    |
||
|
IFLA's General Conference in Boston IFLA Regional Standing Committee Meetings
|
IFLA Core Activity for the Advancement of Librarianship (ALP) |
|
|
2001 Annual ReportBy Gunilla Natvig, Administrative OfficerBackgroundThe mission of the Advancement of Librarianship Programme (ALP) is to further the library profession, library institutions and library and information services in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Within the special ALP areas, the Medium-Term Programme (MTP) goals are to assist in continuing education and training; to support the development of library associations; to promote the establishment and development of library and information services to the general public, including the promotion of literacy; and to promote the introduction of new technology into library services. The scope of ALP is wide. Cooperation with relevant IFLA professional bodies and with regional and international organisations is therefore essential for the implementation of the programme. ALP achieves its goals through a carefully planned programme of different activities in close cooperation with IFLA´s Regional Offices, IFLA´s Regional Division and its three sections, and other partners. This cooperation includes activities such as fund-raising, scholarships and attachment programmes, conferences, seminars and workshops, pilot projects, publications and databases. Staff and FinanceIFLA, Uppsala University and 17 Nordic library associations and institutions fund the International Focal Point (IFP) for ALP at Uppsala University Library. Danida pays for one half-time position and for translations and publications. Sida funds are also used for the secretariat. To this should be added contributions in kind from Uppsala University Library. The ALP IFP was staffed by: Birgitta Sandell Director of the Programme, Gunilla Natvig, Administrative Officer (half-time) and Karin Lindblom, Administrative Assistant (40%). Professional ActivitiesThe sponsors in 2001 were Sida, Danida, Finnida, the Finnish Library Association, the Swedish Library Association and Norad. In addition, those responsible for projects in the regions contributed with their own resources and raised considerable funds from external sources.ALP Meetings and SeminarsTraining seminar on the conception of web-sites and searching on Internet (p. 143). The workshop was organised by Mamadou Ndoye, Director of Bibliothèque de l'Université Gaston Berger and took place in Dakar, Senegal, 9-14 July. The objectives of the workshop were to train professionals to create web sites in order to make an easy access to documents in libraries and to encourage interlibrary exchange. The 12 delegates came from Morocco, Algeria, Ivory Cost, Guinea, Mauritania, Cape Verde, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal. African/Arab Conference on Public and School Librarianship (p. 147). The conference took place in Rabat, Morocco, September 19-21. The objectives were to provide a plan of action for public library development for the future; to standardise and formulate guidelines and to strengthen co-operation and networking amongst public libraries in the region. There were 43 participants from 23 African countries. The meeting has been described in IFLA Journal 27(2001) 5/6 by Kay Raseroka. Part of the seminar was funded by Finnida and Sida. The proceedings of the seminar will be published by IFLA. 1st Latin American meeting on local information services as a tool for community participation (p.339) 18-21 September in Medellín, Colombia. More than 200 people from different countries in Latin America discussed library services related to local needs. There were exhibitions, presentations, round tables and working groups. The proceedings have been published on a CD-ROM. Sida contributed to the workshop. Training workshop on information technology and preservation awareness raising (p.256). This workshop took place in Fiji, 29 October to 2 November. The workshop brought personnel from the Oceania region together at the University of the South Pacific Library for a four day intensive workshop on information technology and one-day awareness raising programme on the preservation of library materials. There were 19 participants from Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Sida funded the workshop. International conference for library and information science educators in the Asia Pacific region (p. 250). The conference was held on 11-12 June, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia and it brought together 50 LIS educators from all over the Asia Pacific Region. 22 papers were presented from 12 countries: Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Kuwait, India and Nepal. A majority of the papers focused on the issues of competencies and core curriculum from a wide range of perspectives - competencies required in various types of information services today, IT-related competencies, and competencies for multi-disciplinary programmes integrating traditional library science with knowledge management, information management and information systems. A small number of papers looked at LIS specialisations, distance learning, Web-based instruction, and the grading of student assignments. Sida contributed to the workshop. IFLA's General Conference in BostonDanida Travel GrantsIn 1998 Danida allocated a yearly sum of DKK 900 000, for the setting up of a Conference Travel grant to enable librarians from developing countries to attend the IFLA General Conferences. To start with, the grant runs for a three-year period and the IFLA Boston Conference 2001 was the third conference to which the grant could be applied. The sponsorship covered registration, travel, accommodation and a daily allowance. 