World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly

"Libraries create futures: Building on cultural heritage"

23-27 August 2009, Milan, Italy

Call for Papers

Asia & Oceania Section

Theme: "Preserving the past – creating the future"

The five sub-regions of IFLA’s Asia-Oceania Section encompass ethnic groups and cultures whose rich histories are embodied within written, pictorial and oral traditions that date back to the beginnings of human civilisation. The Asia-Oceania Open Session at Milan focuses on the critical role being played by libraries and other information organisations in Asia-Oceania in preserving the richness of the past so that their peoples can create a future that is linked to the past. The theme encompasses both the practicalities of cultural heritage preservation work to ensure the survival of the past and the efforts involved in services that focus on helping individuals and groups make use of those cultural heritage resources to understand the past to create a better future.

Dedicated to the theme, 'Preserving the past - creating the future', this session therefore aims to highlight the work of libraries and other information organisations in Asia-Oceania that contributes to the creation of better futures by preserving the past. In keeping with the conference’s overall theme, ‘Libraries create futures: Building on cultural heritage’, the suggested topics for this Session include, but are not limited to, the following:

Utilising the preservation of materials to develop future-oriented, contextually-based information services in memory institutions
Understanding how heritage awareness through preserved artefacts can lead to better understanding of possible future developments in proactive memory institution services
Preserving or providing access to images or oral histories that capture the memories of the participants in unique events of a community’s past and cultural heritage
Preserving significant cultural heritage resources and providing unified approaches to making them accessible through the collaborative efforts of libraries, archives and museums
Promoting the use of or creation of resources that document the contributions of minority groups to the development of a community’s social, political, cultural or economic life.

Submissions

The deadline for submitting a detailed, abstract (500 words) and full author details is 15 December 2008. Selection of papers is based on the abstract, and presenters will be notified by mid-February 2009 at the latest whether they have been successful
The full paper is due on 1 May 2009 and must be an original submission not published elsewhere
Both abstracts and full papers should be submitted as a MS Word file by e-mail; fax or post should be used only as a last resort
Papers should be of 20 pages maximum, double spaced
Papers should be in English with an abstract, and the presenter must be fluent in English
20 minutes will be allowed for a summary delivery of the paper in the Conference; the full written paper is not to be read
The author(s) should indicate his/her personal full contact details and include a brief biographical note with the paper. Also, a digital photograph would be useful.

Selection

Full abstracts (500 words) should be prepared following the template provided below. Each abstract will be blind reviewed by members of the Regional Standing Committee for Asia and Oceania.
Abbreviated abstracts or late submissions will not be considered.

Purpose of this paper	What are the reason(s) for writing the paper (or the aims of the research)?
Design/methodology/approach	How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the study. What is the approach to the topic, and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper?
Findings	What was found in the course of the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results.
Research limitations/implications (if applicable)	If research is reported on in the paper, this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process.
Practical implications (if applicable)	What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified? All papers should have practical applications. What changes to practice might be made as a result of this research/paper?
What is original/value of paper	What is new in the paper? State the value of the paper and to whom.

Please send your abstract by 15 December 2008 to:

Ms Premila Gamage, RSCAO Chair
Email: premilagamage@gmail.com

M. Al Mamun, RSCAO Secretary
Email: almamun@icddrb.org