all corners. These disks were then copied success­ on the cataloging department “Easter egg tree” fully. (Figure 3). This procedure kept the disks from The dripping wet disks were peeled out of their touching each other, and also kept the disk surfaces plastic sleeves (see Figure 2). The plastic sleeves of from coming into contact with any other material some were relatively easy to pop open. Others were or contaminants. more difficult, and a paper cutter was used, first A new dry disk was then cut open by trimming making sure to tap the sleeve to position the disk off about 1/16 inch of the write-protect edge with a away from the edge being cut. paper cutter. The disk was removed from the plas­ Each disk was then wiped dry with a rag! The tic cover and set aside for later replacement. One janitor closet yielded a box of clean, soft, lint-free by one the bare disks were slipped into this dry rags (from old thermal underwear). The waffle­ cover, run, and copied. All disks copied success­ weave cloth shown in Figure 2 dried well and did fully, and everything—including the entire micro­ not leave lint on the disks. software serial—was salvaged. ■ ■ The disks were then hung for further air drying Library consultant in Indonesia By Tanja Lorkovic Head of Cataloging University of Iowa The state of librarianship in one developing country. T his article was inspired by the consulting re­ The project’s objectives were to upgrade aca­ port, “The Team Approach to Library Consulting demic programs, curriculum, teaching manage­ in a Developing Country,” by Carolyn A. Snyder, ment, library service, and physical facilities of Larry W. Griffin, Andrea Singer, and Roger Beck­ USU. Among the four long-term and 21 short-term man of the Indiana University Libraries (C & RL consultancies in diverse academic and professional News, December 1985, pp. 629–32). It prompted fields was a request for a library specialist. I ap­ me to recount my own experiences as a University plied and in September 1984 I was appointed by of Iowa librarian during a year of consulting inter­ MUCIA to the position of library specialist for the nationally at the University of North Sumatra, Me­ University of North Sumatra Project. In April 1985 dan, Indonesia. the Project Implementation Unit at USU accepted In July 1984 the Office of International Educa­ my appointment. During the negotiation between tion and Services of the University of Iowa an­ that Unit and MUCIA, the initial 15 man-months nounced that the Midwest Universities Consortium for the library specialist was shortened to 12 man- for International Activities (MUCIA) had been months with the provision that the remaining three awarded a contract funded by the Asian Develop­ months would be allocated for a specialized library ment Bank (ADB Loan No. 525-INO) for the Uni­ consultation that might be needed later. The orien­ versity foNorth Sumatra/Universitas Sumatera tation process started at the University of Iowa Utara (USU) Development Project. where I was given a Bahasa Indonesia textbook, 636 / C & RL News The author places the cornerstone in the foundation for the new Central Library building at the University of North Sumatra, Medan. materials on Indonesian history, culture, socio­ c. Preparing lists of books and journals required, economic and political development, and some in­ and establishing a system for regular requisitioning formation about the University of North Sumatra. and ordering; establishing suitable links with pub­ I arrived on site at Medan on September 7, 1985. lishers as well as local and foreign libraries, with a Following my arrival, I established a working view to assisting library development. relationship with my counterparts Dra. Ramla d. Establishing suitable classification, filing, Sari and Dr. Rustam Effendi. The counterparts are and cataloging systems; establishing the best com­ an important part of the consultancy. Their role is puterized coding for these systems. that of a vital link with the university—they pro­ e. Establishing a suitable system to facilitate in­ vide the necessary library information in the Indo­ formation retrieval, including copying facilities for nesian context. They bridge the cultural differ­ staff and students. ences that are invariably present when one works f. Planning the recruitment and training of USU in a developing country. Ultimately, the counter­ library staff; meeting all library staff and checking parts are the ones who will carry on the project qualifications; assessing educational needs. when the consultant returns to the United States. g. Organizing a library committee and meeting Only as a team can the consultant and his counter­ with it regularly. parts be able to bring about a change in the library services at the University of North Sumatra. Review of library facilities The terms of reference for my consultancy pre­ pared by university administrators and the Project The review took place at both local and national Implementation Unit officers were as follows: levels. I found