Chinese Canadian Library Weblog

Although thinking globally almost every day through out the last two years, I’ve only worked locally. As a bunch of new programs calling my name, I really like to take a part in them–presenting at Area Studies International Conference at Xiamen U. , attending the workshop in Taiwan by the NCL. Now this TGAG project [...]

I couldn’t participate in the TS workshop on the 31st due to this China-North America Library Conference new project meeting. We met at the Tropics Bar in the Ali’i Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The dicussion was focused on the East Asian or Chinese rare books. It’s interesting to learn the uncertainty of LC [...]

Walking along the beach then into the Hilton Village and Ballroom, I saw a whole lot more attendees on March 30th. This is the first time when Chinese, Japanese and Korean librarians meet for common interest instead of having separate committee meetings. The new format worked out nicely, but we could still cut some speakers [...]

回来UBC已经是开学后的第三周了，忙得一塌糊涂，没有时间整理和报告我的北京之行。今天又有同事怪罪，甚至要求我的博克应该适当加上中文。 这次是应国图之邀，参加其海外中国学文献研究中心的挂牌仪式，百年庆典和研讨会，首次由国图安排北京的一切，包括友谊宾馆的住宿。国图让我有焕然一新的感觉，上上下下都精明强干，既有条理又有效率。 还是从我落地入关说起吧。由于晚点，我们入关时，整个机场略显空当，执勤人员也面带疲惫。检查我入关手续的年轻人非常英俊和礼貌，“晚点这莫久，辛苦啦”审视完护照和密密麻麻的签证戳，他又问：“经常回来吗？”“一年至少一次”“欢迎你更经常回来！” I registered for the Symposium first thing on Sept 8th, picked up the package and boarded the shuttle to the new building of NLC, where I learned a great deal from the presenters.

The best part of the meeting is to hear what Chinese scholars are saying about overseas Chinese studies. Prof. Tang Yijie’s keynote speech was quite impressive. He criticized nationalism and self-centered Chinese studies. James Cheng introduced the top Chinese collections in North America and Guoqing presented all the research projects by Chinese studies librarians in [...]

Just thanked my friends for the ride to YVR and then saw the notice about my flight’s delay. Seven hours! Kids were happy seeing me back home so soon. Had to email Beijing right away. When I received the reply from the National Library of China (NLC), I was so moved and relieved. I was [...]

Our delegation boarded the bus on time for October 17th visits. The Film Archive has just started various projects as the world has growing interest in Chinese films. The National Film Archive Database is one of them. I enjoyed the tour of the compact stack and the digital processing lab. I asked for a list [...]

Wake-up call worked loudly at 6 am on October 16th. It’s a bright and warm day. Our visit started in the new building of Peking U Library. 肖珑老师的笑腼仿佛窗外的徐徐微风。她提纲挈领地介绍了全馆的发展历程，并带领我们来到古籍阅览室。乃文先生的京腔和对古籍善本的激情感染了我们。伴随着他的介绍是一阵阵的惊叹！程家的戏谱又为北大增添一宝，但愿我们的教授也能受益。 I am suprised that they have the money to continue to purchase rare materials and they have the space to keep all the card catalogues. What I [...]

To get back to Mindy’s comment on July 31st, CALA is organizing another event in “Guangdong Dongguan City in December 2007, exchange ideas with Chinese colleagues; introduce the US experience of public library services; and find further cooperation opportunities for CALA. This is a part of CALA 21st Century Librarian Seminar Series.” I am glad [...]