Library Theory and Research Section

Date

12-13 August 2015

Venue

University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa (Day 1) ;
Robben Island, South Africa (Day 2)

The IFLA Library Theory and Research Section is pleased to invite submissions for its forthcoming pre-Congress Satellite Conference, to be held in Cape Town, 12 and 13 August 2015 on the topic: Digital preservation as a site of contestation: national heritage, memory, politics and power - beyond technology and management.

There is much discussion, and a great deal has been written, about digitization of heritage materials. World-wide, major programmes have been launched to digitize, often on a large scale, books, journals, newspapers and archival documents of historical and cultural significance. Initially, much of the discussion was concerned with how to digitize. Subsequently, attention has shifted to digital curation. In this meeting we want to focus on fundamental political and ethical issues underlying digitization programmes, to consider issues of ownership and control of a country's heritage, memory and traditional/ indigenous knowledge in a digital environment. These imply questions about what we mean, for example, by the metaphors of "national memory" and "nation building" in postcolonial situations, and what the roles of libraries and archives can be in such a context. 

Post-apartheid South Africa is an appropriate location for a satellite conference on such a theme. Not only has the country seen some interesting and controversial heritage digitization projects, but a number of South African scholars who have contributed to the international literature on these issues. The Satellite Conference will be held on the campus of the University of the Western Cape, which was a centre of resistance during the anti-apartheid struggle, and which houses the Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archive. Delegates will visit the Mayibuye archive, and, weather permitting, will visit to Robben Island itself.

Topics

We anticipate creating a programme which will deal with topics such as: 

• National heritage, national memory, nation building
• Libraries, archives, museums and the politics of heritage
• Traditional/ indigenous knowledge in a digital environment
• Heritage tourism: priorities and resources
• Economic value of national memory/heritage

Presenters will allocated 20 minutes. There will be time for questions at the end of each session.

Important dates

Submission Guidelines

The proposals must be submitted in an electronic format and must contain:

• Title of paper
• Summary of paper (250 - 350 words maximum)
• Speaker's name, address, telephone and fax numbers, professional affiliation, email address and biographical note (40 words)

The proposal can be submitted by email in English or French. They will be evaluated by a panel appointed by the IFLA Library Theory and Research Section. Once a proposal has been accepted, the text of the presentation should be submitted by the deadline stated above.

The presentation should preferably be presented as a paper (that may be published on the IFLA website). If the presentation will be in the format of a power point, a substantial abstract will be required, including references such as URLs and bibliographies.

Submissions should be sent by email to: ghart@uwc.ac.za before Saturday 21 February 2015

Please note

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

All papers that are presented at the WLIC 2015 will be made available online via the IFLA Library under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Author Form.

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 letter can be issued to authors.

Congress Participation Grants

List of opportunities for support is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.