Mr. ZHOU Heping becomes National Librarian of China

Mr. ZHOU Heping, ex-Vice-Minister of Culture, becomes Director of National Library of China today.

During the meeting of senior staff of National Library of China this afternoon, Mr. CAI Wu, Minister of Culture, announced that Mr. ZHOU Heping becomes Director of the Library, and Mr. ZHAN Furui, ex-Director, becomes Deputy Diretor.

Mr. Zhou took the position of Deputy Director of National Library of China during 1995-2001 and the position of Vice-Minister of Culture during 2001-2009.

Chinese version of "Call for Papers" of the Cataloguing Section available at IFLA site

Chinese version of "Call for Papers" of the Cataloguing Section:

http://www.ifla.org/en/calls-for-papers/1987

now available at IFLA site at the following address:

http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/annual-conference/ifla76/calls-for-papers/cataloguing-zh.pdf

Chinese version of Call for Poster Sessions uploaded

Chinese version of "Call for Poster Sessions" for the next IFLA General Conference (WLIC) has been uploaded to the IFLA site:

http://www.ifla.org/en/ifla76/call-for-poster-sessions

The Chinese file (PDF file) can be downloaded from:

http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/annual-conference/ifla76/call-for-poster-sessions-zh.pdf

Chinese Periodicals information available at Ulrich's Directory

Today, ProQuest staff visited our department and reported recent development of our cooperation.

National Library of China signed an agreement with ProQuest last year and began to provide Romanized records of Chinese periodicals early this year. I am very happy to see that all records have been converted and uploaded to Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

CCEU Conference is held in Beijing

Annual conference of China Consortium of Ex Libris Products User Group (CCEU) is held in Beijing during November 23-25, 2009. This time, the conference is hosted by National Library of China. I have been too busy and didn't attend the conference.

Seminar on Rare Book Cataloging held in Beijing

The Seminar on Rare Book Cataloging in the Digital Age is held in Beijing. It began yesterday afternoon and will be concluded today at lunch time.

There are participants from major rare book collecting libraries in China and also from U.S.A., Japan and U.K.

As an observer, I attended several sessions of the seminar.

In China, there are differences in cataloging rules concerning rare books and modern books. This is my first time to attend any seminars in the rare book community, and I hope to find some opportunities for the coordination between the two communities.

NLC System Upgrading begins today

In the final days of the system testing before the Aleph 500 upgrading in National Library of China, we were extremely busy with the coordination with the System Department and the system vendor, because some functions disappeared during the testing and and some indexes did work. The data of the Classified Chinese Thesaurus (CCT) with be uploaded to the subject authority database during the upgrading, and we hope to use CCT in NLC four years after it was published in 2005. In the last hours yesterday, it seemed that the problems had been solved.

The upgrading will be finished in the next Sunday. I hope everything will go smoothly.

LSC Annual Conference is held in Nanning

The annual conference of the Library Society of China is being held in Nanning, Guangxi, China, during November 3-5, 2009. I will co-chair a session jointly by the Information Organization Committee and the Resource Development and Sharing Committee tomorrow morning, during which I will give a presentation about the latest developments of international and national cataloging issues.

The conference venue is just beside Zhongshan Road, which is famous for many restaurants of local cuisine.

First Snow in Beijing

The first snow came to Beijing during the last night. I didn't remember such early snow in Beijing before.

NLC Aleph500 to be upgraded

Staff of National Library of China are preparing to upgrade its Aleph500 system in the next month. We are testing the test system and examining the parameter setting tables to ensure that all indexes have been considered.

NLC Scientifc Research Seminar held today

The Tenth NLC Scientific Research Seminar was held today in the new building of the National Library of China. There are 138 submitted papers and 56 papers selected for three levels of awards.

Today, about 150 staff attended the seminar and 8 award winners gave their presentations to the audience.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Last week, I watched the DVD of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, another musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Like Jesus Christ Superstar, it is also based on Bible (see Genesis, Chapter 37).

LSC Annual Conference to be held in Nanning

The annual conference of the Library Society of China (LSC) is to be held in Nanning during November 3-5, 2009. Nanning is a city in the Guangxi Autonomous Region and is also one of the Southernmost cities in mainland China.

We have just planned a joint open programme of the Information Organization Committee and the Resource Development and Sharing Committee of LSC. I will be one of the co-chairs of the programme, and will speak about the latest development of international and national cataloging standards.

