Eleventh Transborder Library Forum/Foro Transfronterizo de Bibliotecas

Citation

Baldwin, C. (2001), "Eleventh Transborder Library Forum/Foro Transfronterizo de Bibliotecas", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 18 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2001.23918gac.001

Eleventh Transborder Library Forum/Foro Transfronterizo de Bibliotecas

Charlene Baldwin

Did you ever wonder what is a "coyota"? No, this is not a mis-spelling of coyote, the wily critter of desert fame. This is a special dish in Hermosillo, Mexico: fried bread filled with honey or molasses. Hermosillo is in the heart of the State of Sonora, Mexico: a sunny and charming city famous for its orange trees, its university, its food, and its proximity to the unspoiled beaches of the Gulf of California: Playa de San Carlos and Bahia de Kino.

But from March 15-17, 2001, "world information" was the topic of discussion in Hermosillo as it hosted the Eleventh Transborder Library Forum/Foro Transfronterizo de Bibliotecas (http://victoria.ciad.mx/biblioteca/eventos/foro_xi.htm).

The sponsors of the year's Foro were CIAD, the Centro de Investigacion en Alimentacion y Desarrollo, A. C. (http://victoria.ciad.mx/english.htm) and the University of Sonora (UNISON) (http://www.uson.mx). CIAD is a research center for food and development. It was founded in March 1982 in Hermosillo with the purpose of generating scientific knowledge in three basic areas: the production, preservation, quality and commercialization of food; human health and biological development; and the socio-economic impact of economic development and international integration. The University of Sonora was founded in 1942 with objectives to preserve, create, and diffuse scientific, technological and humanistic culture for the benefit of society. CIAD Librarian Maria Magdalena Vallejo Sanchez and UNISON Librarian Maria Magdalena Gonzalez Agramon were the co-Presidents of this 11th Foro, creating an informative and productive conference for its nearly 200 attendees.

A conferee's day is full at a Transborder Library Forum, and this year was no exception. The conference's program consisted of four workshops, a plenary session, two keynote sessions, a panel of library association presidents, 11 program sessions, an afternoon tour of three libraries, three hosted evening events for networking, an exhibition hall open over 20 hours showcasing 14 exhibitors, and a post-conference tour of Playa de San Carlos.

Simultaneous translation is a service provided at every Foro to allow each attendee the opportunity to participate actively by eliminating linguistic barriers. This year, translation was provided by FIDE Mex-USA, the US-Mexico Fund for Culture. Twenty-three sponsors helped defray the costs of the conference.

The Transborder Library Forum seeks to enhance knowledge and best library practices concerning the following:

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  Professional development: new ideas and abilities to improve libraries' collections and services.

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  Copyright.

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  Border affairs.

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  Techniques for information retrieval.

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  Computer resources.

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  Strong professional relationships among Mexican and American librarians.

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  Increased knowledge of Mexico's and the USA's information resources.

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  Cooperative projects between libraries across North American borders.

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  Sharing cultural heritage

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  Information dissemination to librarians about the most recent products and services.

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  Development of resource networks beyond the boundaries that separate countries.

Themes for workshops at this conference included: Medline for Biomedical and Consumer Health Information; CONSER Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program; Library access and design for those with disabilities; and Archives.

Many papers addressed issues of mutual interest to librarians on both sides of the border. Related to library technology, theme papers included: "Informatics of border health: making available professional consumer online health resources in the Sonora-Arizona region;" "Some problems to access electronic information: is the gap narrowing or widening?" "Resources for distance higher education;" "Internet 2: a bastion for digital libraries;" "What will we do with Internet 2?" "Internet resources as educational tools for academic library users;" "The future of document delivery among international libraries: from Ariel to the WWW;" "Locating United States Government Publications on the Internet: tools that facilitate access;" "Creating relationships and developing instruments to transmit health information to culturally diverse consumers in the Mexican-US border."

The origins of the Foro date from 1989, when librarians from Arizona and Sonora identified the need to foster communication between libraries in Mexico and the USA. In 1991, the first Foro took place in Rio Rico, Arizona. The following year, librarians from Hermosillo, Sonora were hosts. Subsequently, the Foro has been held in El Paso, Texas (1993); Monterrey, Nuevo León (1994); Mexico City (1995); Tucson, Arizona (1996); Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (1997); Riverside, California (1998); Mexicali, Baja California (1999) and Albuquerque, New Mexico (2000).

This year's President, Magda Vallejo, stated, "The Foro is an excellent opportunity to bring together local and regional librarians with librarians from both countries. The future is bright with the plans for the next Foro in 2002."

The next Foro is set for Laredo, Texas, March 13-17, 2002 hosted by Laredo Public Librarian Janice Weber. Contact her at janice@laredolibrary.org for more information, and watch for the Foro XII Web site, forthcoming.

Charlene Baldwinbaldwin@ chapman.edu is Dean of the Library, Chapman University, Orange, California, USA.