out that at USU there were two sepa­ 1. Review existing library facilities, collections, rate library systems: and services available at USU; review the library The Central Library (Perpustakaan Pusat), situation in Sumatra and elsewhere in Indonesia whose librarian reports directly to the rector. The with an emphasis on cooperative endeavors. Library’s holdings are approximately 10,000 titles 2. Prepare and assist in the implementation of and over 25,000 volumes of monographic publica­ plans to improve the existing library system with tions and 43 serial titles, none of which represent a special reference to: complete run or subscription. The Central Library a. Determining the extent of centralization and is staffed with 18 employees, three of whom are decentralization of library facilities. professional librarians. b. Planning the space requirements, layout, stor­ Departmental Libraries (Perpustakaan Fa­ age, study rooms, and other requirements for the kultas), consisting of nine departmental libraries new central library building. that are units of faculties, which report directly to November 1986 / 637 their respective deans. These units are independent b. According to the Abstract Master Plan of the of each other and there is no organizational link be­ Development for the North Sumatra University of tween the central and nine departmental libraries 1980-1990 and its projection of physical develop­ either through supervision or coordination. The to­ ment, the size of the Central Library will expand tal staff of departmental libraries is approximately from 1,61.0 square meters (1980) to 6,090 square 40 employees with collective holdings of close to meters (1990) while the size of all departmental (fa­ 24,000 monographic titles in 95,000 volumes, and cultas) libraries will remain unchanged. 450 serial titles. c. The new Central Library building will be cen­ In order to understand the general Medan li­ trally located on campus and therefore easily acces­ brary situation, I visited the Medan Public Library sible to all patrons. and the Regional Library of North Sumatra. Both d. The university administrators favor the cen­ visits were useful, because they gave me a broad tralization of library services—with the possible picture of the system of provincial and public li­ exclusion of the Law Library and the Medical braries in Indonesia. I also had several delightful Library—over the continuation of the current de­ talks with Mr. Halim Lukman, the owner of a local centralized system. bookstore, Toko Buku Deli. He provided much in­ e. Resources acquired with the Asian Develop­ formation pertaining to the logistics of book acqui­ ment Bank loan funds are deposited and will con­ sition in Indonesia. tinue to be deposited in the Central Library. Thus, From October 26 to November 2, my counter­ the book collection of the Central Library will be part Rustam Effendi and I visited the libraries of significantly enlarged. educational colleges and universities in Padang (West Sumatra) and in Jakarta and Bogor (Java). The new central In Jakarta, Aside from Universitas Indonesia and library building IKIP Jakarta, we also visited the Indonesian Insti­ According to the terms of the contract, my con­ tute of Science (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indo­ sulting responsibilities were defined as those of a li­ nesia) and its National Scientific Documentation brary consultant/book collection specialist. An­ Center, the National Library of Indonesia, and the other consulting position as a library building Center for Library Development, Task and Func­ specialist was to be filled later. In November 1985 I tions (Pusat Pembinaan Perpustakaan Nasional). was asked, however, to give comments on the blue­ We also held a valuable conference with Prof. print for the new building. I agreed only after it Frank Hogg, consultant of the World Bank Project was understood by all parties involved that I am for the development of schools of library science in not a library building specialist and therefore my Indonesia. He recommended USU as a regional comments, given from the point of view of a prac­ center for library education in Western Indonesia. ticing librarian, would be general in nature and The last meeting of our study tour was held in the would rely heavily on the library literature. home of Roger Beckman and Andrea Singer, li­ The plan for the new central library building brary consultants from the Indiana University Li­ was approved by the Asian Development Bank in braries for the MUCIA/World Bank Project IX. Manila on January 24, 1986. On May 21, 1986, the We exchanged ideas and compared our efforts for cornerstone ceremony took place at USU and the the development of centralized library services at construction of the new central library is now un­ two different universities. derwav. Two important points resulting from this study tour should be stressed: •Library services at the institutions we have vis­ Establishment of a ited are better developed than those at USU.