editorial ifla’s · pdf fileifla journal 28 (2002) 2 61 sjoerd koopman it was a pleasure...

IFLA JOURNAL 28 (2002) 2 61

Sjoerd Koopman

It was a pleasure to receive an invi-tation to write these editorial notes.It provides me with an opportunityto draw your attention to some re-cent book titles and to the currentstate of the IFLA publications pro-gramme in general. Many of youwill know the IFLA Series, whichhas been published by K.G. Saurfor many years, the ‘green backs’.At about the same moment thatyou receive this issue of IFLA Jour-nal, title number 100 in that serieswill come out: Continuing Profes-sional Education for the Infor-mation Society, edited by PatriciaLayzell Ward. These are the Pro-ceedings of the 5th World Confer-ence on Continuing ProfessionalEducation which will take placethis August in Aberdeen, Scot-land.

Last year, number 97 in the SaurSeries was The Public LibraryService: IFLA/UNESCO Guide-lines for Development. After thelaunch during the Boston confer-ence, we now have Albanian, Ara-bic, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French,Korean, Russian and Spanish trans-lations of this important book avail-able. Catalan, German, Greek, Itali-an, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish,Portuguese and Swedish versionsare underway, and there is ab-solutely no reason to think thatthis will be all!

The IFLA Publications Series isgoing well, as one could tell fromthe publication of the 100th title.Also for the near future a numberof interesting works have beenplanned for this series; subjectsrange from library building toknowledge management and from

newspaper preservation to the eth-ics of librarianship.

We are keeping up our Profes-sional Reports Series as well. Thenewest publications in this seriesyou will see announced in theNews section of this issue: the pro-ceedings of a recent public andschool library conference in Mo-rocco and reports on camels anddonkeys providing mobile libraryservices in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

These are just examples of themost recent publications. I wouldlike to encourage you to inspect thePublications overview on IFLANET(www.ifla.org) as there is muchmore than only the limited spaceof this column provides.

And then of course, IFLA Journal.You may have detected some mi-nor changes in the layout recently.We are not taking large steps, buthope to come with more smallchanges. Together these shouldmake the journal more readableand accessible. Did you know, bythe way, that the full text of IFLAJournal is available on IFLANETas well? And soon we will distrib-ute the News section from each is-sue by e-mail to subscribers. Noneed to say that the Editorial Com-mittee welcomes your contribu-tions in the form of articles in thisjournal, but also as news items thatmay be useful for the library andinformation profession at large.

In his Editorial note to the previousissue, Ross Shimmon mentionedour annual general conference,IFLA’s ‘flagship event’, and hecould point to two articles in thatsame issue in which that eventstood central. They were an analy-

sis of the quality perception of theBoston conference and an accountof the many participants whocould attend one of our confer-ences thanks to the generosity ofDANIDA.

It is a pleasure that in this issue wehave yet another article which re-lates directly to the IFLA confer-ence, and again to sponsorshipgiven to a group of grantees. Formany years the Comité françaisIFLA (CFI) has offered financialsupport to French-speaking librari-ans from France and from devel-oping countries, to enable them toattend IFLA conferences. Recipi-ents usually submit a written re-port and Bernard Dione from Sen-egal has compiled for this issue asummary of these individual re-ports about the Boston 2001 con-ference.

The other three articles in this is-sue deal with issues from Kenya,the Commonwealth of Independ-ent States (CIS) and Austria. Ferdi-nard Kasimu discusses the situa-tion at the Kenya National LibraryService and various forms of coop-eration which have been devel-oped. Mikhail Shvartsman focuseson a website project directed bythe Russian State Library andnotes several of the challenges thathad to be overcome in intercon-necting libraries’ websites in thegroup of CIS countries. The articleby Bülent Yilmaz deals with read-ing and library use by Turkishspeaking school pupils in Austria.

A truly international issue, as thejournal of this international libraryorganization, with its internation-al publications programme, de-serves!

EDITORIALIFLA’s Publications

62 IFLA JOURNAL 28 (2002) 2

Bernard Dione

Bernard Dione est le Secrétaire gé-néral de l’Association sénégalaisedes bibliothécaires, archivistes etdocumentalistes (ASBAD) s/cEBAD, Université Cheikh Anta Diopde Dakar, BP 3252, Dakar, Sé-négal.

Introduction

Grâce aux bourses francophonesdu Comité français pour l’IFLA(CFI), douze (12) professionnelsdes bibliothèques et de l’informa-

tion documentaire du BurkinaFaso, d’Égypte, du Liban, du Ma-roc, du Niger, du Sénégal, du Togo,de la Tunisie et du Vietnam ontparticipé à la 67e Conférence etCongrès de l’IFLA de Boston, Mas-sachusetts, USA, du 16 au 25 août2001.

Le présent rapport a pour but defaire le point de cette participa-tion de la francophonie du Sud àcette conférence. Il s’articulera prin-cipalement autour des points sui-vants :

• Acquis scientifiques et profession-nels du congrès qui regrouperales résumés que les participantsont présentés des différents ate-liers qu’ils ont suivis

• Vie professionnelle• Les Associations et institutions

professionnelles francophones àl’IFLA

• Conclusion et remerciements.

1. Acquis scientifiques etprofessionnels

Les boursiers 2001 se répartissentdans les secteurs professionnels sui-vants :

• Écoles de bibliothéconomie : 3• Bibliothèques universitaires : 2• Organismes sous régionaux inter-

venant dans le domaine de l’en-seignement supérieur : 2

• Bibliothèques parlementaires : 1• Bibliothèque nationale : 2• Lecture publique : 1• Bibliothèques de Sciences Socia-

les : 1

Ces secteurs déterminent étroite-ment les domaines d’intérêt desparticipants. Les objectifs des unset des autres étaient de s’informersur les nouvelles tendances dansleur domaine afin de pouvoir met-tre à jour leurs connaissances etd’innover dans leurs activités, derencontrer des partenaires et delier une coopération avec ces der-niers.

Les boursiers ont suivi les rencon-tres organisées dans les cadres sui-vants :

1.1. Section Management etMarketing

Le pré-séminaire de la section Man-agement et Marketing s’est tenu du14 au 16 août 2001 au Québec. Lethème de ce colloque satellite por-tait sur la gestion de la qualité enbibliothèque. La gestion de la qua-lité est une dimension essentielledu management. Yawo Assigbley,Jalel Rouissi, et Zacharie Liré ontsuivi les travaux de cette section.Au colloque satellite du QuébecJalel Rouissi a présenté une com-munication intitulée : ‘l’évaluationdu réseau sous l’éclairage de la dé-

Rapport collectif des boursiers francophones duComité français IFLA (CFI) :67e Congrès et Conférence générale de l’IFLA,Boston, 18–25 août 2001

Rapport collectif des boursiers francophones du Comité français IFLA (CFI)


marche qualité : l’exemple des pôlesassociés à la BnF’ ; alors que YawoAssigbley, en tant que membre ducomité scientifique a contribué demanière significative à l’organi-sation matérielle et scientifique dece colloque.

1.2. Technologies de l’information

Les conférences, les séminaires etles groupes de discussion sur lestechnologies de l’information et dela communication et l’informationélectronique ont aussi particulière-ment retenu l’attention des bour-siers. L’information électroniquejoue un rôle de plus en plus pré-pondérant dans la vie profession-nelle. Pour Mouna Ben Slimane,enseignante, dispensant des courssur les ‘stratégies d’interrogationdes bases de données à distance’,la visite de l’exposition et la dis-cussion avec les responsables destands a permis d’avoir une vued’ensemble et des données récen-tes sur le marché de l’informationen ligne. Alors que Pham Bich Tuya acquis une expérience précieusepour la mise sur pied du projet denumérisation des documents an-ciens sur lequel elle travaille. Lesaspects multimédia ont retenu l’at-tention de Zacharie Lire avecla présentation de DIVA – DigitalVideo and Audio Archives – de labibliothèque universitaire de Karls-ruhe en Allemagne.

