URN_NBN_SI_DOC-SJFHMJSD

AUSTRALIA - THE PROBLEMS OF DISTANCE Richard J. Leadbetter Bendigo CAE Library, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia Australia is a multi-cultural country, fundamentally European in tradi­ tions and culture but located nearer to Asia. Because of the great distances involved in travelling from Australia, and between cities in Australia, co-operation between libraries is not easy. The basis of international co-operation depends on making human contact, discussing problems, sharing ideas. The author's interest in international co-operation is considerable, yet because of the remoteness of Australia, and the financial cost of travel, only one international conference on co-operation has been accessible - and this was the 1988 IFLA meeting held in Australia. Sometimes the necessary length and expense of an overseas trip means that an institution will send a senior administrator to several con­ ferences, as its representative: this can mean that the people directly involved cannot attend, and their input is lost. European librarians may feel something of this problem of distances in their separation from American colleagues. But almost all the important library meetings are held in the northern hemisphere, and not in the middle of the Australian academic year. It is not only librarianship that needs international co-operation. Even more important is the context in which we work. There is no such thing as „national technology". The technological world must be made freely ac­ cessible to the people who use our libraries. Knjižnica. Tematska šl. IATU L 1989 35