IN THIS DOCUMENT: Medium Term Projects Action Plan 2000-2001 Evaluation of Group

Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments

Medium and Long-term Projects

Medium Term Projects

Part 1: Scope

Part 2: Goals, 1998-2001

1. Promote understanding and cooperation between legislatures and their information services, recognising the ever growing need for legislators to have access to up-to-date and accurate information about developments world wide, but also the financial constraints which apply to every parliament in some degree.

2. Promote fruitful relations between the parliamentary libraries and research services of the world and encourage the organisation of regional conferences and other forms of regular contact between parliamentary information services operating in particular world regions.

3. Provide advice and assistance for the establishment of new parliamentary libraries and the development of comprehensive parliamentary information systems throughout the world. In the context of newly emerging democratic legislatures, it is important to encourage library and research services to help sustain democratic development. The Section works with bodies such as the European Parliament and IPU to encourage bilateral and multilateral assistance and development programmes and acts as a clearing house to further such help.

4. Encourage programmes to foster the adoption of the latest information technologies, including the Internet, by parliamentary information services and promote liaison with other libraries and research services so as disseminate knowledge about new systems and databases.

5. Promote membership of, and active participation in, the Section to encourage the development of active libraries and research services for parliaments throughout the world.

Annex: Action Plan, 1998-1999

Goal 1 - Promote understanding and cooperation between legislatures and their information services, recognising the ever growing need for legislators to have access to up-to-date and accurate information about developments world wide, but also the financial constraints which apply to every parliament in some degree.

1.1 Publish a seventh edition of the Section's World Directory of National Parliaments or some equivalent source of information. Make arrangements for the compilation of a new edition of the World Directory of Non-National Parliamentary Libraries or some equivalent source of information.

1.2 Plan conference papers and discussion meetings which are relevant to the developments affecting legislatures, including budget restrictions, electronic publishing and other changes in the field of government printing and copyright.

Goal 2 - Promote fruitful relations between the parliamentary libraries and research services of the world and encourage the organisation of regional conferences and other forms of regular contact between parliamentary information services operating in particular world regions.

2.1 Seek to hold a Parliamentary Libraries Conference before the main IFLA Conference in 1998 and 1999 and to organise a workshop and an open meeting with agendas which are of interest to both librarians and researchers at the Parliamentary Libraries Conference and/or the main IFLA Conference in each year.

2.2 Encourage the establishment of regional associations in the Black Sea and in Latin America. In Africa, support will be given to the newly formed association of Parliamentary Libraries of Eastern and Southern Africa (APLESA) and the Association of Librarians, Documentalists and Archivists of African Parliaments (ALDAAP). Backing will be given to the proposed regional association in South Asia of the SARC parliamentary libraries and research services.

The Section also recognises the importance of:
the Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Australasia (APLA),
the Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Asia and the Pacific (APLAP),
the Association of Parliamentary Libraries in Canada/L'Association des Bibliothécaires Parlementaires au Canada, APLIC/ABPAC
the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Development (ECPRD),
the meetings of the Parliamentary Libraries of Nordic Countries and PARDOC,
the program of assistance to parliamentary library development in countries of the south set up by the Assemblée Internationale des Parliamentaires de Langue Francaise (AIPLF).

The Section will work with these all organisations to increase cooperation between parliamentary information services.

2.3 Publish further volumes in the integrated series of publications analysing the development of parliamentary libraries in various areas of the world to follow those already published on Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Goal 3 - Provide advice and assistance for the establishment of new parliamentary libraries and the development of comprehensive parliamentary information systems throughout the world. In the context of newly emerging democratic legislatures, it is important to encourage library and research services to help sustain democratic development. The Section works with bodies such as the European Parliament and IPU to encourage bilateral and multilateral assistance and development programmes and acts as a clearing house to further such help.

3.1 Review the currency of Guidelines for Legislative Libraries so that advice can be readily supplied to new parliamentary libraries.

3.2 Explore methods of establishing more effective partnering between established library and research services and nations seeking to build more effective services for their legislatures.

Goal 4 - Encourage programmes to foster the adoption of the latest information technologies, including the Internet, by parliamentary information services and promote liaison with other libraries and research services so as disseminate knowledge about new systems and databases.

4.1 The Section will use its new Home Page to facilitate electronic communication between its members and will keep up-to-date email and fax address lists on the Internet.

4.2 The Section will identify those parliamentary libraries in developing countries which do not have any information technology capacity or access to the Internet and, by making available information about assistance available from private foundations and from the IFLA core programme ALP, will seek to ensure that all parliamentary libraries have core IT facilities (including email and Internet access)

4.3 Initiatives suggested at the 1997 IFLA meetings, which focused on automation, will be followed through and the Section's publications will be reviewed to assess whether any should be converted to, or duplicated in, electronic format.

