Closing ceremony IFLA 2010

The ceremony began with awarding Claudia Lux, former President of IFLA, as an honorary fellow of IFLA. Her first IFLA conference was in 1987 and in 2010 she was blogging and on Twitter, making her point that IFLA has changed dramatically. She said she was able to achieve all that she did, “with a little help of my friends…with a lot of help of my friends.”

The next award was given to INIST, L’Institut de l’Information Scientifique et Technique for it’s significant contribution to IFLA as the worldwide host for the IFLA website from 2002 to 2009. 

The next award was given to Elizabet Ramos de Carvalho for her significant contribution to IFLA as the regional manager and in promoting the Latin American and Caribbean region. She says she shares the metal with her friends and colleagues from Latin America and the Caribbean.

IFLA also thanked the Swedish library association for hosting IFLA 2010 and in doing it so well with only one year’s notice.

Patrice Landry, chair of Professional Committee, gave the Newsletter of the Year award to Library Services for Multicultural Populations. He also awarded the best IFLA poster session for 2010 to African Water Information and Documentation System (African WIS) by Kabou Kamboukadio from Burkina Faso. 

Then, a video from http://www.meetpuertorico.com on Puerto Rico was shown to illustrate what future conference attendees have in store for them. The Puerto Rico Natioinal Committee chair then formally invited people to attend the 77th IFLA Congress from August 13-18, 2011. “We share your dreams and your expectations…to join efforts to better serve all.” Treats were then passed out so we could get a taste for Puerto Rico.

This was followed by Ingrid Parent, IFLA President-elect, speaking in Swedish and then thanking the Swedish National Committee in English for their amazing work hosting the IFLA Conference this year. Additional thanks go out to the sponsors, the exhibitors, the communication team, the interpreters, the staff, and many many others including the delegates. The ceremony then showed a photo slideshow of the conference and a video about “the hero” with closing words from Agneta Olsson, the chair of the Swedish National Committee. 

We spent the week in Gothenburg immersed in information, cultural activities, and Swedish hospitality. To the city of Gothenburg, to IFLA, to all those who volunteered, thank you for an amazing, unforgettable week! You have welcomed us, you have impressed us, you have inspired us.    
     

E-learning SIG

Barbara Sen, Information School, University of Sheffield, UK
There are many positive benefits to using e-portfolios.  The University of Sheffield encourages reflective journal writing with their MA library students. They call their e-portfolio “The Secret Diary of Librarian Mole: My Online Learning Environment.” These entries build to an e-portfolio and are supposed to launch them into their first professional publications. Within their 30 credit Management module, the Reflective management journal = 30% of module grade. They use both formative and summative assessments. Reflections are not just “all about me;” it is about being yourself in a wider context. Through the experience, students felt empowered. The e-portfolio allows for supporting evidence to be attached. Flexibility is another benefit since  remote access is possible. Also, it enables instructors to get to know their students quickly and to give prompt feedback. It also reduces administration.  

Bob Pymm, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia
The ideas of doing practical work experience as part of academic study. This is common in many professions such as in the field of medicine. It links classroom learning with the work place. It also is seen as valuable in obtaining employment. It has been identified as one of the 12 core topics in a joint European LIS curriculum.  Students often provide new ideas and perspectives to the library they are placed in and hopefully contribute positively to their work place. Experiential learning is a valuable part of the curriculum. Within the practicum, students are supposed to keep a reflective diary and thus thinking about their experience. It is used as a basis for assessment and understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of a placement
It is a means for marketing self. 

Primoz Juznic, Department of Library Science and Book Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Comparison between LIS departments at  University of Ljubljana and Charles Sturt University. The took 35 students from each university to complete surveys reflecting on their practicum experience. Over 90% of Australians and 83% of Slovenian students thought it was worthwhile. 46% of Slovenian students wanted a longer practicum experience while only 8% of Australians felt that three weeks was too short. All the Slovenian diaries are put on the web and shared with their practicum placements, but this is not the case in Australia. Generally, the students had similar experiences. They agree that this is a very important experience for their future careers.  Juznic stated that he was surprised that there was not much published on practicums when the students wee looking at their literature reviews. He said that this was a great opportunity to strengthen and encourage more of this. 

Corrinne Hills (DRUG ARM Australasia Library, Brisbane, QLD, Australia), Rebecca Randle and Joanne Beazley (Logan City Council Libraries, Logan, QLD, Australia)
How do you state on top of your game after you graduate? Professional development is the answer. In February 2009, a pilot study called Pebble Pad was launched for e-portfolios in both education and career development. Randle showed a few screen shots from her e-folio and highlighted the many advantages of using an e-folio. They are fast, flexible, and information can be updated automatically. It can support mobile learning. It is a personal learning system that provides an innovative platform to display your learning and prove the practical skills you have to future employers. They are a valuable resource. Transferrable skills is important don’t have a lot of library experience. E-portfolios can demonstrate this.  

