The term Latin America conventionally designates

Transcription

1 Chapter 8 Latin America and the Caribbean 107 Estela Morales Campos Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico The term Latin America conventionally designates an ensemble of eighteen countries, seventeen of them Spanish-speaking (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) and one Portuguese-speaking country (Brazil). The Caribbean, sometimes also called the Antilles or West Indies, is made up of independent countries as well as several islands that are part of European countries or the United States. Some are English-speaking (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos); some Frenchspeaking (French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Haiti and Martinique); and some Dutch-speaking (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Suriname). The term Spanish Caribbean includes Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, which are geographically part of this ensemble of islands. The region has undergone a great many processes of synthesis, aggregation and amalgamation, and its identity is the result of the joint participation of indigenous, European and African cultures. During the colonial period, library practice naturally enough followed the model of the respective parent country: Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France or the Netherlands. At a later stage, Latin America and the Caribbean opened up to exchanges with countless other countries, although the original five came well to the fore. Library development is uneven in the region, and within each country there may be excellent services and access to the most sophisticated technology in some places, and shortcomings and even a total lack of basic library services in others. However, in general there has been considerable progress as well as an increasing participation at the international level, where the region has established its own identity and

2 Information services worldwide 108 shown it has its own approach and can find its own solutions. Public libraries Just as librarianship in general is in search of its own distinctive personality, there is a need in Latin America to clarify some specific aspects, and the concept of the public library is one example. Some countries, for instance, include even the national library within the definition of a public library on account of its being open to the general public, children and adults alike. Other countries may include school libraries. In still others we find a form of public library known as the popular library, which often seeks new ways of serving the least privileged sectors, generally with assistance from the community, non-governmental organizations or the state itself. There are also instances of rural libraries. Brazil exemplifies the first approach, Mexico the second, Argentina the third and Guyana the fourth. These libraries need to cater for the urban and the rural reader, and for the privileged and the marginalized reader. They must also cater for ethnic groups disregarded for long years but now given clear priority by reason both of their numbers and of the cultural wealth they contribute to the countries themselves, examples being Peru, Mexico and Guatemala. These countries and others face the challenge of offering library services to indigenous populations with their own interests and languages distinct from Spanish or Portuguese. Bilingual personnel are therefore being trained and collections being formed to meet this challenge. Some projects under way support the production of books in indigenous languages, both of a general kind and with the specific purpose of rescuing traditions. Examples are to be found in Venezuela, with the project Caring for Indigenous Communities through Public Library Services, and in Mexico with La Semilla (the seed), a project of the National Indigenous Affairs Institute. Both involve the publication of bilingual children s works in the indigenous language and in Spanish. The public libraries are likewise beginning to offer services appropriate for immigrant ethnic minorities and in areas where various cultures converge, within a process of cultural integration which respects their individuality. Public libraries are places where the need to respect the diversity of information and of users is most clearly seen. Since public libraries belong mostly to the state, they are institutions where reading can take place on a democratic basis. In addition to the basic services on offer in all public libraries, special interest is shown in children as representing the future of each country. Children are encouraged to develop reading habits and are given assistance with homework. More specifically, children are given access to benefits that in most cases neither the home nor the elementary school can offer, such as computer workshops in Mexico. There is much concern to develop children s collections in line with the interests of each locality. The Book Bank of Venezuela, for example, has spent many years researching and implementing reading promotion programmes and assisting in the publication of high-quality children s books, backed by serious research into literary, community and publishing aspects. Other examples of special public library services are the community aid and information centres in Venezuela and Colombia, and the services for the blind in Jamaica and Cuba. In general, a great deal of interest is taken in rescuing the cultural identity of communities and taking library services to areas that are economically depressed and isolated for geographical or sociocultural reasons, with the support of mobile libraries or travelling kits. In the Caribbean, the public library uses mobile libraries to reach more inhabitants, operating from a central base with various service units. Noteworthy for its collections and the modern style of its building, and also the priority it gives to