Goal 5 - Promote membership of, and active participation in, the Section to encourage the development of active libraries and research services for parliaments throughout the world.

5.1 Discuss with the Section Standing Committee and regional associations a strategy for increasing the membership of, and participation in, the Section.

Action Plan 2000-2001

Goal 1

Action

1.1 Provide workshops on information resources and collection development in an electronic and networked environment, on budget planning and on performance indicators.

1.2 Establish, with the participation of the Section members, a list of companies and/or organisations, which could provide financial support to parliamentary and legislative libraries.

1.3 Whenever possible, examine the partnerships within parliaments and legislatures with regard to Library, Research and Information Services.

1.4 Provide future plans and priorities for establishing the scope and the goals of the mid-term plan for 2002-2006 by striking a Standing Committee in 2000.

Goal 2

Actions

2.1 Share the North American experience in August of the year 2001 for the benefit of IFLA Section Members attending the 67th General International IFLA Conference in Boston in 2001.

2.2 Present a paper for the Jerusalem 2000 Open meeting of the Section on the topic of sharing the experience of Eastern European Legislative Libraries of the expanded European Community of IFLA and its international community.

2.3 Create a task group on electronic publications to explore how electronic publications and research papers could be made more available to all IFLA Section members.

2.4 Continue to hold a Parliamentary Libraries Conference before the main IFLA Conference each year and to organise a workshop session and an open meeting with agendas which are of interest to both librarians and researchers at the Parliamentary Libraries Conference and or the main IFLA Conference.

Goal 3

Actions

3.1 Explore the new experience of partnering researcher and librarian functions in Parliamentary Libraries by holding a seminar on this topic at the 66th General International IFLA Conference in August of 2000.

3.2 Examine the possibility of providing workshops held in a language other than English at the General IFLA International Conferences to better reflect the SC membership; for instance to encourage the participation of the Francophone and Spanish countries that are members of the IFLA Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments.

3.3 Organise and host the 17th Annual International meeting of Parliamentary Librarians in Ottawa, prior to the 67th General International IFLA Conference in Boston in August 2001.

Goal 4

Actions

4.1 Create a group for preparing electronic core collections for parliamentary and research services during the year 2000.

4.2 Provide a workshop on twinning, sharing and exchange programs at the 66th General International IFLA Conference in Jerusalem in 2000.

4.3 Initiate the setting up of an electronic form for all members of the Section, to gather relevant information, research papers, etc, that could be made available on the Section's Web site.

Goal 5

Actions

5.1 Provide a forum for discussion and comment by including present and former members of the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments as well as all Section members and other participants in a new listserv ( IFLAPARL2 ) and enable them to participate in the Standing Committee discussions on an advisory basis and keep them abreast of SC decisions.

5.2 Continue to promote the membership, activities and participation in the IFLA Section with information provided on IFLANET and IFLAPARL and IFLAPARL2 to encourage the development of active libraries and research services for parliaments throughout the world.

Evaluation of Group

1. MTP ACHIEVEMENT

Note extent to which the current MTP (1992 -1997) has been fulfilled.

The current MTP has largely been fulfilled.

a. One of the goals of the current MTP was to facilitate communication among legislative libraries through the publication of its Directories. The Section, through the German Bundestag, published the 5th edition of the World Directory of National Parliamentary Libraries in1994 and the 6th edition will be published this spring (1996). The Bundestag also published the World Directory of Parliaments of Federated States and Autonomous Territories for the Section in 1993 . The Section is working on arrangements to publish editions of both Directories in1997.

b. Another goal of the Section was to help foster the growth of regional associations of parliamentary libraries and to create links to related organizations such as IPU and the Assemblee internationale des parlementaires de langue francaise (AIPLF). Informal working contacts exist between the Section and IPU and AIPLF. Presentations on all regional associations and related organizations are a formal part of all our annual meetings.

Regional Associations have existed for some time within the Parliamentary Libraries Section, representing the following areas or organizations: APLA (Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Australasia), APLAP (Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Asia and the Pacific), APLIC (Association of Parliamentary Libraries in Canada), and ECPRD (European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation).

