INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Jeanne Hurley Simon

Chairperson
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Washington, D.C., 20005-3522, USA

Good morning, and thank you Dr. Chen. You are a tough act to follow. I don't have any pictures, and only hope that my picture will be up there someday in future conferences.

Distinguished guests: I think I have met many of you earlier. It is such a pleasure to be in the midst of your company. I feel most inadequate even addressing a few words to you. But I do like the fact that a distinguish member of our Commission staff, Peter Young, has guided me and kept me informed of this meeting. I have only been the Chairperson of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science for a year, but it has been a great year of learning for me. I think when I first sought this job, I really did adequately pursue the administration. I didn't quite realize what I was getting into. Now, a year later, it has really been in a crisis. The events of last Tuesday [the U.S. election, in which many Democrats lost their bids for Congress] may not mean anything to any international members, but they do mean a great deal to the national members here. I am sure that libraries can overcome anything from last Tuesday. Libraries are going to continue, and as part of our job, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science advises Congress and the President of the United States on the status of information providers, such as libraries and the needs of libraries. We will continue to do that job, no matter who is in power or who is going to get it. The Commission is made up of members with many different background and party affiliations. It gets together for the common good of libraries. I am glad that you are pursuing the definition of the global information infrastructure (GII). Right now we are still trying to find out what national information infrastructure means to us. We have long way to go to define that term. If we do, I will feel a lot more comfortable. We are pleased as a National Commission, as suggested by Dr. Chen, that we have made a small contribution to the success of this conference, which I can see clearly now is vital to the future of libraries and GII. Our commitment is strong and will continue to be so. I wish you well in advance in doing a successful job. I am looking forward to Peter's [Peter Young] and John's [John Lorenz] interpretation of what this really means so that we can advise the Administration.

In the next few weeks, my husband [Senator Paul Simon] and I are going to be traveling to Beijing, Mongolia, North Korea, and Vietnam. I am going to try and visit the libraries there. I understand that the temperature in Mongolia right now is in the single digits, so I am going to bundle up in my Down's jacket and find out where their libraries are, and what is going on in those libraries. Thank you so much Dr. Chen for your warm welcome and I wish you the best in your proceedings.

[Ching-chih Chen]

Thank you very much Mrs. Simon for your kind words, and I eagerly await to hear about your trip to China.