• 2013-04-23

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the National Central Library, among the many activities for this occasion, an international conference was organized on the 18th and 19th of April 2013. The general theme was “A New Paradigm for Globalized Knowledge and Library Development.” On this occasion, President Ma Ying-jeou graced with his presence at the opening ceremony of the Conference. Together with hundreds of international and domestic guests, he celebrated the 80th birthday of the NCL. President Ma congratulated the NCL and expressed his wishes for 80 more glorious and vibrant years. In today’s digital resources services and limitless communication possibilities, how can national libraries worldwide become the initiators in creating new models for the globalization of knowledge? This indeed is a worthwhile focus of interest and concerted concern. With this vital need in mind, the NCL organized an international conference inviting national library directors from different countries as well as national scholars and experts to participate and give conferences. Through their sharing of new experiences and information, the present trends and issues of library information are spelled out for our valuable reference. At the same time, it was an occasion to become aware of the current domestic development in library and information science. The actual and virtual services and the innovative experience of the NCL in the field of rare books collection were also presented to deepen the interflow between the theory and practice. The first speaker of the conference was Ismail Serageldin, Director-general of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt. He spoke on “Rebirth and Revolution: The Story of Bibliotheca Alexandria. In the afternoon, the first session of three speakers were Steen Bille Larsen, Deputy Director-general of The Royal Library (Denmark), Andris Vilks, Director-general of the National Library of Latvia, who video recorded his conference due to a physical accident. Khaidav Chilaajav, Director-general, National Library of Mongolia. They spoke on a ‘New Thinking on National Libraries Architecture”, “The Castle of Light: The New Library of Latvia” and “Future Development Trends of the National Library of Mongolia” respectively. The second session in the afternoon was on “Digital Services and Innovative User Scenarios of the National Libraries”. The speakers were Kieu Thuy Nga, Deputy Director-general of the National Library of Vietnam. She shared on how to develop the National Library of Vietnam towards a traditional-modern-digital library. Arnaud Beaufort, Deputy Director-general of the National Library of France was the second speaker who spoke about digital services to users and professionals of the National Library of France. Klaus Ceynowa , Deputy Director-general of Bavarian State Library in Germany was the third speaker. He spoke on the approach of the Bavarian State Library regarding innovative user scenarios for library content. The keynote speaker for the second day was Ovid J. L. Tzeng, an academician from Academia Sinica (Taiwan). He delivered a speech on “Getting Wiser in the Cloud: Libraries Everywhere”. The session of three speakers followed after the tea break on the main topic: “Future Direction of the National Libraries”. Director-general Anton Likhomanov delivered a talk on the National Library of Russia in the 21st century. Ngian Lek Chou, Director-general of the National Library of Singapore spoke on the Singapore experience of connecting users and content beyond keywords. Local speakers from our local libraries concluded the last session of the international conference. They were Chao-chen Chen, Professor at the Graduate Institute of Library and Information Science at the National Taiwan Normal University. She presented the opportunities and challenges of MOOCS and library services. Mei-mei Wu, Professor at the same Institute presented some observations on e-research and library development. The last presentation was delivered by Li-Kuei Hsueh, Professor at the Graduate Institute of Library, Information and Archival Studies at the National Chengchi University. His topic was on a long term preservation policy of the National Central Library. The finale was the keynote speech of NCL Director-general Tseng Shu-hsien from the host country and organizer of the International Conference. She presented an exciting and challenging paradigm on globalizing knowledge. Her topic was” Inheriting the History, Exalting the Culture, Advancing the Service, Creating New Situation: Retrospectives and Perspective at the 80th Anniversary of National Central Library”. It was a dynamic composite of the past, the present and the future. The organizing committee prepared a colorful presentation of video clips taken during the conference creating a light, warm and relaxed friendly atmosphere. This created a strong connection among the local and foreign guests making the separation and good-byes reluctant and lingering. An unexpected act of gratitude was expressed by the foreign guests, friends from afar. Each one took turn to go on stage saying how much they were grateful to the organizing committee and their deep impression on the beauty and humanity of Taiwan. A last act was necessary to keep the happy memory alive: Group picture! This brought to an end to the two days of successful international conference.