1.3. Gestion de la connaissance

Les conférences de Michael E. D.Koenig, Maijia Jussilainen et deJean-Philippe Accart ont été suiviespar Zacharie Lire et Mouna BenSlimane. La conférence de MichaelKoenig portait sur la ‘gestion de laconnaissance, la formation de l’usa-ger et la bibliothéconomie’. Lagestion de la connaissance étantdéfinie comme le processus decapture, de diffusion et de l’usageeffectif de la connaissance, le rôledu bibliothécaire, en terme de con-ception, de classification, de miseen œuvre et d’exploitation de sys-tèmes est évident. Le manque deformation des usagers – la forma-tion des usagers, la formation des

utilisateurs appelée aussi instruc-tion bibliographique – étant lacause d’échec de plus de la moitiéde ces systèmes d’information, lerôle du bibliothécaire dans celle-cidevrait en être encore plus ren-forcé. Maija Jussilainen présenterale projet de gestion de la connais-sance du gouvernement finnoiscomme un élément de gestion stra-tégique qui requiert un niveau élevéd’organisation et dont les princi-paux objectifs sont : le renforcementde la coopération du gouvernementcentral ; le développement de laplanification stratégique et de sesoutils ; le développement de la co-opération entre les ministères. Avecun tel système, on pourra analyserle rôle des ministères dans la ges-tion administrative, accroître laconfiance des citoyens et adminis-trateurs vis à vis de l’administra-tion et impliquer les citoyens dansla gestion des affaires publiques.Dans le groupe de discussion sur lagestion des connaissances, la com-munication de Jean Philippe Accartsur les dispositifs de capitalisationdes connaissances sera très remar-quée des collègues.

1.4. Atelier Acquisitions etdéveloppement des collections

L’atelier de la section Acquisitionet développement des collectionsa abordé la problématique deséchanges de publications. Il se pro-posait de revisiter cette pratiquetraditionnelle des bibliothèquesavant et après les deux con-ventions adoptées par l’UNESCOdepuis 1958, et de l’apprécier dansle contexte actuel marqué par ladématérialisation des supports afinde pouvoir envisager les perspec-tives de celle-ci. Les échanges con-stituent, en effet une importantesource d’enrichissement des fonds.Mais, bien que constituant la seulesource d’acquisition de certainespublications qui ne suivent pas lescircuits de l’édition – papier, leséchanges de publication ne cessentde décroître. Le support électroni-que, parce qu’il facilite considéra-blement l’accès aux publicationssemble contribuer à la diminutiondu volume des échanges. La numé-risation des publications gouverne-

mentales et leur disponibilité sur leWeb, sont aussi des causes de di-minution des échanges. Il seraitdonc nécessaire d’envisager à termel’échange des documents sur sup-port électronique. SouleymaneDiouf a présenté une communica-tion sur l’expérience sénégalaise enmatière d’échanges de publicationsuniversitaires.

Un autre atelier de la section Ac-quisitions et développement descollections mérite d’être mentionné.Il s’agit de l’atelier intitulé : ‘lescollections électroniques : évaluerleurs besoins et leur utilité conti-nus pour les utilisateurs des biblio-thèques’. Cet atelier a fait ressortirl’importance des statistiques dansl’évaluation des coûts et celle del’utilisation des services électroni-ques. Les statistiques permettent,en effet, en fonction du niveaud’utilisation des services de réajus-ter les budgets d’acquisition, defaire des comparaisons entre lesbibliothèques membres, d’établirun rapport entre l’utilisation ac-tuelle et l’utilisation potentielle desservices offerts, de revoir soit à lahausse soit à la baisse les abonne-ments à certains services ou de sedésabonner tout simplement. Demême, analysant l’augmentation del’utilisation des journaux électroni-ques, l’atelier souligne la nouvelletendance dans l’utilisation de l’in-formation électronique et l’expéri-ence de la mise en commun desressources dans des consortiums.Toutes ces questions méritent d’êtreexaminées dans le contexte despays du Sud. Enfin, l’atelier a aussifait ressortir que les études sur lescomportements des usagers baséessur l’utilisation des ressources sursupport imprimé doivent être ré-examinées à la lumière du contextedes ressources électroniques.

1.5. Bibliothèques mobiles

L’originalité de l’expérience des bi-bliothèques à dos de chameau ou àdos d’âne a retenu l’attention deplus d’un à la Conférence de Bos-ton. En effet, dans nos pays où lesbibliobus ne fonctionnent pas tou-jours, cette expérience peut aider àrevisiter les méthodes utilisées pour

Bernard Dione


desservir les populations rurales denos pays.

1.6. Bibliothèques au service destout-petits

La communication de Carole Fioresur les actions menées en biblio-thèque ou à l’initiative des biblio-thèques, aux USA, pour lutterprécocement contre l’illettrisme in-téresse particulièrement nos pays.Selon Carole Fiore, beaucoup d’en-fants entrent à l’école sans avoirles acquis qui leur permettraientd’apprendre à lire facilement. Cettesituation est la même dans beau-coup de pays du sud. Même si ellesne peuvent pas résoudre les pro-blèmes sociaux, les bibliothèquesdoivent être au courant des facteursqui influencent la vie des enfants etdes familles qu’elles desservent.Elles peuvent aider les services desanté communautaires et surtoutaider dans le domaine de l’appren-tissage précoce de la lecture.

1.7. Bibliothèques Nationales

La Journée d’études de la Confé-rence des Directeurs de Bibliothè-ques Nationales (CDNL) a été trèsriche d’enseignements. Elle a étél’occasion de suivre l’évolution desquestions multiples qui interpellentles BN à travers le monde : législa-tion sur le Dépôt légal, gestion despublications électroniques, numéri-sation des collections pour unemeilleure diffusion, droits d’au-teurs, conservation et préservationdu patrimoine, promotion des ser-vices des BN, évaluation des ser-vices(statistiques).

Cette journée a été également l’oc-casion de faire le point des activi-tés développées par des BN auniveau régional : Europe, Asie duSud-Est, Afrique de l’Est, du Cen-tre et du Sud (il y a eu notammentle compte-rendu du colloque or-ganisé en Afrique du sud sur ‘lesBN et la renaissance africaine’,31 oct – 2 nov. 2000) et enfin legroupe Asie-Océanie.

C’est le lieu de souligner encoreune fois l’absence de structure de

concertation et de coordination auniveau Ouest africain ou inter-national francophone ! Le colloquesur les BN francophones en Afriquesub-saharienne permettra certaine-ment de jeter les bases d’une réellecoopération.

Il faut aussi noter le rapportprésenté par M. Abid relatif auprogramme UNESCO, intitulé’ in-formation POUR TOUS ‘pour ai-der les pays en développement àréaliser des politiques nationalesd’information, à s’approprier lesTechnologies de l’Information etde la Communication (TIC) et àrenforcer les capacités des BN àjouer pleinement leur rôle dansnos sociétés d’information.

2. Vie professionnelle

2.1. Gestion des associationsprofessionnelles

La Table Ronde sur la Gestion desAssociations de Bibliothécaires(RTMLA) s’est penchée sur le ju-melage d’associations. Le jumelageest une collaboration substantielleformelle entre deux associations. Ilvise surtout à amener les associa-tions jumelles à travailler chacuneselon ses moyens à développer labibliothéconomie dans les paysd’origine des associations. Deuxassociations africaines du Niger etdu Sénégal, qui ont payé leurs co-tisations à l’IFLA ont participé auxtravaux de la RTMLA.

2.2. Rencontres professionnelles,Sessions posters, expositions etvaria

Les rencontres professionnellesconstituent un moment fort de laconférence. Tous les boursiers ontsouligné l’importance de rencon-trer des collègues, de partager desexpériences et des idées.

De même, l’exposition a permis derencontrer des éditeurs, de connaî-tre les tendances du marché del’édition ainsi que l’offre en matièrede documents électroniques.

3. Les associations etinstitutions

professionnellesfrancophones à l’IFLA

3.1. Les Comités permanents

Les boursiers ont assisté avec ungrand intérêt aux réunions des co-mités permanents. Mais un effortreste à faire pour qu’une majoritéde bibliothécaires du Sud puisseêtre effectivement présente dans cesinstances.

3.2. Vers Un Comité Francophonepour l’IFLA ?

La réunion des associations et in-stitutions francophones a rassem-blé beaucoup de participants. Il estsorti de cette réunion l’idée demettre en place un comité franco-phone pour l’IFLA. Un groupe deréflexion animé par le ProfesseurRéjean Savard de l’Université deMontréal et comprenant des bi-bliothécaires du Nord et du Sud aété mis sur pied. Ce groupe devraitproposer un projet de charte pource comité à la prochaine confé-rence de Glasgow.

3.3. Impact de la participation desbousiers

Les boursiers ont partagé l’infor-mation collectée pendant cette con-férence avec les collègues de leursinstitutions ou travaillant avec euxdans le même secteur. Aussi, suiteaux rapports qu’ils ont présentés àleurs institutions, beaucoup decelles-ci, comme l’ISD en Tunisie,envisagent de devenir membre del’IFLA. Ces promesses, si elles seconcrétisaient, contribueraient àélargir la base de la Fédérationdans les pays du Sud.

