On November 19, 2014, a coordination meeting on the introduction and sharing of The Open University of China’s (OUC) library databases was held in Beijing. The theme of the conference was standardizing the mechanism for the introduction and sharing of the digital library databases in support of the growth of the OUC.

Vice president of the OUC and the director of the OUC Academic Library Committee Zhang Hui gave the keynote address. He pointed out that, in cooperation with the "Digital Library Project of Radio and TV Universities (RTVUs)," the provincial level RTVUs should strengthen their efforts in the following 6 aspects: First, they should purchase digital resources appropriate to their specific characteristics and in harmony with the current status of the OUC for the procurement of resources and make such procurements available to the system-wide “digital library project of RTVUs”. Second, they should plan and build a professional database appropriate to their specific characteristics and according to their faculty specialty or local situation. Third, according to the "Forum of the OUC” model, they should invite some experts, scholars, and celebrities from within their own universities and local districts to deliver lectures to be recorded as videos. Then, they should build up a video library of these lecture videos for the local RTVUs, and include them in the video library of the OUC. In this way, the resources of all RTVUs can be shared nation-wide. Fourth, they should invest more resources in paper books, and purchase more valuable paper books in harmony with their own characteristics, so as to improve the quality of their book borrowing library system. Those RTVUs with a qualified digital library management system should leverage its advantages to improve the service level of the library and be well equipped for the future establishment of a unified search platform for national data collection. Fifth, they should digitize non-book materials, such as ancient books, tapes, CDs, and other audio-visual products, valuable or memorable old photos, films, and other media and establish an appropriate storage and retrieval platform in order to make it easier for readers to access and share resources. Sixth, they should purchase a high-end, classical, and sophisticated foreign language database and minor language databases.

Assistant to president of the OUC and director of the Library Yang Xiaotang reported the information about the introduction and sharing of the databases. He said that the new information environment has created a new demand for the construction of digital library. The library should seriously further explore how to establish a system of literature information resources for the OUC; how to provide digital information services and literature to distance learners and social groups; and how to establish a mechanism for the healthy development, introduction, and sharing of literature information resources. The library development project should start from the current state of the digital literature services, and work hard at providing digital library resources and services for teachers and students of the OUC through this learning resource.

Zhao Xuan, deputy director of the OUC Learning Resources Library Division, has illustrated two guidance plans on the introduction and sharing of the databases, namely Measures on Introduction and Sharing of Databases for the OUC Library and Detailed Rules on Joint Procurement of Databases for the OUC Library. He said that the coordination work on the introduction and sharing of databases is important for the OUC Committee for Academic Library's implementation of digital library construction. Such work is helpful in coordinating system-wide database construction and forming an effective mechanism of joint building and sharing; it is conducive to forming an overall market outlook on the open universities (RTVUs), helping all relevant universities to take the initiative in the market to protect the interests of each university. In addition, as a part of the system building of the OUC Committee for Academic Library, the Committee for Academic Library considers the coordination work as a starting point from which it will gradually establish sound and complete system-wide rules with construction and service as the centre.

At the meetings, participants discussed many issues concerning Measures on Introduction and Sharing of Databases for the OUC Library, Detailed Rules on Joint Procurement of Databases for the OUC Library, plans on the introduction and sharing of library databases for 2015, strategies and methods of how Tongfang Knowledge Network series database will be introduced, as well as key points on how to build a digital library, how to make breakthroughs, and in building strategies. They have outlined work to be done in the summary of “the promotion year of the digital library” for the OUC, and relevant reading activities. It was agreed that under the leadership of the OUC Committee for Academic Library, the OUC should take the lead in conducting work related to the introduction and implementation of the databases, as well as in the establishment of a joint procurement mechanism.

Party secretary of Bingtuan RTVU Lv Xiong, vice president of Liaoning RTVU Xing Gucheng, and directors of Libraries of 18 provincial RTVUs attended the meeting.

By Zhang Hongli, the OUC