3 Latin America and the Caribbean 109 children and young people, is the Philipsburg Jubilee Library of Sint Maarten, computerized and with seventy-three years of service to the public behind it and an ambitious development programme up to the year School libraries The development of both public and school libraries is closely tied to the economic and educational development of the countries, and the level of investment made in basic education. There are relatively few school libraries in the region and many of their functions are performed by the children s rooms in public libraries. Surveys often present very high figures for school libraries. It is worth noting, however, that in most cases the reference is to classrooms that have been converted into group reading rooms, or little reading corners in the classroom with a few books. Estimates of such reading range from around 14,000 to almost 50,000 in Brazil, and from almost 4,000 to 10,000 in Mexico. There are in fact few fully structured school libraries, though Colombia, Costa Rica and Cuba, for example, make their school libraries an integral part of their education systems. These libraries may be staffed by a librarian or a teacher with a qualification in librarianship, or sometimes by a teacher with no specialized training. In Colombia the person in charge is a teacher-librarian; Costa Rica has librarians and teachers; Cuba has librarians; and in Brazil, although statutory provision is made for a librarian, often a teacher is in fact doing the work. Some networks of school libraries complete their coverage by means of travelling kits or mobile collections serving very remote or sparsely populated areas; or one library can serve two or three nearby schools, as in Cuba, Colombia and Brazil. School libraries in countries like Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Jamaica operate on something very like the British model, the aim being for each school to have its own library; where this is not possible, a mobile library operates from a central unit catering for a larger number of pupils. The library corner formula is also to be found in primary schools. National libraries Since 1988 the national libraries of the region have been working on a collegial basis with Spain and Portugal in the Association of National Libraries of Ibero-America (ABINIA), in which eighteen countries of Latin America, including three from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, are represented: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela, plus Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The association has held six assemblies to plan a variety of useful co-operative projects that have already produced highly valuable items both for libraries themselves and for researchers. One example is the CD-ROM Catálogo colectivo de fondo antiguo siglos XV XIX (Union Catalogue of Antiquarian Collections from the Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries), which contains the bibliographic records of monographs printed up to 1900 based on information provided by national libraries, including those of Spain and Portugal. Another significant item is the book, Historia de las Bibliotecas Nacionales de Iberoamérica: pasado y presente (History of the National Libraries of Ibero- America: Past and Present). Both publications came out in Noteworthy among the projects under way are The Latin American Press in the Nineteenth Century and participation in UNESCO s Memory of the World project. The national libraries now have their respective legal deposit laws, though this is not the only manner of acquisition, since material may be received through purchase, exchange or donation. The national bibliography is the main means of informing the public of their collections. The national

4 Information services worldwide 110 bibliographies of Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela are kept up to date. Venezuela and Mexico, for their part, are already preparing CD-ROM editions; however, there are countries whose national bibliographies, despite a great deal of effort, are out of date. As regards computerization, almost all use the CALCO (Catalogacaõ Legivel en Computador) format, designed by Brazilian librarians and based on MARC II. Internationally available commercial software is used, such as NOTIS in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Chile, Dynix in Mexico, and CDS-ISIS in small libraries and individual projects. The independent countries of the Caribbean have used as a reference the recommendations of the National Information System (NATIS) and UNISIST in the national planning of their library services, establishing National Councils on Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (NACOLAND) in Barbados and Jamaica, for example, where the national library plays a preponderant role. University libraries These are often the best endowed in terms of budget, professional staff and technological infrastructure, which enables them to offer better information services for students and teachers. In many cases the libraries of the various faculties and campuses are coordinated by a central unit. Some of their procedures are centralized and use computer programs, sometimes developed individually. In other instances use is made in large universities of internationally available software such as Dynix, TINLIB and Aleph. The small universities have adapted Micro-ISIS for library operations. This has made it possible to compile union catalogues of monographs, periodical publications, theses and both online and CD-ROM databases of various types of collections. Much work has been done to co-ordinate these libraries through national systems, networks or authorities, examples being the National Network of University Libraries (RENBU) and the Board of Argentine University Libraries ( JUBIUNA); the National Plan of University Libraries, which operated from 1986 to 1991, and the Brazilian Commission of University Libraries; the Colombian Institute for the Promotion of Higher Education (ICFES); the National University Network of Chile; the Inter-University Library Co-operation Committee (CCBU) of Guatemala. The Ministries of Education and the Directorate for Information of the Ministry of Higher Education of Cuba and the Office of the Under-Secretary for Higher Education, and the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (ANUIES) of Mexico also participated in this work. Noteworthy for the significance of their education and research programmes, for the number of students and programmes involved and for their influence in their countries and in the region are the Autonomous National University of Mexico (143 libraries) and the University of São Paulo (38 libraries), Brazil, whose library systems are very important in terms both of librarianship achievements and of co-operative developments for the benefit of information users in the area and for those studying Latin America from outside the region. They offer databases and catalogues on paper, CD- ROM, online or as Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs), with representative literature of the region as well as all kinds of printed, audiovisual and electronic material from elsewhere. Many Latin American universities take a leading role in their geographical area. They have been pioneers in the integration and individual development of technologies that have brought users into contact with information either on-site or around the world by means of telecommunications, particularly the Internet, gophers and the World Wide Web. These universities include the University of Chile, the Catholic Universities of Chile and Peru, and the University of

