As part of our engagement at the UN Internet Governance Forum, we are happy to release a zero draft of the report of the Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries' report for 2023. 20 years on from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Plan of Action, which highlighted the role of public access at the global level, it looks at how this has evolved over time.
FLA was excited to attend and contribute to Creative Commons’s conversation on the future of openness. The open movement provides opportunities for libraries to engage with and serve their users, as well as reach new users. Read on for some key take-aways from the programme, and what they may mean for library advocacy going forward.
All videos and presentation slides from the IFLA Academic & Research Libraries Section (ARL) Satellite conference during IFLA WLIC 2023 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands are now available.
IFLA’s new Governing Board 2023-25 met for the first time the day after the closing of the World Library and Information Congress, on 25 August 2023, at the Rotterdam Ahoy Conference Centre, The Netherlands.
IFLA is happy to congratulate Rio de Janeiro on being awarded the title of World Book Capital City 2025, following a decision of the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. We look forward to working with Brazilian colleagues in order to ensure this highlights and strengthens libraries.
While digital technologies offer huge possibilities to support sustainable development, realising this potential requires action at all levels, from government to the grassroots. Libraries have a key role to play in this digital governance framework, as was underlined at the ICEGOV 2023 conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
IFLA has released a data-based analysis of library fields at the regional level around the world. Based on the data submitted to the Library Map of the World, this offers initial high-level insights in order to start conversations. Above all, it represents a call for ongoing work to increase and improve available data.
A new edition of the UNIMARC/B format is published.
The IFLA Academic & Research Libraries (ARL) Section is proud to remind that our next Webinar Series iteration, will take place on 11 October and is titled Open science policies and best practices in academic and research libraries.
In the spirit of Erasmus, who looked to the past as an inspiration for the future, the IFLA Document Delivery and Resource Sharing Section (DDRS) hosted a lively and informative Open Session about Controlled Digital Lending (or CDL).
IFLA has been informed of the decision to withdraw the invitation to hold the 2024 World Library and Information Congress in Dubai.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, firmly believes that media and information literacy (MIL) is a key skill for today’s world. In the face of a seemingly endless amount of information, and with growing threats from mis- and disinformation, the need to build MIL competencies is greater than ever.
Welcome to the September issue of the IFLA Newsletter!
The IFLA Metropolitan Libraries Section has adopted its focus for 2023-2025: Libraries will be agents for sustainable urban development (SDG 11) and catalysts for civic engagement.
The World Library and Information Congress 2023 (WLIC) Satellite hosted by IFLA's Library Services for Children & Young Adults (C&YA) and Literacy and Reading (LITREAD) Sections saw a vibrant gathering of professionals dedicated to fostering a love for reading among young people. Titled "Journeys into Reading," this satellite event, co-organized by the Dutch reading Foundation, was held at The Hague at KB, National Library and featured a series of insightful presentations that delved into innovative approaches, challenges, and successes in encouraging our very youngest to embark on the lifelong adventure of literacy and reading.
The Information Literacy Section provides an international platform for libraries and educational communities to share and improve information literacy practices, research in IFLA and with the broader library community. Working collaboratively with international and education communities, the Section organise programmes and activities that focus on various aspects of information literacy and areas for professional development, research and practice, education and training.
Libraries have a great story to tell of making a difference to development across the policy agenda. As our engagement at the SDG Action Weekend showed, this story is becoming better known at the United Nations among those working on sustainable development. Next step: new partnerships and impact.
While the evidence is clear that libraries' contribution to sustainable development is as broad as it is deep, it is also too often unrealised. IFLA will be participating at the Sustainable Development Goals Action Weekend in order to change perceptions and attitudes, and secure a stronger place for our profession.
The IFLA Academic and Research Libraries (ARL) Section latest "Hot Topics" session, "From Gutenberg to ChatGPT: Will AI change the mission of academic and research libraries"? (see below) attended by over 300 persons in-site, has been a landmark for the IFLA WLIC 2023 Congress in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.