Conclusion

La conférence de l’IFLA est unévénement professionnel majeur.Une participation à cette rencontreest toujours, pour les profession-nels de l’information une opportu-nité de s’informer, partager desexpériences, d’établir des contactset d’en faire profiter ses collègues

Rapport collectif des boursiers francophones du Comité français IFLA (CFI)


n’ayant pas eu la chance d’êtreprésents à ce rendez-vous.

Note

Ce rapport, coordonné par Ber-nard Dione (Sénégal), a été élaboréà partir des rapports suivants :

Assigbley, Yawo. Association desUniversités africaines.

Lire, Zacharie. Conseil africain etmalgache pour l’EnseignementSupérieur.

Ben Slimane, Mouna. École desSciences de l’Information (Ma-roc).

Dione, Bernard. Bibliothèque Cen-trale, Université Cheikh AntaDiop (Sénégal).

Diongue-Diop, Mariétou. Projet deBibliothèque Nationale de Séné-gal (Sénégal).

Diouf, Souleymane. BibliothèqueCentrale, Université Cheikh An-ta Diop (Sénégal).

Pham Bich Thuy. Institut d’Infor-mation des Sciences Sociales(Vietnam).

Rouissy, Jalel. Institut Supérieur deDocumentation (Tunisie).

Seydou, Henriette. Service des bi-bliothèques, Centre National duRéseau des Bibliothèques et dela lecture publique (Niger).


Ferdinard N. Kasimu

Ferdinard N. Kasimu is a Librarianwith the Kenya National Library Serv-ice stationed at the Nairobi Headoffice. He has previously worked atthe Garissa and Mombasa officesof the organization. He holds aBachelors of Arts degree and islooking forward for further studyopportunities.

Introduction

The last twenty years have seen alot of constraints in the way ofcollection development in Kenyaand most of the African continent.The public library system in Kenyais largely run by the Kenya Na-tional Library Service which hasbeen mandated to do so by an Actof Parliament (CAP 225 of theLaws of Kenya). This paper is aboutthe problems which acquisition orcollection development has beenundergoing, and a few suggestedsolutions as well as a glimpse ofthe way forward, all of which areseen through the author’s eye.

Constraints

Our country, like most developingcountries, faces budgetary con-straints to support vital functionsin the day to day running of li-braries – for example, in the pur-chase of books, periodicals,journals, and so on. Computers areincreasingly becoming importantfor the running of our libraries.However, funds for the acquisitionof these vital provisions still re-main elu-sive.

The collection librarian is thus castin an uncompromising position oflooking for methods of allocatinghis dwindling resources. He has tofind ways of providing both accessto and appropriate ownership ofthe books in his library.

The main function of the KenyaNational Library Service Board isto create a knowledgeable societythrough supporting governmentliteracy programmes, so wiping outignorance in Kenya. In this en-deavour, the Board provides bothteaching and learning materials toboth teachers and students, notforgetting research materials forserious researchers as well as uni-versity students. In this, it is then

the responsibility of the acquisitionlibrarian, in conjunction with thebranch librarians serving in theBoard’s branch networks, to con-stantly monitor the changes in theschool curriculum, as well aschanging research needs. Thus, thenumbers of students and research-ers in any of our networks deter-mine the quantity and quality ofthe books, periodicals and journalsto be purchased.

Acquisition procedures in the Ken-ya National Library Service mainlydepend on the curriculum. If thereis no change to this, then collec-tion development becomes easier.However, a change will mean amajor acquisition drive, as mostbooks will be rendered obsolete.This happened in the early 1980s,when the government introduced anew system, the 8-4-4, in favour ofthe then existing one. The extra-curricular needs of students formaterials such as novels, comicsand magazines also have to be ad-dressed.

Another major problem facing theBoard is in the area of researchcollections. There is no upper limitto this provision. This is becauseresearchers need a library with ba-sic general reference works in theirrespective fields as well as periodi-cals and journals.

In addition to this, the Board isexpected to provide books for avariety of reference needs such asbibliographic tools (national andsubject bibliographies), cataloguesof other major libraries, union listsof periodicals, and standard refer-ence works such as encyclopae-dias, atlases, year books, almanacs,and so on.

The 1970s were years when mostof the countries in the regionplaced a lot of emphasis on bothprimary and higher education. Alot of funding was then provided

Collection Development in the Public LibrarySystem in Kenya: constraints, solutions,and the way forward

Collection Development in the Public Library System in Kenya


for the establishment and improve-ment of library services. This, com-bined with a vibrant economy,meant that acquisition was morereadily achieved, as was the pur-chase of equipment and other re-sources.

Come the 1980s a different scenarioappeared. Gone were the good olddays. An increase in the number ofstudents, a change in the curricu-lum and rising inflation with whichthe increase in materials budgetsdid not keep pace, severely handi-capped the development of ourpublic library system.

Due to the above, public librariesdeveloped their library collectionson two tenets: that the collectionshould reflect the needs of theusers, and that it should be a bal-anced one representing the mis-sion or the objective of the Board.As earlier indicated, our mission isto provide support to national lit-eracy programmes, thus the Boardhad to supply materials needed forcourses currently being taught, aswell as current research materialswhich would prove to be useful tofuture researchers. Conflict betweenthese priorities and the budgetsprovided was bound to arise.

Again, multiple copies of textbooksare needed to service the demandsof primary, secondary and tertiarylevels of education. However, it ishard to justify expensive purchaseson these, where the demand is less.It is also imperative that the inter-ests of the other group, the re-searchers, be taken to heart. Thusbalancing research needs againstthose of teaching and study at thelower levels becomes a recurrentand unresolved issue with theBoard.

One of our most expensive pur-chasing areas as a national publiclibrary organization is the acquisi-tion of serial publications, whichare becoming increasingly valuableas sources of information for stu-dents, teachers and researchers.Owing to the vital role played byperiodicals in the research andlearning process the Board musteither acquire them or provide ac-

cess to them if it wishes to fulfil itsmission and vision. However, theexorbitant prices of serials havemade their selection – or the can-cellation of subscriptions – becomea major exercise where collabora-tive and consultative efforts be-tween the teaching (at both lowand high levels) and the librarystaff are required, both centrallyand at the branch levels.

There has been an explosivegrowth in the publication of jour-nal articles globally, with steadilyrising prices which have defied anyknown economic principles of de-mand and supply. This has led to ageneral increase in the cancellationof subscription of periodicals andjournals, which are vital in therunning of any library worth thename.

Solutions

Having looked at the problemsfacing the public library system inthe country, I now turn to offeringseveral solutions. With continuousincreases in journal subscriptionprices, most libraries, not only theKenya National Library Service,tend to spend more – in fact amajor portion – of their allocation,only on journals. This is one prob-lem which will not be solved by in-creased funding. It is then high timefor acquisition librarians to thinkand decide how much informationthey should own and how muchthey should borrow through inter-library lending (ILL) or acquirethrough document delivery serv-ices. Acquisition librarians have todecide between the cost of owner-ship versus the cost of borrowing.The electronic media provide an-other avenue of access to journalsand periodicals which is very at-tractive. However, this may be adrain on the resources of a library.

The speed with which one accessesinformation is another major fac-tor. A user will want the informa-tion at the time of his need and ifhis needs are not satisfied, thesystem fails. The traditional inter-library loan system requires at leasttwo weeks to supply a book and

the users may want the informa-tion more quickly. Much thoughtis being given to this, and theBoard is currently networking itsoperations; once complete, thiswill see faster and reliable waysof exchanging information. Thiswill also extend to other libraries,both public and private, in thecountry.

These changes have put an end tothe era when libraries tried to reachself-sufficiency, and have shownthe importance of a more system-atic and formal approach towardscollection development. When de-veloping collections, librarians mustgive due recognition to the goalsand objectives of their institutionsand to the information needs ofthe user community. These needsmust be identified, analysed andtranslated into a planned pro-gramme of collection development.The concept of sharing resources iscurrently gaining a lot of impor-tance in our local libraries.

This resource sharing aims at im-proving both bibliographic andphysical access. Bibliographic accessprovides the information needed toidentify publications, verifying theirexistence, location et cetera, whilephysical access provides the meansof obtaining a copy of a neededpublication.

Duplicated purchasing has beendrastically reduced due to this re-source sharing. It has ensured thatall materials of research value indesignated fields are acquired by atleast one member institution.

Due to their bulky and expensivenature, periodicals are often thefocus of cooperative schemes. Nolibrary can buy all the periodicals itneeds, so the idea of sharing ap-peals to all types and sizes of li-braries.