5 Latin America and the Caribbean 111 Antioquia and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, both in Colombia. The University of the West Indies (UWI), in the Caribbean, has the most prominent group of libraries of this kind; the main library was established in 1963, in Mona, Jamaica, and there are branches in each of the various university regional headquarters. Special libraries The situation of special libraries regarding budgets, human resources, technological infrastructure and services is very satisfactory. These libraries adapt most rapidly to change and to a commercial environment, with marketing strategies and self-financing of some activities. Some subject sectors agriculture, medicine, science and petroleum stand out on account of their national and regional organization, based on co-operative projects for the benefit of local users, Latin Americans and users in other regions. The agricultural sector, its associated areas and the Inter-American Association of Agricultural Librarians and Documentalists (AIBDA), with head offices in Costa Rica, are working in a co-ordinated and co-operative manner on databases of broad international coverage in which Latin America and the Caribbean are participating, such as the Inter- American Information System for Agricultural Science (AGRINTER), now on CD-ROM. They also contribute to the International Information System for the Agricultural Sciences and Technology (AGRIS), and offer distance courses in collaboration with various headquarters institutions, producing instructional aids co-published by AIBDA and the University of Brasilia. Another example is the Caribbean Information System for the Agricultural Sciences (CAGRIS), which operates from UWI in Trinidad, and interacts with the libraries of the agricultural organizations of the member countries of the Caribbean community. Equally important is the Information Network of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, also with its headquarters in Trinidad. The medical sector has seen the development of an extensive Regional Health System closely associated with the Regional Library of Medicine (BIREME), now known as the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences and Information Center, which has its headquarters in Brazil, and in co-operation with other countries produces a CD-ROM database of Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS). Work has also proceeded on the Latin American Index Medicus (Imla), a subset of the MEDLINE database. In 1994 BIREME published, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the first edition of the CD-ROM Red de Redes (network of networks), listing Latin American databases supporting development in farming and biotechnology, banking and finance, social sciences, economics and reform of the state, education, and child and family matters. Besides co-operating in BIREME, the Caribbean countries produce Medical Caribbean: An Index to Caribbean Health Science Literature. An area that has come in for special attention is science and technology, with the advent of CONACYTS or CONICYTS (national councils or commissions of research in science and technology). These authorities have set up libraries at their own headquarters or in research centres, as in the case of Chile and Costa Rica, which have a unit in the CONICYT itself. Information services are also offered by the Venezuelan Scientific Research Institute (IVIC) and the Institute of Documentation and Information in Science and Technology (IDICT) of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, which plays a key role in the use of information technologies, in providing refresher training for library staff and in the sale of services. Another field well catered for is petroleum, where INTEVEP of Venezuela, PEMEX

6 Information services worldwide 112 of Mexico and PETROBAS of Brazil are prominent. The Industrial Information Centre (CIIN) of Costa Rica is concerned with industrial activity in general. A distinguished and long-standing role has been played by the Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology Information (IBICT), founded in 1954, which provides services and back-up products for the scientific community using a variety of local and international databases, and the technological and telecommunication support required for present-day information services. Human resources Library services in the region have not always been well endowed with qualified professional human resources, though the last two decades have been marked by significant progress both in university education and in training and retraining in all areas of librarianship and information technology. Library schools have made several attempts to study in a coordinated way such aspects as: the duration of university courses; delimitation of areas of study in librarianship, documentation, information science and information studies; identification of core courses and their subject-matter; the general approach regarding specialization, and the identification of the major areas of study, with growing emphasis on management, technologies and research; the relationship between curricula and the labour market; the predominance of sessional (parttime) teachers over full-time teachers; and the inadequate technological infrastructure and scarcity of highly specialized laboratories belonging to the organization concerned. Since 1993, and with partial UNESCO support, several meetings of Latin American library and information science educators have been held. They revisited many of the problems previously identified at other meetings convened by international agencies and by the Latin American Association of Librarianship and Information Science Schools (ALEBCI), such as teaching personnel, inadequate library collections in the schools concerned and the need for regional co-operation. They also explored the possibility of distance education, the development of databases on librarianship literature produced in the region, and the use of such technological media as the Internet to promote inter-school communication. Outstanding countries in this area are Brazil, for its tradition of quality, the large number of schools with postgraduate, special-subject, Master s and doctoral programmes, and the emphasis placed on research and scientific information programmes; and Cuba, for its education outside of regular university programmes and distance education efforts. In general, all countries agreed on the need for highquality university education and, in particular, the establishment of postgraduate courses. A few countries have no library schools but are planning training programmes, together with fellowship schemes for training abroad. All the countries organize continuing education courses in order to keep staff up to date with the evolution of library requirements. Such programmes are not always organized under the auspices of the schools, but jointly by professional associations concerned with general and specific education, the leading libraries of the country, library suppliers, international agencies and, to a much lesser extent, private agencies. In the non-spanish-speaking Caribbean, education programmes are in general dependent on the respective parent countries or countries of economic and cultural influence, such as the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. However, there are programmes peculiar to the region that play a strategic role in the local development of librarianship. In some cases, only technical courses are available, such as the short courses organized by the Association of Librarians of Martinique and Guadeloupe in Fort de France. In others there is a very full array of graduate programmes, technical courses and a diploma for teacher-librarians, as in the case of Jamaica, which,

