Abstract — Inglés
The high cost of purchasing library materials in developing countries like Guatemala has prompted libraries, especially university and research libraries, to form networks for making acquisitions in a more rational manner and for sharing their resources. A group of academic and research libraries in Guatemala City began information networking and resource sharing efforts as far back as the 1960s. Despite funding and personnel problems, the member libraries did attempt to create a union catalog of their collections to maximize accessibility. Other early networking attempts followed, initiated by such institutions as the Instituto Guatemalteco–Americano (IGA) and the Francisco Marroquín University (UFM).
Finally, in 1983, a formal committee of librarians representing various university libraries and the Bank of Guatemala was assembled to oversee cooperative projects, such as collecting and exchanging university publications and theses; creating a union catalog for reference books and periodicals; and establishing an interlibrary loan service. Two years later the committee, by then composed of professionals from five university libraries, was given its official name: CCEBU— Committee for Cooperation among University Libraries. Since then it has continued to carry out essential projects, such as the creation of a university library directory and the classification and cataloging of pamphlet and audiovisual materials.
Perhaps one of CCEBU’s most important activities has been to work with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to automate acquisition and cataloging operations within CCEBU libraries. Flores is optimistic that, given CCEBU’s success, other cooperative projects will be able to provide new and even better information to help strengthen Guatemala’s national development.
Abstract — Español
La importancia de recursos compartidos: las experiencias del Comité de Cooperación entre Bibliotecas Universitarias de Guatemala
El alto costo de las compras de materiales bibliográficos en países en vías de desarrollo como Guatemala ha impulsado a las bibliotecas, especialmente bibliotecas universitarias y de investigación, a formar redes para la adquisición de materiales a fin de realizar esas adquisiciones de una manera más racional y a fin de poder compartir los recursos. Un grupo de bibliotecas académicas y de investigación en la ciudad de Guatemala inició una red informal de cooperación en la década de los 1960s. Independientemente de los problemas de recursos económicos y de personal, las bibliotecas miembros intentaron la creación de un catálogo colectivo de sus colecciones a fin de asegurar su máximo aprovechamiento. Otros intentos tempranos de intentos de creación de redes se llevaron a cabo más tarde, iniciados por instituciones tales como el Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA) y la Universidad Fracisco Marroquín (UFM).
Finalmente en 1983, un comité formal de bibliotecarios representantes de varias de las bibliotecas universitarias y del Banco de Guatemala se estableció para dirigir los proyectos cooperativos tales como la adquisición e intercambio de publicaciones universitarias y de tésis; la creación de un catálogo colectivo de libros de referencia y de publicaciones periódicas; y el establecer un servicio de préstamos interbibliotecarios. Dos años más tarde el comité, ahora compuesto de profesionales de las cinco bibliotecas universitarias, recibía un nombre oficial, Comité de Cooperación entre Bibliotecas Universitarias (CCEBU). Desde entonces ha llevado a cabo continuamente la elaboración de proyectos esenciales tales como la creación de un directorio de bibliotecas universitarias y la catalogación y clasificación de folletos y de materiales audiovisuales.
Quizá una de las actividades más importantes de CCEBU ha sido el proyecto con la Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica (United States Agency for International Development, USAID) para automatizar las operaciones de adquisición entre las bibliotecas de CCEBU. Raquel Flores siente con optimismo que, dado el éxito de CCEBU, otros proyectos cooperativos serán capaces de prooporcionar nueva y aún mejor información para ayudar el desarrollo nacional de Guatemala.
One of the problems that concerns librarians in developing countries is the high cost of acquisitions. The problem is encouraging agreements (formal or informal) that facilitate the acquisition of material in a rational manner and the sharing of resources acquired by different libraries. At the level of universities and research institutions the problem is greater, because the higher the specialization, the higher the costs of the materials. [1, 2]
Efforts were made in the 1960s to organize a network among three academic and research libraries in Guatemala City. These libraries were: Instituto Centroamericano de investigación y Tecnologia Industrial (ICAITI), Instituto de Nutrición de Centro América y Panamá (INCAP), Banco de Guatemala (BdeG), and the central library of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC). Individuals in charge were Rocío Marvan, Raquel Flores, Rosario Domínguez, and Gonzalo Dardón, respectively. Despite the lack of economic resources for the project, the enthusiasm of the librarians permitted the creation of a union catalog (including reference books as well as general materials). This made the material available in those centers easily accessible. In addition, attempts at cooperative acquisition of reference books were made; however, it was not possible to keep up the project, except for ICAITI and INCAP, which, as international organizations, had much more stability. None of the institutions was able to acquire certain needed reference books, and interlibrary loan was used instead.
