National infrastructure of library and information services in Arab countries

Background A recent thrust on the development of a network for library and information services in the Arab world becomes evident from the conceptual design of the Arab Information System-Network (ARIS-NET), proposed in the 1987 Conference of Arab League Documentation Centre (ALDOC) held in Tunisia on the theme "Information for Development in the Arab World"[1]. This may be termed a fresh impetus to an idea already floating for the last few years. In 1982, the First International Information Conference held in Cairo contained specific proposals for the realisation of a similar network[2]. The 1987 conference may be seen as a progressive continuation of the same proposition. Earlier initiatives can even be traced in the late 1970s when serious discussions for the establishment of regional or sectoral databases were held[3]. While the need for and importance of the establishment of a network catering to the library and information needs of the Arab world are being recognised, certain understandings also prevail about the prerequisites of such an undertaking. There appears to be a consensus among the thinkers and designers of the proposed network that resource sharing can only take place in the presence of an infrastructure at the grass-roots level. It has been increasingly emphasised that any multinational regional network would operate through the organisational and professional apparatus available within each member nation. Existing networking trends serve as an outgrowth or extension of the early efforts at resource sharing which had prompted the concepts of universal bibliographic control and universal access to publications. These concepts were translated into international initiatives by some international agencies like FID, IFLA, UNESCO, UNISIST and UNIDO which developed a strategy of approaching individual nations to develop the fundamental infrastructure of library and information services. A national system of bibliographic control and access was considered the nucleus of these initiatives. During the 1970s, IFLA launched two universal campaigns of UBC (Universal Bibliographic Control) and UAP (Universal Access to Publications). The underlying theme has been the development of basic institutions at national