7 Latin America and the Caribbean 113 through UWI and its Department of Library Studies, offers these opportunities not only to the English-speaking Caribbean but to the whole region. Continuing education, as in Latin America, is promoted by the university itself, the Caribbean Association of University and Research Libraries (ACURIL), and metropolitan and international agencies. Research In recent years special importance has been given to promoting librarianship research in order to support education and assist in understanding universal and local phenomena, offering individual solutions appropriate to the situation and infrastructure of each particular environment. Many of the countries have begun tentative research through graduate theses; others, the minority, have established institutions for this purpose or have provided facilities in schools or major libraries for studying various aspects of the discipline, all offering worthwhile contributions to Latin American librarianship. Countries that have invested substantially in research include Argentina, which at the University of Buenos Aires has a research programme in its Librarianship Research Centre (CIB); Brazil, which has high-level research and teaching programmes at the Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology Information (IBICT); Colombia, which operates the Research Centre (CI) at the Inter-American School of Librarianship; Costa Rica, with the Research Unit of the University of Costa Rica; Cuba, which has provided facilities in the José Martí National Library and in the Institute of Documentation and Information in Science and Technology (IDICT); Mexico, where the National University has established a University Librarianship Research Centre (CUIB); and Venezuela, with the Library and Archives Research Centre of the National Library Autonomous Institute and the Information Science Research and Development Centre (CIDECI) of the Central University. CIB and CUIB are entirely devoted to research and their projects have been notable successes; CUIB also plays an important part in human resource training for research and in the production of librarianship literature in Spanish. In the Caribbean, particularly the Englishspeaking part, research programmes are getting under way with support from UWI, the Association of Librarians, the Jamaica Library Service and the National Council of Libraries, Archives and Documentation Services. Technology, globalization, co-operation The incorporation of Latin America into telecommunication systems and the strengthening of the computer technology infrastructure have been key factors in integration and communication in the region, revitalizing its political, cultural and library bodies. This is clear from the references to information programmes made in such contexts as the Ibero- American Summits (Latin America plus Spain and Portugal); the Cartagena Agreement and the Andean Pact between countries within Latin America; and, more recently, the joint effort of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and subsequently Bolivia and Chile to establish better information services in the subregion. Within the Caribbean area the Economic Community of the English-speaking Caribbean (CARICOM) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) should also be mentioned. Also relevant are the ongoing efforts of the Organization of American States (OAS) and UNESCO, with its Programme for Co-operation in Information for Latin America and the Caribbean (INFOLAC), which in some cases have been decisive in promoting a number of basic projects. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and, in some areas, the International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID) have also helped to bring Latin America and Caribbean librarianship into the

8 Information services worldwide 114 global economic and information system. Latin American information technology has been prominent in the design of software for local and regional use, and in the compilation of CD-ROMs by BIREME and CENEDIC at the Universidad de Colima, Mexico, which has been designated by UNESCO as the production site for several Latin American CD-ROMs. Several countries are already making daily use of electronic mail, and are designing their World Wide Web and gopher sites as well as OPACs. This gives access to information and information suppliers, bringing the region into closer contact with the rest of the world, and vice versa. Infor-mation technology is also facilitating the collection of local and national statistics on Latin American and Caribbean librarianship, even though there are no official central agencies to consolidate data on national library and information services. Professional publications A great deal of effort is spent compiling local library bibliographies in the language of the country, which in many instances, for want of publication resources and incentives for compilers, are issued in very small print runs with inadequate distribution arrangements, sometimes only circulating as grey literature. On other occasions, however, such bibliographies are issued by professional publishing outlets, and monographs may result from efforts by individual ministries, major libraries, associations or librarianship research centres. One such body is the Mexican University Centre for Librarianship Research, which has a budgeted annual programme of publications and a good publishing infrastructure. Congress papers are another specialist literature outlet, besides being a very important source of information on the development of the region s library and information services. In almost all countries, associations of professionals and schools try to issue some form of periodical publication, bulletin, newsletter or review to report on their activities, give information about projects and disseminate research findings. All these publications are fundamental to any effort to understand or shape the history of library science in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to each country s publications, others provide a regional coverage of Latin American and Caribbean works, and they can be found on paper, online or on CD- ROM. They include the Data Base Directory of Latin America and the Caribbean (DIBALC), published in Mexico; Latin American Information and Librarianship (INFOBILA), a regional database also compiled in Mexico; the Directory of Information and Communication Networks and Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled in Cuba; and the Library Science Bibliography of the Spanish Caribbean and CARINDEX: Social Science and Humanities, both sponsored by ACURIL. Associations In Latin America and the Caribbean, associations play a very important part in the professional development of members and non-members alike, giving impetus to the modernization of library services and defending and promoting the use of information. The association is the only organized group that operates in some countries, since not all have library schools and countries do not always establish other broader organizations, for want of economic resources and active participation by members. An exception to the rule is the Brazilian Federation of Librarians Associations (FEBAB), representing twenty-five local associations, which makes its presence felt in promoting information services and defending the profession. Almost all the associations have at least one information bulletin, and the most firmly established and affluent of them publish a journal. These associations nearly always hold annual congresses and publish reports on the papers read. Associations can form groups at the regional as well as the national level, and they also play an integrating role by encouraging co-operative work to assist in

