Gordon Aamot, Business Administration Library,
Tatiana Grekhova, Far Eastern Technological Institute,
and Ivan Komachinskiy, FETI student and translator

Russian Librarian Visits

Gordon Aamot, Business Administation Library

During Winter Quarter 1996, the UW Libraries and School of Business Administration hosted a visiting Russian librarian. Tatiana Grekhova, Director of the Far Eastern Technological Institute (FETI) Library in Vladivostok, visited the UW Libraries from February 22 to March 19 as part of the School of Business Administration's Partnership for Management Education Program. Funded by a USIA grant and coordinated by the Business School's Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), the program is designed to facilitate contacts between Russian and UW faculty members and librarians.

The political changes of the past few years have caused great shifts in Russian higher education, from an emphasis on educating technicians and engineers to one where business, international trade and entrepreneurship are much more important. The goal of the UW project is to advise FETI partners on how best to design and implement their new business programs. The grant also will provide approximately $15,000 for the purchase of business library materials to help support FETI's new business curriculum. The object of Grekhova's visit was to provide her with an opportunity to learn about American libraries and establish relationships with UW librarians. She received orientations to a number of UW Libraries units, as well as Seattle Public and Bellevue Public Libraries. Her program constituted a broad overview of many aspects of American librarianship-from service programs to technical processing to administration and fund raising. Since FETI's programs are primarily focused on business and economics, she also spent considerable time at the Business Administration Library discussing issues of mutual concern. She was especially interested in the planning for the new Foster Business Administration Library now under construction. Her institution is planning an expansion of the library and she was very anxious to learn about the UW's plans.

Gordon Aamot will visit the FETI library in Vladivostok for two weeks this spring. He will assess the collection, consult on planning for the new library and, upon returning to Seattle, will order the library materials funded by the grant.

International exchanges of librarians provide valuable experience for each party involved. On the one hand, they offer UW Libraries' staff an opportunity to learn about librarianship in other countries and, on the other, they provide a means for the Libraries to actively participate in international library development. The Libraries have hosted a number of other international visitors in recent years, including librarians from Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, and Romania.