some reflections on the library scene in burma today

Int. Libr. Rev. (1976) 8, 151-163

Some Reflections on the Library Scene in Burma Today* MICHAEL W. HILLt

INTRODUCTION

Though a three-week visit to a country is far too short to enable an authoritative picture to be presented of the library scene, since it is rare to see anything in the library journals by or about Burmese libraries even some superficial observations may be of interest. My main concern was, of course, to study library resources for the support of science and technology but among the 24 libraries I visited were six major ones outside the field of natural sciences, namely the National Library, the Sarpay Beikman Library, the National Library in Mandalay, the Mon State Library in Moulmein, the Library of the International Institute of Advanced Buddhistic Studies and the Library of the Institute of Social Sciences.

The historical development of libraries in Burma up to the end of the 1960s has been given in detail by Bixlerr and by Kurshid,s while some descriptions of individual libraries are annexed to Birkelund’s study report.3 Some recent notes have been compiled by Nunn.4 The political and economic scene is still very much as given by Bixler. Burma is essentially a non-aligned country trying to create a national unity, culture and way of life despite the large number of different groups and languages from which the population is made up. Although there is little sign of desperate poverty, as is visible in India, in most families, it seems, both husband and wife have jobs, sometimes as many as three

* The views expressed in this article are entirely the author’s own and do not represent those ofeither the Ministry of Overseas Development or The British Library.

t The Science Reference Library, 25 Southampton Buildings, London WCZA IAW, England.

1 Paul Birder (1970). Libraries in Burma. In Kent, A. and Lancour, H. (Eds), Encyclo- paedia of Library Science. Vol. 3.

2 Anis Khnrshid (1970). Library development in Burma. 3ournal of Library History 5,323. 3 Palle Birkehmd (1969). Report on the Development of Burmese IJniversity and Research Libraties

UNESCO Paris. Serial No. 1186/BMS RD/DBA. 4 Raymond G. Nunn (1974). Libraries in Burma--1974.

M. W. HILL

each, for prices are high relative to wages. In consequence it would appear to leave little time for the average Burmese to read yet, I was told, numerous private lending libraries to be found in the streets, often literally on the pavements, of Rangoon do a thriving trade in popular fiction. On the other hand state libraries outside Rangoon, open only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. are but little used save by children and students since all adults are at work during that time.

Publishing in Burma is somewhat limited by shortage of good quality printing paper, though two paper mills are now operating and an intensive research programme on the production of paper from indigenous woods is under way. Although I saw pilot scale production of filter papers for university and research use made from local woods, the development of other papers from Burmese hardwood did not seem yet so advanced.

Nevertheless, despite paper shortage and price, books are being published, so that gradually a corpus of modern Burmese literature is being built up. Whether legal deposit works very effectively I do not know, but the National Library receives issues of some 40 periodicals, seven newspapers and about 100 new titles of books each month. Though not large by Western standards, such an input from the pub- lishers is clearly important if literacy is to be encouraged, for the people normally speak Burmese. English is a foreign language, taught in all schools from about the sixth grade onwards but normally used only for talking to English or American people-who are few in number in Burma-or for postgraduate research work in medicine and the sciences.

Books written in English are, therefore, read only if it is necessary, for example by research workers or by students on an English course, much as English people read only French or German when they must. I found some good collections of English literature and general works in the state libraries at Mandalay and Moulmein but was told that they were scarcely ever used. The same picture emerged from the much more heavily used Sarpay Beikman Library. By 1973 the annual number of books borrowed had grown to 60 000, nearly all were in Burmese. Yet the library’s stock of 32 000 books includes 10 000 English language ones and four fifths of the reference stock is in English. The number of registered borrowers at this library was 14 000.

Although Burma is potentially a rich country, she has not been able to build up through exports sufficient reserves of foreign currency to enable her to buy more than a small fraction of the materials, including paper for printing or books and journals for the libraries, that she needs. In consequence a very tight control in the spending of foreign exchange has to be maintained and priorities are allocated at a very high level. While

REFLECTIONS ON LIBRARY SCENE IN BURMA TODAY 153

it would appear that Burma would welcome any aid she were offered by the developed nations, she understandably takes great care that accept- ance of an offer does not affect her status as a non-aligned country or her target of achieving a truly Burmese way of life.