9 Latin America and the Caribbean 115 the professional development of members and of information services. These associations include AIBDA, ALEBCI, the Public Library Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (ABIPALC), the Association of Library Schools of the Southern Cone, and ACURIL. Latin American and Caribbean participation in the major international associations is growing apace and, in addition to participation on an individual basis, sections have now been formed for Latin America and the Caribbean in IFLA and FID. Specificity and diversity of the Caribbean Many of the islands are now independent countries and their economies have become diversified. Their development is weak, however, and this makes them rather dependent on their present metropolitan or former colonial country (though the Spanish-speaking Caribbean now is more closely related to Latin America, with which its politics and culture are akin, than to the former colonial power, Spain). The Caribbean is a fragmented ensemble of many islands among which inter-communication and co-operation are not easy. This situation is reflected in its library development; the human resources are inadequate, albeit technically qualified thanks to local courses or courses organized by the former or present metropolitan power. As in Latin America, many of these shortcomings are offset by enthusiasm, imagination and creativity. There is great interest in ensuring that library services reflect the wide diversity of the many cultures that live together on all the islands. The information produced is correspondingly diverse, contained in bibliographies and union catalogues produced in English, French, Dutch and native or Creole languages. Despite all the economic problems, great interest is shown in local publishing, with emphasis on children s works in native languages. The Caribbean Review of Books, founded by the University of the West Indies Publishers Association, reviewed 1,111 books published in or about the Caribbean between 1991 and 1993, of which 808 were published outside the region. Of the 303 remaining, 129 were published in Jamaica (the largest country), 58 in Trinidad and Tobago, 33 in Barbados and the remaining 83 in the other countries. National libraries and some public libraries play a strategic role in reconstructing the history of the region, of the country and of the overseas conquests by Europe today and in the past. This concern for co-operation and integration, history and identity, and respect for plurality, multiculturalism and diversity of information is expressed in the project adopted by the General Council of Guadeloupe in 1994: the establishment of a Caribbean Library, which sets out to identify and promote all the material produced by and on the Caribbean and its zone of influence, including Venezuela, Panama and Colombia, and basing its extramural services on an extensive documentary network, all the result of combined local efforts. Latin America and the Caribbean: neighbours who have joined forces In the last two decades Latin America and the Caribbean have seen a substantial development of their various library activities, regarding both the quality and range of services, and the technological infrastructure, collections and professional staff. This development matches the socio-economic and cultural progress of each country, which has prevailed over the improvisation and amateurism of many academic and economic activities. It is also linked with the opening of various types of information services to support governmental, academic, commercial and industrial decision-making. Progress made with information and library services is also related both to advances and setbacks in the publishing industry, whether using paper or electronic media, reading habits and the development of telecommunication and information technology, not to mention customs tariffs and legal and political

