National Libraries Section
Strategic Plan
2006-2007
Mission
The IFLA National Libraries Section is a focal point for supporting the vital role of national libraries in society as custodians of the nations' intellectual heritage, thus providing organisation, access to and preservation of the national imprint in all media.
The Section aims at providing leadership in the areas of concern to national libraries, always in recognition of the needs and views of every region of the world.
The Section's activities and goals underpin IFLA's three pillars, in particular: Society Pillar through its work in WSIS and its support of national libraries world-wide; the Profession Pillar through its support and cooperation with ICABS and its professional practice and the Member Pillar through its information services (e-list, leaflets and newsletter).
A related but independent association is the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) which was established to discuss policies and promote understanding and cooperation on matters of common interest to national libraries worldwide.
Goals
1. To promote the universal availability of information by such activities as encouraging the creation and building of national libraries, the development of national legislation for national libraries - especially legal deposit dispositions and preservation activities - and to promote the convergence of information and heritage institutions.
(Professional priorities: (a) Supporting the role of libraries in society; (b) Defending the principle of freedom of information; (d) Providing unrestricted access to information; (e) Balancing the intellectual property rights of authors with the needs of users; (f) Promoting resource sharing; (g) Preserving our intellectual heritage.)
Actions
1.1 Organise a Session on the new proactive role of national libraries forSeoul 2006.
1.2 Review the results of the World Summit on the Information Society in November 2005 and advocate specific follow-up actions.
2. To serve as a forum to share and learn from the experience of the practical problems of national libraries, in order to promote benchmarking, best practices and quality models, and to improve management skills.
(Professional priorities: (a) Supporting the role of libraries in society; (b) Defending the principle of freedom of information; (d) Providing unrestricted access to information; (f) Promoting resource sharing; (g) Preserving our intellectual heritage; (i) Promoting standards, guidelines and best practice.)
Actions
2.1 Continue the survey on performance measurements, already distributed in Europe, Asia and Oceania, for other parts of the world, especially in South-America and the Caribbean.
2.2 Establish a Working Group on benchmarking and performance indicators with the objective to develop a workplan and further activities to proceed within the Section.
2.3 Organise a satellite meeting in Durban 2007 with the Division on Education and Training on the new skills needed (curatorial management, etc.) in new knowledge institutions.
2.4 Publish the Newsletter of the National Libraries Section in electronic form twice a year.
2.5 Update the leaflet on the National Libraries Section and promote its translation into IFLA's official languages and its wide dissemination.
2.6 Take proactive measures to retain and recruit new members for the Section.
2.7 Maintain the nat-lib discussion list for all Section members and encourage discussion and information sharing through this channel.
3. To promote research in fields of interest to national libraries, always considering the opportunities to share experiences with other groups within IFLA and in close cooperation with CDNL - Conference of Directors of National Libraries - and to promote the development and implementation of standards.
(Professional priorities: (a) Supporting the role of libraries in society; (b) Defending the principle of freedom of information; (d) Providing unrestricted access to information; (f) Promoting resource sharing; (g) Preserving our intellectual heritage; (h) Developing library professionals; (i) Promoting standards, guidelines and best practice.)
Actions
3.1 Support and cooperate with ICABS (IFLA-CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards) in their workplan regarding bibliographic and resource control and long-term archiving of electronic resources.
3.2 Encourage members to lobby within their countries in support of IFLA's efforts within the framework of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to promote the essential role of libraries in the Information Society and to help reduce the digital divide.
3.3 Proceed in co-sponsoring the next IFLA Meetings of Experts on an International Cataloguing Code, organized by the Cataloguing Section, and scheduled for 2006(?).
