Issued by: SA Communication Service
AFRICA FIRST FOR STATE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
Dr Peter J. Lor, director of the State Library in Pretoria, was elected chairman of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) at its annual meeting which was held on 28 August in Beijing, China.
It is the first time that the CDNL is chaired by a librarian from Africa or a developing country. Prior to his election Dr Lor participated in a CDNL working group that studied the application of legal deposit to electronic publications. He is also author of a set of guidelines for legislation for national library services, which was commissioned by the General Information Programme of Unesco.
The CDNL, which consists of the heads of the national libraries of more than 100 countries, meets annually to discuss issues that include library legislation, the legal deposit of publications, the preservation of cultural heritage, bibliographic databases, electronic publishing and the utilisation of new information technology. It also undertakes projects aimed at helping national libraries to adapt to rapid technological change and to play useful roles in developing the information infrastructures of their countries, often in collaboration with major national libraries and partners such as Unesco and the European Union.
Commenting on his election, Dr Lor said that he hoped to use his position to encourage greater participation in the CDNL by national librarians from developing countries. He plans to utilise modern information technology to make this possible.
9 September 1996