10 Information services worldwide 116 measures encouraging the global flow of information. Although there has been progress in the region generally, some countries stand out in each of the subregions. In North America, Mexico has worked successfully on its public library system and in university and special libraries, besides providing opportunities for research and the production of librarianship literature in Spanish; its technological and telecommunication infrastructure has enabled it to offer the region electronic services and CD- ROMs. In Central America, Costa Rica offers an example of sustained development based on its cultural and educational level, having improved librarianship training, regional services for agricultural and social science information, and official information services. In South America a very special place is occupied by Brazil, which has made the most comprehensive and firmly based progress in library education and associated professional work, in the organization of networks and systems for various types of libraries, and in the attention given to scientific and technological information services and the preparation of information products that can be used throughout the region. Also prominent in this subregion are Venezuela, which has done much to coordinate and develop library and technological infrastructures linking its National Library with public and special libraries, and Colombia, which has for several decades been encouraging co-ordinated and co-operative work through library networks and systems of every kind, in addition to intensive work with mobile reading promotion units which bring libraries to parks, streets and other public spaces. In the Southern Cone, Argentina and Chile have a history of successful, though not continuous, development. In the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, Cuba stands out for its concern to serve the general population and, of late, its marketing of specialist services. In the English-speaking Caribbean, Jamaica occupies a special place. As the largest and politically the strongest country, it has an influence on the other countries and islands through its university, its library system, its library association and the regional projects for which it and Barbados are the headquarters. In the French-speaking Caribbean, Martinique and Guadeloupe are notable for their cooperative work, offering an example of the French approach to librarianship in America. In the Dutchspeaking Caribbean, Sint Maarten and Aruba are worthy of mention for their public libraries and their participation in international programmes inside and outside the Caribbean and Latin America. Acknowledgements My thanks are due to colleagues and friends who permitted me to corroborate and, in the case of the following, obtain valuable data: Stella Maris Fernández of Argentina, Ivone Talamo of Brazil, Rocío Herrera and Olga Cecilia Velázquez of Colombia, Saray Córdova and Olga Rodríguez of Costa Rica, Homero Quezada of Mexico, María Elena Zapata and Alvaro Agudo of Venezuela and, from the Caribbean, Françoise Bernabé and Blanca Hodge. Further reading ACURIL Carta informativa. Newsletter (Puerto Rico), Vol. 23, No. 59, pp , BANDARA, S. B Caribbean Books in Print Project. In: IFLA-94, Booklet 4, pp Havana, IFLA. BETANCOURT VALVERDE, V Diagnóstico bibliotecas nacionales latinoamericanas afiliadas ABINIA, año 1993 [Diagnosis of Latin American National Libraries Affiliated to ABINIA, 1993]. In: IFLA-94. Havana, IFLA. 32 pp. FERNÁNDEZ, S. M. La situación bibliotecaria en la Argentina en la década de 1980 [The Library Situation in Argentina in the 1980s]. Cuadernos de bibliotecología, No. 14. Buenos Aires. 71 pp. GOMES DE OLIVEIRA, H Bibliotecas brasileiras e sistemas nacionais de informação [Brazilian Libraries and National Information Systems]. Paper presented

11 Latin America and the Caribbean 117 at IFLA seminar, Turquía, August. Turquía, IFLA. 22 pp. IFLA Seminario Latinoamericano de Asociaciones de Bibliotecarios y Profesionales afines. IFLA-1987, junio 1 5 [Latin American Seminar of Associations of Librarians and Allied Professionals. IFLA-1987, 1 5 June]. Caracas, IFLA. 112 pp El progreso de la biblioteconomía: identificación y evaluación desde las necesidades bibliotecarias de Centro América [The Progress of Library Science: Identification and Evaluation Based on the Library Needs of Central America]. Paper presented at the IFLA-ALP-LAC Symposium, Managua, Nicaragua, 5 8 March IFLA. 82 pp. MORALES CAMPOS, E. (ed.) Bibliotecología latinoamericana: una panorama general [Latin American Librarianship: A General Overview]. Mexico City, CUIB. 164 pp. Reunión de Investigadores y Educadores de Iberoamérica y del Caribe en el Área de Bibliotecología y Ciencias de la Información [Meeting of Researchers and Educators of Ibero-America and the Caribbean in the Area of Librarianship and Information Sciences] Mexico, CUIB-UNAM. 387 pp. UNESCO. DIVISION OF STATISTICS. Library Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean. In: IFLA-94. Havana. 29 pp.

12 Information services worldwide 118 Table 1. Public libraries, school libraries and university libraries in Latin America and the Caribean. Country Population Public libraries School libraries University libraries Organization at the national level Number Organization at the national level Number Argentina Office for Municipal 30 National System of (55) 1 Libraries branch School Libraries service points libraries and bookmobiles Aruba 1 Bahamas 2 Barbados service points and bookmobiles Belize service points Bermuda 1 Bolivia 31 (10) Brazil National System of Ministry of Culture (116) Public Libraries National Library Foundation service points reading rooms Cayman Islands service points Chili Ministry of Education. 293 Ministry of Education (26) Department of Libraries, Archives and Museums Colombia Network of Public Libraries Ministry of Education. Central schools 74 (66) COLCULTURA COLCULTURA + branches + travelling books Costa Rica Central Office for Libraries 81 Department of School Libraries (14) Resource Centre for Primary service points and Secondary Education Cuba Ministry of Culture. 332 Ministry of Education (11) National Library. Municipalities travelling service points books Curaçao 1 Dominican 7 (13) Republic Ecuador 128 (22) El Salvador National Network of 44 Network of School Libraries (14) Public Libraries

