Parliamentary Resource Center is opened in Kyiv (12/10/00)

Parliamentary Resource Center is opened in Kyiv

by Stepan Bandera

KYIV - The library that serves Ukrainian lawmakers has received a much-needed technical upgrade from Canada's government and information experts. Located in the heart of Kyiv, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Resource Center at the National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine (NPLU) opened its doors on November 16.

The new center's resources include a specialized collection of Canadian governmental publications, federal and provincial laws, electronic cataloguing tools, Ukrainian and foreign legal databases, and CD-ROMs.

The Canadians also provided new computers, printers, scanners, bar-code readers and a photocopier. A local area network (LAN) and firewall-protected Internet access were set up, allowing the library to modernize and expand its services. All this new hardware required modern programs, including multilingual optical character recognition, cataloguing and web publishing software. Finally, Ukrainian librarians and parliamentary staffers had to be trained on how to use the resources. The center's collection is online and may be accessed via the Internet.

Speaking at the opening ceremonies, Canada's Ambassador to Ukraine Derek Fraser noted the important role played by Canada's Parliamentary Library in that country's policy development. "A parliamentary library is the backbone in any democracy," Mr. Fraser said.

"It's important to keep this center working," former President Leonid Kravchuk said at the opening.

And work it will, Project Director Lesya Shymko assured. Using modern technologies, librarians are now faced with the monumental task of cataloguing the NPLU's 4-million-piece collection. "The center will also provide confidential, objective and timely delivery of research for all members of the Verkhovna Rada and their assistants," Ms. Shymko said. That research includes a press-clipping service for national deputies.

Opening ceremonies included greetings from Anatoly Korniyenko, general director of the NPLU; Stepan Horlatch, head of the Canadian Friends of Ukraine; and Vice Minister of Culture Leonid Novokhadko. A host of national deputies and governmental advisors attended the opening.

Earlier in the week, the center hosted a seminar for parliamentary staffers on how to use the center's new resources. Forty staffers were expected to attend. But the interest proved to be so great that additional seminars were scheduled. So far, the center's specialists have trained more than 100 staffers.

A roundtable for Canadian and Ukrainian parliamentarians was held on November 7. Former Canadian Members of Parliament Yuri Shymko (Toronto) and Alex Kindy (Calgary), Ukrainian national deputies and staffers participated in the discussions. The roundtable focused on the interaction between parliamentary majorities and official oppositions. Messrs. Shymko and Kindy related the Canadian experience, and how the lessons learned can be applied in Ukraine.

They also discussed bicameral models of Parliament. Ukrainian politicians are currently debating how to implement the results of the 2000 referendum, when Ukrainians approved a presidential plan to introduce an upper house to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada.

The Canadian team of library scientists and experts who worked on the two-year project included Nell Nakoneczny, former chair of the Metro Toronto Reference Library and the Toronto Public Library. Marusia Borodacz, chief librarian of the virtual library at the Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, trained the Ukrainian librarians to use the Internet's most powerful search tools. Bohdanna Wilk was responsible for acquisitions and software training, while library scientist Bill Pawlowsky worked on the project's web technology.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Canadian Friends of Ukraine (CFU) provided funding for the center. The project received an initial boost thanks to a sizeable donation from the Canadian son of Anna and Petro Patyk, who wanted to honor his parents' memory by helping Ukraine, where they lived before immigrating to Canada.

Additional information about the newly formed center and its activities is available on the website www.nplu.kiev.ua.

Stepan Bandera is a free-lance writer who splits his time between Kyiv and Toronto.

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