At the 2023 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, the International Relations Committee, Americas Subcommittee invited panelists from academic, research, and public libraries to discuss various ways of sharing Indigenous-made materials from the United States and Latin America in the panel, "Sharing Knowledge: Projects and…

State library agencies (StLAs) provide key leadership for library services planning and development in each state. Their structure and governance varies widely across states; StLAs are located in various departments in state government and they report to different authorities. This research brief gives an overview of the revenues, expenditures,…

One of the most exciting developments to occur within the library profession in recent years has been the re-evaluation of library's role in resource discovery in the web environment. This has involved recognition of short-comings of online library catalogues, a re-affirmation of the importance of metadata and a new focus on the wealth of…

The California State Library is charged with performing the following activities as defined by law. The State Library, under the direction and control of the State Librarian, an appointee of the Governor, has responsibility: (1) To collect, preserve, generate and disseminate a wide array of information; (2) To serve as the central reference and…

Pay equity, as a concept and outcome, is significant for libraries and librarians because it demonstrates the value of the library and information profession, and the significance of the work undertaken by librarians and allied professionals. The State Library's involvement in the NSW Pay Equity Case and precursor investigations into the worth of…

Defined in terms of their institutional role and historical development, national statistical libraries are discussed in the context of present structures, size, personnel situation, technical equipment, financial structure, general and specific activities, areas of specialization, and growth rate, as well as the interlibrary cooperative efforts…

This paper discusses the experiences of the Research Department of the Italian Chamber of Deputies over the past few years. The first section describes the origin of the department in the 1970s, including political factors, basic organizational features, and the salient features of the department's activity. The second section addresses the…

In an effort to underscore the importance of the book and written word, Public Law 95-129 was signed by President Carter in 1977 establishing the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. This pamphlet reports on the progress made in the first year of planning during four meetings directed at potential activities, the international flow of…

Highlights the American Library Association (ALA) 1987 Midwinter Conference, including the aftermath of the Attorney General's report on pornography; Congressional pay equity bills; library copying rights; federal librarians' decline in membership and privatization; public library planning, role setting, and output measures manuals; and summaries…

This paper discusses the role of the Parliamentary Library in Russia. The first section provides historical background. The second section addresses two prerequisites of the Parliamentary Library, i.e., the official documents collections and the rule of public law. The third section describes implementing public access to government information…

An objective description of the programs and outline of the problems of the Lenin State Library are presented by I.P. Osipova of the Lenin State Library of the USSR, and a comparison between that library and the Library of Congress (LC) is presented by Frank M. McGowan. The Lenin Library serves as national library of the USSR, state repository of…

This paper discusses the role of the Directorate of Studies in the legislative work of the Hellenic Parliament (Greece). The first section describes the establishment and organization of the Directorate of Studies, which consists of three departments: the department for the elaboration of bills and law proposals, the department for parliamentary…

Since its establishment in 1960, the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has had responsibility for documenting Saudi administrative literature, the official publications of Saudi Arabia, and the literature of regional and international organizations through establishment of the Document Center in 1961. This paper…

This paper discusses the most common forms of international cooperation between legislative libraries from the perspective of Eastern European legislative libraries. The focus is on experience sharing and on the present place of these libraries in expanded European and world-wide communities, as is represented by the European Centre for…

This paper formulates the means for an improved role for all citizens through a dynamic and interactive parliamentary library and information system. It illustrates the success of such a proposal to strengthen the legitimacy of parliaments by referring to the experience of the Congress of the Republic of Peru and explains what is being done to…