Regional Co-operation Program grants and projects in 2002/03

Elizabeth Watt

Since 1980, the National Library of Australia has offered assistance to national libraries in Asia and Pacific region with the aim of improving their collections and services.

This year donations of new books will soon be sent to Vanuatu Cultural Centre Library, the National Library of Vietnam, the National Library of the Cook Islands and the University of the South Pacific.

The Universities Central Library in Yangon, Myanmar will receive microfilming equipment and consumables to continue its long term project to microfilm its large collection of rare palm leaf manuscripts. The national library sponsors IFLA membership for the Myanmar Library Association which enables librarians in Myanmar to participate in IFLAs international network.

In early January this year Nereida Cross, of the City of Sydney Library and formerly of the University of New South Wales School of Information Systems Technology and Management conducted a two week onsite training course in WINISIS:CDS/ISIS for Windows for staff at the National Library of Cambodia. The course proved very successful and has enabled them to establish a new team of cataloguers responsible for continuing the task of inputting data into the Cambodian National Bibliography.

Computing equipment has been purchased for the Kiribati National Library and Archives and the National Library and Archives, Tuvalu to enable both libraries to upgrade their cataloguing processes, gain access to the internet and perform desktop publishing.

Funding has also been allocated to support training for library staff at the university library and National Library of East Timor.

A a