RIETI Policy Symposium

Business Assisting Services at U.S. Public Libraries

Announcement

No one has an optimistic view of the recent economic climate in Japan, but some active policies are being taken in terms of assisting entrepreneurs and venture businesses. However, the fruits of such labor are sometimes difficult to see.
Given this situation, we would like to study business assisting services at U.S. public libraries in order to recognize the need for and build similar new policies in Japan.
U.S. public libraries play a very active role in vitalizing local industries. We would like to introduce how they are dealing with entrepreneurial support and business assisting for small and medium enterprises. Furthermore, our objective is to present what role public libraries in Japan could play, in terms of creating new businesses and strengthening the management foundation of small and medium enterprises.
We are inviting three guests from the United States to introduce their respective cases. Mr. William Walker is a director in charge of research libraries at The New York Public Library, which is renowned for having the most advanced business assisting services. Mr. Alvin Roselin is a chairman of SCORE, Service Corp of Retired Executives, which is conducting free business consulting services in a tie-up with public libraries. Finally, Ms. Jennifer Keohane is a Business Outreach Librarian at Simsbury Public Library, which is highly regarded as one of the best libraries in the U.S., and known for providing business services rooted in the local community.

Information

  • Date and Time: Fri. July 11, 2003 13:00-18:00
  • Venue: U Thant International Conference Hall at United Nations University
  • Language: English (Simultaneous translation in Japanese available)
  • Host: RIETI and Japan Business Library Association
  • Charge: ¥1,000 (Those who participate in the reception need additional ¥1,000)
  • Contact: RIETI Kiyoko Nakayama (RIETI's Conference Manager)
    Tel: 03-3501-8398   Fax: 03-3501-8416

* Part of the symposium proceedings will be videotaped and broadcast on the internet in the near future at the RIETI website. Any printed matter will also be available on our website.

References

Agenda

Moderator:
MATSUNAGA Akira (Professor of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics, Nagasaki University)
13:00-13:10 Welcome Speech
OKAMATSU Sozaburo (Chairman, RIETI)
13:10-13:40 Opening Speech
"The present situation of business assisting services at Japanese public libraries"
- TAKEUCHI Toshiaki (Chairman, Japan Business Library Association)
13:40-14:40 Keynote Speech
"The most advanced business library -- The New York Public Library"
- Kristin McDONOUGH (Director of Science, Industry and Business Library, The New York Public Library)
14:40-15:25 Case Study 1
"SCORE's Role as Business Consultants at Public Libraries"
- Alvin ROSELIN (Chairman, SCORE New York)
15:25-15:45 Coffee Break
15:45-16:30 Case Study 2
"Business Services Rooted in the Communities"
- Jennifer O. KEOHANE (Business Outreach Librarian, Simsbury Public Library)
16:30-18:00 Panel Discussion
Panel:
Kristin McDONOUGH (Director of Science, Industry and Business Library, The New York Public Library)
Alvin ROSELIN (Chairman, SCORE New York)
Jennifer O. KEOHANE (Business Outreach Librarian, Simsbury Public Library)
NAMBA Tomoko (President, DeNA CO., Ltd)
TOKOYODA Ryo (Director, Urayasu Municipal Library)
Coordinator:
SUGAYA Akiko (Fellow, RIETI)
18:30-20:00 Reception in Reception Room of UNU
* The agenda is subject to change.