ELECTRONIC LIBRARY OF UKRAINE PROGRAM LAUNCHED IN UKRAINE Access to Digital Information Through University Knowledge Centers, USAID Support, Project Started in Chicago Electronic Library of Ukraine (ELibUkr)

Kyiv, Ukraine, Mon, Jan 26, 2009

U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C., Mon, Jan 26, 2009 KYIV - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Kyiv, and the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF), announced Monday in Kyiv the signing of a partnership agreement for the establishment of the Electronic Library of Ukraine (ELibUkr©) project. The participating partners and collaborators in the new project are the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Y. Fedkovych National University of Chernivtsi, V. Karazin National University of Kharkiv, the Association ?Informatio-Consortium?, and the Center for Technology Innovation Management (CTIM) at Northwestern University, Evanston/Chicago, Illinois.

The inauguration of the Electronic Library of Ukraine Project (ELibUkr©) took place Monday, January 26, 2009, at noon at the Antonovych Library of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. A one-day conference for representatives of Ukraine?s academic and research libraries is scheduled for Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 9:30 (registration at 8:30) at the same location. The event for the project inauguration and press conference was attended by representatives of the government of Ukraine and the United States, USAID, presidents and representatives of the participating universities, and leading representatives of Ukraine?s business community and civil society.

AMBASSADORS TAYLOR, MILLER, TARASYUK
The opening ceremony and press conference included presentations by U.S. Ambassador William Taylor; former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William Miller; Ambassador Boris Tarasyuk, Ukraine?s Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration, who is also Co-Chairman of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America and Chairman of the Electronic Library of Ukraine?s Advisory Board; Serhij Kvit, President of National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy; Vil Bakirov, President of National V. Karazin University of Kharkiv; Stepan Melnychuk, President of National Yuri Fedkowvych University of Chernivtsky. Presentations were also made by Deputy Minister of Education Maksym Strikha, Member of Ukrainian Parliament and Chairman of the Free Trade Unions of Ukraine; Mykhailo Volynec, Director of the Antonovych Kyiv Mohyla Library Tetiana Yaroshenko and Marta Farion, Chicago, President of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF).

[NOTE: In addition to being President of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) Marta is a Chicago attorney who is on the Executive Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International and initiated this project in 2007. See news release below from the City of Chicago. The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF), Chicago, is a new member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC).] There were additional representatives from the U.S. and Ukraine governments and other organizations, including Janina Jaruzelski, Director of USAID for Ukraine, Belorus and Moldova; Oleksandr Domaranskyj, Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education.
KRAFT FOODS, MICROSOFT, IBM, BAKER & MCKENZIE, CHADBOURNE & PARKE Representatives of Kraft Foods Ukraine; Microsoft Ukraine; IBM Ukraine; J.T. International Corporation; Baker and McKenzie law firm; Chadbourne & Parke law firm; International Renaissance Foundation, IREX, Ukrainian poet and chairman of the organization ?Ukraina and the World? Ivan Drach; President of the Ukrainian Women?s Association ?Zhinocha Hromada? Maria Drach and others also attended. Congratulatory greetings were received and read from the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn and from Ukraine?s Minister of Culture V. V. Vovkun. Many members of Ukraine?s media outlets also attended the press conference.

ACCESS TO A GLOBAL NETWORK OF KNOWLEDGE ?By providing Ukrainians with access to a global network of knowledge, the ELibUkr© project will be an invaluable resource for building a stronger civil society, engaging Ukraine to more fully participate in the world?s community and make Ukraine more competitive on a global scale,? said former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Green Miller, who serves as co-chairman of the board of directors of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF). ?The ElibUkr© will not only allow thousands of academics, students and universities to immediately gain access to a wide-range of information, but also will create new opportunities for generations to come,? according to Miller. The ELibUkr© is a nation-wide linked Electronic Library/Knowledge Centers network that will provide academics, students and practitioners enhanced access to the world?s digitized network of academic and research information, thus promoting the active use of local, regional, and global information. The project will upgrade the intellectual holdings of Ukrainian libraries and include them into the worldwide digitized information network.

CREATION OF KNOWLEDGE CENTERS In addition to increased access to databases, the project initiates a new concept to Ukraine - the creation of critically important Knowledge Centers, which will play a key role in utilizing the system effectively. These centers will provide training programs for librarians and users and will promote the evolution of a linked industry-academic community, a key element for economic progress and stability, which until now has been absent in Ukraine. These Knowledge Centers will become the central element which will link the country?s academic and research communities with the world of practice and utilization, through collaborative programs with business, healthcare, and all other institutions of civil society. In spite of Ukraine?s highly developed expertise in computer technology, science and research, as well as some of the world?s finest universities and research centers, Ukrainian scholars and academics still do not have the same equal access to the world?s electronic information available in North America and Western Europe. The ELibUkr project will overcome this serious shortcoming, propel Ukraine through the curtain of information isolation and provide the means to become competitive within the world community.