It is important to mention other cooperative efforts, like the ones between the Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA) and the universities. IGA held a book exhibition, and invited university libraries to select the most needed materials from it. IGA provided the requested books on loan, and when they were returned a new group of books could be requested under the same conditions. This cooperative project ended because of excessive losses.
Later, directors from the Francisco Marroquín University (UFM) wanted to organize a committee to create a union catalog at San Carlos (USAC). Participants in the project were Universidad Rafael Landívar (URL), Banco de Guatemala (BdeG), Universidad Mariano Gálvez (UMG). Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA) and ICAITI. [3] Those efforts to make available bibliographic resources more accessible are significant, even though they were not organized in a systematic way; when the projects ended at the institutional level, the librarians personally continued with interlibrary loans.
Committee for Cooperation among University Libraries (CCEBU)
In 1983 a committee was established based on a proposal of Armando de la Torre from UFM. The committee was composed of the head librarians from the following libraries: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), IGA, USAC, URL, UFM and BdeG. The principal objectives were:
Finally, considering all of this and being aware of the advantages that cooperation would provide, the rectors of the five universities organized a meeting with the directors of the participating libraries. That group considered the possibility of creating a committee among the university libraries that would establish a network for interlibrary services, in this way formalizing agreements that librarians were practicing unofficially. In addition, the universities were interested in having the committee review the library situation as well as propose projects that could be worked out together. The goal of the committee would be to exchange information, discuss common problems and possible solutions, share available resources, and to make proposals which, if implemented, would benefit the universities and the country.
Later on, in their meeting of May 4, 1983, the rectors decided to establish the committee. Samuel Berberian, representing UMG, was in charge of calling the directors of the libraries to a meeting. The rectors named members to represent the libraries. For three institutions (URL, USAC, UFM) those in charge of the libraries were named; Lourdes Bendfeldt, Maria Luisa de Cerezo, and Silvia de Diaz–Durán; and for the other two (UMG and UVG), Samuel Berberian and Jorge Arias de Blois were chosen. Armando de la Torre (UFM) also was asked to be part of the committee, because he was a pioneer in this movement. (For information on the five institutions, see Table 1. It is estimated that their libraries now contain in excess of 300,000 volumes.) On May 12, 1983 the committee held its first meeting in UMG. Among the proposals discussed were collections of university theses, subscriptions, collection availability, and lists of reports. The Director of the USAC library was elected as the Secretary of the Committee. [4]
TABLE 1
| UNIVERSITIES IN GUATEMALA | ||
| Date Founded | Name | Enrollment, 1992 * |
| 1676 | University of San Carlos (USAC) | 55,000 ** |
| 1961 | Rafael Landívar University | 8,000 ** |
| 1966 | University del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) | 1,300 |
| 1969 | Mariano Gálvez University (UMG) | 8,200 |
| 1972 | Francisco Marroquín University (UFM) | 4,000 |
On May 18, 1983, the committee considered the formation of the union catalog and the preparation of lists of periodical publications at each university. At the next meeting different policies were discussed for orientation of the committee work. In June 1983 the following projects were identified as cooperative activities: (1) a union catalog of reference books; (2) a catalog of reference publications; (3) collections of university theses; and (4) interlibrary loans.
There were already informal agreements for interlibrary loan that could be formalized when the project was approved, and this was done in November 1984. [5] Regarding the compilation of collections of university theses, which also had begun on an informal level, the intentions were to avoid duplication of research, make easier the selecting of subjects for theses, and to bring under control an important part of the national bibliography.
In 1985 a new project was proposed regarding author’s rights in relation to academic dissertations. In Guatemala there is little or no protection for authors of these works. Thanks to the interest of this committee, the legal offices of the universities have received suggestions about the issue. Other projects proposed are related to arranging and organizing pamphlets and the classification and cataloging of audio–visual material. Both have been discussed and some methods in use have been approved. Two more projects have been developed; they relate to the national bibliography and a directory of the university libraries; the directory was completed in fall 1992.[6]
Because the committee had been referred to in different ways, it was agreed to call it Comité de Cooperación entre Bibliotecas Universitarias (CCEBU).
