THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

The union would involve bibliography, international exchanges,
international inter-library lending and the constitution of central
collections. There should be, however, another unofficial
organisation paralleling the first. This would take the form of
a permanent International Congress of Bibliography and
Documentation whose function would be to develop the kind of
work the present conference was engaged upon. The IIB, if
these two organisations were formally created, would prepare
the congresses, attempt to execute its decisions and provide a
secretariat for the Union.
Some opposition was expressed to the idea of including
international inter-library lending among the functions of the
Union, this being thought more appropriately the work of library
conferences. The Dutch delegates from Zaandam wanted
to see the functions of the IIB and the Union formally extended
to explicitly embrace administrative documentation, a proposal
which had Otlet's support. Otlet had been emphatic that
the proposed permanent International Congress of Bibliography
and Documentation should be composed of two groups
of participants, national groups and international groups.
The French delegate, C. M. Gariel, suggested that national
commissions were unable to participate very successfully in
international congresses and should not be involved. Otlet repudiated
this suggestion believing that the representation of
national, international and special organisations was possible
and their participation actually necessary for success.
Cyrille Van Overbergh, Director-General of Higher Education
in the Belgian Ministry of Sciences and Arts, rose to assure
the conference of the sympathetic receipt by the Belgian
government of any proposals it might make. He was extremely
eloquent about this, obviously concerned at the hesitations and
objections of some of the conference members to the draft text
of the document setting up a documentary union of governments.
He put it this way:
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First of all there is the principle of the union. Everyone seems agreed
on it. This agreement stems from all the conversations we have had
with the members of the conference. Now, it is necessary to be more
precise about some ideas. It is desirable that international exchanges
should become more efficient and more general. Who opposes this? No
one. Who opposes the fact that regional bureaux in each country
should deal with questions of bibliography and documentation and
that relations should be established in some form to be agreed on?
Again, no one. On all these general ideas we are agreed. Now, in my
view this agreement should be formulated in a general fashion. If
you wish it, inform the Belgian government of your resolutions asking
it to submit them to other governments in such a way as to suggest
to them and make them aware that they should assemble, for example
in 11910, to consider an extremely precise program along these general
lines.