Editorial

Citation

Hollerich, M. (2014), "Editorial", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 42 No. 2/3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILDS-06-2014-0028

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Interlending & Document Supply, Volume 42, Issue 2/3

Welcome to this special issue of Interlending & Document Supply, which brings you some of the best papers of the 13th International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Interlending and Document Supply Conference, held at Peking University in Beijing on October 16-18, 2013. The theme for the conference was "Resource Sharing: Global Vision, Local Strategy", and the papers published here reflect that theme from the vantage points of a broad cross-section of authors from around the globe.

Bringing together 150 delegates from 22 countries, the program was organized around a number of key themes:

• resource-sharing consortia;

• international interlending;

• interlending and resource-sharing services and their links to collection development;

• eBooks and interlending;

• copyright and licensing;

• construction of resource-sharing services;

• new initiatives in interlending and in library services generally; and

• technical developments, including interlending standards

One idea that connected many of the presentations was globalization. The distances between us are shrinking, and the Internet has facilitated innovations in resource sharing that were previously unthinkable. The presentations offered some examples of the ways that libraries and international consortia are leveraging these new possibilities. An excellent example of the way libraries are leveraging the Internet to shrink distances between borrowing partners is Ken Kinslow's paper, "International Borrowing: Roads Less Traveled" in which he guides the reader along a path of discovery to destinations in Asia, Europe, South America and North America. Forro discusses the challenges but also the enormous benefits to be derived from participation in a consortium that spans not only geographic boundaries but even the international date line. No library conference would be complete without a discussion of copyright law, access to e-resources and even the computer standards that undergird our resource-sharing systeMs To that end, readers are encouraged to read the papers by Brammer and Olf, Xu and Moreno and MacKeigan. In short, the pages between these covers hold a few gems for anyone who cares passionately about the future of global resource sharing.

Some of the papers published here have been modified since their presentation in Beijing and not all of the conference papers are included. For the full list of papers as presented at the conference, please see the conference Web site: http://ilds2013.calis.edu.cn/

The conference was jointly sponsored and organized by the IFLA Section on Document Delivery and Resource Sharing (DDRS), which had sole responsibility for selecting papers and organizing the program, and by the China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS), which handled local arrangements and did all the "heavy lifting" - selecting venues, arranging for caterers, organizing social events, soliciting sponsors and just generally doing everything that makes the conference experience memorable.

The conference provided an unprecedented opportunity for Chinese librarians to participate in the international discussion about interlending and resource sharing, and for visiting delegates to learn about exciting new developments in Chinese libraries. In addition, IFLA provided scholarships for three delegates from developing countries to attend:

1. Mr Ramesh Bhattarai (Nepal).

2. Mr Syed Ghyour Hussain (Pakistan).

3. Bouakhay Phenphachanah (Laos).

Their conference reports, which will undoubtedly add color and flavor to the papers found in this issue, can be found on the Web site of the IFLA Section on DDRS, which also provides a full overview of the activities of this sponsoring organization: http://www.ifla.org/docdel

Our heartfelt thanks go out to the conference organizing committee:

• China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS).

• National Library of China (NLC).

• National Science and Technology Library (NSTL).

• National Science Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

• Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Library.

• Shanghai Library.

• China Academic Social Sciences and Humanities Library (CASHL).

• China Academic Digital Associative Library (CADAL).

• Peking University Library.

• Tsinghua University Library.

• Fudan University Library.

Thanks also to the members of the 2011-2013 IFLA DDRS Standing Committee for putting together such an outstanding program:

• Ms Mary Hollerich, Chair (USA).

• Mr Daniel Mattes Durrett (Mexico).

• Ms Gunilla Eldebro (Sweden).

• Ms Nadezhda Erokhina (Russia).

• Ms Jacqueline Gillet, Information Coordinator (France).

• Ms Rosemary Goodier, Secretary (United Kingdom).

• Ms Yajun Mao (China).

• Ms Margarita Moreno (Australia).

• Mr Harald Müller (Germany).

• Ms Jenny Raubenheimer (South Africa).

• Ms Helen Sakrihei (Norway).

Enjoy this issue of Interlending & Document Supply, and be sure to join us in Istanbul for the 14th IFLA ILDS conference in October 2015!

Mary Hollerich