Introduction of Automation in the University Libraries of Guatemala
In 1987 the Arias de Blois (advisor to CCEBU) succeeded in involving the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the CCEBU activities. USAID provided some funding to CCEBU.
Until 1987, all library tasks were done manually, routine work thus taking too much time and effort. CCEBU considered that one of the areas that would benefit from the support offered would be the automation of some tasks in technical processes and circulation.
After the discussions between USAID and university representatives, CCEBU submitted a preliminary proposal in July 1987. The objectives to be obtained by automation would be the establishment of an information network among the five university libraries and the accessibility of databases to aid in cataloging and searching for reference material. Also proposed were a trip to the United States to observe automation systems; acquisition of equipment and appropriate programs; technical assistance; and the establishment of relations with an American university. [7] In August 1987, the final proposal for funding was developed by a USAID specialist in project development and Sheila Milam, a librarian at Arizona State University (ASU). The agreement was signed by the rectors of the five universities and the representatives of USAID. [8]
The specific objectives would be to obtain for the university communities greater access to available reference material (e.g., theses), to prepare new acquisition lists by computer, and to create catalog cards and labels to identify the materials. The action plan was divided into two stages. In the first, the following steps would be taken:
The second stage would depend on the result of the first and would include greater development of the technical process, the establishment of a communication network among libraries of CCEBU, and access to the databases of the United States.
At this point it is important to mention that the program in use is the one produced for Sistemas Lógicos of Mexico, called LogiCat. This one was selected because of its compatibility with the Anglo–American Cataloging Rules, second edition; Dewey Decimal Classification; and the Library of Congress Classification. In addition, that program has been tested in institutions in Mexico and other countries of Latin America. At present efforts are under way to continue these activities, taking into account the possibilities of each university.
It is well known that in developing countries the cost for the acquisition of library materials is very high. Because of this, people in charge of libraries and other information centers have been trying to develop networks to facilitate resource–sharing and a more rational acquisition program.
The efforts made among Guatemalan university libraries are examples of useful cooperation. However, one should remember that courage and spirit are not enough, but that the good will and determination of those in charge are needed, as well as the support of the institutions’ executive bodies.
Automation had permitted saving time in different tasks and speed in transmitting information. It will be necessary to continue with the introduction of new technologies that will expand the boundaries of university libraries and provide access to the information available in other centers in and outside the country. For this human and economic resources as well as physical equipment are essential.
The experience described here allows us to look at the future with optimism. If similar projects succeed, it is possible that cooperation and integration will provide greater availability of information resources. These projects will contribute to a greater dissemination of information, making it available through suitable channels to the right users; and this will result in the creation of new information, contributing to the social, economic and cultural development of Guatemala.
* Most figures are approximate
** Excludes students enrolled in the regional branches outside of Guatemala City
SOURCE: Information supplied by the universities in September 1992
1. R. Flores, A. Corado and A. Girón, “El Instituto de Nutrición de Centro América y Panamá. Servicios de información científica en una región en vía de desarrollo,” Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 52 (1963): 196–291.
2. R. Flores, J. Caviedes and L. E. Pérez, “La información científica–técnica,” In: Conferencia sobre el desarrollo de redes cientificas de alimentación y nutrición en Centro América y Panamá, Guatemala, August 11–14, 1986.
3. J. de Criado, personal communication, 1990.
4. Actas del Comité de Cooperación entre Bibliotecas Universitarias, Guatemala, 1983.
5. Actas del Comité de Cooperación entre Bibliotecas Universitarias, Guatemala, 1984–85.
6. Directorio de unidades de información de las universidades de Guatemala (Guatemala: Comité de Cooperación entre Bibliotecas Universitarias, 1992).
7. Sheila A. Milam, “Library Cooperation in Guatemala: The CCEBU Automation Project,” in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on New Information Technology, November 26–28, 1990, Guadalajara, Mexico, ed. Ching–chih Chen (West Newton, Mass.: MicroUse Information, 1990), pp. 217–225.
8. United States Agency for International Development, Documento de donación para el Proyecto de automatización de las bibliotecas universitarias (Guatemala: Misión AID, 1987).
Raquel Flores is Director of the Library, Rafael Landívar University, Guatemala City.
© 1992 Dominican University
Citation
Flores, Raquel, “The Importance of Sharing Resources: The Experience of the Committee for Cooperation Among University Libraries in Guatemala” Third World Libraries, Volume 3, Number 1 (Fall 1992).