzell Ward, Library Link Editor

IFLA�s annual conference has always been of value for the variety of papers presented. It has been a way to compare approaches to current practice around the globe, and in the different sectors of the profession. But getting hold of the papers, or even being aware of their existence was difficult until the launch of the CD-ROM IFLANET unplugged, and IFLA�s Website http://www.ifla.org Both carry the conference proceedings.

Regrettably not all of the papers are there. Two that I had hoped to review, on new organisational and financial models for university libraries for the UK and for Scandinavian libraries, are not there. However there are four other papers on financial matters - one about the impact of the economic crises in Asia, two examining the exchange of publications, and the fourth reporting a study of the costs and uses of network access to visual information.

Bob Stueart is well known for his deep knowledge and understanding of library matters in the Asian region. He writes of the impact of the economic recession that started in 1996, describing the state of development of libraries which had moved from the oral tradition, through an exclusive reliance on print-on-paper, to a technological infrastructure. A number of libraries had installed the latest in integrated systems, and at the same time co-operation and resource sharing were reaching a sophisticated level. Then came the free fall in the local currencies that impacted upon the library budget. The benefit of still using CDS/ISIS software, available at no charge from UNESCO, and running on PCs was evident to some libraries. But all libraries moved into a period of accelerated inflation which affected the number of research journals that could be retained and resulted in cutbacks to full-text online journal licences. The response to the difficulty was positive - information strategies are being co-ordinated at a local and national level. Governments are being forced to consider the value of information, rather than the costs of acquiring it. The greatest threat to Asian libraries lie not in technology, but in the cost, pricing, and policies and regulations.

The exchange of publications has been a means of acquisitions for many years, and the nature of the exchange was examined in two papers. Tendermann considered it in relation to foreign literature at the National Library of Estonia. Here the Department of Foreign Exchange had grown since it was founded in 1979, having 7 employees at the end of the 1980�s, to 25 in 1999. Exchange was a valuable way to acquire foreign publications when the main source of foreign books was via Moscow. Today the situation has changed and attention now focuses on quality rather than quantity, as it had been when material was politically correct and came mostly from other socialist countries. The partners are now more likely to be researching the problems of the transitional process as post-socialist countries, or have an interest in Estonia. The exchange with English-speaking countries is now very small - only the British Library remains out of a total of 13 partners. Tendermann also discusses the good and bad aspects of exchange, one being the high cost of the process which revolves around the cost of staff time.

In a different field Shaw of the National Gallery of Australia Research Library reports a study of the exchange of art publications amongst members of ARLIS - the international grouping of Art Librarians. She reviews the reasons for exchange, existing patterns of exchange, and key factors - again the question of the high cost of staff time is raised since it is a labour intensive process - and possible threats to exchange. One of the issues she explores is that of Web publications and the dilemma that the standard of digital imaging is not perfect, whilst many prefer the high quality beautifully produced catalogue of an art exhibition or monograph. She predicts that the pattern of exchange will continue to change and indicates what may happen to the process if it survives. Finally she paints her dream solution of a world wide art museum library into which quality on-line publications would be placed making them available to all other contributors. Not an impossible dream.

Besser reports a study of networked access funded by the Mellon Foundation, which focussed on the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project. This examined cost-models, compared user interfaces and search engines, and held focus groups of faculty about the adoption of edited images for classroom use. The full text of the study is available at: http:sunsite.berkeley.edu/Imaging/Databases/1998mellon The key cost differences between analogue and digital lie in the acquisition of the image and putting it into service. The analogue images had to be acquired individually or in small batches, and be catalogued. By contrast the MESL images cost nothing to acquire and came with cataloguing information. Much more detail about the cost model is given in the IFLA paper, but he makes the point that the "allure" of IT and the "desire to be technologically savvy" may drive university management to pressurise departments to move quickly into digital formats. He calls for a rational transition indicating that the base cost of maintaining the functionality of the system will remain, and probably increase. From interviewing the faculty it was found that the current classroom infrastructures were not adequate for using digital images. Overall the digital environment appears to be good for individual use and providing access from multiple locations, but in its present form presents problems for group viewing and quality issues need to be addressed.

Stueart, Robert D. The economic crisis and other challenges in accessing science and technological information in Asia.
Tendermann, Ren�. Exchange of publications in acquisition of the foreign literature in the National Library of Estonia � acquisition and promotion.
Shaw, J. Margaret. Dinosaur or dynamic: exchange of art publications in the digital age.
Besser, Howard. Network access to visual information: a study of costs and uses.

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