Libraries Promoting Reading in a multicultural, multilingual society

Maija Berndtson, from the Helsinki City Library, Helsinki, Finland, discusses her paper entitled “Libraries promoting multimodal literacy in an intercultural society.” She states, “We are empowering people. We need to focus on our customers, our users, our citizens–more perhaps than our institutions.” She poses a few interesting questions: What does it mean to be literate in a digital world? Do we live up to the manifesto, to UNESCO’s goals? When we are doing our everyday work, we often forget these things. Which direction should we go? 

She states that Libraries need to support the official country’s language and culture, as well as encourage other cultures within it.  For example, she was very proud of the language cafe where people came together to learn Finnish together. While they learn Finnish, they learn about each other and the cultures they come from. “How are libraries going to meet the challenges of the future?” she asks. “i don’t know how open we are.” She calls for communities to integrate and not separate. She defines the difference between multicultural and intercultural. Intercultural is a process and we really have the possibility to be an intercultural meeting place. Reading and literacy is basic in every country. Every one of us should start every day with a mantra, “I am doing powerful work because I am empowering people.”

Ray Dioron, faculty of education, University of PEI, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and Marlene Asselin, faculty of education, University of British Columbia present their paper “Building a culture for reading in a multicultural, multilingual world.” Their goal is to show the link between literacy and libraries.  

Ruth Fassbind-Eigenheer, from Bibliomedia Schweiz, Solothurn, Switzerland, presents her paper “Intercultural library networking in Switzerland: Sharing materials and knowledge. First, libraries need materials and materials for reading promotion. Second, they need knowledge about multicultural populations. Bibliomedia Schweiz has both.       

Jamie Campbell Naidoo from the University of Alabama, presented his and his collegues’ paper “Celebrating culture: reading and family literacy @ the library with the Latino Reading and Literacy Programs “El dia de Los ninos/el dia de los libros (dia)” and “noche de cuentos.” all the authors are members of Reforma.

Briony Birdi from the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, presents her paper ‘We are here because you were there’: minority ethic genre fiction in UK public libraries. She starts by discussing the perceived separation between British Muslims and white citizens. She focuses on minority ethnic fiction in UK libraries. 

“Come to your library”: BLA project for promotion of reading in West Bengal, India, presented by Ratna Bandyopadhyay from the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bangal, India. The impact of her programs includes 15% increase of new members in 6 months and a regular attendance increase of 17%. Teachers and students took part in these library programs as well. They plan to extend this work in phases to all other public libraries. 

“Reading–what to purchase, and why?” presented by Ingrid Atlestam from Kultur I Vast Refionbiblioteket/the Vastra Gotalund Regional Library, Goteborg, Sweden, and Randi Myhre from Immigrant-institutet/The Immigrant Institute, Boras, Sweden) 
1/4 of people in Gothenburg were born outside of Gothenburg.  

1. Easy access to reading materials. Often, visitors will not ask for help or request books from other libraries. It makes it that much more important that the appropriate books are on the shelves. 
2. Immigrants among library staff
3. Purchase of second language learning media is top priority
4. Supply newspapers and magazines in different la gauges for newcomers
5. It is important to purchase literature from mother tongue
6. Non fiction in different languages is important for children, primers, schoolbooks
7. Non fiction for adults in different languages is requested
8. Leisure reading in mother tongue is mostly requested by well-established residents

The process:
A. Engage in dialogue with users
B. Two main patterns of library usage: well-established residents and newcomers. Prioritize newcomers’ needs of nonfiction.
C. Pedagogical task: show resources available online, improve marketing of educational service and activities
D. Collection management: examine how stocks in different languages used are used for evidence based decision making for new media purchases
E. Improve national/supranational support of library services for immigrants
         

BSLA

Ellen Tise, IFLA President, announces the participating countries for the first year of Building Strong Libraries Associations (BSLA): Cameroon, Lebanon, Peru, Ukraine, Botswana, and Lithuania. These countries have committed to this two year program. It is a capacity building program designed to benefit associations, libraries, and their communities to provide better and more equitable services. Capacity building includes training, helping to create partnerships, and mentorships. Experts in library associations are partnered with each country project and library association.

Lost in translation?

My first experience with the translation system made me quite aware of how lucky I am to speak the language that so many people present in at this conference. It is not easy to listen to the translation when the speaker can also be heard. Also, if the speaker speaks quickly, you can hear the hurried tone of the translator as she tries to keep up, tries to find a place to breathe, tries to find the right word to use when all the while the speaker moves forward. She stumbles, she catches up, she backs up for a second. All of this I am aware of while the content of the speech only comes to me in waves.

On the other hand, the translation headphones were exceptionally helpful when listening to a speaker that is speaking in my own language. There is no static, no delay, and the speaker’s voice is that much clearer because all the normal background noise of people moving about is silenced. All I can here is the speaker. This makes me think I should always use the translation headphones even if I don’t need the speech to be translated.

The other strange thing that happened is at one point the translator started translating the speaker into a different language. I switched through all the channels to listen to the many different languages that was being translated in and eventually I returned to the English channel and by then it was working, but I missed the beginning of the presentation. Granted, it was probably only about a minute, but imagine how difficult it would be if these small glitches had to be dealt with for every speech, every seminar, every day. How would this experience effect my overall satisfaction of the conference? How would this experience effect how I saw myself; would I only see myself as other? How would this experience effect my ability to attend all the conference seminars when just one seminar with the translation system made me a little tired? These are just some of the questions that went through my head as I tried to pay attention to the speaker and if I’m thinking all these thought, how am I getting anything out of the speech at all? 

