Information Technology Section with Division of Library Services

The IFLA Trend Report points to ways technological development will affect the individual, their communication and access to information. New technologies will both expand and limit who has access to information with serious implications for the individual’s privacy and data protection. The global information economy will be transformed by technological innovations.  Information and communication technology is evolving fast, especially mobile platforms, and so are emerging nan-bio-info-cognitive (NBIC) technologies and the internet of things. Their purpose is to enhance human opportunities. An understanding needs to be gained about the implications of these evolving technologies and their convergence for the individual, for societies and the access and use of information. For instance, ethical considerations regarding the application of these new technologies must be thoroughly explored to ensure that individuals’ essential rights are respected and that technological development will contribute to the building of knowledge societies. The library profession needs to discuss how specific new technologies will affect the information environment and what the role of libraries will be in ensuring that citizens are able to fully benefit from the new information environment as well as dealing with the risks and challenges it entails.

Submission Guidelines

The Information Technology Section and the Division of Library Services invites papers for a special session to explore the consequences implied by the IFLA trend report. 

Submissions are sought in key areas highlighted by the IFLA trend report including but not limited to:

• Mobile devices and the library.
• Privacy and the library: challenges and opportunities in big data.
• Online education and the role of the library in the age of MOOCs.
• The role of the library in information equity and access: the library as a point of connection.
• Cyber politics and the Library.
• Ethical implications of applying new technologies.

Proposals should be sent by 9 February 2014 to:

Edmund Balnaves
Email: [email protected]

The subject line of all submissions should be IFLA_ITS_ followed by your last name. For example, "IFLA_ITS_Balnaves".

Proposals for papers should be no more than one page in length. If selected, speakers will have to submit the full paper before 15 May 2014 according to IFLA paper guidelines (http://conference.ifla.org/past/2013/general-guidelines-for-authors-of-papers.htm). They will have 20 minutes to present their results and 5 minutes for a question and answer period during the conference session.

The contact person for each proposal will be informed by 14 March 2014 whether their proposal has been accepted or not. Papers selected for inclusion in the program must be submitted in one the official languages of IFLA by 15 May 2014.

Proposals should include the following information:

• Name, title, and institution of speaker(s)
• Title of proposed presentation
• Address and email address of speaker(s)
• Brief biographical statement about each speaker including information about the qualifications of the speaker to address the proposed topic
• One or two paragraph discussion of the main points of the paper including an outline of the takeaways a conference attendee will obtain by having the topic presented at the conference 
• Language of presentation
• Contact information for response to the proposal

Important dates

Please note:

• The committee is looking for papers that present real-world scenarios.   Papers that are strictly theoretical or too specific to a single context are less likely to be accepted for inclusion in the program.
• Every paper accepted must be presented in person by one of the authors at the WLIC in Lyon, which takes place from August 18 - 21.
• Authors are required to permit non-exclusive publication of papers chosen for this session on the IFLA website and digital library. Papers that are accepted but not presented in person at the conference will not be made available on the official conference website nor will they be considered for nomination as a best paper of the conference.