Law Libraries Section
& Library and Research Services for Parliaments Section
& Government Information and Official Publications Section
& Government Libraries Section

The IFLA Law Libraries Section, in cooperation with Libraries & Research Services for Parliaments, Government Information & Official Publications, and Government Libraries, is seeking proposals for papers to be presented at a two-hour program to be held at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Helsinki, Finland in August 2012. 

Last year in Puerto Rico Part 1 focused on the Caribbean, Central and South American.   This year the focus will be on new democracies examining their level of government transparency, with a special focus on their legal systems, e.g., Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, the Scandinavian countries, and others.

Our Section’s interest to promote access to free legal information as a basic human right involves learning from our colleagues how their jurisdictions have tackled the provision of authoritative sources of legal information authenticated by their governments.  To this end, this gathering provides us with an excellent opportunity to share our experiences by featuring model countries and promoting best practices.  Papers are welcome on how Ministry of Justices or other governmental institutions in new European democracies, mentioned above, have addressed the issue of free open access for official authenticated legal information.  Of particular interest are questions such as:

• what decisions led your government to adopt a policy of transparency
• what decisions and cooperation took place to arrive at the present choices of technological and legal solutions
• how successful has been the implementation including user experiences 
• how was this initiative marketed
• what educational  tools were used to educate users  
• what is being done to sustain the initiative and maintain standards
• what do you recommend doing differently

The program will feature up to five presentations of 15-20 minutes each with additional time for questions.  

Papers should reflect the conference theme, “Libraries Now! – Inspiring, Surprising, Empowering,” as well as the conference track, “users driving access and services.”

For additional information information on submitting a paper, please see IFLA’s general guidelines.

Language of the session

Papers should be in English, since there is no simultaneous interpretation for this program.

Important Dates

• February 27, 2012:  Deadline to submit proposals/abstracts.  Proposals should include:
  • title
  • abstract of no more than 300 words
  • brief biography for the speaker or speakers
  • email contact address.

Send proposals via email to: Claire M. Germain, germain@law.ufl.edu
Chair, Law Libraries Section

• March 15, 2012: Proposals will be reviewed and successful candidates will be notified.
• May 15, 2012:  Deadline for selected presenters to submit formal paper (for inclusion on the IFLA conference website and the Section’s website).  Details regarding the format and length of the final paper will be sent to candidates whose abstracts are accepted.

Please note

At least one of the paper's authors must be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the program in Helsinki.  Abstracts should only be submitted with the understanding that the expenses of attending the Helsinki conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.

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.