Annual Report PAM International Relations Committee 2003-2004

Members: Debra Bailey, Sunita Barve, Christina Birdie, Nancy Diana Gómez, Kiem Dung T. Ta, Uta Grothkopf, Zahra Kamarei,Umran Yaman Kandemir, Jeanette Regan and Marie Antoinette Villaflor.

Another busy year for IRC passed by. At the beginning of the year the committee took on the challenge of organizing a session called “International Issues for Information Professionals ” for the 2004 SLA Annual Conference. Zari Kamarei and the IRC committee made this session happen. The session was on June 8th 2004. Zari was the moderator, and there were supposed to be 3 speakers. Marie Antoinette Villaflor, our International Membership Award winner, spoke about TheVital Role Of Philippine Library Associations In The Implementation Of RA 9246 “THE PHILIPPINE LIBRARIANSHIP ACT OF 2003.”
Debra Bailey spoke about Library Associations in India. Xiao Long of China was supposed to talk about “Library Associations in China,” but she could not obtain US visa, and as a result her talk was cancelled. Professor Lung’s visit was entirely arranged by the generosity of Institute of Physics, and they were going to pay all her expenses while attending SLA. I believe we should be more proactive in seeking the help of publishers like IOP to bring international scholars like Professor Long to speak at IRC Session. IRC member, Nancy Gomez presented a paper at the IFLA conference in August 24, 2003. The topic she discussed was The Situation of the Science Libraries in Argentina. During the same conference she organized a tour visiting their Library (Central Library of Sciences Faculty and Medicine Faculty of University of Buenos Aires).
The IMA award activities started in October of 2003. We sent the announcement on SLAPAM-L, and with the help of the PAM’s public relations committee, it was announced all over the world. With the help of a graduate student here at UNC, I sent the announcement to all the universities listed in the developing countries listed at the World Bank. A country was considered a developing nation if their Per Capita Income was less than $5,295. We received 13 applications. Out of all the applicants, Marie Antoinette Villaflor of Philippines was selected to win the award. We disqualified some applicants because they already had opportunities to attend international library conferences, or were not working in libraries that had Physics-Astronomy or Math subjects. IRC members Debra Bailey, Zari Kamarei, Jeanette Reagan and Marie Antoinette Villaflor attended the SLA conference in Nashville, Tn., June 5-9, 2004. I would like to take this opportunity to thank PAM leadership for giving me the opportunity to serve as Chair of IRC for the past three years. It has been a fulfilling experience working with all of the IRC members. Debra Bailey, an IRC member, will be the next Chairperson.
Submitted by,
Zahra B. Kamarei (Zari) 

Page last updated: April 2005