IFLA Newsletter, November 2023: The Digital Inclusion Issue
27 November 2023Welcome to the November issue of the IFLA Newsletter!
Welcome to the November issue of the IFLA Newsletter!
Earlier this month, IFLA’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Division Committee met over two days in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The meeting created a momentum that will carry forwards the Committee’s work to build action to support libraries across the region over the next two years.
Today we have issued a request for proposal for an author or authors to prepare a starting point report for the next IFLA Trend Report. The call is open for two weeks, until 8 December 2023.
Any type of Green Library or library with an outstanding Green Library Project may apply for the IFLA Green Library Award. Libraries with a small budget but a great impact are explicitly invited to participate in the competition!
Here is IFLA Academic & Research Libraries (ARL) Section latest blog post, with another grant winner's experience, kindly contributed by Snehal Dilip Bhalerao from the Savitribai Phule Pune University, in Pune, India, an ARL / SAGE / Ex Libris grant winner who attended this year's IFLA Congress in Rotterdam: read blog post here
IFLA Journal is pleased to announce a Special Issue on “Artificial Intelligence (AI): Transforming Global Librarianship”.
Modern libraries and in particular public libraries have become hubs of economic community growth that offer services and resources that help people access education, the workforce and create small businesses. This becomes increasingly relevant as we approach a peak moment in the global transition towards a more digital economy. Governments must recognize the symbiotic relationship that exists between libraries, digital inclusion and economic growth and therefore engage in the drafting of specific legislation accompanied by financial support that is required to bridge the digital divide. The promotion of digital inclusion needs to be a multi-stakeholder process that remains bottom-up in order to be effective and libraries can participate in this process by actively engaging with the most affected populations. The potential of libraries needs to be recognized not only in digital cooperation strategies but also as a core part of the community's economic infrastructure.
As a founding member of the Climate Heritage Network, IFLA is excited to join in supporting a call to action for culture at COP28 – and we invite you to join as well!
As in previous years, in 2023 IFLA participated in the Internet Governance Forum that took place in Kyoto from the 8 to the 12 of October. The overarching theme of this year was "The Internet we want - Empowering all people" and it developed around many sub-themes, the most prominent ones being: Digital divides and inclusion, AI and emerging technologies, avoiding internet fragmentation, global digital governance and cooperation and cybersecurity, cybercrime and online safety.
I would like to share the news that following the Governing Board meeting of 9 November 2023, we are planning to relaunch the IFLA’s President’s Meeting.
Here is the latest blog post from the IFLA Academic & Research Libraries (ARL) Section, kindly contributed by Ezequiel Vallejo Ríos, an ARL / SAGE / Ex Libris grant winner who attended this year's IFLA Congress in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Last week, IFLA Headquarters held a Train-the-Trainers Workshop on measurement, evaluation, and demonstrating impact of library services. IFLA’s Member Engagement Officer Kristine Paberza-Ramiresa facilitated the workshop.
IFLA’s Governing Board met online on 9 November 2023. A key item on the agenda was planning for events in 2024 in the absence of a WLIC (World Library and Information Congress). Wider plans for 2024 were also high on the agenda.
IFLA was proud to attend the 44th meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/44) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva on 6-8 Nov 2023. The IFLA delegation spoke on behalf of libraries, user rights and the public interest alongside civil society colleagues.
The RSCVD is moving forward with the aim of continuing its mission of providing high quality resource sharing around the world to help librarians ensure universal and equitable access to information.
Building on our popular How to Spot Fake News infographic, we are happy to release a new edition, focused on how to spot fake e-mail. This aims to give you tools you can use both to keep yourself - and your colleagues and users - safe online.
IFLA approved its fist Internet Manifesto in 2002, providing early recognition of the vital role that the Internet plays in the library and information services field. In 2014, a second version of the manifesto was published, not only to reflect on the changes that the Internet had gone through those years, but also to reaffirm the crucial role of libraries in ensuring equitable access to the Internet and supporting freedom of access to information.
Please find IFLA latest ARL Newsletter issue, # 8, published on 31 October 2023
Candidates are welcomed for several positions as co-opted members of IFLA’s Social Science Libraries Standing Committee for a term of up to four years.
The 18th IFLA ILDS (Interlending and Document Supply) Conference will be held at ADA University in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan