Smithsonian Libraries

IFLA—Gothenburg Sweden 2010

I'm writing from the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Gothenburg Sweden. It's Saturday, Aug. 14, with only one more day to go.

The opening session on Aug. 10 featured His Excellency Jan Eliasson, President of the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly while he was Sweden's Ambassador to the United States (and a Gothenburg native). A tall, handsome and courtly man, I met him in the hotel elevator the day before! Speaking about "The Power of the Word—Communication and Access to Information in a Globalized World," he gave a compelling example of how he was able to negotiate the release and save the lives of 60,000 people caught in the middle of the Sudan civil war. Neither of the warring parties would agree to a "cease-fire," which would have allowed for the safe removal of the people, but both agreed to establish a "humanitarian corridor." The change of words accomplished the same thing. He issued a strong call for establishing global knowledge, widely and fairly distributed, which supported the Congress theme of "Open Access to Knowledge—Promoting Sustainable Progress."

Three plenary sessions, all at 8:30am, drew large crowds. Henning Mankell (above), internationally famous Swedish mystery author, emphasized the need for literacy and education as a means of giving children an identity and dignity as individuals. (By the way, although his mysteries are the most well-known, he has written other novels and children's books). He has seen how the street children of Mozambique, where he has spent many years, long for this and without it are doomed to short, miserable lives. Hans Rosling, said to be one of the 10 best speakers in the world, demonstrated his facility in an entertaining, yet serious, correction to what most people think of as the developing world. In fact, they are catching up with—and sometimes surpassing!—the developed world in terms of lower family size, better health, women's education, lower child mortality rates. Most people carry old ideas of there being a vast disparity between the two. Their economies are also improving, but they need more education, literacy and libraries. Finally, Sture Allen, member of the Swedish Academy and former Permanent Secretary, described the history and process of awarding the Nobel Prize for Literature. Listening to these speakers has been a highlight of this conference.

I might add that this has also been the week of the Gothenburg Cultural Fair, with large stages set up along the main Avenue and a host of heavy metal, rock, lyrical, gospel and other music featured every evening. The Gothenburg City Library has offered an IFLA Night Spot every evening till 1:00am with beer, wine and soft drinks for conferees and a place to network and meet friends. While I'm no longer on the Governing Board, I did speak yesterday at a Presidential Session on the theme of convergence of libraries, archives and museums and also helped to staff the ALA booth in the exhibit area for several hours on Wednesday.  Once you have gotten to know people, an IFLA conference is a splendid way to increase global understanding of issues and learn from those in other countries. I recommend it!

—Nancy E. Gwinn

Related articles by Zemanta

• IFLA in Gothenburg, Day 6: The Mechanics of Making an International Organization Tick (americanlibrariesmagazine.org)
• Social Media Will Play Major Role at IFLA 2010 " ResourceShelf (resourceshelf.com)
• IFLA ICT4Dblog (blogs.ifla.org)
• Frontpage | IFLA Website (ifla.org)

Tian Yi Ge Library Museum

The Smithsonian's Freer-Sackler Library features numerous items related to the Tian Yi Ge Library Museum in Ningbo, China, the private library of the Fan family dating back to the early 16th century Ming Dynasty.

Now a public museum, the Tian Yi Ge (pronounced Tiān Yī Gé, written 天一閣, literally Heaven One Pavilion) is widely recognized as a highlight of Chinese book culture. The Fan family collected books for 13 generations, building a collection known for its regional gazetteers and rare editions of classics and literary compilations.

To ensure the collection's preservation, strict rules were established. Keys were kept only by male family members, who could only unlock the door when all branches of the family were present. It was prohibited to remove books or lend them, and anyone who sold a book would be disowned from the family. The buildings were built with brick and ponds constructed nearby to prevent fire, and extensive symbolism referencing water was used in the design for the same purpose.

In the latter half of the 18th century, the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong started an imperial book project that set out to encompass all known knowledge at the time: the Four Treasures Complete Library (Sì Kù Quán Shū, 四庫全書) . "Four Treasures" refers to the four traditional classes of knowledge in ancient China: classics, history, philosophy (including the sciences), and miscellaneous literature (including poems and fiction).

The Qianlong Emperor decreed that collectors across China send their books to Beijing to be examined and perhaps copied into the collection. Recognizing the special importance of the Tian Yi Ge collection, some of the Tian Yi Ge's rare editions of the classics were used as the standard copies for textual correction in the Four Treasures Library.

Eventually, seven copies of the Four Treasures Library were created and housed in specially designed pavilions in seven different locations throughout the country: two in Beijing, and one each in the cities of Chengde, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang. These pavilions were modeled on the Tian Yi Ge in both architectural design and the organizational structure of their bookcases—Mike Smith

Images, from top:

At the Freer-Sackler Library, a searchable database of the Four Treasures Library is also available for public use.

Scholar Stephen Allee using the Four Treasures database at the Freer-Sackler Library    

Pavilion built to hold a set of the Four Treasures Library in Hangzhou, China, currently under renovation (with Librarian Mike Smith)

The Tian Yi Ge Library Museum in Ningbo, China

Some of the Fan family rules for using the Tian Yi Ge Library

Let's go to the zoo

As the weather gets warmer, many people are going to the zoo. As you make your plans, why not take a virtual zoo tour courtesy of the Libraries, via Zoos: A Historical Perspective? —Elizabeth Periale