2022-07

New Age, New Forces - 2022 World Open Library Foundation Asia-Pacific Conference and the Annual Conference of Chinese FOLIO Community

The "New Age, New Forces - 2022 World Open Library Foundation Asia-Pacific Conference and the Annual Conference of Chinese FOLIO Community" was successfully held online on July 15th, 2022. More than 2,200 people attended the conference and watched the live broadcast through multiple meeting tools, including Zoom, Bilibili Live, WeChat Live, and Tencent Meeting.

The conference was hosted by Shanghai Library（Institute of Science&Technical Information of Shanghai）and Chinese Alliance for Library Service Platform（In preparation）, co-organized by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library & JIATU Technology Joint Research and Development Center of Future Library Smart Service and FDU-SH RFID Joint Research Center on Smart Library, and co-sponsored by Jiangsu Jiatu Network Technology Co.,Ltd. and Shanghai RFID Intelligence Digital Technology Co.,Ltd.

At the opening ceremony presided over by Xu Qiang, Deputy Director of Shanghai Library, Lou Wei from the leadership team of Shanghai Library warmly welcomed all the speakers and attendees on behalf of the organizers of the Conference, introduced the achievements of China’s FOLIO community - the Yunhan Community in the past year, and expressed his expectations for the whole library industry to work together to build smart library service platforms. Tom Cramer, Chair of the Board of the Open Library Foundation (OLF), congratulated the opening of the Conference and called on global library experts, software developers, and business partners to work together to advance the common cause of building a library platform ecosystem in the 21st century.

Nine experts officially joined the Expert Committee of the Chinese Alliance for Library Service Platform (CALSP) at the conference, expanding committee members to a total of 45. Currently, there are 24 member institutions in the Alliance, including 13 libraries and 11 vendors.

The conference agenda included seven presentations, five case studies and one panel discussion. Presenters, reviewers and panelists came from national, academic and public libraries in Asia, Europe and North America as well as leading companies in the library industry in China and in the US. The conference promoted diversified innovation and progress, enhanced mutual understanding and respect, and practiced the concept of win-win cooperation with a rich variety of thought-provoking content and deep dives on important topics in the building of smart libraries and library service platforms.

Delegates from libraries and the industry did wonderful presentations around the theme of the Conference, while focusing on different topics. Tamir Borensztajn, Vice President of SaaS & Open Strategy at EBSCO, focused his talk on openness. Li Xinwan, Dean of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library, talked about interconnection and relevant practices at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library. Chiara Storti, Execution Manager of the National Central Library of Florence (BNCF), Italy, shared BCNF’s experience with FOLIO. Paula Sullenger, Associate Dean for Information Resources of Texas A&M University Libraries, talked about TAMU’s journey with Folio, with a focus on its migration experience. Mao Yajun, Director of Capital Library of China, introduced the practices of intelligent transformation of libraries in China and overseas, especially the achievements of the Capital Library in the construction of Beijing Daxing International Airport Library and Beijing City Library. Zhang Jilong, Associate Dean of Fudan University Library, shared experiences in data development and data services at Fudan University Library. Zhou Lei and other team leaders from Jiangsu Jiatu Network Technology Co., Ltd., introduced the "platform + application" solution of the Yunhan platform (the Chinese version of the FOLIO platform) and the construction of a community featuring openness, sharing, cooperation and win-win ecosystem, from the perspectives of platform overview, platform base, product suite, application ecology and market.

The case study session was convened by Nie Hua, Research Librarian at Beijing University Library and Chair of the Expert Committee of CALSP. Librarians from Shanghai Library, Spokane Public Library (USA), California Institute of Technology Library (USA), EBSCO Information Services, and Lakehead University Library (Canada) shared their experiences in the implementation and development of FOLIO. Each report was followed by an expert review and interaction with the audience online. Chen Ling, Research Librarian of Peking University Library; Cheng Bei, Associate Dean of Shandong University Library; Li Nianzu, Deputy Director of the Capital Library of China; Liu Yuhang, Senior Engineer of the Library of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; Xiao Zheng, Associate Dean of Xiamen University Library; Yang Xinya, Dean of Chongqing University Library; Zhang Jia, Dean of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library (Guangzhou); and Zhang Yu, Director of the Intellectual Property Research Information Service Center of Yunnan University, offered comments to help inspire other audience to think about the cases.

Keven Liu (Liu Wei in Chinese), Deputy Director of Library System and Technology at Shanghai Library and member of FOLIO Community Council, moderated this panel discussion. Invited guests, including Chen Daqing, Li Nianzu, Zhang Jia, and Yang Xinya, exchanged opinions on the pain points in the industry of the library service platforms, the difficulties that Yunhan LSP may face, and the direction of future efforts.

This "New Age, New Forces - 2022 World Open Library Foundation Asia-Pacific Conference and the Annual Conference of Chinese FOLIO Community" created an opportunity for open cooperation and collaborative innovation. It is believed that Yunhan, as the majestic growth and innovation force of building a new ecology of smart library system in the new era, will join hands with industry peers to create and build a bright future of smart library service platforms.

Links to video recordings:

Zoom: https://openlibraryfoundation.zoom.us/rec/share/5h_kgt9GudO6aGp2J1oKU-aWRQ0l-lSE4PSal0INVzJwIVhXfhFnFuQfmeAQnNbR.DdFR5WAdyIEDH7oR (Access Passcode: wolfcon-asia)

Bilibili.com: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1pB4y187Dy?share_source=weixin_web&vd_source=ebc95c2d8972378a5013d3d0c5fa45b6&share_times=1