Dawn’s posterous

Yesterday's half-day of presentations was a useful continuation of our dialogue with the vendor about their product and the requirements of our libraries. Like other East Asia-based companies with whom we do business, CNKI is in a difficult position in that they create and design their product for the far larger local market and find that we are not shy about expressing the ways in which our needs. One presenter made a very strong argument in response to the frequently raised point that North American libraries consitute only a small part of the market for Chinese vendors' products, so the vendors needn't be overly concerned with our demands. He pointed out that the publications and teaching of the users who constitute this small market of scholars in North American research libraries have a great deal of influence in the international academic and political arenas.  After two days of interaction in the form of formal presentations and informal encounters at meals, however, each side seems to have come to a deeper understanding of the other.
Today we begin our two weeks of actual classes about all aspects of Chinese librarianship. I hope that the vocabulary items I absorbed over the past two days will stand me in good stead.