As the World Wide Web becomes a global tool of information, Central and Eastern European national libraries are already contributing much valuable information through their websites. A well-designed website may attract a large number of virtual users who may be interested in a particular library. The article examines fifteen Central and Eastern European national library websites using the following criteria: accessibility (e.g., the availability of the English language version, connection time, etc.), content (e.g., description of services, description of collections, etc.), and organization and navigation (e.g., links to OPACs and national bibliographies). The reviewed websites show varying degrees of complexity from the simple National Serbian Library to the more advanced Czech National Library. The article also discusses the changing roles of national libraries to meet the needs of remote users.
The topic of the destruction of libraries during World War II has been well publicized. However, the American Library Association’s assistance with postwar cultural rehabilitation of Eastern European libraries remains relatively unknown. The paper examines the “Aid to Libraries in War Areas” program, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and administered by the ALA, with respect to Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia (Soviet Union), and Yugoslavia. The program consisted of two parts: the first, which ran from 1941 to 1947, dealt with periodicals; the other, in operation from 1944 to 1947, focused on books. Its goal was to replenish, though on a limited scale, devastated collections with American publications unavailable to most European and Asian libraries during Axis occupation.
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