In addition to these established groups, several new regional associations have been organized as a result of the Section's efforts. In Africa, a subnational group, APLESA (Association of Parliamentary Librarians of Eastern and Southern Africa) was founded in October 1994 , and plans have been made for establishing a Pan-African organization, ADLAAP (Association of Librarians, Documentalists and Archivists of African Parliaments). A meeting of parliamentary librarians of Latin America and Iberia was held in Mexico in1993 (a translation of the papers presented at this meeting is a project of the Section described below in 3.1), and there are plans to hold an organizational meeting in Costa Rica or Spain at the end of 1996. Several discussions have also taken place among parliamentary librarians of the Central and Eastern European countries about forming a regional association in that part of the world.

c. A further goal of our current MTP was the publication of a set of guidelines for legislative libraries. The Section prepared and published its Guidelit,es for Legislative Libraries as part of K. G. Saur's IFLA Publication Series in 1993 . Translated versions of these guidelines in French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic are currently being prepared and should be published in 1996 (see 3.1 below).

d. The final goal of the current MTP was to examine administrative arrangements within parliaments with regard to library information and research services. Beginning with the 1994 annual meetings of the Parliamentary Libraries Section, we have invited parliamentary libraries in the region of the host country to make presentations on their libraries. These presentations form the basis of a series of publications on regional parliamentary libraries (see 3.1 below) that will allow a comparative approach to the administrative structure of library and research services to parliaments. We intend to continue this effort at the 1996 meetings in Beijing with an extended workshop that will focus on "Parliamentary Libraries of Asia and the Pacific."

1.2 To what extent have the aims of the section or round table changed over the course of the MTP?

The Section continues to foster and encourage the development of regional associations of parliamentary libraries. Special emphasis is given to encouraging organizational efforts in the following three regions: Africa, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Continuing encouragement is provided to the two existing regional Associations, APLA (Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Australasia) and APLAP (Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Asia and the Pacific).

The Section has launched an integrated series of publications analyzing the development of parliamentary libraries in various areas of the world, particularly in Latin America, Africa and Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union - where the pace of change has been most dramatic.

Additional emphasis has been given to promoting greater understanding of developments in automation as they affect the work of parliamentary libraries. This will take the form of regular presentations at appropriate IFLA and Section fora (Open meetings, Workshops, Pre-conferences, etc), regular articles in the section newsletter, periodic surveys and appropriate publications.

Greater attention is being given to multicultural and multilingual dimensions of parliamentary library work. The Section continues to ensure that the Standing Committee reflects the rich multicultural and multilingual makeup of the world's parliamentary libraries. Special efforts are being made to encourage greater participation by francophone countries and by arabic nations, and to continue the recent progress with Spanish speaking-countries.

2. NEWSLETTERS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS

2.1 Note whether a newsletter is published and its frequency over the last four years.

The Section publishes its Circular Newsletter two times a year, in the spring and fall. Over the past four years, the following issues have been published: Vol. 15, No. 1, Nov 1995; Vol. 14 , No. 2, June 1995; Vol. 14, No. 1, Jan. 1995; Vol. 13, No. 2, June 1994 ; vol. 13, no. 1; Nov. 1993; Vol. 12, No. 2, May 1993; Vol. 12 , No. 1, Nov. 1992; Vol. 11, No. 2, May 1992.

2.2 Note whether a promotional brochure(s) has (have) been published and when.

A promotional brochure on the Section was published in1993 . It exists in all five IFLA languages.

2.3 Note what other publications have been produced within the last four years (including project reports also noted in Q3.2 and Q3.3 below).

In 1993 , the Section published Guidelines for Legislative Libraries edited by Dermot Englefield, and World Directory of Federated States and Autonomous Territories, edited by Ernst Kohl.

In 1994 , the fifth edition of the World Directory of National Parliamentary Libraries, edited by Ernst Kohl, was published.

The Section published Library and Information Services to the Sansad, edited by R. C. Bhardwaj, in1995.

The sixth edition of the World Directory of National Parliamentary Libraries was published by the Section in1996 , and a French translation of the Guidelines for Legislative Libraries is scheduled for publication later this year.

2.4 Has anything been published in the last four years about the Section (attach copy if the answer is yes).

Ernst Kohl published an article entitled "Parliamentary Libraries" in "Librarianship and Information Work Worldwide" in1996 .

William H. Robinson has an article entitled "Parliamentary Libraries - The Role of Information in the Legislative Process" which is forthcoming in the "World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures", to be published by Congressional Quarterly in1996.

3. Projects

3.1 What projects have been, or are being, undertaken within the last four years?

PAR4/92 Translations of Open Meeting papers and questionnaires into Russlan.

