A Study of the German Library and Information Policy After the Unification of East and West Germany

통일 독일의 도서관 통합 과정과 통일 후의 준비 과정에 관한 연구

When the unification process was established, West German librarians formed a commission for all library and information sectors. After legal unification, the committee formed 6 Arbeitsgruppe(AG) to develop library and information policies for the country. This was designed specially to elevate the level of the East German library system to the West German standard. The first AG concerns the public libraries. The second AG focuses on the education system for library and information specialists. The third AG examines the academic libraries. The fourth AG reviews the regional and national library services and the central organization. The fifth AG explores library and information techniques. The sixth and final AG inspects the legal problem of libraries. Each AG consists of specialists from both East and West German library systems who are experts in their particular subject area. The committee has general meetings to determine the best direction for the nation's library system. Common knowledge indicates this unification was based on economical amalgamation(fusion) from East Germany to West Germany. The unification resulted in the library and information recommendations tending to favor the more advanced West German policies. In this process there are a number of subtle ideological and psychological problems. If before the separation they had developed their library system as one entity, they could overcome the current differences. with much less confusion. In this political phenomenon we can learn that cultural unification needs more time than political unification.