Jesus Christ SuperStar

During the long holiday, I watched the DVD Jesus Christ SuperStar (Andrew Lloyd Webber) I bought recently in Shanghai. I bought another DVD several years ago, but the DVD has a problem of audio and video synchronization in the first half of the drama, and I was unable to view the whole musical at that time.

With new musical composition and stage performance  techniques, it doesn't lack expressiveness and tension, and reflects different aspects of human nature.

I like the movies The Passion of the Christ and the song "By the rivers of Babylon", which are also based on stories in the Bible. The text of the song is almost entirely derived from Psalm 137.

Photos of the IFLA Cataloguing Section in Milan

During the long holiday (October 1-8) for the National Day (October 1), I spent time to upload some photos of the IFLA Cataloguing Section (Standing Committee meeting and Open Programme) and the Division IV (Bibliographic Control) Open Programme during the IFLA General Conference in Milan to my personal website at the following URL:

http://www.bengu.cn/homepage/library/ifla_catsection_milan2009.htm

Actually, the Open Programme of the Division IV is the last one, because the new IFLA structure will be effective after the Milan conference. We didn't have our social hour this year, and celebrate the publication of IFLA Cataloguing Principles (in 20 languages) immediately after the open programme instead. During the reception, Barbara Tillett told me: "It is a hard job, but we did it." I am glad that the Chinese version is done by some Chinese catalogers and me. I saw our names in the Chinese part of the book.

National Day Celebrations

Today is the first day of the long holiday (October 1-8) for the 60th National Day (October 1) of the People's Republic of China. We all stay at home and watch the military review and the parade. The little girl is especially excited to see the "rainbow planes", which are the fighters ejecting colorful smoke. Looking through the windows of my home, we can see these "rainbow planes" flying from Tian'anmen Square.

Please see photos about it at:

http://www.chinaview.cn/60thprc/

Beijing Subway Line 4 opened yesterday

Beijing Subway Line 4 opened yesterday in the afternoon. It is important to the users and staff of the National Library of China, because there is a National Library station of the line just in front of the main entrance of the old library building beside the Zizhuyuan (Black Bamboo Park). With the National Library Station is in the middle, the Line 4 has stations at some important locations, such as South Railway Station, Beijing Zoo, Peking University and the Summer Palace.

The opening of the Subway Line 4 will change the life of the staff of the library, and facilitate their transportation everyday to the library.

New Academic Research Committee of the Library Society of China established today

The conference for the establishment of the New Academic Research Committee (2009-2014) of the Library Society of China is held in Putuo District Library during September 23-24, 2009.

To be opened in December of this year, the newly building Putuo District Library has a floor space of about 30,000 square meters, costing about 200 million RMB yuan.

The 2009 National Library (Suzhou River) Forum: a Workshop on Library Service Case Analysis was held in the morning immediately after the opening of the conference. The Putuo District Library demonstrated its new services, such as Information Supermarket and Self-Service Book Floating.

The 34th Meeting of Directors of ISSN National Centers Held in National Library of China

Report (with photos) of the ISSN Directors' meeting in Beijing at the NLC site:

The 34th Meeting of Directors of ISSN National Centers was held in National Library of China during September 14th to September 18th of 2009 shortly after the library celebrated its centennial birthday on September 9th. Over 30 delegates from 25 countries attended this meeting, during which directors of ISSN national centers and library professionals around the world had many in-depth discussions, view exchanges and experience sharing. Among issues on the agenda, the implementation of ISSN-L and ISSN assignment policy such as Criteria for the Selection of ISSNable Integrating e-resources and ISSN projects PEPRS received the highest concern.

ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is an eight-digit number which identifies periodical publications, including electronic serials. The ISSN database, ISSN Registry, is the most comprehensive and authoritative source for the identification of serial publications world-wide. The number of records in the ISSN Register totaled 1,450,268 (including current and dead) by August, 2009.

ISSN China Centre was established in National Library of China in the year 1985. Through years of efforts, the number of serial records in CNMARC format in the ISSN China Centre database totaled 13,100 by June, 2009, which covered almost all records for periodicals officially published in mainland China and some bibliographic records for almanacs.

ISSN China Centre has signed agreement concerning access to ISSN China Centre records with the world-renowned information service provider ProQuest, which further promoted the application of bibliographic records of Chinese serials to an international level.