The Way Forward

So much for solutions. Now, whatis the way forward? Cooperativestorage is a great idea and appealsto all libraries, whether small orlarge. This provides a central col-

Ferdinard N. Kasimu


lection of materials upon which allmembers could draw for the mate-rials they cannot afford to buy fortheir own collections. This newtrend is well entrenched in Europe,America and some parts of Asia. Itcan be borrowed and implementedin our own country as well as inthe region. It ensures the sharingof infrequently used research ma-terials as well as serving as a cen-tral storage and lending agency.

Resource sharing itself is not a newidea. The establishment of unioncatalogues and the development ofcooperative acquisition schemeshave been in operation since WorldWar I. One example is the ResearchLibraries Group (RLG), foundedin 1974 by the New York PublicLibraries, which focuses on the de-velopment of a shared computer-based bibliographic processing andaccess system.

In an era where librarians are fac-ing severe budgetary constraints onthe one hand and the ever increas-ing needs of the academic com-munity on the other, they are nowbeing drawn into mechanized re-

source sharing programmes to al-leviate their problems. Automatedbibliographic systems exist in Brit-ain, the United States and someparts of Asia. Kenya can borrowfrom these countries as the basicinfrastructure for this is in the pro-cess of being laid down. In thisway, costs and benefits will beshared and the pooling of resourceswill make systems possible whichotherwise would be out of thequestion for individual libraries,were they to operate individually.

Electronic enquiry networks areanother development which en-ables a number of libraries in thenetwork to search the library data-bases available in the network. TheJoint Academic Network (JANET),established in 1984, is a good ex-ample. Though resource sharinghas never been considered as thesolution to all collection problems,it is now being considered an inte-gral part of library organizations.Libraries will now spend money,not only on books and periodicals,but also on computer systems,telecommunication links, networkparticipation and other connected

fields to provide access to infor-mation.

Caution should however be main-tained to avoid a slackening in thepursuit of individual library collec-tion development goals in favourof participation in resource sharingsystems. Librarians should not re-strict what is available in their re-spective libraries as this acts as adisservice to the users who aremore and more reverting to com-puter borrowing as a way of bookselection.

A lot has yet to be done in theKenyan public library network inthe field of collection development.We can still borrow from advancesmade in the field elsewhere. Withproper guidance, a disciplined andfocused staff, support from financ-ing agencies – be they the state ordonors – and with consultationfrom countries who are well en-dowed and advanced in the field oflibrary science, steps leading to avery good collection developmentpolicy will have taken root in thecountry, for the benefit of the us-ers: – the Kenyan public.

IFLA/UNESCO School Library ManifestoCopies of the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto in English,French (Manifeste de la bibliothèque scolaire) and Spanish(Manifesto sobre la biblioteca escolar) are still available fromIFLA Headquarters, free of charge for libraries in developingcountries and at a rate covering transport and handling forlibraries from other countries.

Further information from:Sjoerd Koopman,IFLA Headquarters, POB 95312,2509 CH The Hague, NetherlandsTel. +31 (70) 3140884. Fax: +31 (70) 3834827E-mail: [email protected]


Mikhail Shvartsman

Mikhail Shvartsman is Head of theNetwork Department at the RussianState Library in Moscow. The mainprojects he leads are: SONEGOS –portal of the national libraries ofthe Commonwealth of IndependentStates; Catalogue of Russian Internetresources; ‘Meeting of Frontiers’ –Library of Congress and RussianState Library joint project; Russianportal of humanitarian journals. Healso took part in the following pro-jects: ‘Memory of the World –Memory of Russia’; TACIS project‘Creating a modern InformationSystem for Russian State Library’;Automated cataloguing system inthe Russian State Library. His pub-lications include: ‘Creation of theelectronic resources meta-database:problems and prospects’ (66th IFLAGeneral Conference, Jerusalem, Is-rael, 13–18 August 2000); ‘DublinCore in a Box’ Russian Digital Li-braries Journal, 2000, Vol. 3; ‘Firstresults of cataloguing of RussianInternet Resources’ Proceeding ofthe conference ‘Crimea 99’ (June1999). ‘Dublin Core for catalogu-ing Russian Internet resources’Electronic Libraries, 1998, Vol. 1.

From the Very Beginning

In 2000 the Russian State Librarybegan to create new a website,SONEGOS. From the very begin-ning we wanted to make a site

which would help its visitors to beguided on on the library commu-nity of members of the Common-wealth of Independent States (CIS).Also we would like it if the infor-mation came to us of itself, andwe only had to sort it. FortunatelyDavid Fugi, an expert of the Euro-pean Commission, learning of ourproblem, gave us efficient advice:

We in Europe in the same caseannounce a competition for thebest library site with money prizes,and all send to us the necessaryinformation. The expenses for aprize can be much lower thanthe expenses for gathering theinformation. The Russian peopleare venturesome, so you can try.

What Does SONEGOSMean?

The gathering of information aboutthe libraries of the CIS has been a

rather difficult process. Partly, wereceived information from the par-ticipants in a website competition,through the application form.However, this was not enough forthe construction of an informationsystem about the libraries of theCIS. The sending in of the infor-mation should be a continuous joband all participants should be inter-ested in sending the information.Accordingly for the performance ofsuch task a certain structure withthe chairmen at the head of itshould be created. Fortunately now-adays the Library Association ofEurasia (LAE) already exists andsuccessfully works with many li-braries of the CIS. We thereforedecided to take advantage of theexisting structure. A joint meetingof the directors of national librariesof the CIS countries and the EighthSession of the LAE, held in March,2000, made a decision to initiatethe SONEGOS project to create awebsite in both Russian and Eng-lish on a server of the Russian StateLibrary. The name of the projectderives from the first syllables ofthe words ‘Commonwealth of In-dependent States’ in Russian.

The main aim of the SONEGOSproject is the creation of a gatewayinto the Internet community of CISlibraries. Users can find here con-stantly updated information aboutthe funds, collections, cataloguesand services rendered by libraries inboth traditional and electronic for-mats. This information is intendedfor a wide range of users: scientificcollectives, individual scientists, li-braries and other interested per-sons or organizations. It looks likean electronic directory includingthe complete address and personalinformation.

An especially important purpose ofthe project is the development ofonline services through coopera-tion and the coordination of activi-

The SONEGOS Website as a Gatewayto the Libraries of the Commonwealthof Independent States

Mikhail Shvartsman


ty in the service of the users underjoint scientific programs and theexchange of work experience.

In 2001 the first step in elaboratingthe website was completed. Infor-mation about all national librarieswas placed on the site. In futurethe site will be expanded. We planto publish materials about libraries,both those having access to theInternet and those not having ac-cess but wishing to publish ma-terial about themselves on theSONEGOS project site.

At the beginning of the project westudied international experience inthe creation of similar gateways.As a result of this study we decidedthat the gateway of European na-tional libraries, GABRIEL, is anexemplar for us. In both projectsthere are a lot of similar tasks andaccordingly there should be similardecisions. However, there are alsodifferences in the library commu-nities of Europe and the CIS.

In Europe, as usual, the nationallibrary of any country has thegreatest experience of introductionof information technologies com-pared with other libraries of thecountry. In some countries of theCIS, on the other hand, the univer-sity libraries have much more ex-perience of IT.

In Europe, despite some differencesin the experience of introducing in-formation technologies in the vari-ous countries, there is no digital di-vide such as exists in the countriesof the CIS. These features of the CIShave to be borne in mind whenworking on the SONEGOS proj-ect.

Gathering theInformation

The information which we re-ceived from the participants of thewebsite competition was very dif-ferent. So we understood this taskis more difficult than we supposed.At first we dispatched to all big li-braries in the CIS a questionnairewith a large number of questionsabout their activities. The reactions

to this questionnaire were very dif-ferent, but, in general, they can bedivided into three types:

1. The participants immediatelysent a detailed answer withrather benevolent comments.

2. The participants sent a shortmessage: ‘all necessary informa-tion you can have got from ourwebsite’

3. We have not received an answer.

Some respondents wrote: “Nobodyneeds this gateway. We need onlya list of links to CIS libraries. Eve-rybody could find the informationhe needs himself.” We explained inthat case users will do all analyticalwork themselves. It would be verycomplicated to understand thesituation on all library Internetcommunity of CIS.

