AsianDOC Electronic Newsletter 1:1(March 1998)
** Listserv for Chinese Information Processing in Libraries **
During the Seminar on Chinese Information Processing in Libraries
(http://library.ust.hk/scip/), held January 22-23, at the Hong Kong
University of Science & Technology (a brief report of the conference is
attached below), the meeting resolved to establish a list to encourage
ongoing discussion and action. The HKUST Library, as requested by the
meeting, has established a listserv named "Lib-Chinese". You are now
invited to subscribe to it.
To SUBSCRIBE to the Chinese Information Processing in Libraries listserv
(LIB-CHINESE) please send a message to LISTSERV@SCIP.UST.HK
The message should read: SUBSCRIBE LIB-CHINESE
You will receive a confirmation of your subscription by e-mail.
Min-min Chang
University Librarian
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
mmchang@uxmail.ust.hk
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REPORT ON THE SEMINAR ON CHINESE INFORMATION PROCESSING IN LIBRARIES
The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Library sponsored a
Seminar on Chinese Information Processing in Libraries, held January
>22-23, 1998. The seminar attracted over 200 participants from the United
States, Taiwan, Singapore, Mainland China and Australia. The meeting
brought together researchers, software developers, vendors, and end-users,to participate in meaningful dialogue to give direction and impetus for
ongoing and future developments.
Professor Ching-Chun Hsieh from the Institute of Information Science,
Academia Sinica, Taiwan, was our keynote speaker. He opened the conference
by highlighting his research on a Glyph database system, which would
resolve the missing character problems in Chinese Information Processing.
The response was enthusiastic.
In the next two days, a series of relevant, high-quality papers were
presented by the assembled researchers, product developers and librarians.
Attendees became increasingly involved in the discussion sessions. The
response and interaction of the delegates attending this conference were
truly remarkable.
From this exchange may come several cooperative strategies to resolve the
existing problems and chart new directions for Chinese Information
Processing. Most of the participants felt strongly that this Seminar
should become an annual function, so that up-to-date developments can be
disseminated efficiently. The closing session generated some lively
discussion with regard to future directions and who should be responsible
for taking the lead.
The delegates also reached two major resolutions: First, that HKUST's
University Librarian, Min-min Chang, will write on behalf of the group to
the Library of Congress and the OCLC Online Computer Library Center about
the conclusions of the meeting and the directions the group wishes to
pursue. Specifically, the meeting called for CJK support in the LC and
OCLC authority files; and for the adoption of the CCCII character set as
the CJK standard. Second, that the HKUST Library will establish an online
discussion list, composed initially of the Seminar's attendees, to
facilitate ongoing dialogue on this critical issue.
The HKUST Library has played a key role in the development of Chinese
processing in library systems. In 1990 the Library worked with Innovative
Interfaces Inc. for the development of the first truly bi-lingual library
system that provides comprehensive capability in Chinese in all system
components.
Although an immensely complex and daunting task, the HKUST Library
believes strongly that finding a solution to Chinese information
processing is the responsibility of the library profession and should
transcend geographic and national boundaries. We hope this Seminar and
the ongoing online dialogue will continue to influence future developments
in Chinese Information Processing.
Details of the Seminar, including many of the papers and presentations,
are available on the Library's web server at http://library.ust.hk/scip/
URL http://asiandoc.lib.ohio-state.edu/v1n1/tech/libchinese.html
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