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IFLA welcomes all steps towards making legislative changes that adapt current copyright frameworks to the digital age. Colombia is now in the process of reforming its copyright law (Ley 23 de 1982). In light of this, IFLA’s president Glòria Pérez-Salmerón has sent an open letter to the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
Theme: Digital scholarship and knowledge management: building confidence in the digital world
IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, invites bids from IFLA Members to host the 16th IFLA Interlending and Document Supply (ILDS) Conference to be held in September or October 2019. This conference typically runs 2 to 3 days in length, attracts between 150 and 250 delegates, and operates with a budget of approximately EUR 50,000 - 100,000.
IFLA will be attending this year’s annual Internet Governance Forum – the 12th edition – in Geneva, Switzerland. This is an important opportunity both to make the case for an Internet that works for libraries, but also to show how libraries can build a better Internet.
IFLA is undertaking its first member and viewpoints survey and invites your input.
The countries of French-speaking Africa have a rich and diverse history. Much of this is recorded not through books or manuscripts, but through a vibrant tradition of oral history and know-how. Yet with preservation practices not always well-suited to these forms of heritage, and limited resources available, the need for cooperation in order to ensure that they are not lost is essential. A conference in Dakar on 17-19 November explored how best to do this.
Like all aspects of government policy, copyright laws should serve to promote the long-term public interest. As the way in which people create and access information changes, copyright rules for libraries need to evolve to reflect this. IFLA, represented by Sue Warren (Gold Coast, Australia), underlined this message at a conference in Viet Nam, organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
IFLA today announced that the World Library and Information Congress 2019 will take place in Athens, Greece. Following the opening of a new national library building, and its designation as 2018 World Book Capital, the city will in two years’ time play host to the biggest truly international gathering of the library field.
"Local Histories and Genealogies in Multicultural World"
Around the world, libraries are at the heart of education institutions, giving access to the materials students and teachers need. Librarians from Cameroon attended a WIPO conference on 21-22 November in order to underline the need to support their institutions as part of a comprehensive development strategy.
IFLA exists in order to empower the library field.
IFLA Secretary General Gerald Leitner today wrote to IFLA members to mark the start of the 70th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
IFLA is deeply concerned by the announcement of the destruction of 140 000 books held by public-controlled libraries in Turkey. As established in IFLA’s Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom, decisions on the selection and availability of library materials and services should be governed by professional considerations and not by political, moral and religious views. Such broad and indiscriminate withdrawals of books from libraries risks challenging the principle that the right of freedom of access to information should be guaranteed in all but the most extreme circumstances.
The Twelfth Meeting of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict took place in Paris, on 29-30 November. IFLA was invited as one of the eminent professional NGOs who have a formal relation with UNESCO.
Today is the first day of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. For the next twelve months, libraries across Europe will be celebrating the importance of heritage, and the contribution it makes to communities. In doing so, they will underline the indispensable role they play in preserving, managing, and giving access.