In any case, the libraries have formany years, since the time of theUSSR, been discussing among them-selves common standards, systemsof classification, acquisition pro-grammes and other library proc-esses. We should find a place onthe Internet for similar discussionof common tasks and the prepara-tion of joint decisions. There wasthe rather interesting task of index-ing the websites of the participantsand organizing full text search inthese sites. This idea was success-fully realized in the GABRIEL pro-gram and has appeared to be veryuseful to all professional librarians.

The active propaganda work hasproduced results and graduallyinformation has come to be col-lected. Practically all the nationallibraries in the CIS have sent inthe questionnaire and have evenallocated employees for the coor-dination of work under the project.Any missing information wastaken from the libraries’ websites.It was then possible to begin theanalysis and configuration of amaterial site.

Analysis of the Websitesof CIS Libraries

In this project we were not goingto compare or evaluate the web-

sites of the participants, but inanalysing the materials we foundsome common and different fea-tures.

Volume of Sites

First of all, it is necessary to notethe huge differences in the quantityof materials represented. For exam-ple, the small sites of the nationallibraries of Georgia and Uzbeki-stan differ strongly from the ratherlarge sites of the national librariesof Belarus and the Ukraine and theRussian State and Russian Na-tional libraries. The Russian Statelibrary website, for example, con-tains more 1,000 files occupyingmore than 200 megabytes.

Language of Site

It is possible to divide the languagepolicies of the sites into threegroups:

1. Only in the national language ofthe state, as on the sites of theNational Library of Ukraine andthe National Library of Moldova.

2. In Russian and English, as onthe sites of the National Libraryof the Republic of Kazakhstanand the National Library of Be-larus. (It is interesting to notethat on the latter site the head-ing with the name of library iswritten in English on the Rus-sian version of the site.)

3. In the national language of thestate and in English, as on thesites of the national libraries ofArmenia and Georgia. The lattersite is very useful for visitors whodo not have Georgian fonts be-cause it gives an opportunity toopportunity download such fonts.

In a few cases the information isrepresented in three languages.The library association of Uzbeki-stan gives information in Uzbek,English and Russian. The maxi-mum number of languages is usedby the East Kazakhstan regionallibrary, which provides informa-tion in Russian, English, Germanand Kazakh.

The absence of information inRussian on some sites makes it

The SONEGOS Website


impossible for them to be used byother libraries in the CIS, while theabsence of an English version com-plicates international cooperation.It is clear that the language policyof the library depends on the pol-icy of the state and cannot bechanged by the decision of the di-rector of the library. That is whyrepresentation of the informationabout all libraries in Russian andEnglish is especially important.

Contents of Site

The understanding of the tasks thelibrary site should perform hasvaried from library to library. Theweaknesses were typical. First ofall we write about them. The basicweakness of the majority of thesites is their static character. Thelargest part of the information onthe sites repeats that in the paperbooklets published by libraries onsolemn occasions. We can find adifferent level of detailed descrip-tion of the history of the libraryand its funds, with the accent onthe most rare editions in the col-lections, registration rules, list ofdepartments of library, telephonesof the employees, etc. Maybe allthis is important but it is necessaryto remember that, in creating asite, it is necessary to decide whowill visit it and for what purpose.Rather frequently in the sites it ispossible to find a description of thescientific programmes elaboratedby libraries without links to the re-sults of the work or the e-mail ofthe chief. There are sections on thepurposes and tasks of the librarydepartments; this information is ofinterest only to the library admini-stration, not to visitors to the li-brary site. Sometimes we see thelist of services rendered by thelibrary, but are not told whereand when it is possible to obtainthem.

The Site As a Tool forCommunication

It is necessary to remember thatthe Internet is a tool for communi-cation and operative dialogue.From our point of view, librarysites should be centres for the dis-cussion of library problems, goals

and possibilities. Unfortunately, wedid not encounter many such ex-amples. At best there is a guestbook on a site with not very nu-merous records. Practically nobodyvisits those forums which havebeen created. The only exception –which confirms the rule - is the fo-rum created by the Russian Statelibrary and named ‘ask the expert’.In this forum the users (not the li-brarians!) have organized a ratheractive discussion of such problemsas where to got the full text of adissertation and how to use the li-brary’s electronic catalogue. Allother forums have died, includingone for foreign visitors and a fo-rum about the national bibliogra-phy created before a similar offlineconference for preliminary discus-sion of the question.

A good example of a useful site forvocational training is the VirtualCataloging School created on theEast Kazakhstan regional librarysite for improving the professionalskills of librarians. We also verymuch liked their informal approachto the creation of a site – the rep-resentation of library as a fairy taleabout it. The creation of a chil-dren’s English club ‘Welcome kids’on the site certainly forms an im-age of a kind library among thereaders.

On-Line Service

It is very important for the visitorsto have an opportunity have accessto online services in the library viathe Internet. It could be searchingin the electronic catalogue, request-ing books via interlibrary loan, orreception of the full text of docu-ments in digital format.

On the sites of some national li-braries (in Moldova, Armenia andAzerbaijan) such services are notgiven. In others (Georgia, Belarus)the opportunity of searching in theelectronic catalogue is given. How-ever if a book is found it is neces-sary to order it in the traditionalway. Practically nowhere is the op-portunity to send ILL requests us-ing email is advertised. However,as the practice shows, librariesmake frequent use of such a meth-

ods of transferring ILL require-ments. It is very simple to send arequest now, but much more diffi-cult to get the ordered book via theInternet.

In Russia today an Association ofElectronic Document Delivery hasbeen created. Many large Russianlibraries (Russian State Library,State Historic Public Library, In-stitute of Social Information, etc.)are joined in this association. Rus-sian Courier, the ElectronicDocument Delivery service of theRussian State Library, is one of themost advanced. Its users have ac-cess to a whole complex of serv-ices. At the beginning the userfinds the necessary book in theelectronic catalogue, then sends arequest for copies of the necessarypages in one of the formats (txt,pdf, doc etc.), then pays by creditcard and within 24 hours receivesthe files via e-mail or ftp. A similarservice also operates in the Ka-zakhstan national library and theEast Kazakhstan regional library.However, to receive a copy via theInternet it is necessary beforehandto sign a contract or to pay for theservice by bank transfer. This re-duces efficiency. The order is car-ried out within 2 to 5 days afterarrival of money.

Electronic Libraries

Very often visitors to library siteswant to find full texts there and areextremely disappointed not to findthere anything similar. We under-stand them but cannot publish allthey need on a website. Many li-braries in the CIS have begun digiti-zation of the collections. This pro-cess is rather expensive and will becarried out with the help of variousfoundations or special govern-mental programmes. So, for exam-ple, the Russian State Library isforming an electronic library underthe programmes ‘Memory of theWorld’ of UNESCO, ‘Meeting ofFrontiers’ of the Library of Con-gress, etc. Generally these materi-als are unique and of interest toresearchers, historians and philoso-phers. But most of the users needmodern books and magazines,which libraries cannot publish be-

Mikhail Shvartsman


cause all of them have copyright.Many libraries therefore have ac-cess to the full text services of EB-SCO, Elsevier and so on. That iswhy the National Library of Ar-menia has published on its site thebibliographic indexes prepared bythe employees of the library. Thenational library of Ukraine haspublished the normative acts of

Ukraine, the work of the employ-ees, and materials of library con-ferences.

The National Library as aGateway to the Libraries of theCountry

When starting work on the project,we discussed what levels of library

should be admitted to our site.GABRIEL, which we hold up asan example, includes national li-braries only. But the basic task ofthe project is to give access for themost diverse section of the worldInternet community to the librarycommunity of the CIS. We there-fore decided to check if the na-tional libraries’ websites really are

What is SONEGOS?

Pursuant to the resolution of the1st meeting of the directors of the CIS(Commonwealth of Independent States)national libraries and the 8th session ofLAE (March 2000), there should be aweb site of the SONEGOS project (bothin Russian and in English) on the Rus-sian State Library server. The project’sname is an acronym of Russian phrase‘Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosu-darstv’ (Commonwealth of IndependentStates).

SONEGOS helps to make a portal toenter the Internet community of the CISlibraries. The project provides for theforming of an accessible and systemati-cally updated database on funds, collec-tions, catalogues and services offered bythe libraries both in traditional andelectronic form.

This database is meant to serve awide range of users: individual scientists,scientific teams, libraries and other con-cerned persons and organizations. Itwill serve as an electronic reference toolthat includes full contact information:addresses and contact persons.

SONEGOS will also function as anactively used and enriched ‘depository’of data on the history of libraries, theirespecially valuable funds and col-lections, electronic catalogues and bibli-ographies, full texts and figurative mate-rials.

The most important project objec-tives are: the development of on-lineservices, cooperation and coordinationof activities on user services, joint sci-entific programs and exchange ofworking experience.