OVERALL ORGANIZATION

The libraries of Burma fall into the province of several different ministries. The National Library in Rangoon, the so called National Library in Mandalay and the three or four state libraries are responsible, often jointly with the corresponding museum, to the Ministry of Culture. The Sarpay Beikman and its associated official publishing house are part of the Ministry of Information, which also runs about 100 or so small reading rooms in the towns and larger villages throughout the country. The university and technological. institute libraries are, of course, under the care of the Ministry of Education with the exception of the libraries of the medical schools which, together with all other medical libraries, are part of the Ministry of Health. The other Ministries have responsibilities, as is usual, for their own library and for those within industries and institutes themselves responsible to Ministries: thus the sizable, by Burmese standards, combined libraries of the Myanma Mineral Development Corporation, Tin Tungsten Corporation and the Geological Survey and Exploration Corporation fall under the aegis of the Ministry of Mines. Meanwhile, the library which is being developed into a national science library is the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry.

Burma has been criticized for not adopting a policy of having a single planning or co-ordinating body for libraries. Whatever the reason for this, it does not appear to stem from any lack of interest at the top in libraries, nor from any failure to appreciate their potential value. It was no less a body than the Central Research Policy Board, which is a committee of Ministers and top level administrators, which issued the directive to transform the library of the Central Research Organization into a Central Science Library to serve research needs throughout Burma. Indeed, it seems that Burma prefers to work by direct involve- ment of Ministers in this way rather than by giving a single department authority to set up co-ordinating machinery for activities which involve several departments. Nevertheless, a single body may be authorized to carry out co-ordinated actions agreed at Ministerial level so that the Central Universities Library in Rangoon acts as a central purchasing body for all foreign journals for all departments at the main university, at the associated colleges including those in other cities and for the

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University of Mandalay and its colleges. Similarly the Department of’ Medical Research Library purchases centrally for all medical libraries and the Central Research Organization purchases foreign journals for a wide range of industrial and Ministry libraries.

Thus, as far as research libraries are concerned one sees, rather than a single dominant library, of the style of the Lenin Library or the Biblio- thkque Nationale, or a focal one like the British Library, the emergence of a few library groups, each with a central co-ordinating library, each with its own distinct role.

The state and national libraries have only recently been brought together under the one Ministry, so it is too early to observe any new pattern but it seems obvious that they will concentrate on Burmese history, literature and culture (throughout this article the term “Bur- mese” should be understood to include all the various races, cultures and languages of the indigenous peoples of Burma) and exclude topics which necessitate acquiring significant amounts of foreign language material. Comparative religion, for example, appears to be deemed the province of the International Institute of Advanced Buddhistic Studies. The National Library is the only one which receives literature on legal deposit-the Central Universities Library used to be a deposit library but ceased to be so several years ago. At present no national bibliography is compiled but the Chief Librarian, Daw Than Than Aye, told me that it is planned to start one soon. The main bibliographic activity of this library is the compilation of an index to articles from four of Burma’s leading newspapers.

A recent successful venture is the co-ordinating of all medical libraries, both of universities and hospitals, by the library of the Department of Medical Research. This library maintains on cards a union catalogue of the holdings of all the medical libraries which any librarian can consult by telephone. The library is sending out summaries of recent medical research in Burma1 and is well advanced in planning other current awareness services. Staff will search the literature on request for information or prepare bibliographies of topical interest. An annotated bibliography of medical literature on Burma and one of Burmese indigenous medicine are part of its programme. The librarian, Daw Khin Thet Htar has compiled and published Who’s Who in Medicine in Burma.

