"Libraries and Librarians:
Making a Difference in
the Knowledge Age"
August 16-25, 2001
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Conference Theme
Libraries and Librarians:
Making a Difference in the Knowledge Age
The library exists as an idea and a symbol as well as a physical reality.
Throughout history the mission of the library -- to facilitate the free flow of information -- remains unchanged although change is constantly occurring in the ways in which librarians fulfill the library's mission. Librarians, as knowledge workers, collect, transmit and preserve recorded messages. They organize and manage the storage, retrieval and use of information. They provide personal assistance in tailoring information services for people and institutions. Librarians analyze, evaluate and synthesize the information they collect to create new forms of knowledge. The technology changes, but the mission endures.
The power of technology supports sophisticated systems for connecting people to new forms of knowledge and creates linkages between the expanding physical and intellectual universes.
By harnessing rapidly developing technology with a reaffirmation of the historical values and contributions of librarianship, the chaos and experimentation of the Information Age transforms into a new era of human development -- the Knowledge Age.
< Subthemes
- Advancing the Leadership Role of the Librarian in the Information Age
- Delivering Lifelong Learning Across Space and Time
- Managing Information and Technology in the Knowledge Age
- Developing Information Policies for the Knowledge Age
- Forging Collaborative Partnerships
- Making a Difference --
to Government and Industry in Economic Development
to Society in Social and Cultural Development
to Researchers and Scientists Exploring the Frontiers of Knowledge
to Children and Young Adults in Learning Opportunities
in the Quality of Life to the Public
(Approved by IFLA Professional Board, October 1998)
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