Ulmschneider, 'Ulmschneider Travels to Germany', NCSU Libraries Newsletter v19n09 (July 1992) _The NCSU Libraries Newsletter_ Volume 19 no. 9 July 1992 Ulmschneider, John E. "Ulmschneider Travels to Germany" During the past two years, the NCSU Libraries has worked closely in several arenas with the National Agricultural Library (NAL) in carrying out the Libraries' Digitized Document Transmission Project (DDTP). The DDTP is a research and development effort funded by the U.S. Department of Education to investigate technical, procedural, and administrative issues involved in bringing digitized document delivery to researchers. The fourteen project participants are all major land-grant universities in the United States. The NAL, in its role as a national library representing the United States on issues concerning agricultural research information, has always engaged in international standardization and research efforts. One long-standing relationship has been with the Zentralstelle fur Agrardokumentation und-Information (ZADI), a German government agency that manages and disseminates agricultural information in Germany. ZADI had expressed special interest in the technology and findings of the DDTP, particularly regarding how this technology might be used to fulfill ZADI's obligations in reorganizing the agricultural information infrastructure in the Eastern states that joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. Eckehard Konig, associate director of ZADI, visited NCSU in December 1990 to see the prototype DDTP software, and ZADI director Anton Mengstl attended presentations on the DDTP at a conference in Washington, D.C., in September 1991. Since NAL and NCSU had already committed to exploring possible international participation in the DDTP, NAL decided to expand an already- scheduled trip to Germany to include presentations on the DDTP. John Ulmschneider (assistant director of Library Systems), representing the DDTP, and Pam Andre from the NAL visited ZADI in Bonn, Germany, from May 12 to 16, to discuss the project and other NAL initiatives. The trip proved fruitful on both the professional and the personal level. Substantial discussions on the DDTP technology and electronic document delivery led to a decision to initiate a sustained effort to support ZADI participation. Initially, this will include grant funding to support software development, as well as ZADI initiatives to install network infrastructure for its own operations and within the German agricultural ministry. ZADI also will support pan-European networking efforts currently underway within the European community. As the first overseas trip for Ulmschneider, it proved to be the ideal initiation to international travel. Unusually cooperative weather, exceptional sausages, great beer, and gracious hosts combined to create an unforgettable experience.