• 2011-09-06

On September 2, 2011, Director-general Tseng visited National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg with select NCL staff as a way to strengthen relations with this important library in Russia. The library’s director Anton V. Likhomanov and assistant director Irina L. Lynden personally welcomed the group and arranged a discussion with them regarding copyright issues and deposit services for e-publications, and the digitization of ancient books. Three years ago, the Russian Federation enacted a new copyright law that resulted in many challenges to libraries. Director-general Tseng shared information regarding NCL’s E-Publication Platform System (EPS), its ability to deposit e-books and manage copyrights. Dr. Likhomanov expressed a desire learn more about it and the experience NCL has gained in creating it. Direct-general Tseng immediately invited him to visit Taiwan to gain first-hand experience on Taiwan’s developments in library science. She also discussed NCL’s union catalog system for ancient Chinese books and asked the National Library of Russia to participate in the project. After hearing of NCL’s innovative services, Dr. Likhomanov suggested the two libraries sign a cooperative agreement in addition to the publication exchange that is already in place. Following the meeting, the group from NCL was given a tour of the library’s manuscript department, famous French philosopher Voltaire’s special collections room, and the library’s reading room. They were keenly interested in the Asian books found in the manuscript room, and expressed a desire to work together on publishing them in the future.