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The COBISS 2005 Conference
'Current Practices and Issues in Library Automation in CEI Member Countries - Competitiveness
of Libraries in Information Society' successfully concluded! |
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The COBISS 2005 Conference is over. From
317 attendants from 12 countries and two international organisations – CEI,
Central European Initiative, and UNESCO – as may as 124 of them came from
abroad. There were 15 directors of national or university libraries that took
part at the conference. The attendants had the opportunity to listen to the
presentations given by 24 speakers, and to the discussions run by 20 debaters.
Based on the proposals presented and the
views expressed by the International Programme Committee, the conference
suggests that CEI should become a conceptual framework for the future COBISS
conferences. Conference assessments indicate that co-operation and linking of
library systems in Central Europe with a view to promote automation is an
intermediate stage necessary to be able to approach in the near future the EU
digital library projects, and subsequently also be able to get involved with the
project work itself. The review of library automation in the CEI countries
presented in reports covered a wide range from highly developed to the very
basic, which allowed for an excellent exchange of positive experience. In this
connection, an important role was attributed to IZUM by the conference
attendants based, in particular, on a year-long presence of COBISS in a number
of the CEI countries, as well as on the reputation and confidence IZUM has
earned over the years with its professional excellence and non-profitable
orientation. Besides, COBISS conferences have provided a widely accepted
opportunity where professional experience in the automation area could be used
and exchanged at the international level. It was, therefore, not surprising that
many suggested that IZUM should become also an official reference centre for
library automation in Central Europe with the task to analyse the current
situation in this area, propose solutions, provide professional training and
organise professional meetings.
COBISS 2005 confirmed once again that
only an open library system can be a quality library system that effectively
links with other systems regionally and globally. As this is also the very
concept of COBISS and COBISS.Net network, IZUM will remain loyal to this
orientation also at the next conference, scheduled for 7 – 9 November 2006.
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