ISSN has been applied to many fields. ISSN is used in libraries for identifying titles, ordering and checking in serials, and claiming missing issues. ISSN simplifies interlibrary loan and cooperative cataloging workflows. Employed as a standard numeric identification code, ISSN can be used in computers for updating and linking files, for retrieving and transmitting data. ISSN also provides a useful and economical method of communication between publishers and suppliers, making trade distribution systems faster and more efficient. ISSN results in accurate citing of serials by scholars, researchers, abstracters, and librarians.

The ISSN Directors' Meetings are technical meetings, held on annual basis, which provide an opportunity for members of each ISSN national centers and the International Center to discuss issues related to the assignment and management of ISSNs, learn of new developments and harmonize the practices of the various ISSN national centers. The meetings are held in a different country each year since 1974, hosted by one of the ISSN national centers. It is the first time for ISSN China Centre to host the meeting after the ISSN national centers of the U.S., France and Switzerland, etc. as hosting organizations.

Recently, new types of resources such as continuing electronic resources are constantly emerging as the rapid development of digital technologies, which poses new challenges to ISSN assignment and management in many countries. This meeting will facilitate exchange and cooperation between ISSN China Centre and other ISSN centers, keep ISSN China Centre informed of the latest development of ISSN, which in return, will promote the ISSN assignment and management in China.

Original URLs:

English version: http://www.nlc.gov.cn/en/news/nlcnews_2009092101.htm

Chinese version: http://www.nlc.gov.cn/syzt/2009/0921/article_374.htm

Discussion of Cataloging Rules in Forbidden City

Yesterday, during the second day of the agenda of the Meeting of Directors of ISSN National Centres in Beijing, I gave a presentation about the special characteristics of major changes of titles for CJK serials. I summarized proposals from Chinese colleagues, ISBD Review Group, and CJK colleagues in ISBD RG. It seems that all participants understand the proposals very well. We will have to do further work in the next couple of months to consult all members of the ISSN Network.

In the afternoon, we visited the Forbidden City. Standing before the Hall of Preserving Harmony, Françoise Pellé, Director of the ISSN International Centre, said that it is the best place for us to discuss the harmonization of different cataloging rules, because we have so many harmonies here - the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. It is an interesting idea indeed!

Meeting of Directors of ISSN National Centres begins in Beijing

34th Meeting of Directors of ISSN National Centres begins in Beijing today. ISSN China Centre, which is located in National Library of China, hosts this meeting. During the first two days (September 14-15), there is a ISSN/Virtua training session.

NLC Staff got IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship

OCLC names six librarians to participate in 2010 Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program.

Jay Jordan spoke at NLC

Today in the morning, Jay Jordan, CEO of OCLC, spoke at National Library of China about information strategies of OCLC and libraries in the age of WWW. This is almost the last event in the series of activities for the centennial celebration of NLC.

NLC centennial celebration held yeserday

The Centennial Celebration of the National Library China was held yesterday at the Concert Hall of the library. About 1000, including 300 guests, attended the ceremony, and some central government leaders gave speeches at the ceremony.

In the morning of the day, a workshop on the internationalization of librarianship was held in the new building of the library, with guest speakers from around the world.

NLC hosts welcoming dinner for guests

Today, National Library of China hosted a welcoming dinner for 200 domestic and international guests for the centenary celebration to be held tomorrow. Ellen Tise, IFLA President, and some CEOs of national libraries attend the dinner.

English "Annual Review of Library Science in China" published

Annual Review of Journal Library Science in China is just published this month by National Library of China Publishing House. It is edited by the Editorial Office of the bimonthly Journal of Library Science in China of the Library Society of China, and published annually in English. It is the first time for the Library Society of China to publish an English journal. It is hoped that it will published more frequently, bimonthly or quarterly, in the future.

8th NLC Art Festival held today

The 8th Art Festival of the National Library of China was held today. With 20 titles in the program, all performances were presented by staff of the library. Among them, there were a chorus and a musical by the Chinese Acquisitions & Cataloging Department.

Attending IFLA in Milan

I has been a week since we arrinved in Milan last Saturday. We are all busy with meetings (Wording Group and Standing Committe meetings) and open sessions.
Translators for IFLA Express and simultaneous interpreters and also very tired. It is not easy for these young girls to do so much work in a short period of time. Since they have done it for several IFLA conferences and have got experiences, I do not have to spend to much time in taking care of them.
Today is the last of the conference, and I will finish my meetings at about 7 o'clock in the evening.

