Laos: learning from the world, bringing knowledge back home

Laos Library and Information Consortium (LALIC), 2009 annual meeting, Central Library, National University of Laos.

The opening of the third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge is part of an ambitious plan to create a modern Silk Route of roads and railways linking East Asia with Europe, and it is hoped that policy changes such as tax reforms and plans to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) will help Laos to grow economically. The largest growth sector is tourism, attracted by the unspoilt environment and ambient Buddhist culture.

Historically, however, movement has been in the other direction with a skilled emigration rate of 37.4%, according to a 2000 World Bank report. Precipitated by poverty and an underdeveloped infrastructure, Laos has no railways, a rudimentary road system, and limited telecommunications. The “information superhighway” that offers much potential to people living in other parts of the developing world, remains a pipedream.

“ICT infrastructural problems, such as unstable IP addresses, slow connectivity and lack of computers mean that we cannot currently utilise free resources, such as open access journals, in a meaningful way”, said Mr Chansy Phuangsouketh, Director, Central Library, National University of Laos (NUOL) and President of Laos Library and Information Consortium (LALIC). Printed resources are also scarce due to meagre budgets, a reliance on book donations and a publishing industry that is largely state controlled. The National Library produces a national bibliography each year, but this cannot be printed due to lack of funding. “So LALIC has decided to focus on building our professional capacity, and sharing our knowledge through cooperation to support teaching, learning and community library services”, continued Mr. Phuangsouketh.

LALIC has seen steady progress since its registration with the Ministry of Information and Culture in 2005. It charges a modest membership fee to its twelve members (Central Library at the National University of Lao, eight faculty libraries, Lao National Library and three special libraries) to fund activities during the year, a signal of a pro-active consortium providing services to its members. “Our priority is cooperation, as we cannot work stand-alone”, added Mr Phuangsouketh. “We try to develop a mutual understanding by meeting each other regularly and by promoting best practice information services and skills among our libraries”.

As there is no library school in Laos, staff must go abroad to countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, France, Russia, Australia and Japan to receive professional training. This could have resulted in a brain drain, but instead the international knowledge and experience are harnessed when the professionals return home, and shared with the network for the benefit of all; a brain gain.

The return of Mr Sithong Sikhao to the National University of Lao after a two-year International Master programme in Digital Library Learning (DILL) funded by the European Union's Erasmus Mundus Programme, is an example. LALIC has ambitious plans to establish a digital library using Greenstone, the open source digital library software. Mr Sikhao will apply his studies of cutting-edge digital library research and practical applications to increasing the availability of much-needed resources in local languages, such as theses and dissertations. With two other staff soon to return from Thailand after completing their masters in library and information studies, their expertise will be used to further develop library services. The National Library of Laos has projects for unique national heritage collections waiting to be untapped, such as the preservation of traditional palm leaf manuscripts, recordings of traditional music and photographs from the French colonial period.

LALIC also makes the most of international volunteers working in Laos and recently organised a training programme attended by thirty participants, including fifteen consortium members, on Information Literacy Education. Models and standards, information literacy in the electronic environment and how to develop an Information Literacy Education programme were among the topics discussed in the week-long seminar.

“The fact that people are returning home with new competences and are part of a network, helps them to implement locally what they have learnt abroad”, says Monika Segbert, eIFL.net Management Board. “If people have a vision for how to improve libraries and services for their users, it can be achieved. That’s the lesson from Laos. eIFL is proud of the achievements of LALIC and is ready to provide assistance and advice”.

July 2009