The 7th Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA) Biennial Conference was held during 16-18 November 2011 at the University of New South Wales. This conference had a Library session, chaired by InJung Cho, with three papers.

The presenters and abstracts of the papers are:

Jung-Sim Kim of Monash University presented the first paper, entitled “Korean databases in Australia-for whom, how, why?”
Abstract: Although libraries are providing resources in both print and electronic formats, the recent trend is that more resources are coming in electronic format. This paper investigates how Australian-based researchers in Korean Studies use electronic resources via Korean databases. The survey helps us understand who is using these resources and, hopefully, will help increase both the number of available databases and the number of users.

Darrell Dorrington of the Australian National University presented the second paper, entitled “Maintaining a world class niche library support service in an economically challenging environment.”
Abstract: The numbers of challenges facing the information professional servicing a “niche” clientele in a modern tertiary institution are daunting. Apart from the most basic challenge of the quantum and market value of our book vote, other challenges such as staffing pressures, space, language or skills limitations, institutional structural opacity and a myriad of other issues all impinge on our ability to provide a quality service to our users. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the avenues available to us as partners in the academic enterprise to innovate and adapt such that the quality of our service is not compromised (and in fact can be enhanced) within the real constraints of our current operating environment.

Jung Ok Park of the National Library of Australia presented the third paper, “the National Library of Australia: Korean Collection.”
Abstract: The National Library of Australia (NLA) is the country's largest reference library. Its collections take many forms. These include books and serials, manuscripts, pictures, music, oral histories and digital items, and reflect the nation’s diversity. As the largest reference library, the Library’s Asian collections are also the largest in Australia (with holdings of over half a million volumes) and a major strength of the overseas collections.
Asian Collections is divided into five teams responsible for developing and managing the Library’s Asian language collections. Staff of Asian Collections select, acquire and catalogue library materials from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Indonesia. The priority in collecting about Asia in Western and Asian languages has been on East Asia, that is China and its periphery including Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as Japan and the Korean peninsula, and Southeast Asia, consisting of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia. Asian language items are frequently requested on interlibrary loan and via Copies Direct and staff provide these services as well. The Korean language collection at NLA numbers some 45,000 volumes of monographs, 1,500 serial titles and 200 titles of DVDs as well as 20 newspaper titles. It is the largest and most significant Korean collection in Australia, and has been assigned a high priority in the Library's collection development policy. We regularly acquire books, journals, DVDs and currently published newspapers from vendors in South and North Korea. Use of the Korean Collection has been gradually increasing over the years, and we will engage with users in more varied ways to improve our services and enrich our collections.

The session provided about information of Korean collections in Australia and discussed how to improve services to our users.