During the last week in August, Milan came back to life.

We were told that almost everyone leaves Milano during the first three weeks in August to have a vacation and enjoy the summer weather -- this came as a surprise to our group of American students from Rutgers SC&I who were in the city to participate in the annual IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) meeting. But we could see in the neighborhood of the Lido Hotel that the apartment windows were shuttered and most of the local bistros and shops were shut tight too. As Americans it is difficult to consider a whole city shutting down for THREE weeks, more time than many in the US have for a family vacation. A different sense of time and a revised sense of history were just two of the cultural differences our group of 10 students and 2 faculty members encountered while visiting the meetings and many cultural institutions of the city -- La Scala , the great Duomo, the Castello Sforzesco and the countless other sights and special book collections that reside in Milan, a city ancient and modern.

An excellent example of the intersection of the old and the new was evident at the Digital Library Futures workshop that was part of the conference but held away from the big conference center at the University of Milan. The university's architecture matches many of the other 14th and 15th century structures in Milan, complete with arched corridors, marble sculptures, and a courtyard open to the sun. Although centuries old, the auditorium where speakers gave presentations was climate controlled, comfortable, and outfitted with all the latest presentation technologies (video and audio) complete with a control booth. The 2007 digital Library Manifesto was invoked. It is now on the UNESCO agenda with the intention of getting governmental support for ditial libraries throughout the world. 

Prof. David Nichols had several messages for IFLA participants. We are all the Google generation he said, but interestingly, most of the activity on Google is by robots. The use of the Internet is quite volatile, and it has produced a seven day work week for many of us. He offered this idea: Searchers are promiscuous, i.e., we download much, but read little. Prof. Nichols said that viewing has replaced reading, and that people spend 2-3 minuites reading a site, but then move on. The speaker indicated that we are losing our vertical reading skills. What does this mean for library collections?

One of the more interesting presentations of the day was by Einer Rettinger, professor and performer. He explained the collaborative project that created a digital library with all things related to Edvard Grieg, the Norwegian composer, digitized and available online http://www.bergen.folkebibl.no/grieg-samlingen/engelsk/grieg_intro_eng.html The site was a great effort made by music researchers, librarians, performers, and online technical people in different institutions. Grieg's letters, photographs, digitized music, "Griegiana", and musical scores can all be found on one website. As a performer, Rettinger says one starts with the score. Seeing the original score, complete with notation is a genuine treasure for musicians.

The workshop was filled with food for thought. On return to the conference center the students had an early evening chat with librarian Karolien Selhorst who is a knowledge management librarian for the Vislingen Public Library. Karolien has been a speaker for SC&I's Knowledge Institute, and she indicated that some of her presentations made since then are now available on the Slide Share website 

http://www.slideshare.net/KarolienSelhorst/the-digital-library-project-vlissingen . This presentation is about creating the digital library in a public library, specifically the one at Vlissingen, the Netherlands. Later at a farewell dinner for everyone in the International Librarianship course, Ms. Selhorst indicated that she was quite impressed by the questions the students had asked at the Q & A session.