WLIC in Milan

Today is the second day of the WLIC (IFLA General Conference) in Milan. The city of Milan is not so big as I imagined before. The convention center is also not so big. The auditorium can accommodate about 2000 people, which can not include all the participants, I think. Sometimes, the meeting rooms are very small, and there are not enough chairs for the audience.
Although there are are volunteers outside meeting rooms, I sometimes find it difficult to ask for more chairs.
At first, there was no free water in meeting rooms, but since the second day, we are very happy to have it. In the first day immediately after the Opening Ceremony, we were very surprised to have a free lunch, which we had never had before.

Cataloguing Session successful

The open session of the Cataloguing Section was a success in the afternoon.
I would like to mention specially that MASSIMO GENTILI-TEDESCHI (Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali, Milan, Italy) presentation is very interesting. The paper can be found at the following site:
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/107-gentili-en.pdf
Massimo did not use any PPT file, but show the audience with the website containing his presentation:
http://www.urfm.braidense.it/ifla2009/

NLC Delegation arrived in Milan

Yesterday, National Library of China delegation to IFLA General Conference arrived in Milan. There are 2 standing committee members, 1 speaker, 4 simultaneous interpreters and 3 IFLA Express translators.

Going to IFLA

I am ready to go to Milan for the IFLA General Conference. But I am still in Shanghai with my mother, who is seriously ill now. I don't know whether I will finally be able to go there.

I noticed that there is another new IFLA publication National Bibliographies in the Digital Age: Guidance and New Directions. I think we had better translate it into Chinese.

Some of my colleagues are translating FRSAR and FRAD, a draft and an IFLA new publication.

I browsed the IFLA website for conference proceedings, and counted the numbers of papers in seven working languages:

English 201

French 27

Spanish 25

Chinese 21

Arabic 17

Russian 12

German 7

Italian Version of ISBD Preliminary Consolidated Edition published

Today, an Italian colleague told me that the Italian version of the Consolidated Edition of the ISBD is just published. It is the fourth translation after Chinese, Spanish and French versions.

Please download the PDF file from the following address:

http://www.iccu.sbn.it/upload/documenti/ISBDConsolidatedITA.pdf?l=it

Ren Jiyu's Farewell Service was held in Beijing yesterday

Prof. REN Jiyu's Farewell Service was held in Beijing yesterday morning. Prime Minister WEN Jiabao and other government officials attended the service.
There were about 3000 participants, including 600 staff of National Library of China.
REN Jiyu was Director of National Library of China (1987-2005) and Honorary Director of National Library of China (2005-2009). He is a notable scholar in Chinese philosophy, especially in Buddhist research.

Chinese Translations of IFLA Papers Available Online

Volunteers from National Library of China and East China Normal University Library have translated 13 papers related to cataloging for the IFLA General Conference (WLIC) in Milan:

• 编目组(Cataloguing Section)

