Several information specialists from central and eastern Europe will be speakers at the USAIN/IAALD Joint Conference being held in Tucson, Arizona, USA, in April. Eleanor Mathews, Head of the Reference and Instructional Services Department in the Iowa State University Library, is organizing a program on "Cooperation and Computerization in Central and Eastern European Countries." Michal Demes, Director, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information for Agriculture, Slovak Republic, and Pamela Andre, Director of the National Agricultural Library, USA, will present the accomplishments of the U.S./Central and Eastern European Agricultural Libraries Roundtable. Dr. Jana Skladalova, Director, Central Food Library, Czech Republic, will tell about progress in computerization in Czech Republic, and Tomaz Bartol, Head, Slovenian National AGRIS Centre, Slovenia, will talk about the present state and possible future role of AGRIS in the library community.
The theme of the USAIN/IAALD Joint Conference is "The Information Frontier: Linking People and Resources in a Changing World." Conference attendees will include many from Latin American and European countries as well as from the United States. Toni Powell, President of USAIN, believes this conference will provide a unique opportunity for agricultural librarians from all over the world to meet and share their common interests and concerns. Barbara Hutchinson and Carla Casler, the conference organizers, have put together a very exciting four-day program. Thursday, April 3, has been designated as international day with all papers being presented by speakers from outside the United States.
A meeting of the Central and Eastern European Agricultural Libraries Roundtable, hosted by the National Agricultural Library (USA), will be held the day before the USAIN/IAALD Conference begins. Pamela Andre, Director of NAL, has recently announced that over three-forths of the Roundtable member countries will be represented. Janet Wright and Maria Pisa, members of the NAL staff, are organizing the details for the Roundtable.
Eleanor R. Mathews
Reference and Instructional Services
152 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
Voice: 515-294-3642; fax: 515-294-5525