Attending the 87th World Library and Information Congress in Dublin? Take the opportunity to check in with the Knowledge Rights 21 team and find out more about how you can get involved and contribute to its goals, especially on Thursday 28 July, 13:15, in Liffey Hall 2.

The Knowledge Rights 21 Programme works to promote 21st century access to research, education and culture.

Too often, despite the rich experience of libraries around provision of this access, and the difficulties for this created by inadequate copyright laws and policies, their voice is not taken into account in policy planning.

Moreover, this same access is too often treated only as an after-thought in copyright and related legislation, leaving libraries and their users facing disjointed, sometimes contradictory, and often unhelpful restrictions  on their work.

To do this, it works in parallel to advance reforms in specific areas relevant to libraries where progress is possible – eLending, contract override, socialising open norms, rights retention and secondary publishing rights – and to build capacity at national level for effective advocacy.

IFLA is a partner organisation, alongside LIBER and SPARC Europe, and the whole initiative was made possible by the generosity of the Arcadia Fund.

The Programme offers a range of opportunities for libraries, library and information workers and library associations across Europe, including:

  • Opportunities to bid for funding to support the development and animation of national networks (see our call)
  • Opportunities to bid for funding to support other national initiatives, such as research, events and beyond (see our call)
  • An upcoming training course on copyright and advocacy for librarians and likeminded people
  • Open access research outputs to support in advocacy

You can find out more about this at the World Library and Information Congress in Dublin, where the team will be represented.

In particular, look out for session 149, from 13:15 to 14:15 in Liffey Hall 2 to find out more in general, and session 153 from 15:00 to 16:00 in Wicklow Hall 2, looking at questions around open access. You can also e-mail the team at info@knowledgerights21.org for more.