One needs only a brief visit to Burma to discover that, the field of medicine apart, the literature needs of research scientists and techno- logists are just not being met. The reason is simply that, as with other

1 DMR Newsletter (1974). No. 1 DMR Ministry of Health Rangoon. 2 Department of Medical Research (1974). Research Programmes and Facilities 1974. DMR

Ministry of Health Rangoon.


developing nations, the material needed is published abroad and Burma just has not got enough foreign exchange to meet all the demands. I estimate that the total number of different scientific journals, including medical journals, currently on order for all the libraries of Burma put together is less than 1000 titles. When compared with the 30 000 currently judged by Britain’s Science Reference Library to have research value, Burma’s plight becomes obvious, even more so when it is realised that shortage of foreign exchange limits not only the ability to purchase .journals but also both the ability to order photocopies from abroad and even its ability to purchase sufficient paper for its own photocopy machines (incidentally there does not appear to be a single electrostatic copying machine of the Xerox 9 14 or 3600 type anywhere in the country; indeed some libraries, e.g. those of Mandalay University and Moulmein College, have no copying machine of any type, even though there is no legal restriction on copying in Burma).

Much of the scientific literature that is held is noticeably out of date and holdings of what journals there are seemed to be distinguished more by the gaps than by the sequence of volumes. Yet there are a substantial number of libraries, each serving the needs of different groups of scientists and each needing a wide range of materials. The Government has accepted that, provided some additional funds can be found and donations made from abroad, the most economic way of giving effective assistance is to set up the Central Science Library, and to give it means to obtain and supply photocopies and, if necessary, loans. This will be practicable in Burma since the country’s postal service between main towns seems reasonable swift and reliable, even if the service to sub-post offices is not.

The Central Science Library proposes to establish not only docu- mentation but also reference and information services but, clearly, docu- ment supply is the first priority. And the first priority in achieving that target is to build up the library’s stock of those journals and monographs needed for research and development in the country. The difficulty is the obvious one, namely, that currently Burma is so short of foreign exchange that even the cost and the demands of creating a single library, which would be very small by western standards, is in that country quite substantial. Therefore, either the development will be a long, slow one or help will be needed in the form of donations of books and journals from more developed countries.

ACQUISITION OF BOOKS

In Burma, not only are all major industries-except the Black Market- nationalized but all bulk and overseas commerce is organized through

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13 trading corporations. Trading corporation no. 9 is the one with which libraries wishing to buy foreign books and journals have to deal.

It is apparent that the authorities realize the problems created in a corporation geared to deal with bulk orders by the needs of libraries which order but one copy of each item. Already the Central Universities Library, the Department of Medical Research Library and the Central Research Organization Library are empowered to order direct from abroad issues ofjournals, provided a given budget is not exceeded. These three order journals not only for themselves but also for the other libraries which they co-ordinate. It will be interesting to see if in due course this delegated authority to purchase is extended to books.

LIBRARY ACCOMMODATION

Libraries in Burma have many difficulties to contend with other than shortage of books. White ants and fungi are hazards of its tropical climate. A solution of mercuric sulphate in methylated spirits is used to kill the latter: I was relieved to hear that despite the use of such toxic material, there had been no fatal accidents amongst library staff.

Then, the buildings are rarely suitable. The National Library, having left the Jubilee Hall several years ago, is now in another temporary home on the top floor of Rangoon Town Hall and seems likely to stay unless thrown out. Mandalay University Library has the whole of a building to itself but the upper floor leaks water and the lower one is a converted auditorium. Neither has air-conditioning. Even in hot, humid Rangoon, libraries have only the ceiling mounted fans characteristic of such areas, not air-conditioning. An exception is the library of the Central Research Organization, which has air-conditioning, though the accommodation in other ways is less than suitable for a library. Only the International Institute of Advanced Buddhistic Studies, which has a most beautiful building, and the Institute of Economics, which was helped by Ford Foundation funds, have well planned, well-housed libraries, though I found the relatively simple premises of the Mon State Library at Moulmein pleasant enough.

Two new significant library buildings have been designed, one for the Central Library of Medicine at the Department of Medical Research, and the other for the Central Science Library at the CRO. The DMR library expects to have a new building constructed soon with an adjacent auditorium. The present library, a pleasant one, is brimful of literature and the new building is eagerly awaited. Plans are complete, the site, very close to the present library agreed and, it is understood, the Japanese Government has agreed the finance. The CR0 library will be erected


in three stages, starting with an air-conditioned, seven storey stack building. The reading and office areas, three floors high, will lead off from the side of this so that there can be open access to some floors of the stack building. Finally the third stage will comprise an auditorium area. The concept of an auditorium adjacent to the library seems almost de rigueur. It is already to be found at the Institute of Advanced Buddhistic Studies.

