Access to Information Network - Africa (ATINA)

Scope of the Session:

Papers are expected to relate to public access to information from international bodies, governments, NGOs, research institutes, libraries, archives, or information repositories, on a topic of broad historical or contemporary interest linking Africa and the Caribbean. Some random examples of the wide range of possibilities:

• historical: access to African, Caribbean and colonial records of the slave trade
• military: access to information about the Cuban intervention in Angola
• medical: access to comparative Caribbean and African data on AIDS, malaria, or any other endemic disease, past or present
• scientific: open access in Africa or in the Caribbean to research data from first-world countries, or in first-world countries to research data generated at African and Caribbean institutions of learning
• political: access to information in African and Caribbean countries on government scandals or the democratic deficit or corruption, not just in the press but from official sources
• economic: similarities and differences of the models of public access to information for development in use in African and Caribbean countries
• educational: access to data on Caribbean versus African approaches to literacy education, from a range of countries

Be creative.

Proposals:

Should be in English, French or Spanish, and include:

• Title of the paper
• A detailed abstract of the paper (no more than 500 words), if possible accompanied by some references such as URLs and bibliographies.
• Speaker's name, address, telephone and fax numbers, professional affiliation, e-mail address, and a brief biographical statement of no more than 50 words.

E-mail proposal to Francis Kirkwood (kirkwf@parl.gc.ca) no later than 21 February 2011 and indicate “IFLA 2011 ATINA proposal” or the equivalent in the subject line. Successful proposals will be identified and presenters notified by 28 February 2011.

Final Papers:

Presenters will be expected to submit the final version of their paper (no longer than 10 pages, in Microsoft Word, including a short abstract) by 15 May 2011 to the ATINA list moderator, Denise Nicholson (Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za) and NOT to Mr. Kirkwood. The long lead time is necessary to allow for review of papers by the ATINA committee and for translation and uploading of papers to the conference website and CD well before the conference dates. Papers must not have been published nor submitted for publication elsewhere.  Authors will have 20 minutes at the ATINA programme in San Juan to deliver their presentation, followed by time for questions and discussion.

Financial Responsibility

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can be issued to authors to assist them in obtaining funding. 

Some IFLA foundation Conference Participation Grants are available to candidates from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, with an application deadline of 1 March 2011.