  • ISBD的新进展 / 吴晓静（国家图书馆） 翻译 = News of ISBD / ELENA ESCOLANO RODRIGUEZ (Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid, Spain), LYNNE HOWARTH (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada), MIRNA WILLER (University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia), BORIS BOSAČIĆ (University of J.J. Strossmayer, Osijek, Croatia)
  • 新的意大利编目规则和新的意大利音乐编目细则 / 王璐（国家图书馆） 翻译 =New Italian cataloguing code and new rules for music cataloguing in Italy / ALBERTO PETRUCCIANI (Università degli studi di Pisa, Pisa, Italy) and MASSIMO GENTILI TEDESCHI (Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali, Milan, Italy)
    • 每位读者有其书，每本书有其题名(和作者)：新的意大利编目规则 / 王璐（国家图书馆） 翻译 = (REICATA)Every reader his work, every work its title (& author): the new Italian cataloguing code / ALBERTO PETRUCCIANI (Università degli studi di Pisa, Pisa, Italy)
    • 意大利音乐：一种卓越遗产的编目和编目细则 / 王璐（国家图书馆） 翻译 = Music in Italy: catalogues and cataloguing rules for an extraordinary heritage / MASSIMO GENTILI-TEDESCHI (Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali, Milan, Italy)
  • 分享《文化对象编目》使用经验：为文化遗产界制订编目操作规范 / 陈宁（国家图书馆） 翻译 = Cataloguing Cultural Objects / ELISA LANZI (Smith College, Northampton, USA)
  • 波斯书目界相关作品的标识和分类：FRBR解决方案 / 郭建平（国家图书馆） 翻译 = Identification and categorization of related works in the Persion bibliographic universe / SHOLEH ARASTOOPOR and RAHMATOLLA FATTAHI (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran)
• 书目组(Bibliography Section)
  • 意大利国家书目服务(SBN)：合作的图书馆服务架构和书目控制 / 廖永霞（国家图书馆） 翻译 = The Italian National Library Service (SBN): a cooperative library service infrastructure and the Bibliographic Control / GABRIELLA CONTARDI (Instituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle Biblioteche Italiane e per le informatzioni Bibliografiche, Rome, Italy)
  • 文化遗产的数字化与书目存取方法和组织：立陶宛的解决之道 / 杨熙（国家图书馆） 翻译 = Methodological and organisational aspects of digitisation and bibliographic access of cultural heritage: the Lithuanian approach / REGINA VARNIENE-JANSSEN (National Library of Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuania)
  • FRBR化：前景光明的国家书目 / 蔡成普 翻译 = Frbrisation: towards a bright future for National Bibliographies / JAN PSANSKI, MAJA ZUMER (University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia) and TROND AALBERG (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway)
  • 印度国家书目的50年述评(1958-2008) / 高红（华东师范大学图书馆）翻译 = 50 years of Indian National Bibliography: a critical study / MAITRAYEE GHOSH (Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India)
• 分类和标引组(Classification and Indexing Section)
  • 意大利的主题标引：最近进展和未来展望 / 刘华梅（国家图书馆） 翻译 = Subject indexing in Italy: recent advances and future perspectives / ANNA LUCARELLI, FEDERICA PARADISI (Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Florence, Italy) and ALBERTO CHETI (Research Group on Subject Indexing of the Italian Library (GRIS), Italy)
• UNIMARC
  • UNIMARC手册（规范格式）第三版：FRAD模型和IME ICC国际编目原则声明中概念的实施 / 顾犇（国家图书馆） 翻译 = Third edition of UNIMARC Manual: Authorities Format: Implementing concepts from the FRAD model and the IME ICC Statement of International Cataloguing Principles / MIRNA WILLER (University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia)
  • UNIMARC、RDA和语义网 / 郑晓雯 翻译 = UNIMARC, RDA and the Semantic Web / GORDON DUNSIRE (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland)
  • 新的意大利编目规则(REICAT)和UNIMARC标准：图书馆目录中应用的问题和建议 / 韩玲 翻译 = The new Italian Cataloguing Rules (REICAT) and the UNIMARC standard: open problems and proposals for the application in library catalogues / ANTONELLA TROMBONE (Universita' degli Studi della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy) and FERNANDA CANEPA (Berio Library, Genoa, Italy)

Prof. JI Xianlin passed away this morning

Ji Xianlin, Professor of Peking Univerisity and master of Chinese culture, passed away in Beijing this morning at 8:50am.

Prof. REN Jiyu, Honorary National Librarian of China, passed away

Prof. REN Jiyu passed away this morning at 4:30am (Beijing Time).
Prof. Ren was a famous philosopher, and used to be the Director (1987-2005) and Honorary Director (2005-2009) of National Library of China.

OLCC Annual Meeting to Be Held in Hangzhou

The annual meeting of the Online Library Cataloging Center (OLCC) is to be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, soon in late May 2009.
As a component of the Chinese Acquisitions & Cataloging Department, National Library of China, OLCC, another name of the department, was founded in 1998. The mission of OLCC is to provide bibliographic records to Chinese libraries, and provide cataloging training services.
OLCC has 1000 users, 500 members and 13 subcenters.

Web Page for ISSN Directors' Meeting opened

A special Web page for the ISSN Directors' Meeting to be held in Beijing in September opened today:
http://www.nlc.gov.cn/yjfw/issn/about.html

Crowd on Great Wall on Labor Day

Yesterday was the International Labor Day (May 1), we went to the Great Wall at Badaling and saw a huge crowd of people there. I think it was dangerous, and tourists could hardly climb the Great Wall in two hours.