There are two developments expected in Rangoon University. A new building close to the present library is being planned but, at the same time, it is proposed to move all the science faculties to a new campus near the Inya Lake, and to build new science libraries there.

OPEN OR CLOSED ACCESS

In most Burmese libraries, books are kept in glass-fronted bookcases, which are firmly locked, or on stacks in rooms to which only a few approved people have access. Though to those of us brought up on open- access such practice may be anathema and indeed, Burmese librarians have been strictured by Dailey (see Khurshid’s article) for their restric- tive approach, the librarians in fact need sympathy and perhaps practical assistance towards finding ways of overcoming the theft problem. Not only are such collections as they have so small that the loss of any item is significant, but the librarians are held responsible for the safe- keeping of their collections. Because the collections are small, so are the numbers of staff, so that constant vigilance is impracticable. As mentioned earlier, Burma is so short of quality paper that, I was told, overseas textbooks or journals may be stolen not to read but to sell for pulping and, if pay is low or prices are high this is hardly surprising for the thief most likely either has a large family to support or is a junior member of one (large families are still encouraged in Burma where the total population is still only 26 million in a country larger than the U.K.). Rather than criticize, then, the Burmese librarians for their unwillingness to give would be readers ready access, it is preferable to see what construc- tive help can be given, so that unauthorized removal of books can be prevented. There are several automatic detector devices on the market and I am sure that any major Burmese library would welcome the gift of one of these, together with a supply of the associated inserts for the books.

However, before it is assumed that all libraries are entirely closed access or locked cupboard type, it must be mentioned that two major libraries, those of the Institute of Social Sciences and of the Department of Medical Research, do allow readers direct access to browse among the

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literature and benefit accordingly, but such open-access facilities are limited almost entirely to research workers.

CATALOGUING

Turning to traditional library operations, most libraries catalogue according to AACR rules and classify (where this is done at all) by Dewey. Such uniformity of practice is aided by the close contact the principal librarians appear to maintain with one another. However, the central medical librarian is having to consider changing to another scheme, probably that of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and to indexing using MESH, in an attempt to use a system purpose built for medical literature.

Even if it had a substantial input of western publications, which it has not, Burma would not be able to make use of MARC tapes since there is no computer suitable for handling them. The only machine, so far seems to be an ICL 1902S, which is being used for research work at Thamaing College near Rangoon. However, as if to show that whenever possible, Burmese librarians can lead the way, the librarian of the Sarpay Beikman, Daw Tin Aye Kyi, has already (1974) instituted cataloguing in publication of the products of the Hanthawaddy Press, which is the publishing house operated by the Ministry of Information. This librarian has also instituted a programme of microfilming for preservation purposes and had, by the time of my visit, already micro- filmed some 395 books and short runs of the Rangoon Gazette and The Nation.

LIBRARY TRAINING

There is no Library Association in Burma to act as a qualification awarding body, but a part-time diploma course has been set up within Rangoon University. It is directed by the Universities Central Librarian, U Thaw Kaung, while the librarians of the major libraries of Rangoon willingly give their time to take various sections of the course.

The only other planned training given within Burma has been that of the Sarpay Beikman Library which has run a number of training classes since 1953, primarily for assistant librarians who run the 100 or more reading rooms of the Department of Information in the towns and major villages of Burma.

All Burma’s senior librarians and many of the junior ones have had training abroad, attending library schools in the United Kingdom, the United States or Japan. It must be difficult for those with experience


only in Burmese libraries to adjust to such courses, designed as they are for the librarians of advanced countries, whose problems are those of dealing with resources vast by comparison with those in a Burmese library and with library technologies so far quite inapplicable there. Library schools are, of course, well aware of this problem, which faces students from any developing country, as well as with the language problem-even when the students apparently speak good English they do not always understand modern idiom, for words acquire new meanings very rapidly nowadays, apart from any question of the acronymic jargon we speak. But for Burmese students the transition is particularly difficult as they have little contact either with foreign librarians or even visitors from developed countries. The only foreigners present in the country for more than a week (the limit for tourists) are Colombo Plan, UNDP and like experts.