The SONEGOS prototype is Gabriel –a portal of the national European li-braries.

SONEGOS is supported by UNESCO.

CIS Libraries CurrentlyIncluded in SONEGOS

Republic of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan State Library named afterM.F. Akhundovhttp://www.culture.az:8101/libraries/lib_ax_r.htm

Republic of Armenia

The National Library of Armeniahttp://www.iatp.am/sites/nla/index.html

Republic of Belarus

The National Library of Belarushttp://natlib.org.by

Belorussian Agricultural Libraryhttp://www.belal.minsk.by

Jakub Kolas Central Science Library ofthe National Academy of Sciences ofBelarushttp://csl.bas-net.by

Republic of Georgia

National Parliamentary Library ofGeorgiahttp://www.nplg.gov.ge

Republic of Kazakhstan

National Library of the Republic of Ka-zakhstanhttp://www.nlrk.kz

The Pushkin East-Kazakhstan Libraryhttp://www.pushkinlibrary.kz

State Children’s Library of the Republicof Kazakhstanhttp://www.spring.freenet.kz

Karaganda Regional Public Libraryhttp:/www.pmicro.kz/~library

Republic of Kirgizstan

The National Library of the KirgizianRepublichttp://fbakalov.host.net.kg/bereader.htm

Republic of Moldova

The National Library of the Republic ofMoldovahttp://www.iatp.md/bnrm/index.html

Russian Federation

Russian State libraryhttp://www.rsl.ru/defengl.asp

The National Library of Russiahttp://www.nlr.ru:8101/eng

Russian State Children’s libraryhttp://mrgdb.euro.ru

State Public Scientific and TechnicalLibrary of the Siberian Branch of theRussian Academy of Sciencehttp://www.spsl.nsc.ru/engn/index.html

Main Library of St. Petersburg StateTechnical Universityhttp://www.unilib.neva.ru/lib/

Pskov Regional Universal ScientificLibraryhttp://pskovlib.virtualave.net

National Library named after AkhmetZaki Validi, Republic of Bashkor-tostan

Republic of Uzbekistan

The State Library of the Uzbek Republicnamed after Alisher Navoihttp://www.osi.uz/library

Ukraine

The National Library of Ukraine namedafter V.I. Vernadskihttp://www.nbuv.gov.ua/library

National Parliamentary Library ofUkrainehttp://www.nplu.kiev.ua

The Library of the Verkhovna Rada ofUkrainehttp://www.rada.kiev.ua/LIBRARY

Donetsk State regional universal scien-tific library named after N.K. Krup-skayahttp://www.library.donetsk.ua/index.shtml

Source: SONEGOS website:http://www.rsl.ru/SONEGOS/e_son5.htm.

The SONEGOS Website


gateways to other libraries in theircountries. Unfortunately, the ma-jority of them are not. In some na-tional library sites nothing is saidabout other libraries in the country;in others (Russian State Library,Belarus) information is rather lim-ited; lists of libraries and theirURLs are given. In some countries,information about the libraries ofthe country is given on the site ofthe library association of the coun-try. The most detailed informationis given in the Ukraine and Uz-bekistan. This is not only typical of

the library sites of the CIS; inmany of the library sites of Europewe cannot find information aboutother libraries of the country. Fromour point of view in each countrythere should be a site with infor-mation about the libraries of thecountry. The best place for this in-formation is the national librarysite. So we have decided to publishon our site information about alllibraries of the CIS.In some national libraries’ sites it ispossible to find a list of basic sitesof the country. For instance, the

National Library of Kazakhstanhas placed on its site a list of URLsof Kazakhstan serials, institutes, andstate organizations. The East Ka-zakhstan regional library site gath-ers the URLs of Internet resourcesof the East Kazakhstan area.

It takes a long time to describe thedifferences between the various li-brary sites of a CIS, but it seemseach library has a lot of interestingideas which can be borrowed byother libraries, and all of them willbe discussed on our site.


Bülent Yi�lmaz

Bülent Yi�lmaz graduated from Ha-cettepe University Department ofLibrary Science, where he receivedboth his MS and PhD. He editedTurkish Librarianship and was VicePresident of the Turkish Librarians’Association between 1996–1998and became an Assistant Editor ofInformation World in 2000. He isat present a member of the Edito-rial Advisory Board of Turkish Li-brarianship and Information Worldand an Associate Professor in theHacettepe University Departmentof Library Science. Mr Yi�lmaz maybe contacted at Hacettepe Univer-sity, Faculty of Letters, Departmentof Library Science, Beytepe-Ankara,Turkey (fax: + (90-312) 299 20 14;e-mail: byilmaz@ hacettepe.edu.tr).

Introduction

Many developed countries have se-rious problems based on theirmulticultural structure. In particu-lar, they are all trying to solve the

cultural adaptation problems of thevarious ethnic communities forthem be able to live together. Allthese efforts to solve cultural adap-tation problems should be multi-dimensional and long term. Read-ing and library usage habits can bethought of as factors that have im-portant roles in fulfilling the multi-cultural structure in a country. Theeffects of these habits on the cul-tural adaptation of children are usu-ally seen through the agency of theireducational achievements and lan-guage development. Education andlanguage are the main parts of aculture. In other words, culture is aproduct of education and language.

An immigrant child’s identitymust be plotted on a number ofaxes – poor/rich, primitive ru-ral/megalopolis urban, nonliter-ate oral/multilevel academic. Thechild may come from a country… whose values and attitudesare at total variance and whoselanguage is completely unknownin the new land. (Wertheimerand Foy 1980: 336)

Learning to live in a multiculturalsociety is a basic part of every child’seducation. (Campbell 1980: 208).According to Stadler (1980: 330)

reading potentially enlarges achild’s vocabulary, gives a baseof grammatical competence, en-hances the ability to handleschoolwork, and advances think-ing in both languages.

Reading is important for both chil-dren of the host society and for-eign children:

Reading books written for chil-dren of the host society can helpthe foreign child to understandthe behavior standards and idealsof the native children. Readingbooks written for his own natio-nality, the child learns to under-stand his cultural traditions sothat a possible reintegration ismade easier, and so that the childfeels reassured in his first cul-tural identity. (Stadler 1980:331)

In brief, reading

• will develop children’s vocabu-lary, both in their mother tongueand in the language of theircountry of residence

• will provide a base (background)for the grammatical efficiencyof the children in both lan-guages

• will contribute to the thinking inboth languages

• will raise the level of communi-cation in both languages

• will help the children to learn therules of behaviour and the life-style of the country they live in.

It can be seen that all of thesepoints mean direct or indirect con-tributions to the cultural adapta-tion of the children.

Library usage can have these func-tions in cultural adaptation:

Reading and Library Usage Habits of StudentsWhose Mother Tongue is Turkish in Vienna,Austria

Reading and Library Usage Habits of Students Whose Mother Tongue is Turkish


• to develop intercultural under-standing and relationships

• to facilitate the sharing of cul-tures

• to increase cultural diversity• to provide social integration• to give educational support to

language development. (Mylo-poulos 1985:23–24).

Library usage can also help thechildren to transform their mar-ginality into a positive experience(Simsova 1980:247; 1980a) becauselibraries are the most appropriateagents of innovation and sociali-zation (Fest 1980:202). In otherwords, the library has the duty tohelp newcomers reduce linguisticand cultural barriers and to facili-tate their acculturation and inte-gration (Albert 1984:120).

The reading and library usagehabits of the children of ethnicgroups in multicultural societiesmust be seen as the main parts ofthe national education and culturalpolicy in connection with thesecontributions.

The outcome of our researchstresses the importance of readingand library usage habits in thecultural adaptation of children.

Aims and Scope of theResearch

The main aims of the research,which was carried out in 1999,were:

• to find out about the reading andpublic library usage habits ofstudents of Turkish ethnic originin seven primary schools in Vi-enna

• to identify in detail any prob-lems related to these habits

• to determine the effects of thesehabits on their language devel-opment, educational achieve-ment and consequently theircultural adaptation

• to develop suggestions for solu-tions to is any problems whichmay be identified.

The data concerning the question-naires distributed to various groups

and the response ratios is providedin Table 1.