PEPRS, an interesting project for serials

During the ISSN GB Meeting last week in Paris, we discussed much about the PEPRS project. I think it is interesting for the future management of serials, including both printed and electronic versions.
http://serials.uksg.org/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0953-0460&volume=22&issue=1&spage=53
http://dx.doi.org/10.1629/2253
http://serials.uksg.org/openurl.asp?genre=issue&issn=0953-0460&volume=22&issue=1

ISSN GB Meeting held in Paris

The meeting of the Governing Board of the ISSN International Centre is being held today and tomorrow in Paris. There are 10 participants from 8 countries.

IFLA has upgraded its website

IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) has a new website today:
http://www.ifla.org/

Chinese PM visisted national library

Today in the afternoon, Chinese Prime Minister WEN Jiabao visited National Library of China and participated in a reading salon there.

ISSN GB Meeting to be held this week

I am leaving for Paris to attend the ISSN Governing Board Meeting this week.

IFLA PC Elected and SC Voting in Progress

The results of the elections for Chair of the Professional Committee and Chairs of the new IFLA Divisions I-V are announced:

Chair of the Professional Committee:
Patrice Landry
Chief of Classification and IndexingSwiss National LibraryHallwylstrasse 153003 BERNSwitzerland

Chair of Division I – Library Types:
Steve Witt
Associate Director, Center for Global Studies, University of Illinois302 East John, Suite 1705CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820 MC-428United States

Chair of Division II – Library Collections:
Ann Okerson
Associate University Librarian for Collections & International ProgramsYale University LibrarySterling Memorial Library - 116B130 Wall Street NEW HAVEN, CT 06520United States

Chair of Division III – Library Services:
Judy Field
Senior Lecturer, Library and Information ScienceWayne State University106 KresgeDetroit, MI 48202United States

Chair of Division IV – Support of the Profession:
Michael Heaney
Executive Secretary, Oxford University Library ServicesClarendon Building, Bodleian LibraryOxford OX1 3BG
United Kingdom

Chair of Division V – Regions:
Buhle Mbambo-Thata
Buhle Mbambo-ThataExecutive DirectorUNISA, Library ServicesP.O. Box 392PRETORIA 0003 South Africa

The voting of Standing Committee members of sections are in progress. As to the Cataloguing Section, there are 7 vacancies and 14 nominations. We are waiting for the final results after May 13.

International Cataloguing Principles available in more languages

The Statement of International Cataloguing Principles is now available
in 17 languages on IFLANET:
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/icp/

The Howard University Choir visits Beijing

Today, I attended the performance of The Howard University Choir in the Embassy of the United States in Beijing. Among the music from the African American Experience, I like "St. Louis Blues" very much.
The choir consists of 16 members under the leadership of Dr. J. Weldon Norris.

30 Years of Fudan (Video)

This is an interesting video clip about the history of Fudan University during the 30 years from 1978 to 2008. It was presented at the gathering of Fudan young alumni at Marriott Beijing City Wall, March 7, 2009, with an audience of 650 participants.

It reminds me of the 1980s of idealism when China just began to be open to the outside world. It can be called an enlightenment period after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). I studied at Fudan from 1980 to 1987 for my bachelor's and master's degree. I was deeply influenced by the campus culture of Fudan, which is sometimes mislabeled with "petit bourgeoisie".

Fudan Alumni got together

Yesterday, about 650 young alumni (1978-2008) of Fudan University got together at Marriott Beijing City Wall. I graduated from Fudan University in 1987, and had never participated in any gathering of Fudan alumni in Beijing.

I am very glad that I can join this meeting and see many friends. However, most alumni are graduates in the 1990s and 2000s, and I was very old among them.

IFLA Chinese Language Centre established!

Forwarding the latest news from IFLA Headquarters:

IFLA Chinese Language Centre established at the National Library of China, Beijing

In February 2009 the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the National Library of China (NLC) in Beijing signed a cooperation agreement by which NLC received a status of IFLA Chinese Language Centre. It can now be seen as a permanent representative of IFLA/HQ for the Chinese speaking community, as well as the other way around: it is hoped that IFLA/HQ will get improved access to Chinese speaking library and information professionals.
The IFLA Chinese Language Centre will promote IFLA, support IFLA’s Asia and Oceania Section as well as other relevant IFLA professional bodies and liaise with IFLA/HQ. Among the priorities of the Centre are:
1. Active membership recruitment. This will be conducted with the help of national or other association members and/or national libraries. Institutions and associations (including specialist and state associations) within the Chinese language community will be actively encouraged to join IFLA.
2. (Co-) organising regional IFLA events. These will be co-organised with IFLA/HQ, and/or with IFLA professional units (Sections and Core Activities). This activity includes seeking sources for funding of IFLA projects.
3. Seek involvement in local or regional professional events to gain support within the Chinese language community, trying to get IFLA “branding” of local or regional events.
4. Contribute to more effective communication within the Chinese language community and with the IFLA bodies involved. These activities include the publication of newsletters, translations of key IFLA documents and publications and the production of a Chinese translation of IFLA Express during IFLA’s annual congresses.
5. Representing IFLA in the Chinese language community, in a pursuit to make IFLA more visible in that community, promoting IFLA goals, principles and core values.
6. Translation of key IFLA documents, guidelines, press-releases, papers prepared for the Assembly Meetings etc.

