About the Conference

The first China-U.S. Conference, an invitational conference organized by the American Library Association and the National Library of China, was held in Beijing in August 1996. Approximately 100 library leaders from the two countries were invited to present papers and discuss the issues raised in the papers. In addition to the ALA, other participating U.S. organizations were the Library of Congress, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and the Chinese American Librarians Association. The Chinese sponsors were the China Society for Library Science and the National Library of China. At the close of the conference the participants agreed to four recommendations: To publish the papers on the conference on the Internet so they will be available to a larger community; to form a bilateral working group to advance library cooperation between China and the U.S.; to charge the working group with the development of a plan for future activities; and to organize a second China U.S. Library Conference.

Strategic Policy Directions for China/US Library Cooperation was the theme of the Second China-U.S. Conference which was held in Flushing, New York and Washington D.C. August 2001, prior to the IFLA conference in Boston. Seventy librarians from the two countries attended the conference. The conference organizers, The American Library Association, the Chinese American Librarians Association, the Library of Congress, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, the China Society for Library Science and the National Library of China, were urged to continue the series and organize a third conference in China within the next five years. The participants also recommended that the ALA and the China Society of Library Science establish a bilateral working group to continue to advance cooperation between China and the U.S., seeking collaboration from the various interested agencies in China and the U.S. in such efforts. The conference recommended the development of collaborative research projects between colleagues in China and the U.S. and it supported the development of a course in international librarianship, with specific emphasis on China and the U.S. The final recommendation adopted by the conference was one concerning the solution of issues relating to intellectual property rights for transmittal to the IFLA Committee on Copyright and Other Legal Matters.

The third China U.S. Library Conference was held in Shanghai in March 2005. The theme of the conference, proposed by the China Organizing Committee and agreed to by the U.S. members, was Knowledge Management and Services in the Digital Age. About twenty experts on the topic were invited to present papers at the conference. Dr. Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress, and Dr. Zhan Furi, the Director of the National Library of China, discussed how these national libraries are engaged in major transformations as their collections are digitized. Marcum described the collaboration the Library of Congress has with many partners, including other national libraries such as the National Library of China and with commercial firms. Zhan said that service is now a major thrust in the National Library of China. He noted that the library has added a new core value, that of value added to clients. There were excellent case studies of digitization projects and full discussions of plans and implementations in various libraries. Profiled in many presentations on digital projects were selected criteria to be used for digital projects: choose unique materials; choose materials with a special focus and a sizeable amount; foresee importance in sharing with others; follow collection development policies; digitize materials offering academic value; pay more attention to "born digital" materials; recognize that more money will be needed than originally planned.

The theme of the fourth invitational China-US conference was proposed by the U.S. organizing committee and agreed to by the Chinese committee: Cooperation Among Libraries, Museums, and Archives Within and Between China and the U.S. The conference will take place October 23-26, 2007, in Dublin, Ohio. Isabel Stirling, University of California, Berkeley, and Beverly P. Lynch, UCLA, are the co-chairs of the U.S. Organizing Committee.