The 32nd Conferences of the IFLA

Abstract

The relationship between libraries and documentation was dealt with at the plenary session of the 32nd Conference of the IFLA. Three informative papers reviewed the contacts and the relationship between libraries and documentation in Europe, in the Soviet Union and in the United States respectively.
H. Liebaers reported on the conditions in Europe. As to him, the apparent antagonism between libraries and documentation can be ascribed to the fact that the activities of both: the IFLA and the FID are restricted to Europe. The reason on differences among librarians and documentalists lies in the antagonism of the two cultures itself: the humanities and the natural sciences. This has resulted in two dlfferent conceptions of professional responsibillty.
The documentalists have helped the librarians to realize the significant changes in the surrounding world, above all the importance of science. Nowadays there are no longer libraries on the one hand, and documentation centres on the other, but rather more specialized and diversified types of libraries and documentation activities, not linked directly to an institution.
He proposed the merging of the two federations: IFLA and FID.
F. E. Mohrhardt reported on the relationship between libraries and documentation in the USA. He pointed out that it is easier to find similarities in these fields than to discover real differences either in theory or in practice.
In order to illustrate the situation he reviewed the activity of professional organizations, where an overlapping of activities is frequent. The library associations deal intensively with documentation problems, whereas the documentation institutes and organizations are penetrating into the field of librarianship.
Both in research libraries and in special libraries the overlapping of responsibilities occurs frequently, and it would be artifical to try to separate these two activities.
In Mohrhardt's opinion documentation is a development or extension of librarianship.
I. P. Kondakov reported on the relationship between libraries and documentation in ths USSR. He reviewed the system of information centres in the frame of which research libraries and special libraries play a significant role. In the USSR documentation and information work developed in two ways:
a/ by creation of special centres for information and documentation;
b/ by improving and extending information and documentation of various institutions.
He analyzed the concepts "library", "documentation" and "information" and gave the Soviet interpretation of these terms and their contents in practice.
The development of the modern information systems - including the utilization of the total of world literature - indicate the necessity to strengthen libraries, being the main base for improving library and bibliographical methods of information.
He also pointed to the difference in the relationship between library and documentation from the aspect of information.
The main task is to elaborate effective means and forms of co-ordination an co-operation among information centres and libraries.
Finally he put forward proposals to the IFLA on solving the problems of the interrelationship between libraries and documentation.
Several oral contributions were made at the session and remarks were also submitted in writing. The sometimes conflicting comments included proposals on merging the IFLA and the FID; on oriticizing the commission of the word "library" in the name originally planned for the new documentation department of UNESCO etc.