First mirror of IFLANET now launched

[Terry Kuny]

First mirror of IFLANET now launched

IFLANET is pleased to announce that its first Mirror Website,
hosted by the Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique
(INIST) in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France, is now up and running.
You can visit it at: http://ifla.inist.fr/ This mirror site, an
exact replica of IFLA's website at the National Library of
Canada, is of great significance to all our library partners
worldwide and promises to be a very popular information
resource for all those active in the field of information.

INIST steps in to offer ifla its support

Launched in 1993, IFLANET has, in its short history, grown into
one of the leading information and communication tools for the
library and information profession. Access to this net is crucial
for many professionals worldwide and, with the growth of
the Internet capacity problems, IFLANET has sought to manifest
itself for users outside the North American continent. INIST, the
leading French document supply company, through its Director,
Claude Patou, offered its support to IFLA in establishing a
mirror site for IFLANET in France, thereby creating additional
channels of access to the information stored on IFLA's WWW-site.

Increased accessibility for IFLANET

Leo Voogt, IFLA's Secretary General said "This is a first step in
making IFLANET more accessible, and we hope to establish more
mirror sites in the near future. We expect this experience will
be crucial in defining the delivery of IFLA's services to the
members of our networked community. We are greatly encouraged by
the support of INIST and look forward with them and with
IFLANET's host, the National Library of Canada, to sustaining and
developing the role of IFLANET.  The mirror site is an
exact mirror image of the IFLA Web site in Canada. It can be
accessed on: http://ifla.inist.fr/

New stronghold for IFLA in France

Ms Christine Deschamps, of the Bibliotheque de l'Universite Paris
V - Rene Descartes in Paris, France and Member of IFLA's
Executive Board, praised the initiative to launch an IFLA mirror
web site at INIST in France and described it as a welcome
opportunity not only to increase IFLA's visibility in France, but
to further involve the Francophone library community in IFLA's
worldwide activities.

Gold Award for IFLA's WWW site

Only recently, IFLA's Web Site in Canada was given a Gold Award
by NetGuide (CMP Media Inc.) for being one of the best on the
Web. NetGuide, (http://www.netguide.com) who screen over 100,000
URLs and give the Gold Award to only 15,000 of the Web's best
sites, described IFLA's home page as "An impressive collection of
library-related electronic information, documents, journals, and
utilities for the Internet and networks. Find such links as
Notable Electronic Documents, Sites of Interest to Librarians,
and Information Policy Resources, with bibliographies." The
IFLA Web Site is administered by Leigh Swain, Gary Cleveland,
Terry Kuny and Louise Lantaigne of the National Library of
Canada. For more information about IFLANET, send an e-mail
directly to: ifla at nlc-bnc.ca or Fax: +1-819-9946835.
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