Rosary College has published a collection of bio–bibliographical sketches of 12 librarians from Latin America (four from Argentina, two from Brazil, one from Columbia, two from Cuba, one from Jamaica, and two from Mexico). Originally published in the ALA World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services, the accounts now appear in Spanish, in honor of the quincentennial of Columbus’ voyage. For each biographee there is a newly compiled listing of his or her monographic works. William V. Jackson, Associate Editor of TWL, has written a brief introduction for the 56–page compilation. Doce Bibliotecarios Latinoamericanos is available for $7.00 from Rosary College, GSLIS, 7900 W. Division St., River Forest, IL 60305. Librarians in the Third World who are receiving gratis subscriptions to TWL may write to request a free copy. Anyone thinking of securing a copy should keep in mind that the text is entirely in Spanish.

In further observation of the quincentennial, there will be a special issue of TWL in Fall, 1992. The content, edited by Professor Jackson, will be devoted to Latin America.

A National Seminar on Library Development was organized by the Pakistan Library Association in April, 1992, in collaboration with the Netherlands Library Development Project. About 200 persons took part. For a copy of the Proceedings, write to Mr. Mushahid Hussain, Pakistan Library Association, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan.

A report (in English) on a conference held in Dakar, Senegal in 1990 is also available on request, from Ms. Antje Schurek, Unesco, C11/PGI,7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris, France. The conference dealt with intercultural activities in African libraries. Later this year Ms. Schurek will be able to provide conference reports on a Caracas conference that addressed the role of libraries and literacy, and on a Hague conference on international library cooperation.

One of the TWL Editorial Board, Peter Jasco, has written a book about a promising technology for developing countries. It is CD–ROM Software, Dataware, and Hardware: Evaluation, Selection, and Installation (Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1992; 256 p.; $35 in North America, $42 elsewhere). Dr. Jasco identifies the major CD–ROM products and their publishers, and gives detailed comparative descriptions of them. Search features, documentation, user support, installation, sources, and future developments are treated. Methods of systematic evaluation are proposed and applied to many products on the current market.

CD–ROM is also well treated in a free booklet entitled Compact Disc Technology for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, issued by CTA, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Galvanistraat 9, 6716 AE Ede, Netherlands. In addition to informative articles and a bibliography of current CD–ROM agriculture–related products, the brochure contains an account of the pilot project that supplied CR–ROMs to 12 agricultural information agencies in developing nations.

IFLA announces the Guust Van Wasemael Literacy Prize competition, open to IFLA members or affiliates. The award, to be made biennially, will “sponsor a public library in a developing country to purchase books for activities in the field of literacy promotion.” About US$2,000 is estimated as the amount available each year. Interested persons may write for further information to the Secretary General, POB 95312, 2509 CH The Hague, Netherlands. November 1, 1992, is the deadline for application this year.

Many free publications are available on request from the United Nations World Food Programme, including its journal, annual report, and topical monographs. A list of materials may be obtained from the Public Affairs and Information Branch, World Food Programme, Via Cristoforo Colombo 426, 00145 Rome, Italy.

Another free publication of interest to the agricultural nations is the SACCAR Newsletter, a quarterly bulletin of the Southern African Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Training. The address is SACCAR, P/Bag 00108, Gaborone, Botswana.

An excellent means of keeping current on events and new publications concerning Africa is to read the quarterly Africana Libraries Newsletter, produced to support the Archives–Libraries Committee of the African Studies Association. Librarians in Africa who wish to receive the Newsletter may write to Joseph J. Lauer, Editor, Africana Library, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824.

Free monographs on African library issues are available on request by librarians in Africa. Titles currently distributed deal with collection development (the study by Sam E. Ifidon that was reviewed in TWL 1-2), information needs of veterinary scientists, conservation, and library education related to agricultural production. Requests go to Prof. Nancy J. Schmidt, African Studies Program, 221 Woodburn Hall, Indiana State University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405.

The Science Literature Aid Project is a newly–formed group set up by the Third World Science Technology and Development Forum in Scotland. It aims to collect and redistribute technical journals. Donations of such journals are solicited. A match of items collected with the needs of specific libraries in developing countries will be effected. Librarians are invited to send their requests for journals in particular fields, and also of books. Exact titles are useful, but not required. The administrator of the Project is S.B. Spain-Gayer, at 15 Dougalston Ave., Milngavie, Glasgow, Scotland, G62 6AD.

We note with sorrow the death of Bart U. Nwafor, University Librarian, University of Jos. One of Nigeria’s leading professionals, Mr. Nwafor chaired the IFLA Section on Regional Activities (Africa), and was active in many development projects. The African Consultant Database maintained at Rosary College is a result of his initiative. We are honored to have an article by him in the first issue of TWL, one of his numerous research contributions to the literature.

Dorothy G. Collings dies on 6 March 1991, ending a distinguished career that combined the roles of specialist, library educator, and library consultant. On 25 April 1992, the University of the West indies (Jamaica) hosted an evening tribute to her, attended by several hundred of her friends and colleagues. Persons who spoke at the event included UWI faculty members Pauline Christie, Daphne Douglas, and Marlene Hamilton. Sheila Lampart, Maxmi Mansigh, Joyce Robinson, William V. Jackson (TWL Associate Editor), and Alma Jordan were also on the program.

Dr. Collings left a substantial bequest to the UWI Department of Library Studies, a program she had established in 1971, and which has developed strongly over 20 years. She had degrees from Hunter College, Simmons College, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago. She went to Jamaica from the United Nations, where she had been for 15 years Chief of the Documentation Section of the Education Clearing House. She introduced the course in comparative librarianship at Columbia University. After retiring in 1974 she returned to New York; then returned to Jamaica in 1976 as a Unesco consultant attached to the National Council on Libraries, Archives and Documentation.