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The Malaysian MARC (MALMARC) Project, which is one of five cooperative programmes involving the five university libraries and the National Library of Malaysia, constitutes one of the components of the developing Malaysian Research Library Network. The Project began in October 1977 as an experiment as a result of a feasibility study, and became an operational system in July 1979. During the experimental period, costing studies were undertaken and these revealed that for all the participating institutions, an automated cataloguing system was cheaper than the manual system. The MALMARC system is currently being operated by the MALMARC Coordinating Centre at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Details of the system together with flowcharts are provided. The human and technical problems encountered are also discussed and this article concludes with a brief outline of future developments.

Alexander Wilson belongs to a long line of British librarians who have contributed significantly to the development of libraries and librarianship in Malaysia. His major contributions to Malaysia include the preparation of the architectural brief and development programme for the Kedah State Library in 1978, and his assistance to Malaysian libraries in making available copies of Malay documents and books which had been deposited in the British Library (then British Museum) during the colonial period. This essay is written in honour of his contributions to Malaysian librarianship.

This paper surveys interlending in the countries that comprise the consortium of National Libraries and Documentation Centres — South‐East Asia, ie Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. A questionnaire survey revealed that the volume of interlending varied greatly between these countries and was generally low. The number of interlibrary loan requests sent abroad was far greater than the number received. Only a minority of libraries had telephone and Telex links, but many had reprographic equipment. Requests were sent mainly to subject specialist libraries, and union catalogues and central collections were less used. Charges were minimal. The importance of maintaining national and international statistics is stressed. This is one function of national interlending centres, which should be established as independent units in all countries.

This paper takes up a question raised by Edward Lim in an article on the MALMARC Project in the issue of July 1980 regarding the place of advanced technology in the libraries of developing countries where labour is cheap and plentiful. Advances in Malaysia show that some developing countries are more developed than others and that the achievements of the Project confirm that it is appropriate to introduce computers into library work there. The main question remains however, the appropriateness of advanced information systems in developing countries and what standing libraries might have in contributing to the development process where ‘information’ about information could be considered even more important than some of the fields where great effort has long been directed to ‘development’. The paper suggest some areas where library staff ‘displaced’ by automation might best serve in a developing country while libraries themselves attempt to make best use of technological developments available; these should be ‘internalised’ to give the country the best benefit of new advances.

Considers some of the different perspectives to interlending and library practices. Attempts to clarify the nature of some of the costs associated with interlibrary lending (ILL). Observes that basically there is no contradiction in library attitudes towards the need for ILL. Shows that if all costs are taken into consideration, a case for better stocks within a lending system, compensatory measures to net lenders, and a more efficient document delivery system outside the library environment can be made.

Surveys of interlending in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia are reported, together with an examination of journal acquisition in American libraries. Interlibrary lending in developing countries is considered and attention is drawn to the importance of interlending in national library systems and in Universal Availability of Publications. Resource sharing in the USA is reviewed at some length, including discussion of interlending fees and finance, and diverse solutions to the growth of interlending from central stock reserves to on‐line networks and commercial sector involvement. Finally, microform lending centres, telefacsimile and digital text transmission are briefly considered.

“Included in these supplements are additions, eliminations, and changes of classification numbers and the subject terminology covered by these numbers. New matter for the indexes and supplemental tables to the individual schedules is also fully represented.” Information for the cumulations is from Library of Congress sources.

The seminar on global information networking for library applications was organised by the Continuing Professional Education Programme of the International Islamic University (IIU) Malaysia in co‐operation with MIMOS (the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronics) and Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia (the National Library of Malaysia).

Libraries in Malaysia have a history of co‐operation for interlibrary lending, referral services and so on. The MALMARC project, set up in the late 1970s, enabled co‐operative cataloguing to take place and MARC records to be transmitted from the National Library of Malaysia to relevant libraries. By the early 1990s e‐mail had replaced earlier telecommunications technologies for the transmitting of messages between libraries. In 1994 the National Library of Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MIMOS (Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems) to set up a national library network known as JARINGAN ILMU. This paper describes the background to this project and the developments that have occurred.

Acquisition is an essential element in Universal Availability of Publications. An extensive literature review and a questionnaire survey revealed that few countries have a national acquisition policy but that there are numerous examples of informal arrangements involving substantial numbers of libraries. Factors influencing the existence and nature of a national acquisition system include the level of national commitment to libraries, attitudes of libraries to co‐operation, and administrative responsibility for libraries. National plans must be geared to national needs and circumstances; systems may be centralized or decentralized (by subject or other features), and may be centrally planned or based on voluntary co‐operation. The National Library may have a critical role to play. Five possible models are: a centralized unit of first resort; a decentralized region‐based system; centralized national subject libraries; decentralized responsibilities; and a central collection of journals only. Each country can decide on the appropriate model for its situation and requirements.