PAR5/92 Seminar on Parliamentary Libraries in Latin America and Iberia

PAR6/94 Book on Parliamentary Libraries of Latin America and Iberia

PAR7/94 Book on Parliamentary Libraries and Information Services of Central and Eastern Europe

PAR1/95 Translations of Guidelines for Legislative Libraries

3.2 For multi-year projects, have interim reports been available for these?

Reports on the status of projects are included as part of the Section's annual reports and financial reports. Project status reports are presented at Standing Committee meetings.

3.3 How have final project results been disseminated?

Most of the Section's projects have resulted in some kind of publication. These have been distributed through sales, and in many cases the Section has purchased copies of publications for distribution to those countries lacking funds for publications.

3.4 Has any follow-up taken place?

In the case of Guidelines to Legislative Libraries, the demand was so great that a follow-up project was undertaken to translate the work into French, Spanish and Russian. Recently, an offer was made to translate the Guidelines into Arabic.

3.5 Were any projects not completed during the last four years, why, and how were the remaining funds diverted?

Projects PAR6/94, 7/94, and1/95 are ongoing. There have been delays with PAR6/94 , but it appears now to be well underway and it will be completed before the end of the current MTP.

3.6 Are any projects being developed for future funding?

The Section may propose a project on the Parliamentary Libraries of Asia and the Pacific.

3.7 Any other comments on projects?

4 . Non-conference events

4.1 Have Section Standing Committee meetings taken place outside the Conference week during the last four years?

No Standing Committee meetings have been held outside of Conference week.

4.2 Have any other events organized by your Section (e.g. workshops, conferences) taken place outside the conference week during the last four years?

Preconferences, entitled World Conferences on Parliamentary Libraries, took place in Finland in1992 , in Costa Rica in 1994 , and in Turkey in 1995 . In addition, workshops and conferences sponsored by other organizations have been attended by numerous Section members. Among these events were two Workshops for Parliamentary Librarians organized by the Congressional Research Service under the auspices of the Special U. S. Congressional Task Force on the Development of Parliamentary Institutions in Eastern Europe. The first was held in Budapest in1994 and the second was held in Prague, Czech Republic in May 1995 . The European Parliament organized a seminar for Directors of Parliamentary Libraries that was held in Luxembourg in March 1995 .

4.3 Any other comments

5 . Links with other groups

5.1 Have any joint events or projects with other IFLA groups (including core programmes) taken place during the last four years?

No joint projects have taken place, although we are exploring the possibility of cooperating with the Section of Libraries of Latin America and the Caribbean on PAR6/94 .

5.2 Have any joint events or projects with non-IFLA groups or bodies taken place during the last four years?

No joint events or projects with non-IFLA groups have taken place during the last four years.

6. Regional activities

Have any activities involving the Regional Sections (Division VIII), or in developing countries, taken place in the last four years?

The Section assisted with a seminar on Latin America and the Caribbean (PAR5/92) in part to promote a regional organization of parliamentary librarians in the area. The meeting took place in Mexico in1993 and was extremely well attended and the quality of presentations was high.

7. Self-evaluation

7.1 Has there been any attempt at self-evaluation during the last four years?

We reviewed the Section's activities about two years ago, and the result was a revision of the MTP. See description in l .2 above.

7.2 How do Section Standing Committee members themselves perceive the effectiveness of the Section?

While there is no formal evaluation process, the general perception is that Members of the Standing Committee consider the Section to be highly effective. Indications of this include the high attendance at Standing Committee meetings, and the high level of activity in the Section. Moreover, all positions on the Standing Committee are filled, including the three observer slots.

8. Change

8.1 To what extent is the group still operating under its original objectives of formation (as stated under Nature and Purpose in the current MTP)?

It is still operating under the original objectives of formation.

8.2 Have there been any significant changes in organization of the Section during the last four years?

No.

8.3 To what extent is there perceived to be an overlap of Nature and Purpose of your Section with other IFLA groups?

There is none.

8.4 What changes for the Section are being or might be considered to be beneficial?

The Section is considering a name change to either "Section on Library and Research Services for Parliament" or "Section on Parliamentary Library and Research Services". This name change would acknowledge the fact that library and research services for the parliament are often provided by institutions other than libraries and we wish to include these other institutions in the Section.

8.5 An opportunity for a "blue sky" statement concerning the work or organization of the Section:

The Parliamentary Libraries Section was created in 1966 and in its nearly thirty-year history has become a cohesive group that enjoys meeting and sharing ideas on how to improve services to our respective legislatures. The Section had 98 members as of August, 1995 . The total number of members represents a net increase of ten over the previous year, with 10 new additions, and no terminations. Since 1990, the Section has grown by 66 %. Virtually all members of the Section join in Standing Committee meetings and play an active part up to the voting stage. We also hold an Informal Meeting which is dedicated to problem-solving, which we have held for the past four Conferences. The last such problem-solving session was attended by 60-70 people, filling the room.