KYIV MOHYLA FOUNDATION OF AMERICA (KMF), USAID, KRAFT ELibUkr© is an initiative of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) that is made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID and the collaboration of a consortium of participating Ukrainian universities, as well as CTIM and Association ?Informatio-Consortium?. This project would not be possible without the substantial support of USAID and additional assistance from the Ukrainian Library Association, the International Electronic Library Consortium eIFL.net, KRAFT Foods Ukraina, Dragon Capital, media sponsor Ukrainian National Television Channel 1, and the journals Library Planet (Bibliotechna Planeta) and Library Forum of Ukraine (Bibliotechyj Forum Ukrainy). ELibUkr© has further been supported by the continued and long-standing connections between the Sister Cities of Kyiv and Chicago, with their numerous educational, cultural, medical and government exchanges which were launched in 1991. The project is a product of the strong partnership of trust and mutual understanding which resulted when Chicago and Kyiv were linked through meaningful activities that have international impact benefiting the people of the United States and Ukraine. The ELibUkr© project is an investment in Ukraine?s future and will be implemented immediately. The first stage will be launched at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the Y. Fedkovych National University of Chernivtsi, and the V. Karazin National University of Kharkiv. The ELibUkr© will be available for the participation by the universities of Ukraine. For further information contact: Tetiana Yaroshenko Vice President and Director of the Library National University of ?Kyiv Mohyla Academy? Managing Director ELibUkr Kyiv, Ukraine Tel: +380-44-425-6055 Email: yaroshenko@ukma.kiev.ua
Marta Farion President of Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (UMF) Chairman of the Board of Directors ELibUkr Chicago, Illinois Tel in Ukraine during the conference 099-721-72-33 Tel in the USA 773-490-9797 Email: marta@farion.org

FOOTNOTE: The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) is a new member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC). Kraft Foods Ukraina, Microsoft Ukraine, IBM Ukraine, Baker & McKenzie law firm and the Chadbourne & Parke law firm mentioned in the article are also members of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), www.usubc.org. USUBC expresses our congratulations to Marta Farion, President of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) and to all these organizations and firms for their outstanding work and support regarding the launching of the Electronic Library of Ukraine Program. USUBC also thanks the Ambassador of the U.S. to Ukraine, William Taylor, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for their strong support. The launching today in Kyiv was attended by the USUBC representative in Ukraine, Ludmyla Dudnyk.

2. CHICAGO HELPS TO LAUNCH FIRST-EVER ELECTRONIC LIBRARY OF UKRAINE
Equal Access to Digital Information through University Knowledge Centers for Ukraine?s Universities
Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Since 1991

Natalie Campbell, Director of Communications, Chicago Sister Cities International Program
City of Chicago, Chicago, Il, Monday, January 26, 2009

CHICAGO - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Chicago-based Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America signed a partnership agreement to establish the Electronic Library of Ukraine (ELibUkr) today in Kyiv, Ukraine.

For the first time Ukrainian academics and students will have access to world?s digitized network of academic and research information on an equal access basis through the Electronic Library/Knowledge Centers. The ELibUkr Project is an investment in Ukraine?s future and will expand to include Ukraine?s main universities within three years.

Realizing that access to academic and research information was nearly non-existent in Ukraine, Marta Farion?president of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America and Chicago attorney on the Executive Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International?initiated the project in 2007.

With the support and collaboration of electronic library organizations, faculty from Northwestern University, the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and other Ukrainian universities, ElibUkr, will provide unprecedented access to public and proprietary information for Ukrainian residents while allowing the rest of the academic world to benefit from the rich intellectual holdings of Ukraine.

?The Chicago and Kyiv Sister Cities relationship is the basis upon which this exciting project was developed,? said Marta Farion, Executive Committee Member of Chicago Sister Cities International. ?I am proud to be part of a truly global project that will not only allow thousands of academics, students and universities to immediately gain access to a wide-range of information, but also will create new opportunities for generations to come.?

?Through their 17 years as Sister Cities, Kyiv and Chicago have shared numerous exchanges spanning education, culture, medicine and government,? said Leroy Allala, Acting Executive Director of Chicago Sister Cities International. ?Chicago Sister Cities is proud to support the ELibUkr Project, and it is the perfect example of how the Sister Cities relationship builds vital links between partner cities that bring about projects that have global impact, benefiting residents both in Chicago and abroad.?

Since the signing of an official Sister City agreement in 1991, Kyiv, Ukraine, and Chicago have developed a strong partnership based on a shared vision of promoting arts, culture, business and education. The Kyiv Committee of CSCIP has played host to several high-level delegation visits and organized numerous cultural, educational and social service exchanges.

ELibUkr is sponsored by USAID in partnership with the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America, the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the Association ?Information-Consortium,? the Center for Technology Innovation Management (CTIM) at Northwestern University, the Y. Fedkovych National University of Chernivtsi, and the V. Karazin National University of Kharkiv and a consortium of Ukrainian universities.

The Chicago Sister Cities International Program, under the auspices of the City of Chicago and in collaboration with the Mayor?s Office of International Relations, provides leadership to develop, manage, and coordinate comprehensive programs and projects with Chicago?s sister cities.

It aims to increase international trade, promote economic development and support exchanges in the fields of culture, education, healthcare, social services, environment, and technology with its sister cities for the benefit of the City of Chicago, its residents and businesses.

Chicago?s Sister Cities include: Accra, Ghana (1989); Amman, Jordan (2004); Athens Greece (1997); Belgrade, Serbia (2005); Birmingham, England (1993); Busan, Republic of Korea (2007); Casablanca, Morocco (1982); Delhi, India (2001); Durban, South Africa (1997); Galway, Ireland (1997); Gothenburg, Sweden (1987); Hamburg, Germany (1994); Kyiv, Ukraine (1991); Lahore, Pakistan (2007); Lucerne, Switzerland (1998); Mexico City, Mexico (1991); Milan, Italy (1973); Moscow, Russia (1997); Osaka, Japan (1973); Paris, France (1996); Petach Tikva, Israel (1994); Prague, Czech Republic (1990); Shanghai, China (1985); Shenyang, China (1985); Toronto, Canada (1991); Vilnius, Lithuania (1993); and Warsaw, Poland (1960).
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Natalie Campbell, Director of Communications
Chicago Sister Cities International Program
78 E. Washington St., 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312.744.2172; Fax: 312.744.2178
E-mail: natalie.campbell@cityofchicago.org