• 2024-02-28

The Pacific Neighborhood Consortium (PNC) is one of the most important professional international academic organizations for nations in the Pacific, which holds an annual conference hosted by different regions in the coastal Pacific every year. PNC holds lectures and seminars on cutting-edge internet technologies to enhance academic exchange and opportunities for information sharing among member countries. As of 2023, PNC marks 30 years since its founding in 1993, when it was established with the aim of promoting the Internet and facilitating the exchange and circulation of information among countries in the Pacific region through advanced network technologies. Their mission also includes facilitating standards for information exchange between institutions and protocols for information sharing, promoting the application and exchange of electronic information technology, including online teaching, interlibrary exchange, archival collections, and digitization of museum collections.

The 2023 PNC Conference was held at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan from November 3^rd to 5^th. The title of this year’s conference was “Sea Change: Renewal, Reform and Resolve in Global Arts, Sciences, and Business” and it gathered an international cohort of experts and scholars in various fields to explore and address social issues in the post-pandemic world with new perspectives, new approaches, and the application of new technologies and techniques. This year’s conference included three keynote speeches, 19 conference sessions, 6 workshops, and a total of over 80 themed presentations. Among them, National Central Library organized the “Digital Libraries” session, aiming not only to enhance the international visibility of Taiwan’s achievements in library information resources, but also to facilitate academic exchange and initiate more opportunities for collaboration with participants from various countries. The 2023 Digital Libraries session which was held from 10:45-12:15 on November 4^th was entitled “Harnessing Information Technology and Big Data for Innovative Library Digital Services.” The session was hosted by Professor Jieh Hsiang, Director of the Research Center for Digital Humanities, National Taiwan University and included presentations by three speakers on the following topics:

1.National Chengchi University (Taiwan) Associate Professor and Library Director Wen-hung Liao: Digital Archives and Humanities Research: A Case Study Using Overseas Taiwanese Democratic Movements Collection

2.Tsurumi University (Japan) Professor Emeritus Takashi Nagatsuka: A University Library Experience Facilitating the Student-centered Approach Supported by Information Technology

3.Tenri University (Japan) Professor Takashi Koga: Developments and Challenges of National Digital Collections: Focused on the Programs of the National Diet Library of Japan