About the AuthorInformation and Libraries in the Developing World: Volume 2: South–East Asia and China. Compiled and edited by Anthony Olden and Michael Wise. London: Library Association Publishing, 1993. 249 p. ISBN 0–853–85948–6. $90.00.
This second volume in the series “Information and Libraries in the Developing World” is an introduction to library and information work in Southeast Asia and China. Information professionals around the world are the target audience; an understanding of current developments in library and information science in Southeast Asia and China the goal. All 22 papers in the volume are written by individuals from the subject countries.
The first 13 papers deal with Southeast Asian countries, specifically Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Topics range wide, from Szarina Abdullah’s exploration of science and technology information systems in Malaysia, to a piece by Gan Kim Hong on Southeast Asian collection development in Singapore. Maria LaoSunthara looks into the Thai practice of producing a free book in honor of the dead; Charuan Sindusopon points out noteworthy Thai encyclopedias. Sometimes a paper is a collaborative effort: witness the piece on computerization in Malaysian libraries and information centres, which was co–written by Katni K. Kibat and Indahsah Haji Sidek.
The nine papers about China are written by staff members of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC), who concern themselves mainly with the organization, management, and operations of the Institute. In one paper, contributor Qu Weishuang discusses the Institute’s information services; in another he teams with Zhao Dihua and Qian Shiping to explore how information serves the needs of China’s rural enterprises. Other entries include a piece by Wu Yishan, Zhang Yuhua, Cheng Yuqin, Du Baorong, Su Zhongjie, and Li Zhaoming, who discuss bibliometric studies in China; and a paper by Chen Jiugeng that presents China’s scientific and technical information policies to date.
In preparing the 22 papers, the authors have drawn on practical experience, detailed research, and comparative analysis; the resulting compilation is useful for both the information and insights that it provides. For example, Han Li’s analysis of foreign document use at ISTIC discusses types of users, their affiliations and needs, document dates, type of documents, and other data. Li makes five suggestions during the course of the article (pp. 178–79), including a call for more training:
| Users in northwest and southwest China should be given more training to increase their information consciousness and enable them to master the skills necessary for searching for needed information. |
The China section’s emphasis on ISTIC is not without merit. ISTIC is the focal point of China’s national network of scientific, technical, and economic information. To understand ISTIC is to understand the current status of information service in China. But the lack of library coverage is sorely missed. Excepting this oversight, and the fact that at $90 it is overpriced, the book as a whole is a useful introduction to library and information services in Southeast Asia and China.
Su Xin Lu is Associate Librarian and Associate Professor, Shenzhen Library, Shenzhen China. She was an American Library Association/USIA Library Fellow in 1994/1995, at Ohio University. Ms. Lu was a student and later a lecturer in library and information science at Wuhan University, then headed both reference and business information at Shenzhen before becoming Associate Director.
© 1995 Su Xin Lu.
Citation
Lu, Su Xin, “Review of Information and Libraries in the Developing World: Volume 2: South–East Asia and China, compiled and edited by Anthony Olden and Michael Wise,” Third World Libraries, Volume 5, Number 2 (Spring 1995).