Data were collected through ques-tionnaires in seven primary schoolsin Vienna. Questionnaires werecompleted by 108 students (in4th class – 9/10 years old), 94 par-ents, seventeen class teachers,seven Turkish (lesson) teachers ofTurkish nationality, seven schooldirectors, twelve public librari-ans and one school librarian. Atthe time of the survey there were5,333 Turkish primary school stu-dents in the 1st–4th classes in Vi-enna, of whom 1,300 were in the4th class. (ÖSTAT 1998; www.statistik.gv.at)

The population of Vienna is1,611,425, accounting for nearly20 percent of the total populationof Austria, which is 8,121,345.Non-Austrians account for 9.4 per-cent of Austria’s population and17.8 percent of that of Vienna. Ofthese, people of Turkish ethnicorigin account for 17.6 percent ofall non-Austrians in the countryand for 15.3 percent of those inVienna. People of Turkish originaccount for 1.6 percent of the to-tal population and 2.7 percent ofthe population of Vienna. Thereare 3,711 Turkish children of9–10 years of age in Austria as awhole, and 1,300 in Vienna.(www.statistik.gv.at. 12 Feb. 2002)

Reading Habits ofTurkish Primary Students

Reading frequency is the most use-ful criterion for measuring readinghabits. We used frequencies very

similar to those used by the Ameri-can Library Association (ALA 1978)as criteria to measure the readingand library usage habits of the stu-dents in this research. These are:

• Heavy reader: reads 24 books ormore per year (two books ormore per month)

• Moderate reader: reads 7–23books per year (one book permonth)

• Rare reader: reads 1–6 booksper year (one book or less pertwo months)

• Non-reader: does not read.• Heavy user: uses the library 24

times or more per year (twice amonth or more)

• Moderate user: uses the library7–23 times or more per year(once a month)

• Rare user: uses the library 1–6times or more per year (onceevery two months or less)

• Non-user: does not use the li-brary.

Data on the reading levels of thestudents in our research is shownin Table 2.

It is clear from these figures thatmost of the students do not have

QuestionnairesGroupsDistributed Returned Response rate

(%)Students 140 108 77.1Parents 140 94 67.1Class teachers 20 17 85.0Turkish (lesson) teachers 7 7 100.0School directors 7 7 100.0Public librarians 12 12 100.0School librarians 1 1 100.0Total 327 246 75.2

Table 1. Response ratio of the questionnaires

Frequency %Non-reader 42.6One book orless per two months

35.2

One book per month 15.7Two books ormore per month

6.5

Total 100.0

Table 2. Reading frequency of stu-dents

Bülent Y�lmaz


well developed reading habits.Non-readers and those who readonly rarely together account for80 percent of the total. The heavyreaders account for the smallestproportion. The teachers’ opinionsabout the reading levels of the stu-dents support these data; 70.6 per-cent of the class teachers and85.7 percent of the Turkish lessonteachers considered that the ma-jority of the students are non-readers and not heavy readers.

The data concerning the languagesin which students prefer to readare shown in Table 3.

It can be seen that about half ofthe students who have the readinghabit prefer to read only Germanbooks. Only three students preferto read only Turkish books. Lessthan half (45.2 percent) of the stu-dents like to read in both lan-guages. Reading in both languagesis a positive attitude for their cul-tural adaptation. Interviews withthe students and their teachers, re-vealed that there are no difficultiesin finding German books, but Turk-ish students generally have a prob-lem finding Turkish books to read.Also, it must be considered thatthese figures indicate not onlywhat the students prefer, but alsothe languages in which they are infact able to read.

Data related to the place where thestudents prefer to find books toread shows the role of the publiclibrary in encouraging reading hab-its, as shown in Table 4.

It is possible to say that the mostimportant single source of books isthe public library. The second isthrough buying books. Only one ofthe seven schools studied in this

research has a library. The schoolor class library is thus not a seriousalternative as a place for the stu-dents to find books to read. TheTurkish lesson teachers said thatthey usually bring Turkish books tothe students from their own li-braries.

Public Library Usage byTurkish Primary Students

One of the main aims of our re-search was to find out about thepublic library usage of the students.This is as important as their read-ing habits.

It can been seen that about two-thirds of the students do not usethe public library. The proportionof non-users together with rare us-ers amounts to 77 percent of thetotal. Again, the smallest group isthe heavy users. This informationwas supported by the class teach-ers, Turkish lesson teachers andpublic librarians who were inter-viewed in the research. Becausethe proportion of non-users ishigher than that of non-readers, itcan be said that the problem of li-brary usage is bigger than theproblem of the reading habits of

the students. The data in Table 5shows that public libraries are themost important source of materialsfor students. It means that publiclibraries play a very important rolein improving the reading habits ofstudents. Insufficient use of publiclibraries therefore appears to beone of the main causes of insuffi-cient reading habits among stu-dents.

The students’ priorities in using thelibrary for different purposes re-flect the current role of the librar-ies.

Table 6 shows that students usuallyuse the public libraries with theaim of borrowing books. BorrowingCDs and cassettes is not as com-mon as borrowing books. One ofthe most important reasons whystudents use public libraries asplaces to study is because they lacka personal room in their homes.Students may use the public libraryfor more than one purpose on thesame occasion, but we tried to de-termine the primary purpose.

It was also considered importantto assess the sufficiency of the li-braries concerning the provision ofTurkish reading materials.

Language N %Only German 30 48.4Both Germanand Turkish

28 45.2

Only Turkish 3 4.8Other 1 1.6Total 62 100.0

Table 3. Language in which stu-dents prefer to read

Where ? N %Public library 26 41.9Buying 17 27.4From friends 8 12.9School library 3 4.8Class library 3 4.8Present 3 4.8Other 2 3.2Total 62 99.8

Table 4. Where do the studentsfind the books to read?

Usage frequency N %Twice a monthor more

5 4.6

Once a month 20 18.5Once in 2 monthsor less

14 13.0

Non-user 69 63.9Total 108 100.0

Table 6. Purposes of library usageof the students

Turkish materialsfound?

N %

None 9 23.1Very rare 22 56.4Mostly 6 15.4All 2 5.1Total 39 100.0

Table 7. Sufficiency of the librar-ies concerning Turkishreading materials

Usage frequency N %Twice a monthor more

5 4.6

Oncea month

20 18.5

Once in 2 monthsor less

14 13.0

Non-user 69 63.9Total 108 100.0

Table 5. Level of public library us-age of the students



Table 7 shows that more than halfof the students say they can rarelyfind Turkish reading materials inpublic libraries, while nearly a quar-ter say they cannot find any at all.Those students who can mostly oralways find such materials accountfor slightly more than 20 percent ofthe total. Other data in our re-search has proved that the publiclibraries in Vienna do have enoughbooks in Turkish according to IFLAstandards, but the problem is re-lated to the kinds of books pro-vided. Students said that they couldnot find the kinds of books inwhich they are interested. In otherwords, it is seen that there are notenough Turkish books suitable forthe students in this age group.

Reading FrequencyAccording to

Geographical Origin

Whether the students’ family has ageographical background from arural area (village) or from an urbanarea (metropolis) has a great im-pact on the student’s cultural struc-ture. In other words, geographicalorigin also means cultural back-ground.

Analysis of the data in Table 8shows that more than 82 percentof the students’ families came fromvillages and small towns and lessthan 18 percent from large cities.Geographical origin appears to beclosely related to the students’reading habits; more than half thestudents whose families are fromvillages do not read at all, and only2 percent of them have a strongreading habit, whereas those whosefamilies are from large cities readmuch more.

The educational level of their par-ents is another socio-economic fac-tor that can affect the students’ read-ing habits. The research showedthat some 10 percent of the moth-ers and somewhat less than 5 per-cent of the fathers were illiterate,while 69 percent of mothers and48 percent of fathers had graduatedfrom primary school and 21 per-cent of mothers and 48 percent offathers had graduated from high

school. Only one student’s parents(an uncle) had graduated fromuniversity. The research showedthat nearly 70 percent of the stu-dents whose parents had gradu-ated from primary school did nothave a reading habit, and morethan two-thirds did not have li-brary usage habits, the one studentwhose uncle had graduated fromuniversity had both these habits.

Who Encourages Studentsto Read and to Use

Libraries?

The data showing who encouragesthe students to read books and uselibraries is shown in Table 9.

It can be seen that neither parentsnor teachers give sufficient en-couragement to the students to

read and to use libraries. The pro-portions of students who do notreceive any support from parentsand teachers are very high. Bothparents and teachers give less en-couragement to students to use li-braries than to read books. Also, itcan be said that the majority of thestudents do not receive motiva-tional support from anybody toread and to use the library.

