Under the permission of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, on November 4 - 5, 2022, the National Library of Viet Nam (NLV) coordinated with the Library Department and related units to organize the Conference-Workshop "Application of information technology in professional activities of Vietnamese libraries (2017 - 2022)".

Attending the Conference-Workshop, there were Ms. Kieu Thuy Nga - Director of the National Library of Viet Nam, Head of the Organizing Committee, Ms. Doan Quynh Dung - Deputy Director of the Library Department, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen - Deputy Director of the Information Technology Center, Mr. Nguyen Huu Gioi - President of the Vietnamese Library Association, Ms. Huynh Thi Anh Thao - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Binh Dinh Province, and delegates from all around the nation who are representatives of information technology leaders and employees from public libraries, university libraries, special libraries, armed forces libraries, and information-library training institutes.

The Conference-Workshop listened to 20 reports and several lively, serious and frank discussions on the implementation situation and results of information technology application in the construction and development of electronic/digital libraries and digital transformation at libraries and information centers; advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in the process of applying information technology and digital transformation (development policies, infrastructure aspect, data, budget, human resources, etc.); activities of creation, administration, preservation, and distribution of digital collections; mechanisms, policies and requirements for information technology application and digital transformation activities in libraries and information centers in the future; proposed models, technological solutions, utility software, lessons learned, initiatives to effectively apply information technology and digital transformation of Vietnamese and international library activities; activities of cooperation, linkage and sharing of information resources at home and abroad; plans and projects to promote the application of information technology in professional activities at libraries.

The Conference decided on a variety of future growth directions with particular goals, such as:

- Continuing to theoretically and practically contribute to the perfecting of mechanisms, policies, and guiding documents connected to the application of information technology in library operations as a strong legal basis for long-term strategic career growth; Realizing the contents of the Library Law and implementing the inter-library activities; Accelerating digital transformation in library activities to meet the objectives outlined in Decision No. 206/QD-TTg. Ensure the appropriate application of intellectual property law, network security, network information safety, and related requirements.

- Continuing to construct, consolidate, and improve information technology infrastructure; Upgrading application software, particularly digital library management software, promoting digital collection management software, sharing appropriate software for the system, and prioritizing open source software; Promoting librarians' effective utility software and tools; Using library services, digital preservation, tools, and other application software in the future.

- Continuing to unify and define professional standards to foster data integration and exchange at home and abroad; Guiding the use of professional standards for new material formats, compiling standards for digital resources processing, archiving and preservation; actively expand the cataloging in publication activity and adopting centralized cataloging to distribute cataloging processing results to libraries across the country.

- Increasing the digitization of copyrighted information resources, giving priority to rare and precious materials, local history collections, and other types of materials outside the scope of copyright protection and endogenous documents and so on; strengthening data exploitation, integration, and sharing, and cooperation between domestic and foreign libraries, particularly libraries with many common points in the same system, the same region.

- Focusing on improving information technology human resources, developing policies and mechanisms for reasonable remuneration in terms of income and other learning benefits, and creating a favorable working environment for information technology workers to promote their capacity, forte, and long-term attachment to the library.

- Improving financial resources for libraries: Libraries must establish and complete development strategies and plans to prepare the necessary funds for future periods. Stick to legal documents and state laws when developing plans to attract budget capital; Expand collaboration with libraries in the system to provide mutual support and assistance, lowering the load on the budget; Expand service activities and attract investment from social resources.

The participants toured, assessed, and exchanged experiences at the Binh Dinh Provincial Library and several local cultural centers as part of the Conference - Workshop of activities.

The conference-workshop "Application of information technology in professional operations of Vietnamese libraries" went off without a hitch, with excellent scientific content.

Some photos of the same event:

Overview of the Conference - Workshop on Application of Information Technology in Vietnamese Libraries' Professional Activities (2017-2022)

Ms. Kieu Thuy Nga, Director of the National Library of Viet Nam, spoke at the opening of the Conference - Workshop

Ms. Huynh Thi Anh Thao - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Binh Dinh province delivered a welcome speech at the Conference - Workshop

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Anh - Deputy Director of the National Library of Viet Nam presented the Conference – Workshop Lead Report

M.A. Tran Thi Hai Yen - Deputy Director of the National Library of Science and Technology presented the paper "Application of information technology in libraries in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0 and the activities of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information”

M.A. Vinh Quoc Bao - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City General Sciences Library presented the paper "Application of information and communication technology at the GSL period 2017-2022”

M.A. Tran Nu Que Phuong - Military Library presented the paper "Application of information technology and promotion of digital transformation in libraries and reading rooms of the military system"

M.A. Nguyen Ngoc Sinh - Deputy Director of Binh Dinh Provincial Library presented the paper "Vietbiblio shared library management system"

M.A. Phan Thi Ha Thanh - Learning Resources and Communication Center, University of Science and Technology - University of Danang presented the paper "Application of information technology and challenges of university libraries in the context of digital transformation"

M.A. Thai Thi Thu Tham - Director of the Library of Van Lang University presented the paper "The endogenous scientific database management system at the Library of Van Lang University"

M.A. Nguyen Huu Gioi - President of Vietnamese Library Association presented the paper "Digital transformation in libraries and information centers in Viet Nam: Dual roadmap to build electronic libraries - digital libraries, serving the library users”

M.A. Nguyen Thi Minh Trung - Viet Nam Institute of Social Science Information presented the paper "Some issues on modernizing the operation of the library system of the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences"

M.A. Luu Quang Da - Library of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics presented the paper "Management and development of digital resources at the Library of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics"

M.A. Le Duc Thang - Head of Informatics Department, National Library of Viet Nam presented the paper "Exploiting the information potential of libraries with controlled digital borrowing model"

M.A. Vu Thi Nha - World Bank presented the paper "The World Bank Group Library applies information technology in professional activities"

M.A. Huynh Ngoc Minh Thi - Deputy Director of the Learning Resource and E-learning Center, University of Education - University of Danang spoke at the Conference - Workshop

M.A. Ho Ngoc Thien - Director of Quang Tri Provincial Library spoke at the Conference - Workshop

Delegates took souvenir photos

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News: Thu Trang; Photos: Thanh Hà, Thu Trang