For further information about the Centre and its activities please contact
Mr. Yan Xiangdong
Email address: interco@nlc.gov.cn
Fax +86-10-68419271
The Hague/Beijing, March 2009

NLC is planning the digital collection development for the year of 2009

Today, National Library of China held a meeting on the digital collection development in 2009. All department directors atttended the meeting. Some departments are responsible for the projects and others will provide supports.

NLC Staff Meeting Held Today

The Annual Staff Meeting of National Library of China was held today in NLC Concert Hall. About 1000 staff members attended the meeting. Dr. Furui Zhan, Director of the library, presented a report for the year of 2008 and a plan for the year of 2009. Mr. Heping Zhou, Vice-Minister of Culture, also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, the Chinese Acquisitions & Cataloging Department (I am the director of the department) received two awards respectively for the excellent services of the Online Library Cataloging Center and for the innovative services though the cooperation of Chinese bibliographic records uploaded to OCLC's WorldCat.

Workshop on the Digital Collection Development and Sharing

Workshop on the Digital Collection Development and Sharing
Schedule
“数字资源建设与共享研讨会”
会议议程

Date:26.02.2009
时间：2009年2月26日

Opening Ceremony 开幕式（8:30—9:00）
Moderator: Sun Tan，Director, Information Resources Section of Society of Science and Technology Information of China; Deputy Director, Researcher, National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences
主持人：孙 坦 中国科技情报学会信息资源专来委员会主任
中科院国家科学图书馆副馆长、研究员
Welcoming Remarks from
Library Society of China
Acquisition and Collection Development Section of IFLA
Collection Development and Sharing Section, Library Society of China

中国图书馆学会领导致辞
国际图联资源采访与建设专业委员会主席Lynn F. Sipe致辞
中国图书馆学会资源建设与共享专业委员会主任杨沛超致辞

Agenda （9：00-11：50）
会议进程（上午9：00-11：50）
The Changing Collections for eScience: What That Means for Libraries?（9:00--9:20）
eScinece环境下图书馆资源建设方式的变革
Julia GELFAND,Library of University of California, Irvine, USA
Julia GELFAND，美国加州大学欧文分校图书馆
Comments (question and translation)　提问（9:20 - 9:30）


JULAP: Juba University Library Automation Project（9:30 - 9:50）
JULAP: Juba大学图书馆自动化项目
Ole Gunnar Evensen,University of Bergen Library, Norway
Ole Gunnar Evensen，挪威卑尔根大学图书馆
Comments(question and translation)　提问（9:50 - 10:00）

Coffee Break　茶歇（10:00-10:20）

Digitizing Collections at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill（10:20-10:40）
北卡罗来纳大学Chapel Hill分校图书馆的馆藏数字化
Nadia Zilper, Library of University of North Carolina at ChapelHill, USA
Nadia Zilper，美国北卡罗来纳大学Chapel Hill分校图书馆
Comments(question and translation)　提问（10:40-10:50）
Promoting the Chinese Scientific Innovation to the World----Chinese Science Citation Database on the platform of ISI Web of Knowledge（10:50-11:10）
推动中国科学创新走向世界--ISI Web of Knowledge 平台上的中国科学引文数据库（CSCD）
YUE Weiping，Thomson Reuters
岳卫平 汤姆森路透科技信息集团
Comments(question and translation)　提问（11:10-11:20）

Discussion(translation included)　交流讨论（11:20-11:50）

Lunch　午餐（12:00-13:30）

Agenda （13：30-17：00）
会议进程（下午：13：30-17：00）
Moderator: CHU Jingli, Head of Subject Librarian Services Department, National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences
主持人：初景利 中国科学院国家科学图书馆学科咨询部主任

