Library and Research Services for Parliaments Section

The IFLA Library and Research Services for Parliaments Section invites proposals for presentations at the Section's programme in Helsinki, 11-17 August 2012. The main theme of the Helsinki conference is Libraries Now! - Inspiring, Surprising, Empowering.

This session will focus on the role of parliamentary libraries to empower parliamentarians and citizens to strengthen democracy. Papers sharing inspiring and surprising ideas and initiatives will be especially welcome. We are looking for up to 5 presentations for this 2 hour session.

We invite papers that:

• Tell the story of how parliamentary libraries strengthen democracy at national, sub-national or supranational levels
• Look at how the relationship between parliamentary libraries and parliamentarians can be developed
• Analyse case studies of inspiring and surprising innovations in thinking or practice within parliamentary libraries
• Explore how the impact of parliamentary libraries in strengthening democracy can be assessed
• Consider how parliamentary libraries work together with the wider library community to strengthen democracy
• Any other issues relevant to parliamentary libraries role in strengthening democracy

Submissions

Please send an abstract (1 page or about 300 words), in English or French, of the proposed paper and relevant biographical information of the author(s)/presenter(s) by 1 March 2012 to:

John Pullinger, Chair, Library and Research Services for Parliaments Section
E-mail: pullingerj@parliament.uk

Abstracts received will be reviewed by members of the Standing Committee. Successful proposals will be identified by 30th March 2012.

Full papers will be due by 31st May 2012 to allow time for review of papers and preparation of translations.

Additional Information

15-20 minutes will be allowed for a summary delivery of the paper during the session.

Please note that the Section also has a number of joint sessions with other sections.

These are:

• Libraries for law and for lawmakers (with Law Libraries Section)
• Open source technology and mobile devices use and accessibility (with Information Technology Section)
• Knowledge cafe: driving access & services (with Knowledge Management Section)
• Promoting global access to law: developing an open access index for official authenticated legal information. Part 2: Europe (with Law Libraries Section, Government Libraries Section and Government and Official Publications Section)
• The surprising world of government libraries: trends and prospect of new user services (with Government Libraries Section, Government Information and Official Publications Section and Law Libraries Section)

In addition the Section has a pre-conference from 8-10 August hosted by the Library of the Finnish Parliament on the theme: Parliamentary Libraries - Empowering Parliaments and Citizens.

Please note

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.

Congress Attendance Grants

The Finnish National Committee and IFLA have worked hard to secure funds for Conference Participation Grants. Up-to-date information is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.