THE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES

I visited both Rangoon and Mandalay universities and saw the main libraries at both and departmental libraries at the former. I also visited the Rangoon Institute of Technology, Moulmein College and the In- stitute of Veterinary Science. Not only the librarians but also the senior academic staff were at pains both to give a picture of the way each worked and the way the library situation affected teaching methods. In each case, teaching of undergraduates is in Burmese, and an adequate number of scientific words have been given Burmese equivalents through the efforts of the Burma Translation Society’s successor, the Translation Commission at the Sarpay Beikman Institute, to make this practicable. During some of the science and technology courses, tuition in the use of technical literature is given, but no real feeling for the value of it can be imparted because of the paucity of resources.

At the Rangoon Institute of Technology, for example, students who have matriculated can be accepted for a six-year course or, if more advanced, at 18 for a four-year one in one of eight departments: civil engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, textile engineering, mechanical (including agricultural) engineering, mining, metallurgy and architecture. Students are given an orientation course, which includes an introduction to the main library and to their small departmental library, soon after arrival. Further library training is given at intervals during their courses. However, the students have direct access only to a few current issues ofjournals. Otherwise all the 30 000 volumes held by the Institute library are in locked cupboards or closed

160 M. W. HII.1,

access stacks-since as many as 100 copies of some books are held the number of titles does not exceed 10 000 and a substantial proportion of these are of little practical value.

Of the 3900 enrolled students, 40 are now undertaking the first series of advanced courses, leading to a master’s degree. The MSc. course, like postgraduate science courses elsewhere in Burma, is conducted entirely in English so that much of the first term is spent learning technical English. The first two years of the course lead to a written examina- tion and are then followed by three year’s practical work culminating in a thesis. In planning research projects, the teaching staff take into account the library facilities and initiate only projects for which the facilities are adequate. Since the library has only one abstracting journal, Engineering Index, and but few of the source journals, the scope for library experience is not great and the limitation in the choice of projects can be imagined.

The Institute of Veterinary Science, a teaching college, has a small library with 20 or so seats but little sign of use. It takes about 50 current periodicals including Veterinary Bulletin, Animal Breeding Abstracts, Dairy Science Abstracts and Index Veterinarius. The earliest issues are 1964 and holdings are distinctly patchy. Here students receive no instruction in literature use but are expected to look up references given by the lecturers. The consequence, according to the staff, is that those who qualify know only what they have learnt, but do not know so well how to extend their knowledge.

At Mandalay, although there are about 7000 students and 400 teaching staff on the main campus, only a small proportion of the students become registered library borrowers. Because of the design of the main library, even books for reference use are drawn from a closed stack room and are taken by the student along an unguarded corridor past the exit to the reading room, so that only registered borrowers can use the central library at all. It holds 22 000 books but only three serials. The remaining 60 000 books and 200 serials are distributed between 13 departmental libraries.

There is a similar situation at Rangoon University1 where less than half the current serials are held by the Central Universities Library, the majority being distributed to departmental libraries. These departmental libraries vary from being purely for undergraduates (the Botany Department Library) to purely for research (Zoology Department) but even those serving both clienteles (e.g. Physics Department Library and Chemistry Department Library) have little undergraduate use. These

1 Universities’ Central Library (19647) A descriptive leaflet. Universities’ Central Library Rangoon.


libraries are small (between five and 25 current journals in each), but well looked after by the librarians and lecturers in charge.

Both in these universities and at Moulmein College (9000 books, 72 journals only to meet the needs of 10 scientific departments) it was easy to sense the frustration of the highly qualified research staff, most of them trained in the U.S., U.K. or Japan, at the lack of literature resources. Few of the relevant references traced from abstracting journals -for those lucky enough to have access to appropriate abstracting journals--can be obtained from the library. Photocopies are obtained in a few cases from the other libraries but in general it is necessary to order them from abroad and the extent to which this can be done is limited. However, the Central Research Organization has been granted some funds to operate centrally a copy ordering service which will optimize the use of precious foreign exchange for this purpose.

