University of Hong Kong Library Designated U.N. Depository LibraryThe University of Hong Kong Library has been designated as the United Nations depository library, becoming the eleventh United Nations depository library in China, the United Nations said Tuesday.Established in 1911, the University of Hong Kong Library is the oldest academic library system in the Hong Kong region. The system has over 1.7 million bound volumes, more than 46,700 serial titles and approximately 900,000 audiovisual and non-print items. The University of Hong Kong Library is fully automated and its over 72,000 users have online access to international library catalogues and external databases; nine of its staff of 40 professional librarians manage the United Nations deposit, which consists of printed publications and masthead documents, including Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) masthead documents, in both Chinese and English. Since 1946, the Dag Hammarskjold Library at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which is part of the Department of Public Information, has arranged for the distribution of U.N. documents and publications to users around the world through its depository library system. At present, there are 383 United Nations depository libraries: 55 are located in Africa, 88 in Asia and the Pacific, 18 in Western Asia, 34 in Eastern Europe, 85 in Western Europe, 49 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 54 in North America. These libraries receive United Nations materials, with the understanding that their collections will be maintained in good order and made available to the general public free of charge. The designation of depositories is carried out by the United Nations Publication Board. The degree of development of the requesting libraries and the overall geographic distribution of depository libraries in the countries concerned are among the criteria used. |
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