Interlibrary Cooperation Organization in Korea: Its Current Status and Activities
KIM Tae-seung, Ph.D. 1)
Professor of Library and Information Science,
Dean, Graduate School, Kyonggi University1) Kyonggi University , 71, 2-ka, Chungjeong-ro, Sodaemun-ku, Seoul 120-702, Korea; Fax: +82-2-393-8447; tskim@kuic.kyonggi.ac.kr The paper was delivered at 2F Conference Room in the National Center of Sciences Building on Thursday March 23rd, 2000.
1 Introduction
2 Situation and activities
2.1 Public Library Association
2.2 National University Library Association
2.3 The Korea Private University Library Association
2.4 KMLA/The Korea Medical Library Association
2.5 STIMA/The Scientific & Technological Information Management Association
2.6 KOSSIC/The Korea Social Science Information Council
2.7 The Other Associations
3 Conclusion
ReferencesIn Korea, there are the limitations in single library, such as poor information services and restricted space, which are due to poor financing and staff shortages. To overcome these weaknesses, libraries have to cooperate with one another in ways that take the type and subject of the library into account.
Our libraries constitute an interlibrary cooperation organization which has become the center of Korean library cooperation. This library cooperation is, so to speak, a union-library.
There is no doubt that the cooperation extends information services and enables resource-sharing.
Cooperation affairs are, to put it concretely, concerned with collective-purchasing, collaborative cataloging, resource-sharing, union-DB construction, on-line journal copy services, and shared depositing.
In the United States, Library Trends treated the topic of interlibrary cooperation in a special article in October 1975. At the 'Conference on Resource Sharing in Libraries' in Pittsburgh, in 1976, many research papers were presented on resource-sharing. Since then, the concept of resource ownership has changed from one of sole-ownership to one of collective ownership.
The beginning of interlibrary cooperation in Korea may have begun with the 'National University Chief Librarian Commission' that was organized to establish librarianship. In late 1999, over 20 organizations were participating. Some organizations are actively participating and others are not, and their level of activities is varied.
In this paper, the present situation and function of 6 organizations are presented. These 6 organizations have actively participated in cooperative work.
In this chapter, the establishment background, status, field of activity, and publication of each library association in Korea are presented.
2.1 Public Library Association
This association was established in October, 1969 and currently has 297 members. Its general assembly and committee are organized. Committees are organized under the general assembly which is composed of the entire group of members. The Committees elected 16 member libraries from each administrative district and informed the assembly general of the result. The Committees elected a chairman, a vice-chairman, and two inspectors, and obtained the general assembly's approval regarding the election.The main activities of this association are KOLIS (the Korea Library Information System) encouragement, collective storage, reading guidance program management support, IFLA attendance selection and attendance expense support (7-8 members yearly), and research project execution.
Its (1) Public Library Handbook, (2) Seminar Material, (3) Public Library Management and Studies are issued regularly.
The total budget for the fiscal year 1999 was estimated at almost 60 million won.
2.2 National University Library Association
This association begun with the first 'National University Librarian Chief Librarian Meeting' which was held in February, 1963 by six National University chief librarians to discuss librarianship. This association entered the 'Korea Librarian Association' as the 'National University Library Association' in 1979. Also, this association extended its membership by establishing regulations and pursued effective management by organizing a council. The management organization which the chairman appointed takes charge of practical affairs. 80 University libraries have joined this association. The types of member-libraries are divided into National Colleges, Colleges of Industry, Colleges of Education, Special purpose Colleges.This association carries out collaborations as follows to contribute to the education and research activities of universities :
- Joint research and recommendations on library practice improvement
- Publication
- Practice training and seminars
- Exchange of resources
- Collaboration for library computerization
As mentioned above, these collaborations are planned for cooperation and quality information services. This association trained members to improve their quality by initiating training classes and publishing the Bulletin of National University, which included the results of research, activities, and statistics.
The Serial Union Catalog was published in 1991. This provided members with a basis for information-sharing.
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2.3 The Korea Private University Library Association
This is composed of 16 private universities and was established in 1972. This association was set up to develop academic libraries by promoting member-relations and cooperation. In late 1999, 101 academic libraries joined this association. Its collaborative affairs concern the following :
- Research for library practice improvement
- Meetings, seminars, study, and training
- the promotion of scholarly communication and collaboration
- Improving the quality of library staff
- Publishing bulletins, manuals, and so on.
In addition to these activities, a nation-wide seminar is held once per year and its Field Trip Program has been conducted annually from 1982 to 1989. This association issued the National Private Library Association Members Handbook, which included the status of its members and their personal information, as well as the National University Serial Catalog was issued in 1982 and Library Computerization Manual in 1990. Also, interlibrary loans are provided to its member-libraries. Serial or full text are reciprocated over the Internet.
