IFLA report from the Government Libraries Section

Information Outlook, Feb, 2004 by Jerry W. Mansfield

What a busy, exciting, and hot conference we enjoyed in Berlin! Outside of our Section business meetings where we planned for next year's conference and worked on our strategic plan for 2004-2005, we were involved in our many programs. The first of these was an all-day privileged event spent at the offices of Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of Germany, and Schloss Bellevue, home of Johannes Rau, President of Germany. It was an honor to meet at these two sites, as these buildings are closed to the public and most of the citizenry who are not on official business. We learned about the much-anticipated portal for all German ministry libraries that will be available in 2004. Presently, the head of each ministry library and that of the chancellory meet monthly to share information and work on common issues. Once the portal becomes operative, all ministry libraries will be able to access each other's online collections, databases, and staff.

The Government Libraries Section also held a workshop offsite at the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs. The subject was "German Government Libraries Since Reunification--Experiences and Perspectives." We began the day at the Ministry of Interior, where we learned about the models of library organization since the Bonn-Berlin Resolution of 1991. Two Ministry of Interior librarians spoke about their specific experiences in moving a ministry library (people and materials) to the new capital of Germany. They viewed it as an opportunity to start anew and create a futuristic state-of-the-art library and associated services. In the afternoon we moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we heard about and experienced its new library model. The reunification of the Germanys also created new ministries, and we heard from the librarian of the Ministry of Science, Research and Art on the task of starting from scratch in a new ministerial environment. At each ministry we had tours of the library; at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs we actually saw the original treaty for the reunification of the two Germanys on display.

Continuing the change and reunification theme, our open paper session was titled "Changing Governments, Changing Libraries." We had four diverse papers with presenters from Kenya, Mali, the United States, and Bulgaria.

On a final note, yours truly was elected chair of the Government Libraries Section for a two-year term.

(Note: this report was inadvertently omitted from the IFLA reports included in the December 2003 issue of Information Outlook.)