IFLA Core Activity for the Advancement of Librarianship (ALP)

2002 Annual Report

Background

The 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.

The goals are to support the development of library associations; to assist in human resources development; to promote libraries and functional literacy, reading and lifelong learning; to promote new technology and to support dissemination of information and publishing activities to the community with special attention to indigenous communities.

ALP is mission oriented and not subject oriented like other core programmes. Therefore, co-operation with relevant IFLA professional bodies as well as with regional and international organizations is essential to carry out the programme.

ALP achieves its goals through a carefully planned programme of different activities in close co-operation between the International Focul Point of ALP and IFLA´s Regional Offices, IFLA´s Regional Division and its three sections, and other partners. This cooperation includes fundraising, scholarships and attachment programmes, conferences, seminars and workshops, pilot projects, publications and databases.

Staff and Finance

IFLA, Uppsala University and 17 Nordic library associations and institutions fund the International Focal Point (IFP) for ALP at Uppsala University Library. 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 Lennart Dahlberg, Administrative Assistant (40%).

Professional Activities

ALP Meetings and Seminars

Seminar on the WWW: design, implementation and management (p.146). The workshop was organised by Bunmi Alegbeleye, Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of Ibadan, and took place in Ibadan, Nigeria 5-13 August 2002. 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 10 delegates came from Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Sida funded the workshop.

2002 Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL) (p. 153). The conference was held in April, 2002 in South Africa. With money from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland (KYO) and Sida, ALP sponsored the attendance for eight delegates from Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Uganda, Swaziland and Malawi, and part of the publishing of the Conference proceedings "SCECSAL 2002: From Africa to the world - the globalisation of indigenous knowledge systems".

Workshop on LIS Curriculum in the Arab Countries (p. 263). Over 50 professionals from Lebanon and the Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Sudan attended the workshop that was held in Lebanon in June 2002. The objectives were to assess existing Arab country LIS curricula and determine the required changes in these curricula to deliver education that is current and relevant to the needs of the Arab countries. As a result, new undergraduate and postgraduate curricula in IM have been developed at two Lebanese universities. An Arabic language manual of curriculum development and evaluation has been developed and a regional focal point/clearinghouse for LIS teaching materials in Arabic has been established. The workshop was funded by Sida.

The Chilean model of participatory management of public libraries for Southern cone countries (p. 350). The workshop was held in Santiago, Chile in December 2002 with participants from Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. It was funded by Sida.

Workshop on library services for the blind and printdisabled (p. 355). Over 80 people from 22 countries attended this workshop in Jamaica. It brought together people who are blind, librarians, government leaders, educators and key decision makers to improve or develop library service for blind and visually impaired people in the Caribbean and Latin America. With money from Sida ALP paid for a speaker from South Africa.

4th International meeting of Portuguese speaking librarians (p. 401). Representatives from Cabo Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and East-Timor attended the meeting in São Paulo, Brazil. The objective was to plan joint actions to achieve better performance in libraries and information services of Portuguese countries. Sida funded the project.

Meeting of ALP Advisory Committee. The ALP Advisory Committee consisting of the chairs and secretaries of the three regional sections and of IFLA's regional office managers met at Uppsala University Library, 10-15 October to evaluate the ALP projects and plan the activities for the coming two years. The evaluation of the projects was presented at a meeting with ALP Nordic Support Group where also Ross Shimmon, Secretary General of IFLA, participated. Sida funded the meeting.

IFLA's General Conference in Glasgow

Danida Travel Grants

Danida had allocated approximately 100.000 EUR per year for a three-year period 1999-2001 to enable around 30 librarians from developing countries to attend the IFLA conferences. In 2001 ALP applied for a new three-year period and held discussions with Danida to increase the grant. ALP and Danida made verbal agreements on the amount and the criteria for the grant, but ALP did not receive the agreement on paper. When the new government came into power ALP understood that there would be some cuts and instead of inviting 45 candidates, only 31 were invited. ALP repeatedly tried to get a decision and payment of the funds from Danida. In June 2002 ALP was informed of the decision to reject ALP's application for continued funding. Fortunately, there was money left from previous years and ALP was able to cover the costs for 21 candidates. With additional money from Sida and IFLA HQ, funding for the 30 travel grants was secured. One invited candidate did not obtain a visa.