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2.4 KMLA/The Korea Medical Library Association
This association was established by five medical college libraries in 1968. Interlibrary cooperation was started to effectively manage resources and communication. The types of libraries its members represent vary. Presently, 47 medical college libraries, 88 hospital libraries, 12 research institutes libraries, and 11 pharmaceutical company libraries are participating, this means it has 158 members. A chairman and a council operate this association, and an executive office under the chairman administers practiced affairs.Additionally, a committee elected from the general assembly is engaged to deal with outside relation affairs. 4 expert committees (namely, planning and administration, computerization, staff, and editorial ones) exist for specialization.
Although there is little difference between the KMLA and similar associations in the main collaborative affairs, the coupon system for copy services is unique and an effective means for improving information communication. A periodical scholarly conference takes place once per year. Members are trained on subject training, that is, on medical terms, Index Medicus usage, Excerpta Medica usage, Korea Index Medicus usage, and so on. Other than these various types of subject training, this association takes an active part in publishing the Bulletin of Korea Medical Library Association twice per year, the Korea Index Medicus, through which one can find research papers through domestic medical journals, and the Medical Journal Union Catalog for interlibrary loans. In addition, the A-V Tools Union Catalog, Medical Information Searching, and Korea Medical Library 20 Years were published by the KMLA in book form. The Medical Librarian was started in newsletter form. Also, a homepage has been offered. Lastly, its financial condition is better than that of the other organizations. For example, the budget for the 1999 fiscal year was estimated at 130 million won.
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2.5 STIMA/The Scientific & Technological Information Management Association
This was established by six scientific technological labs on Hong-reung, Seoul, in 1972. In 1999, STIMA had 53 members, including the Dae Duck Research Park labs, and aims to exchange scientific and technological information.After its foundation, 16 issues of the Scientific Park Library Union Catalog had been published up to 1989. Presently, the Union Catalog is offered on-line by the Union DB. In 1998, almost 800, 000 records were available on the Internet. A full text was used by Areial system or on the Internet.
Technical seminars (in the first half of the year) and scholarly seminars (in the last half of the year) have been held periodically. They are international seminars and deal with subjects in high-quality technology. A members' directory, interlibrary loans, training abroad, homepage management, and journal copy service have been treated at these seminars. The STIMA leads in the construction and use of national scientific and technological information systems.
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2.6 KOSSIC/The Korea Social Science Information Council
This was established in 1990. KOSSIC comprises six existing organizations which have been working together since 1989. After the UNESCO Korea Committee participated in APINESS, the Asia-Pacific Information Network in the field of Social Science, KOSSIC was inaugurated. 45 members had participated in KOSSIC by the late 1999. This council was established to develop social science and international exchange by affairs cooperation, information exchange, information management, and research activities. Its specific affairs are as follows :
- Exchange and cooperation of social science information
- Interlibrary loans
- Reciprocal consultation for information management
- Research and publication on resource-gathering and resource-exchange.
- Union catalogs
- Related internal and external organization cooperation
A chairman, council, and an executive office (for practical affairs) manage KOSSIC. The Korea Social Science Information Council Handbook, including KOSSIC status and members' information has been published in 1994 it issued the Foreign Scholarly Journal Union Catalog.
2.7 The Other Associations
These include :
- Korea Theology Library Association
- Nation-wide College of Education Library Association
- Korea Special Library Association
- College Library Association
The above organizations ceased to function or are poorly managed. Besides these, many regional associations exist throughout Korea. 16 librarian study societies exist in the country. Their characters are scholarly rather than associational.
According to the type of library or academic subject they deal with, library associations in Korea maintain cooperations in their own way. These information services by interlibrary cooperation helped to overcome the limitations of an individual library service. Some associations shared quality information through technologically advanced methods and telecommunication, but some cannot publish even a Union Catalog in book form. The environment of libraries has been rapidly changed by computerization and information technology. To follow up on this trend, system automation and up-to-date data communication are indispensible for information sharing. Moreover, the government is pursuing the development of the National Information Infrastructure. Therefore libraries should be actively coping with these changes. It is time that a better interlibrary cooperation system and resource-sharing strategy be put in place. In the United States, academic libraries join an average of 1.9 library cooperation networks, and the multi-type library cooperation system is expanding. Considering this trend, it is desirable for libraries in Korea to construct a nation-wide library cooperation system which is beyond similar-type and same-subject interlibrary cooperation.
In the advent of the digital library, a library cooperation system requires remarkable innovations in electronic information searching on-line, full text exchange, electronic reference service, and so forth.
Woodworth, Anne. 1991. Library Cooperation and Networks : A Basic Reader. N.Y. : Neal-Schuman Publisher, Inc.
Besement, Susan P. 1987. "Criteria for the Evaluation of Library Networks". Resource Sharing and Information Networks. 4(1).
Eaten, A. 1979. Library Resource Sharing in the United States, Resource Sharing of Libraries in Developing Countries. Munich : K.G. Saur.
Patrick, R. J. 1972. Guidelines for Library Cooperation : Development of Academic Library Consortia. Santa Monica : System Development Cooperation.Top
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