We have been conducting the 2nd questionnaire on the CDNLAO Newsletter since September this year. As of November 17, we have received responses from nine countries (Australia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, in alphabetical order) and from Mr. Mark Perkins, the former director of Secretariat of the Pacific Community Library of New Caledonia. It is our great pleasure that so many members showed their interest in the Newsletter as a communication tool for our society.

The following shows the major results of the questionnaire: 
 
 

Q1: Do you know that the CDNLAO Newsletter has featured one special topic for each issue since issue no. 46 (March 2003)?  Yes 10/10 No 0/10                           * All the responses were positive.

Q2: Which special topic(s) did you find interesting so far?    Both Preservation and Digitization  4/10 Preservation 1/10 Digitization 4/10 None 1/10

Q3: What subject do you want us to feature in future Newsletters?   1 Networking among libraries 9/10 2 Training programs for librarians coordinated by national libraries 8/10 3 Strategic plan in the management process 7/10 3 Staff training 7/10 3 Copyright law and digital library project 7/10 3 Collection development 7/10 7 Legal deposit system for electronic publications 6/10 7 Fund raising activities  6/10 7 Archiving and Preservation of online electronic publications  6/10 10 Service standards 5/10 10 Collaboration of libraries and other cultural and academic institutions 5/10 10 Construction of new building 5/10 13 Purchase and provision of electronic journals 4/10 14 Access to government information 2/10 15 Staff recruitment 1/10   * National Library of Sri Lanka suggested "Book reviews on the subject of national libraries in Asia and Oceania" as a topic to be featured.

Q4. Does your library provide any unique service, or carry out any special research, or activities?  Yes 7/10 No 2/10 Blank 1/10 <Example>  Research into digital archiving as a member of International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) (AUSTRALIA) Project files for students in a variety of subjects - staff do the research on relevant information and produce files - (MALDIVES) Mobile library services (NEPAL) Individual repackaging services for school children (SRI LANKA) Teaching research methods to post-graduate students (SRI LANKA) Function as the main research library for library science students (SRI LANKA) Research on palm leaf manuscripts (THAILAND) Research: Permance Indicators for National Library in Asia/Oceania (Malaysia) Research : Human Resouece Needs in Libraries (Malaysia)

Q5: Have you contributed any article to the Newsletter in last three years?   Yes 7/10 No 3/10 *The reasons for "No" are: they have been very busy.

Q6: The paper form of the Newsletter ceased publication in March 2003. Was this inconvenient? If so, why?      Yes 1/10 No 3/10 Blank 6/10 *5 countries requested us to send printouts of the Newsletter.

We thank the national libraries that have already completed the questionnaire and returned it to us. The deadline is November 28. We look forward to receiving responses also from other countries. We believe that there are many things worth sharing among CDNLAO members and hope that the Newsletter can provide a forum for productive communication. 
 

Special topic of the next issue

From the results of the questionnaire, we can now be confident to continue our recent policy of featuring one theme in each issue of the Newsletter. The next theme we discuss will be "Networking among libraries", which ranked as the No.1 interest of the member countries. Any article on "networking" or  "cooperation" among libraries inside and outside of your countries is welcomed. It could be an article about a cooperative approach to acquisition and preservation matters, or about networking projects in the areas of cataloging, reference services, or any other reader services. 

We also welcome articles which introduce unique services of your libraries, and your comments on the Newsletter.

Deadline for contributions to the next issue (no.49, March 2004): February 10, 2003

Thank you for your continued cooperation!