13 Latin America and the Caribbean 119 Guadeloupe 1 Guatemala National Library. Municipality (6) NGOs. Bank of Guatemala Guyana Honduras Ministry of Culture 53 libraries under 3 (3) construction Jamaica Jamaica Library Service 13 department libraries, branches, 5 deposit stations, 506 bookmobiles Martinique 1 Mexico Central Office for Libraries Secretariat for (172) Public Education CONACULTA classroom reading sets Montserrat LDCs 1 + bookmobile Netherlands Antilles 2 Nicaragua Network of Public Libraries. 30 Network of School Libraries 412 being 18 (5) National Library regrouped Panama 4 (4) Paraguay 3 (3) Peru National Library (39) service points Puerto Rico 32 (7) Saint Vincent service points Sint Maarten 1 bookmobile Suriname 1 Trinidad and 1 Tobago Uruguay 12 (4) Venezuela Autonomous Institute (37) National Library Virgin Islands service points 1. The figure in parentheses gives the number of universities and centres of higher education.

14 Information services worldwide 120 Table 2. Periodicals in Latin America and the Caribbean Country Number of Titles (selected) publications Argentina 5 Alumni Association of the National Library School. Bulletin Library Science Journal GREBYD/Information Bulletin SIIT Information Bulletin ABGRA Reference Barbados 2 Barbados Library Association Bulletin Update Bulletin (Bridgetown) Brazil 11 Bahia Library Association Report Information Science Minas Gerais University. Library School Journal Brazilian Journal of Library Science and Documentation Brasilia Library Science Journal. Chili 2 Terminology Information (regional publication) EIDISIS Journal Colombia 5 COLCIENCIAS Newsletter The Book in Latin America and the Caribbean ASCOLBI Information Bulletin Interamerican Library Science Journal Reading Sheets Costa Rica 6 Bulletin of the Costa Rica Library Association Libraries. School of Library Science, Documentation and Archives of the Costa Rica National University AIBDA Bulletin and Journal (regional publications) Information Bulletin Library and Information Science Journal Cuba 3 Libraries Information Science Journal of the Jose Marti National Library El Salvador 1 ABES Technical Committee Bulletin Guyana 1 Bulletin of the Guyana Library Association Jamaica 2 Bulletin of the Jamaica Library Association Jamaica Library Association News Mexico 8 FFL/UNAM. Library Science Yearbook University Library (DGB/UNAM) Library Science Research (CUIB/UNAM) Information letter: ENBA Information Bulletin AMBAC Netherlands 1 APLA/Information Antilles Nicaragua 2 Nicaragua Bibliography and Documentation Bulletin Bulletin of the Central Office for Libraries and Archives Panama 2 ALEBCI. Information Bulletin (Regional) Panama University. Library Science Department Bulletin Paraguay 2 Paraguay. Library Science and Documentation Information Peru 4 Peru National Library Bulletin Plenary Meeting. Journal of the School of Library and Information Science Phenix Peru Library Newsletter Puerto Rico 2 ACURIL Newsletter (regional) EGBCI Information Bulletin (University of Puerto Rico. Graduate School of Library and Information Science) Trinidad and 1 Trinidad and Tobago Library Association. Bulletin Tobago Uruguay 1 Uruguay National Library Venezuela 1 INFOLAC (regional publication)

15 Latin America and the Caribbean 121 Table 3. Communication networks and systems in Latin America and the Caribean Argentina 11 Bolivia 3 Brazil 11 Chili 8 Colombia 12 Costa Rica 10 Cuba 2 Dominican Republic 2 Ecuador 2 Guatemala 1 Jamaica 1 Mexico 8 Nicaragua 2 Panama 2 Peru 7 Puerto Rico 2 Trinidad and Tobago 2 Uruguay 7 Venezuela 9 Table 4. Library science education in Latin America and the Caribbean Country Levels, procedure Argentina Brazil Chile First degree, master s, doctorate. 9 university schools. 17 non-university schools. Continuing education Bachelor s degree (4 years), 30 university-level courses: specialization, master s (6), doctorate (3). Continuing education 2 universities. Pre-graduate. Special subject. Continuing education Colombia 4 university schools; only 1 offers postgraduate-studies. Specialization. 1 distance education programme (4, 5 years). Continuing education Costa Rica University level: bachelor s, 1st degree, master s (2 years). 2 university schools. Continuing education. Refresher training in technology Cuba 1 university. 1 vocational centre. Technical (upper secondary level). 1st degree, master s, doctorate. Distance education. Continuing education Guadeloupe Short courses through Librarians Association. Training in Fort de France Guatemala 1 university. Pre-graduate. Continuing education Haiti Technical level (some rudiments of librarianship) Jamaica 1 university. Graduate. Technical Martinique Short courses through Librarians Association. Training in Fort de France Mexico 6 universities. 6 1st-degree courses. 2 master s. Continuing education Netherlands Antilles Use Netherlands facilities (Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire) Nicaragua 1 school. University Centro América (suspended) Panama 1 university. 1st-degree course. Continuing education Paraguay 1 university school (4 years). Continuing education Peru 2 universities. 1st-degree course. Continuing education. Diploma Puerto Rico 2 universities. 2 master s. Continuing education Venezuela 3 universities. Pre-graduate. 1st-degree course. Specialization (master s suspended)

