August was the month of preparation for the fall semester. New staff training, moving and preparing collections, facility work including the University Writing Center and Classroom 254, planning services and events occupied everyone in the Libraries.

August was very busy for everyone in the Administrative Office as well as for myself. I gave keynote addresses at two faculty development workshops on information literacy at Kent State University and Ohio Wesleyan University in Ohio.

I also spent twelve days in Israel to attend the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference in Jerusalem from August 11 - 18. Approximately 1500 librarians from 93 countries attended this conference with the U.S. delegation being the second largest and the Israeli group being the largest delegation. The conference theme "Information for Cooperation: Creating the Global Library of the Future" featured a variety of diverse programs from all over the world and all types of libraries.

As a U.S. representative on the University and Research Library Committee I was responsible for one workshop on "Competencies for the Profession." Speakers from four continents addressed this theme which was of much interest to the conference participants. My committee also had programs on measurements for libraries, copyright issues and information literacy. Several hundred other programs addressed every aspect of librarianship.

Tours of local libraries were of particular interest to everybody and I found my visit to Hebrew University most enlightening, particularly, since my tour guide was originally from Vienna and we could converse in German. Cultural events included an evening at the Israel Museum where we viewed the Dead Sea Scrolls among many other interesting items and a visit to the National Library. Visits to Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Jericho, the oldest city in the world (10,000 years old), the Sea of Galilee, many temples and excavations made this trip most educational. The only sad part was that the Arabic librarians boycotted the meetings. Conference highlights may be found at the IFLA site http://www.ifla.org

The next IFLA meeting will be held in Boston next August and I hope several of us will be able to participate.

--Hannelore Rader, University Librarian