Minutes of the Organizing Committee Meeting of the 4th China-US Library Conference

1 Time: Noon, October 24, 2007

2 Venue: OCLC Headquarters, Dublin, Ohio, USA

3 Participants

China Organizing Committee:
Chen Li, the National Library of China (NLC)
Wang Dongbo, the National Library of China (NLC)
Yan Xiangdong, the National Library of China (NLC)
Shen Xiaojuan, the National Library of China (NLC)

US Organizing Committee:
Isabel A. Stirling, University of California Library, Berkeley
Beverly Lynch, University of California Library, Los Angeles
Hwa-Wei Lee, Library of Congress, Washington DC
Gary E. Strong, University of California Library, Los Angeles
James G. Neal, Columbia University Library, New York
Winston Tabb, Johns Hopkins University Library, Baltimore
Michael Dowling, American Library Association, Chicago
Robert Seal, Loyola University Library, Chicago
Rush Miller, University of Pittsburgh Library Pittsburgh
Jay Jordan, OCLC
Andrew Wang, OCLC

4 Contents
The committee members talked about the topics of mutual interest, which includes librarian training, staff exchange, copyright issues, Digital Resources Registry System, collection preservation and protection, future conferences, etc.

I. Librarian training：Chen Li proposed that the National Library of China (NLC) continues to send staff to US libraries to receive trainings; Rush Miller responded that this kind of training should be mutual and NLC shall not send staff only to those institutions with east Asian libraries.

II. Visiting Expert Announcement System：Chen Li proposed to create an expert base or visiting expert announcement system. In case some experts from USA visit China, the China Organizing Committee if notified can arrange more exchanges in different libraries. There are no direct responses from US Organizing Committee.

III. Digital Resources Registry System：OCLC as well as the US committee thought this system should be created by OCLC and it has already be created, in which more Chinese libraries are expected to join. Chen Li responded that he will announce this on the future Joint meetings of the China Digital Library Construction.

IV.Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation：Chen Li expressed the interest to start the cooperation in the field of books preservation and conservation. The Chinese librarians can learn the preservation and conservation techniques from US colleagues, vice versa. Besides, both committees can co-organize training seminars in Beijing or cities of US. Gary E. Strong responded that some institutions in or near Los Angeles have strong interest in the conservation of the ancient books. Both committees can discuss whether the preservation and conservation of library collections is used as a topic for future conferences.

V. Copyright issues：James Neal totally agreed the cooperation projects talked previously and thought that according to his experiences in attending the conferences held in China, the cooperation focus between the libraries in two countries should enter into a higher level, such as the cooperation on the copyright issues. If the libraries of the two countries cooperate on the establishment of the standards about the copyright issues, it will be a great impact to the world. Winston Tabb believed that the libraries of two countries should strengthen the communication and understanding with aim to find the suitable standards for both. Chen Li agreed that both sides can strengthen the communication in these fields and organize relevant conferences so that two sides can write down the common opinions in a formal agreement and release as a joint statement. This proposal was appreciated by the US committee.

VI. The 5th China-US Library Conference：It will be hosted by China. Jay Jordan said during the 3rd conference in Shanghai, the committees agreed to shorten the period from five years to three years. And he was not sure whether there are new decisions, for examples, inviting the museums and archives to join in the organization of the 5th conference. Chen Li argued that there are difficulties from China side, because museums or archives are not open enough and we can not make sure how much they can participate. He suggested that we can invite delegates from museums and archives when discussing related topics. This suggestion is agreed by US committee. Finally, both committees believe the topics mentioned are of common interest and can be partial themes of the 5th conferences. Chen Li said the China committee will discuss the topics mentioned and finally bring forward the proposal of the themes and sub-themes of the 5th conference. Concerning the date of the 5th conference, Hwa-wei Lee suggested to be held in September 2009 (in harmony with the 100 Anniversary Celebrations). Chen Li responded to keep US committee informed once the date is fixed.

Recorders：Shen Xiaojuan, Yan Xiangdong
Translator：Hao Jinmin