16 Information services worldwide 122 Table 5. Associations in Latin America and the Caribbean Country Argentina Barbados Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Guatemala Guyana Honduras Jamaica Martinique and Guadeloupe Mexico Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Nicaragua Panama Peru Puerto Rico Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Venezuela Associations Federation (FABA), grouping 25 associations Library Association of Barbados Library Association of La Paz Federation (FEBAB), grouping 25 associations College of Librarians of Chile ASCOLBI, ASEBIAR, National Board of Librarianship, SNICA, GRUBE, GUI College of Librarians of Costa Rica Association of Librarians of Cuba, Cuban Society of Scientific and Technical Information Dominican Association of Librarians Librarianship Association of Guatemala Guyana Library Association Honduran Association of Librarians Jamaica Library Association Association of Librarians of Martinique and Guadeloupe AMBAC (plus branches), BIBAC, ANBAGRO, ABIESI and ARAI Association of Librarians of Netherlands Antilles and Aruba (APLA) Nicaraguan Association of Librarianship and ABUEN Panamanian Association of Librarians Peruvian Association of Librarians Association of Librarians of Puerto Rico Library Association of Trinidad and Tobago Association of Librarians and Allied Professions of Uruguay College of Libraries and Archives of Venezuela, Professional Association of Academic and Specialized Information Services Table 6. Regional associations Association Inter-American Association of Agricultural Librarians and Documentalists (AIBDA) Caribbean Association of University and Research Libraries (ACURIL) Latin American Association of Librarianship and Information Science Schools (ALEBCI) Public Library Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (ABIPALC) Association of Librarians Schools of the Southern Cone Headquarters Costa Rica Puerto Rico Costa Rica Venezuela Uruguay

17 Latin America and the Caribbean 123 Estela Morales Campos graduated in librarianship and then obtained her Ph.D. in Latin American studies from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She was Research Officer at the Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Bibliotecológicas (CUIB) of UNAM, and was distinguished as researcher of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores de México. She served as Director of the Congress Library ( ) and of CUIB ( ). She then became Academic Secretary of the Research in Humanities Group of UNAM ( ). Since 1988 she has been a professor of postgraduate studies in librarianship. She is the author of six books and has published a large number of articles on librarianship. She is an active member of several professional associations at the national, regional and international levels. Estela Morales Campos Professor Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Dirección General de Bibliotecas Edificio Biblioteca Central Ciudad Universitaria México, D.F. Mexico Tel: (5) Tel/fax: (5) Fax: (5) moce@servidor.unam.mx

18 Information services worldwide 124 Libraries and the book chain In the book chain, libraries have usually played a rather self-contained role. As non-profit agents, libraries were cut off from the book s economic life, which took the book to the reader via the publisher and the bookseller. With the take-off of the electronic publishing market, they are moving towards full integration in the book chain, where they are now likely to play an economic role. A rough indication of the relevance of libraries as an economic player in the book chain may be illustrated by the relationship between the turnover of the national publishing industry and the size of library acquisitions in the European Union. Table 1 gives the gross income of the publishing industry in twelve European Union countries, and the corresponding public library acquisitions expenditures per inhabitant (only public libraries have been considered because they are the most important purchasers of national literature) and total library acquisition expenditure per inhabitant. Data are drawn from an inquiry made by a consulting agency, BIPE Conseil, in 1989 (Ancillani, 1992), and library statistics ( ) issued by the European Commission (European Commission, 1995). These figures give a rough comparative vision of readership in the European Union, from an economic point of view. Table 2 shows the ratio of public library acquisitions to book industry gross income per 1,000 inhabitants. It is easy to see that countries are listed in a different order from Table 1. It would be a mistake to draw firm conclusions from such library statistics, which do not take into account book exports (relevant especially in the British, Spanish and French cases) and acquisitions made by academic libraries. What is unquestionable, however, is that reading practices vary greatly in Europe and that they are independent of economic indicators (such as Gross Domestic Product). They are, instead, very much subject to national library policies as an essential ingredient of national book