After the conference three grantees got a 4-weeks in-service training: Nguyen Huu Nghia, Vietnam, at School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London; Mac-Anthony Cobblah, Ghana, at Edinburgh University Library; and, Adriana Betancourt, Colombia, at Manchester Public Library.

Speakers Grants

With money from Sida ALP supported three people who had been selected to present papers at the Conference in the Open Sessions of the Regional Sections. Batlang Comma Serema, Botswana presented a paper on "Community Information Structures in Botswana: A Challenge for Librarians". Irene Ladron de Guevara, Venezuela presented her paper "Bridges towards reading digital texts: Ideas on how to cross them", and Li Jingxia, China "The Public Library and citizens' information literacy education in China: a case study of Wuhan area, China".

Birgitta Sandell and Gunilla Natvig participated in the Glasgow Conference and took part in the Regional Standing Committee meetings.

IFLA Regional Standing Committee Meetings

The 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 Dakar, Senegal and in the meeting of the Section for Asia and Oceania in Beijing, China. Gunilla Natvig participated in the Latin American and the Caribbean Section meeting in São Paulo, Brasil.

Scholarships and Attachments

In Service Training, Attachments, for Middle or Senior Staff
Four persons were selected for attachments in 2002 at institutions in the region: Mrs Sabitri Baral, Nepal; Ms Iris Marigolo P. Operario, Philippines; Ms Pornthip Somrit, Thailand and Mrs Naw Della Po, Myanmar. 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.

Scholarships in Information Technology
Three scholarships were awarded in 2002, namely to Mrs Pradnya Yogesh, India, Ms Wynn Lei Lei Than, Myanmar and Ms Daw Ohn Mar Oo, Myanmar. Unfortunately, Ms Daw Ohn Mar Oo could not take up her scholarship and Ms Juharat Nokkaew, Thailand replaced her. The recipients of the 2001 awards, Mr Gadagin, India, Ms S.H. Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka and Ms Jing'an Feng, China also attended the four-week course on Information Technology and Information Services at Victoria University of Wellington. These scholarships are funded by Sida.

The candidates for both programmes 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 2002 were: Usman Ibrahim, Nigeria; Ms Edith Luitwama, Uganda; Kanyane Molemane, South Africa; Ms Anna Kessy, Ethiopia; Ms Elisabeth Fokam, Cameroon.

All these three projects have been of great value. Apart from the successful training the projects have developed platforms for networking of professionals, both at individual and institutional levels, and enhancing professional skills.

Other Ongoing Projects

Journal of librarianship and information science in Afric/Revue de bibliothéconomie et science de l'information en Afrique (p. 24). The project was conceived to ensure better communication of information on Library and Information practices among librarians and information workers in Africa. So far two issues have been published and the editorial committee is working on the 3rd. The aim is to increase subscriptions to cover the costs of the printing of the journal. The project is funded by Sida.

The development of self-training package for information retrieval using distance education approach (p. 246). The project started in 2001 and is carried out in Thailand. It is funded by Sida.

Mekong Regional Network for LIS Training (p.264). The objectives were to assess the training needs of information workers in Laos and Cambodia and to determine the most appropriate means of meeting these needs. Data were collected and the result is a training programme with content tailored to local needs. Teaching materials are being created and a training centre is being developed at Mahasarakham University in Thailand. Sida funded 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 information field. The programme aims at giving Swedish students the opportunity to carry out a two months study in a developing country. In 2002 two students carried out a study "A network analysis of information structure and communication in a YRSHR network" in India. Host institution was MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child who is involved with networking as a strategy for Young People's Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights.

The following issues were published in 2002:

20. Information and Communication Technologies in Rural Secondary Schools in Africa.
    Proceedings of the Workshop 29/11-3/12 1999, Harare, Zimbabwe. 117 pp.
    ISBN 91-85092-61-4