Regional Office Asia, Jakarta, Indonesia

Background

The National Library of Australia’s Regional Office is based in Jakarta, The manager is attached to the Australian Embassy as Second Secretary (Library Cooperation). The manager is responsible for the Library’s Indonesian Acquisitions Program as well as undertaking a variety of liaison and representational activities in Indonesia and the region.

Indonesian Collection

Through its Office in Jakarta the National Library has created a world class research collection on contemporary Indonesia.

The National Library has been collecting material on Indonesia since the middle of the 1950s. Since the Office was established in 1971 over 170,000 monographs, 250 newspaper titles, 5,000 serial titles, several thousand reels of microfilm and sheets of microfiche as well as maps and films have been acquired for the Library from Jakarta and all the provinces of Indonesia. The main subject strengths are in the social sciences and humanities, current Indonesian politics and government, development studies, economic policy, and law. Statistical data has been collected at the national, provincial and sub-provincial levels.

Indonesian Acquisitions Program

Indonesia has historic, cultural, economic and political links with Australia which make the National Library’s in-country representation important. The manager engages with a network of local suppliers who visit government departments, publishers, non-government organisations and other sources of potentially collectable material. A senior officer based in Jakarta is in the best position to extend and strengthen the network of suppliers, and liaise with publishers and institutions. Trends in Indonesia’s publishing industry can also be monitored.

It is important to have an officer based in Jakarta because it is difficult to obtain Indonesian books, serials and other publications in any other way. With the exception of the major commercial publishers, the book trade is not yet fully equipped to cater for overseas customers. Although commercial publishing has advanced a great deal in the past decade, government policy statements and publications on statistics, Five Year Plans, demography, agriculture, future economic development and Presidential reports are still difficult to acquire.

The Regional Office acquires Indonesian monographs, serials, newspapers, and maps for nine national and research libraries in Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The libraries currently participating in the Indonesian Acquisitions Program are:

The Indonesian Acquisitions List (IAL) details books and serials published in Indonesia which have been acquired recently by the National Library through the Regional Office. The IAL is produced quarterly and is accessible online at http://www.nla.gov.au/asian/pub/ial

The National Library also maintains a topical Indonesian Internet Sites Web page at http://www.nla.gov.au/asian/indo/indsites.html which has links to more than 250 select webpages on Indonesia.

Regional Activities

In addition to acquisitions activities, the manager undertakes a significant representational role for the National Library of Australia in Indonesia and the neighbouring countries of Southeast Asia. In particular, the manager liaises between the National Library and Indonesia's major library and research institutions. Library links have been built up over the years through a series of cooperative activities under the Library's Regional Cooperation Program, involving, amongst others, the National Library of Indonesia, the Library of Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and the National Archives of Indonesia.

A close working relationship exists between the Regional Office and its American and Dutch counterparts in Indonesia - the Library of Congress and the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV).

Contact Details

Enquiries about the activities of the Regional Office and the Indonesian Acquisitions Program can be directed to:

Tieke Atikah
Manager, National Library of Australia Regional Office Asia
Australian Embassy
Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. C15-16
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan 12940 Indonesia

Telephone: +62 21 2550 5551
Facsimile: +62 21 2550 5557
Email: tieke.atikah@dfat.gov.au

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