Parliamentary libraries must respond to a very dynamic environment. Thus change has become an important focus and a common theme in the lives of these institutions. Many of these changes are incremental in nature, but some of the more important ones have reached nearly revolutionary dimensIons. Their combined impacts have been and will continue to be profound.

The universal pinch of resource constraints has had a more incremental effect on parliamentary libraries. We have become more conscious of the need for finding more cost effective ways to conduct our business, and to stay in closer touch with the needs of our "market" -- the legislatures. One result has been an interest in developing new ways to gauge the response of the legislature to the products and services of parliamentary libraries. The revival of interest in creating regional organizations is another response to the cost-effective imperative. Regional meetings offer the opportunity of maintaining more frequent contacts with colleagues to share ideas on improved services for legislatures and for more effective ways of operation, while at the same time keeping the costs within reason.

The democratic revolutions begun in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in late1989 and carried into the 1990s worked a profound change in World politics and in the makeup of the Parliamentary Libraries Section. We have added dynamic new colleagues from this region of the world, who have drawn our enthusiastic response to their request for more information and ideas from some of the older, more established parliamentary libraries. The key to effective legislation in today's complex world is the knowledge and information that will facilitate wise decisions and enhance the role of the legislature in the policymaking process of the nation. The parliamentary library is central to this effort--especially in Central and Eastern Europe. The result of responding to the needs of our new colleagues has been to add new perspective and dynamism to the ongoing work for the legislatures of the older democracies and to bring new interest to creating or strengthening research capabilities for the parliament.

The twin revolutions in automation and telecommunications will have profound meaning for the work of parliaments and parliamentary libraries today and for the next several decades. Special attention will be given to tracing the implications of these changes for our work over the next several years, and to sharing ideas about how to make effective use of these powerful new tools. In keeping with this focus, the theme of the Section's Open meeting in Istanbul was "Parliamentary Libraries of the Future," and there will be special papers requested on automation and telecommunications for the conference in Beijing and a special focus will be placed on this topic in Copenhagen -- perhaps in conjunction with other members of the Coordinating Board (National Libraries and University Libraries).

9. Membership

9.1 Membership of Section as a whole

	total	A	B
1993	83
1994	88
1995	98

(A = Europe, North America, Australasia, Japan; B = those countries whose interests are represented in the three Regional Activities sections of Division VIII)

9.2 Corresponding members

Have corresponding members made significant contributions to the work of the group?

Corresponding members have made significant contributions to the Section's work. They have expanded the Section's representation in several regions of the world including Africa and the Middle East and have sparked interest in the Section among their colleagues in the region. Corresponding members have presented papers at our Preconferences, Workshops and Open Meetings. Most recently, Fumihisa Nakagawa, a corresponding member from Japan presented a paper at the Open Meeting in Istanbul on "The Legislative Support Services of Japan's Diet." Several corresponding members have subsequently been elected as full members of the Standing Committee.

10. Conference programme (pre- and post-conference events. see Q4)

10.1 Attendance

	A	SI	B	C
1993	90	70	15/20 plus	26 observers
1944	45	36	8/20 plus	17 observers
1995	103	77	12/19 plus	40 observers

(A = attendance at open session programme meetings, indicating SI if simultaneous interpretation was provided, e.g. 150 (SI); B = attendance at workshop meetings; C = attendance at Standing Committee meetings, excluding observers (indicate in the form no. attending/no. of elected members, e.g. 11/17)

10.2 Speakers

	A	B
1993	0/4	3/3
1994	0/4	4/4
1995	0/5	0/4

(A no. of speakers at open session programme meetings; B = no. of speakers at workshop. Indicate in the form no. speaking from host country/no. speaking, e.g. 1/3)

10.3 Availability of translations of Open Session papers into the following languages

	eng	fre	ger	rus	spa
1993					4
1994		4			4
1995		5		5	5

(indicate numbers of available translations, e. g. if in one year your Section had two papers in English [each with translations into French and German], one in French [with translations in English and Spanish] and one in Russian [with translations into English, French, German, and Spanish] the line for that year should read as follows: eng =2 ; fre =3 ; ger =3 ; rus = 0; spa =2)

11. Timely delivery of reports (indicate date submitted)

	annual	financial
1993	10/94	10/94
1994	1/95	1/95
1995	12/95	9/95

12. When you became an officer of the section, did your predecessor pass on all the appropriate files in good time?

Yes - without question.