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The transformation of academic libraries in China

Anthony W. Ferguson

Yesteryear’s libraries

While the emphasis of this chapter will be on the transformation of academic libraries over the course of the last 20 years, I would like to begin with some personal impressions obtained more than 30 years ago when I went to China with a Committee on East Asian Libraries delegation (Perushek, 1980). Since we were there for just a short time, these views cannot be seen as definitive, but they can perhaps serve as a benchmark against which the transformation of academic libraries in China can be understood. Thirty years probably sounds like long ago, but for me it seems just like yesterday when we took the train to Canton from Hong Kong to catch a ...

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