Reading Level of theFamilies and its Effect on

Students

According to the research data,more than 84 percent of parentseither do not read books at all, ordo so only rarely. The effects ofthis on the students are shown inTable 10, which shows that 60 per-cent of the students whose parents

Geographical BackgroundRural Small Town Large City

Reading Frequency

N % N % N %Non-reader 25 51.0 14 35.0 7 36.8One book or less in 2 months 20 40.8 14 35.0 4 21.1One book per month 3 6.1 8 20.0 6 31.62 books or more per month 1 2.0 4 10.0 2 10.5Total 49 99.9 40 100.0 19 100.0

Table 8. Reading frequency of the students according to geographicalbackgrounds of their families

Who encourages? To ReadBook

To UseLibrary

Parents 20 18.5 11 10.2Brother-Sister 1 0.9 7 6.5Friends 1 0.9 2 1.9Teachers 23 21.3 17 15.7Other 20 18.5 9 8.3Nobody 43 39.8 62 57.4Total 108 99.9 108 100.0

Table 9. Who encourages students to read and to use libraries?

How much do your parents read books?Don’t read Rarely Often Don’t knowReading Frequency

of Students N % N % N % N %Non-reader 33 60.0 6 16.7 – – 7 50.0One book or lessper two months

16 29.1 18 50.0 – – 4 28.6

One book permonth

5 9.1 9 25.0 2 66.7 1 7.1

Two books or moreper month

1 1.8 3 8.3 1 33.3 2 14.3

Total 55 100.0 36 100.0 3 100.0 14 100.0

Table 10. Effect of the parents’ reading habits on students’ reading level

Bülent Y�lmaz


do not read books at all are non-readers. In other words, if theirparents read they read; if not, theydo not. It is clear that the readinghabits of their families affect thestudents’ levels of reading.

Reading Habits andEducational Achievement

The reading habit is not the onlyfactor that affects the educationalachievements of the students, butthe data shows that it can be oneof the important factors in educa-tional achievement.

Table 11 shows that. while nearly73 percent of students who havefailed at school are non-readers,

none of the students who read onebook a month or more have failed.About two-thirds of the studentswho never failed are readers atsome level. That a good reader is agood student is the classic findingin reading research. (Bamberger1990:3)

Reading Habit andLanguage Development

There is a well known relationshipbetween reading habit and lan-guage development.

As seen in Table 12, having areading habit has a positive corre-lation with the students’ marks inGerman. There is nobody whose

German mark is ‘very good’ amongthe non-readers, whereas the stu-dents who read two books or moreper month account for nearly38 percent of those who receivedsuch a mark. All the students whofailed in German are either non-readers or read one book or lessper month, while more than 63 per-cent of those students who receiveda ‘medium’ mark in German arenon-readers and only 2 percent ofthem are heavy readers.

In contrast to the relationship be-tween reading levels and success inGerman, the relationships betweenthe level of library usage and themarks students get in German areweak and complex. Table 13 showsthat there are no heavy or moder-ate library users among the stu-dents who failed in German, whoall either did not use the library atall or used it very rarely. On theother hand, more than half thestudents whose German mark was‘good’ or ‘medium’ were also non-users, while the proportions ofnon-users and heavy users amongthose receiving a ‘very good’ markwere the same. But we can say thatthere is a meaningful difference inpublic library usage among thestudents whose grades in Germanare high as compared with thatof those who failed in Germanclasses.

The Effect of WatchingTV on Reading Habits

The effect of watching TV on thereading habit is a traditional sub-ject for discussion in our literature.Table 14 shows the relationshipbetween watching TV and readingbooks among the students coveredby the research. It is clear thatwatching TV for long periods –three hours a day or more – ismuch more widespread amongnon-readers and those who readonly one book or less every twomonths, than among students whoread more than one book a month.This does not necessarily meanthat watching TV makes the stu-dents into non-readers; it is equallylikely, if not more so, that being anon-reader means that the student

Have you ever failed at school?Yes No

Reading frequency of students N % N %Non-reader 16 72.7 30 34.9One book or less per two months 6 27.3 32 37.2One book per month – – 17 19.8Two books or more per month – – 7 8.1Total 22 100.0 86 100.0

Table 11. Frequency of reading and failure in education

German lesson marks of the studentsVery Good Good Medium Fail

Reading Frequencyof students

N % N % N % N %

Non-reader – – 12 25.5 31 63.3 3 75.0One book or lessper two months

2 25.0 20 42.6 15 30.6 1 25.0

One book permonth

3 37.5 12 25.5 2 4.1 – –

Two books or moreper month

3 37.5 3 6.4 1 2.0 – –

Total 8 100.0 47 100.0 49 100.0 4 100.0

Table 12. German lesson marks and reading frequency of the students

German lesson marks of the studentsVery Good Good Medium Fail

Library UsageFrequency

N % N % N % N %

Non-user 3 37.5 29 61.7 34 69.4 3 75.0Once or less pertwo months

– – 8 17.0 6 12.2 1 25.0

Once per month 2 25.0 9 19.1 8 16.3 – –Twice or more permonth

3 37.5 1 2.1 1 2.0 – –

Total 8 100.0 47 99.9 49 99.9 4 100.0

Table 13. German marks and library usage frequency of the students.



watches more TV. Nevertheless, itseems possible that watching TVfor long periods may be a factorwhich has a negative effect on thereading habit of the students.

Cultural Adaptation ofthe Students

To assess the students’ level ofcultural adaptation, we asked themwhere they would prefer to live;the best answer, in terms of posi-tive cultural adaptation, was a pref-erence for living both in Austriaand in Turkey.

Table 15 shows that nearly 40 per-cent of the students wanted to livein both countries. While this isvery positive in terms of the levelof cultural adaptation, it should benoted that the combined total ofthose students who want to liveeither only in Turkey or only inAustria is greater than that of thestudents who want to live in bothcountries. Also, more studentswant to live only in Turkey thanonly in Austria.

In our research, we could not findany direct meaningful relationshipbetween reading frequency andcultural adaptation. This was verynatural, because cultural adapta-tion is very complex and thereading habit is not the only factorinfluencing it. However, the find-ings concerning the relationshipbetween reading habits and edu-cational achievements and lan-guage development can beaccepted as showing an indirectrelationship between reading hab-its and cultural adaptation, be-cause, as noted above, educationand language are the most impor-tant parts of culture.

Conclusion

The major results of the researchare:

• The students do not have suffi-cient reading and library usagehabits. In other words, they haveserious problems regarding thesehabits.

• The students generally read Ger-man books. They have some dif-ficulties in finding Turkish books.

• Most of the schools do not havea library.

• The students usually either bor-row from libraries or buy thebooks they read.

• The students generally go to thepublic library to borrow books.

• The students cannot find most ofthe Turkish books suitable fortheir age group in the public li-braries.

• The geographical background oftheir families affects the stu-dents’ use of public libraries.

• The education level of the fami-lies is low and is another nega-tive factor that affects thestudents’ use of public libraries.

• Most of the students’ parents donot read books and do not usepublic libraries. They do not setgood examples for their childrento develop these habits.

• Watching TV has a negative im-pact on the reading habits of thestudents.

• There is a significant relationshipbetween these habits and thestudents’ language development.

• Reading and library usage habitsaffect the educational achieve-ments of the students positively.

• These habits have an indirectimpact on the cultural adapta-tion of the students.

To generate the right solution forthese problems:

• Cooperative efforts betweenfamilies and teachers should bedeveloped.

• There should be increased coop-eration in the libraries area be-tween the Austrian and Turkishgovernments

• Establishing libraries in theschools must be a very impor-tant part of these efforts.

• This research must be supportedand enriched with new researchin other countries, and the re-sults must be compared.

Note

This paper depends on researchmade by Dr. Bülent Y�lmaz andMag. Kemal Cindi supported bythe Ministry of Culture of Austriaand in cooperation with Interna-tional Institute of Children Litera-ture and Reading Research inVienna, Austria in 1999.

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Reading FrequencyNon-reader One book or

less per twomonths

One bookper month

Two books amonth or

moreTime spentwatching TV perday

N % N % N % N %

1–2 hours 6 13.0 10 26.3 8 47.1 4 57.13–4 hours 22 47.8 17 44.7 5 29.4 2 28.65 hours or more 15 32.6 10 26.3 4 23.5 – –Non-audience 3 6.5 1 2.6 – – 1 14.3Total 46 99.9 38 99.9 17 100.0 7 100.0

Table 14. The relationship between watching TV and reading book.

Where studentswant to live

N %

In both Austria andTurkey

43 39.8

Only in Turkey 30 27.8Only in Austria 20 18.5Only in anothercountry

15 13.9

Total 108 100.0

Table 15.Where do the studentswant to live?

Bülent Y�lmaz


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Libraries for life: democracy, diversity, delivery

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