Development of Digital Resources in CAS（13:30--14:00）
中国科学院数字资源的建设与发展
ZHAO Yan, Associate Research Librarian, National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences
赵艳 中国科学院国家科学图书馆副研究馆员

The Cooperative Collection Development of Academic Libraries in China（14:00—14:30）
中国高校图书馆的合作资源建设
XIAO Long, Deputy Director, CALIS National Information Center in Science, Social Science and Humanities
YAO Xiaoxia, Vice Secretary General, CALIS Management Center
肖珑 　 中国高等教育文献保障体系（CALIS）全国文理中心主任
姚晓霞 中国高等教育文献保障体系（CALIS）管理中心副秘书长

Chinese Resource Development in National Library of China（14:30—15:00）
国家图书馆中文资源建设
GU Ben, Director, Chinese Acquisitions & Cataloging Department, National Library of China
顾犇 国家图书馆中文采编部主任

The Digital Resource and Service of Library of Academy of Social Sciences of China（15:00—15:30）
中国社会科学院图书馆数字资源建设与服务
JIANG Ying, Deputy Director, Library of Academy of Social Sciences of China
蒋颖 中国社会科学院图书馆副馆长

Coffee Break　茶歇（15:30--15:50）

Discussion　交流讨论（15:50-17:00）
Moderator: LIU Xiwen，Head of Operational Office, National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences
主持人：刘细文 中国科学院国家科学图书馆业务处处长

Closing Ceremony　闭幕式
Summary　会议总结

Multilingual ICP Statements to Be Published

The final version of the Statement of International Cataloguing Principles and its translations in major languages will be published on the IFLA site very soon at the following address:
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/icp/
Before then, I put the Chinese translation on my personal website at the following address:
http://www.bengu.cn/homepage/library/ICP-2009_Chinese.pdf
to promote its distribution according the resolution of IME ICC (at the last page of the text).

Meeting for Library Legislation Held in Beijing

Today, a meeting of the Study Group for the "Ancient Book Preservation Regulation" and "Public Library Law" is held in National Library of China, Beijing.
The results of the study will provide supporting materials for the drafting of the above-mentioned regulation and law in late this year.

NLC middle manager meeting held in Beijing

Semiannual meeting of middle managers of National Library of China is held in Fragrant Hill Hotel, Beijing, during February 17-19, 2009.
During the meeting, participants will discuss the work plan for the year 2009 and the future development strategies for the next five years.

NLC Staff Congress Held Today

The Congress of Staff Representatives of National Library of China was held today. The representatives reviewed NLC's 2008 Annual Report and 2009 Annual Plan, 2008 Financial Report and 2009 Annual Budget, and the report for the bills submitted during 2008.

Happy Chinese New Year

Today is the Lunar New Year Eve. Tomorrow will be the Chinese Year of Ox.
I was born in 1961, also the Year of Ox, and the next year will be my year.
I am in Shanghai to spend the holiday with my mother, who is suffering from lung cancer. I hope the next year will be a good start for me.

Chinese translation of ICP and Glossary completed

Today, I submitted the Chinese versions of ICP (Statement of International Cataloguing Principles) and its accompaning Glossary. They are translated by:
LIN Ming, Peking University Library
WANG Shaoping, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Libraries
LIU Suqing, Peking University Library
I would like to express my sincere thanks to them for the work for the international cataloging community. This work is very important for the internationalization of Chinese library cataloging. I hope the Chinese versions will be released and published very soon.

National Library of China - Library of the Year 2008

Yesterday, I attend a ceremony in Kunlun Hotel to receive the "Library of the Year 2008" award on behalf of Dr. ZHAN Furui, Director of National Library of China.
The Annual Awards of Chinese Book Industry is co-sponsored by China Publishers and Sina Books, and includes awards for publishers, distributors, planners, authors, libraries and books.
Innovation is one of the most important criteria for the section of the candidates. National Library of China opened its new building in September 2008, and provides many new services throught the application of high technologies, such as wireless LAN, RFID, portable electronic reader, mobile phone service, etc.

NLC opens its East Entrance

National Library of China opened its East Entrance on January 1, 2009. The first phase (the old building) of National Library of China was completed in 1987, and had been using its South Entrance for the public since then, although the East Entrance is generally regarded as the main entrance. After the opening of the Phase II (the new building), the opening of the East Entrance of the old building bacame necessary.