It made me realize firsthand how powerful language is and how it can be used to enhance the divide between people. If this one experience is this difficult, what makes me think people would be willing to patiently surf the web that is primarily in English if they don’t speak English? How can services be relevant to users if they don’t read or have some other barrier between them and the knowledge the library is storing? These are questions that are often posed, but I’m grateful for this experience because it shows me personally how language becomes economics, becomes quality of life, becomes one’s way of seeing truths in the world.  

Metropolitan Libraries with Public Libraries

From institutions of the industrial age to change agents for the networked society: experiences from Denmark
The projects and partnerships that Rolf Hapel of Denmark spoke of today were impressive. Despite a 50% decrease of libraries in Denmark, the library services seem to have increased. Hapel stated that libraries are really a place for public democracy and learning. This belief is highlighted in the services his library provides. 
Some of those services include: I flor, winner of Danish design, 2004 where students could interact with questions posted for them on the floor by their teacher or a library; many storytelling tools such as story hat that is PDA equipped, story chair, lib phone that tells information about a book when the phone is held up to it, and story surfer where kids surf the floor to get more information about a book; other technology innovations like info column and info galleria. They provide space for public debates and writers workshops. I love the idea that they share their e-sources with the local high schools as well. This is just a few of the services at Aarhus Kommune, Aarhus, Denmark.

Unleashing the power of quest: two innovative projects to reap the rewards of reading
Dr. N. Varaprasad, of Singapore, shared information about two interesting reading programs. The first is called Quest, which is a fantasy story in an Asian setting that is geared towards boys. They follow a boy protagonist as he goes on a quest to save the world on a set of 60 cards with manga-like illustrations. The only way they can collect these cards is by borrowing and reading books. Kids can then submit alternative endings as well as compete in a drawing contest,  a contest that drew people of all ages to enter. The second reading program Varaprasad discussed is called Read and Reap. I love the question he poses: what have you read today that would inspire someone else. It is evident how this question would draw students in as well. More information about this program can be found at Http://readandreap.sg. 

Learning library: connected community and innovation
Marian Morgan-Bindon from Gold Coast City Council, Australia, says “Program delivery must be about choice” and she shared many services that do just that. Users have many options, but my favorite program she talked about is called Literati, a feast of authors on the gold coast. This program connects 50 authors with readers at a dinner with a discussions the next day.  Lastly, there is a children’s breakfast with the author to allows them to interact with the authors and ask them questions as well. 

Learning 2 Teach: US Public Libraries
Martin Gomez states that innovation and creativity are vital in public libraries and in the LA public library, this seems that much more important as the decreased funding that many libraries face are fully realized with a loss of 300 staff and a decrease of the work week to five days. He sees this challenge as an opportunity to reposition the LA Public Libraries to be a central institution within the city. The library has an aggressive educational agenda that augments current educational institutions where many of the high schools do not have a school libraries or librarians. He asks the question, “Schools are to learning as libraries are to ________. You fill in the blank.” He also poses the question, “Where does innovation come from?”  

Oases of innovation: uncovering innovation in even the most unlikely places
Ari Katz discusses using Bibliomist in the Ukraine. The collections are often outdated in Ukrainian libraries despite the fact that the Ukraine has so many libraries.  He highlights a few innovations found in Ukrainian libraries at the Mykolaiv City Library; at the youth library at Moloda Gvardiya, Kyiv; and at the Dy. Raion Library, Kyiv. ”Where you see some innovation, you see a lot of it,” Katz states, which is an interesting concept. Once the genie is uncorked and let out of his bottle, it seems there is no end to what he can do and what innovation can then be accomplished. Colin Guard explains that bibliomist is Ukrainian for library bridge, bridging the library of past to the library of the future. He states that friendly competition between libraries is a great motivator for them to incorporate new innovations within their libraries. 

The power of place: community engagement and collaboration at Vancouver Public Library
Paul Whitney starts by stating that these conferences show us the differences and diversity within our libraries when in fact, we are probably more similar in our day to day dealings than we are different. Whitney states that, “The library of my professional youth was more passive…We are moving in areas to proactively reach out to diverse and underserved groups within society.” Public libraries must be a refuge and a sanctuary. This belief is reflected with a reading room that is open 365 days a year with extended hours. This alone is impressive, but what about the fact that all libraries in Vancouver have a public art budget? What about the fact that they have an annual indigenous storyteller in residence? Or how about the public art space they provided or the dance troupe that were literally dancing ON the outside of the library? All of these things show how libraries can think about the space of the library to engage their users, that the space is neutral and can be created and recreated to represent everybody. Whitney ends with the fact that he will be retiring so if you are interested in being a librarian in Vancouver, there is a position available.     

Overall, this was an interesting and thoughtful seminar. The challenge now is to figure out what I can do at home that is innovative and creative. What things can I incorporate in my own world from all these many ideas?