Of course, the medical faculties are an exception. These are all ser- viced by the Department of Medical Research Central Library and funds are reasonably plentiful. It is the other sciences and technologies which suffer most, for virtually all material must be purchased from abroad (Burma produces three scientific journals). The arts and humani- ties manage to avoid the problems, for in these subjects Burmese literature is relatively plentiful and foreign material seems to be but little called for.

INDUSTRIAL AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES

The industrial concerns I visited all had libraries and realized their importance towards helping Burmese industry catch up with that in more developed countries and were enthusiastic about the idea of a central science library to serve their needs. The Myanma Oil Corporation has a small library on its Syriam site serving the needs of the 120 scientists and engineers there. All the items held are relevant to the wide varying needs of an industrial concern but it was obviously short of journals, short of AIP publications, has to rely on visits to the Central Research Organization (some miles away) whenever Chemical Abstracts are needed; it also lacks publications containing market information.

The Myanma Mineral Development Corporation, the Tin Tungsten Corporation and the Geological Exploration and Survey Corporation have very sensibly merged their libraries into a single one which serves the 1000 or so scientists and engineers of the three companies and is under the personal supervision of a Deputy Managing Director. How- ever, although the collection is substantial by Burmese standards, on a quick investigation one was struck by how many items appeared to be of

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little immediate practical value, though some of the old journals no doubt contain valuable reports of survey work. An out-of-date set of British Standards, for example, was awaiting binding rather than dis- posal despite the fact that there was a good collection of standards a mere 10 minutes walk away.

The Central Research Organization contains the best science library in Burma and it is planned that this library shall become a central science library serving both industry and university research needs in just the same way as the DMR library serves the whole medical com- munity. It contains an excellent standards library and a well-stocked atomic energy library, both now operated as sectors of the main library. Because, as mentioned earlier, the CR0 library is already acting as a central serials purchasing agency for a dozen other organizations, it is well placed to make a start on compiling a union list of holdings of scientific and technological journals in Burma. As also mentioned earlier, a new building is planned and construction should start this year, to replace the seven small rooms in three separate parts of the present building complex which house the collections, staff and users. The library has photocopying equipment, both photographic type-which is very slow-and treated paper type, though until now funds for the purchase of treated paper have been small.

However, despite being well endowed compared with other libraries in Burma, its resources are woefully inadequate for its task. The 9000 monographs and reference works are rather elderly and the coverage of subjects very patchy. Although about 675 journals are held, of which 272 are currently on order, holdings in many cases amount to one or two volumes only and in the great majority of instances there are large gaps in the sequences, virtually none of which go back before the 1950s. The major abstracting journals are an exception and thus the librarians and scientists can identify articles they should consult: rarely are those identified available from stock. If such articles are deemed important enough to justify the cost of obtaining copies, the librarian has to get them from abroad. Inevitably, perhaps, the British Library is used but so is the U.K. Chemical Society Library and, no doubt, others when appropriate.

This library is striving to obtain back runs of those journals which are relevant to applied science and technology as it is developing in Burma and is hoping that funds will permit it to build up to the 1000 or so current journals it needs for sectors where modern science is being applied. Certainly since postal and telephone services are good in Burma, the concept of a central science library is feasible and should facilitate the optimum use of science literature and financial resources.


CONCLUSION

There seems little doubt that in Burma the importance of good library facilities for technological progress is appreciated at the highest levels. Only the dearth of foreign exchange impedes the ready availability of scientific literature, since it must all be brought from abroad. Exchanges cannot be developed on any scale until research is well advanced and that needs the stimulus of published literature-which brings us back . . . ! In sectors of library activity where they are not hampered by lack of foreign exchange there are encouraging signs of initiative and a refusal to be daunted by the difficulties which confront the librarians everywhere. Perhaps the next 10 years will see the emergence of a genuine Burmese style of librarianship, based on the country’s resources and needs, developing from the copy of western practice which is the present starting point. Certainly if the amount of time and interest which senior officials are prepared to devote to helping establish good scientific library resources is an indication, Burmese librarians need not fear lack of high level support.

some reflections on the library scene in burma today

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