30 candidates were selected for support. Unfortunately, there were problems for many of the candidates to obtain visas and in the end five grantees had not been granted a visa. In addition to the general conference, six of the Danida grantees were selected and invited to attend satellite conferences, five to the pre-conference in Quebec, Canada, august 14-16, "Education and research for marketing and quality management in libraries". One person was selected to attend the pre-conference in Chester, Vermont "Continuing professional education". Two grantees were denied a visa to Canada even though they had already received a visa to the USA. For one it was possible to change the date of the ticket but for the other one there were no seats left for a later arrival to Boston. Fortunately, the organisers accepted a late registration and he could attend the pre-conference "Future places: reinventing libraries in the digital age" at Boston Northeastern university, 15-17 August. Speakers GrantsWith money from Sida ALP supported two people who had been selected to present papers at the Conference in the Open Sessions of the Regional Sections. Ramli Abdul Samad, University Sains Malaysia presented his paper "Integration of Central Asian libraries into the international library society". George Shibanda, Moi University Library, Kenya presented his paper "Skill and competencies for digital information management in Africa". Birgitta Sandell and Gunilla Natvig participated in the Boston Conference and took part in the Regional Standing Committee meetings. IFLA Regional Standing Committee MeetingsThe annual meeting of the Regional Standing Committees in their own regions are most important for the development of ALP.Birgitta Sandell participated in the Africa Section meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. Gunilla Natvig participated in the meeting of the Section for Asia and Oceania in Penang, Malaysia and in the Latin American and the Caribbean Section meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Scholarships and AttachmentsIn Service Training, Attachments, for Middle or Senior StaffFour persons were selected for attachments in 2001 at institutions in the region: Ms Swe Swe Myint, Myanmar; Ms Mary Ann Ingua, Philippines, MD Mozibur Rahman Sarker, Bangladesh and Tong Qingsong, China. Host institutions were: National Library of Malaysia, Hong Kong University Libraries and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library. This project is funded by the Swedish and Finnish Library Associations. The candidates were selected by the Advisory and Appraisal Committee of the Regional Standing Committee for Asia and Oceania. The Bart Nwafor Staff Development Programme in Africa started in 1997 with funding from Norad. The Regional Office for Africa is responsible for the programme and ALP IFP holds and disburses the funds and gives a statement of accounts to Norad. Selected for 2001 were: Blessing Ngozi Okeagu, Nigeria, Assane Faye, Senegal, Paul Ssemwanga, Uganda, Ms Mary Mwelwa, Zambia, Hikwa Mkuleko, Zimbabwe, Duncan Mboma, Malawi. Other Ongoing ProjectsIn cooperation with the IFLA Africa Regional Section and IFLA´s Regional Office for Africa, ALP participated at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, in Harare, 4-7 August. Ms Carole Rioga, University of Zimbabwe Library, was responsible for the stand and the exhibition. The stand was paid for by money from Sida.Journal of librarianship and information science in Africa/Revue de bibliothéconomie et science de l'information en Afrique (p. 24) The first issue of the journal was published in 2001, and the next two issues are planned for in 2002. The project is funded by Sida. The development of self-training package for information retrieval using distance education approach (p. 246). The project has started this year and will be carried out in Thailand. It is funded by Sida. Establishment of libraries in prisons and other correctional institutions (p 349). It is a large project that is also supported by the State of Rio de Janeiro government. With funds from Sida ALP is supporting two workshops and the preparation of a manual. The project will serve as a model for other countries. New readers (p 341). This is a pilot project carried out in Rio de Janeiro. A tutor manual has been produced and in order to test the method two courses have been held. Participants were people over 18 years from the "favelas" with poor literacy skills. Sida supported part of the project. Minor Field Studies (MFS). Sida has a cooperation programme with Swedish universities, Minor Field Studies (MFS), and the ALP secretariat is administering this programme within the library field. The programme aims at giving Swedish students the opportunity to carry out a two months study in a developing country. In 2001 one student studied library activities in Mali. Two students carried out a study on "Reading promotion for the whole population in Penang, Malaysia?". Host institution was Penang Public Library Corporation. Another two students studied "Information about AIDS in Botswana". Two students were in Guatemala and carried out a study called "Collaboration between the Royal Library/National Library of Sweden and the National Library and public libraries in Guatemala". PUBLICATIONSALP Project Report Series (ISSN 1023-8212) The following issues were published in 2001:
| ||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
Copyright © 1995-2001
www.ifla.org | |