Author Archives: jayshree

U.S. Academic Libraries and the Sustainable Development Goals

Higher education institutions in the U.S. are often private, not publicly funded. Furthermore, the United States recently confirmed its withdrawal from membership of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO has been heavily involved in crafting and supporting the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

For these and other reasons the SDGs may not be high on U.S. academic libraries’ list of priorities.   However, I believe that U.S. academic librarians have many opportunities to contribute to the development of a sustainable and inclusive world. As a university librarian at a leading U.S. university I believe I have a responsibility to facilitate these opportunities. The knowledge and skills librarians need to possess include the following:

  • The knowledge of how the current scholarly communications system imposes economic barriers to research-sharing that exclude scholars in less developed countries from both creating and accessing academic resources. And the skill to use modern technologies to develop alternative systems based on principles of sustainability and inclusion.
  • The knowledge of how their users respond to information, especially misinformation derived from social media and malicious web sites trafficking in falsehoods. And the skill to provide their users with the tools that will allow them to evaluate more accurately these sources of information.
  • The knowledge that information philanthropy from North to South is not a sufficient basis for action. The skill to organize and fund sustainable alternatives such as OCSDnet, the Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network.
  • The knowledge that not all societies have or even want an openly accessible digital platform for their cultural heritage. The skill to work with those communities in developing new, interoperable tools that empower these societies and provide them with whatever opportunities they seek to share their heritage.
  • The knowledge that sustainability and inclusivity are two concepts that will always need the attention and focus of librarians because they will never receive enough attention from the business people and legislators that set limits on the library services we seek to deliver. The skill to incorporate sustainability and inclusivity into the conceptual framework for every library project.

I believe that this knowledge and these skills will come to librarians in many ways. However, the first and most important method to develop the knowledge base and skills we need is to encourage continual communication and exchange among a truly global community of librarians.  I also believe librarians at higher education institutions, thanks to the parent networks formed by universities and academics throughout the world, have great advantages when seeking to provide this forum for global and intercultural knowledge exchange.

Gerald R. Beasley

Carl A. Kroch University Librarian

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

Trends in Academic and Research Libraries in Ivory Coast / Côte d’Ivoire

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND INTERNET

Universities and high private or public schools in Côte d’Ivoire are increasingly creating libraries to support teachers and students in their university studies and research. The creation of these academic and research libraries encourages the employment of professionals in the information sciences.

Côte d’Ivoire has a national association which is the APSID-CI (Association of Professionals of the Information Sciences of documentary of Cote d’Ivoire). This association is made up of a section that brings together libraries and documentation centers for academics and researchers. This section is nothing more than the Association of Specialists in Documentary Information of Research and Higher Education of Côte d’Ivoire (ASIDRES-CI).

All the universities and public schools of Côte d’Ivoire have a library in their midst. Concerning universities and high private schools, some have them and others, no. Interviews and visits to some of these establishments indicate that the budget allocated is insufficient to cover all expenses (subscriptions to online periodicals, acquisition of new documents, office equipment and air conditioning, catering fund … ). In most of these libraries the staff is inadequate in proportion to the work to be done. But in spite of these means and conditions of work, the brave professionals of the information sciences apply themselves to do their work by aiming the satisfaction of their users who are the teachers (Professor, Doctor, Engineer) and the students.

It should also be noted that in Côte d’Ivoire, most of the library holdings in academic and research libraries are mostly composed of dissertations and often internship reports and doctoral dissertations. Today, it is difficult to access information because of document retention concerns. Some documents are not accessible due to poor storage conditions. In addition Internet access is always a luxury for developing countries like ours. University libraries and research libraries are not immune to this situation.

The ASIDRES-CI struggles to stabilize because it does not communicate sufficiently about its existence and activities, which makes it unknown to most professionals in the field of academic and research libraries.

Another remark we made is that the academic and research libraries in Côte d’Ivoire do not exchange sufficiently on documentary techniques and practices in order to facilitate collaboration between them in order not only to be more efficient and to participate in decision-making in our country. It is in this respect that library professionals, particularly those in the academic and research sectors, will be able to make progress on their level and participate in the sustainable development of our dear country of Cote d’Ivoire.

AKE Jonas F…
Bibliothécaire – archiviste
l’Institut National Supérieur des Arts et de l’Action Culturelle
[email protected] / [email protected]

Call for Applications: IFLA ARL Attendance Grants for IFLA 2018

The Academic and Research Libraries Section (ARL), with generous sponsorship by Ex Libris and SAGE, is offering THREE (3) Attendance Grants for the IFLA Congress in Kuala Lumpur 2018 to an information professional from each of these regions:

• Africa
• Latin America
• Asia/Pacific region

What does the Attendance Grant Cover?

Each grant covers the early registration fee of Euro 500 which expires on 15th May 2018. The Attendance Grant will also provide support for travel and/or accommodation of up to Euro 700.

Applicants must be able to attend the Congress and will be responsible for all other costs associated with Congress attendance. Please see the Conference website for further details about the Congress.

What is expected from the grant holders?

The successful candidates will be required to be onsite at the Congress and participate actively for the duration of the Congress.

The winners will also be required to attend the IFLA Awards session to receive their certificates, and also attend the ARL’s Hot Topics session.

They will also be required to take part in various publicity events during the conference, such as photo shoots and events organised at the two sponsors’ exhibition stalls. Their essays may be published on the ARL Section blog before the conference.

Recipients will be required to write a brief article about their Congress experience (approximately 500 words) for publication on the ARL Section blog within 3 months of the end of the Congress.

Eligibility
• The applicant must be a paid-up member of his/her national library association
• The applicant should not have attended the IFLA Congress before
• The applicant must be willing to share their experience at the IFLA Congress with their national library association
• The applicant must be eligible to obtain a visa for travel
• The applicant must declare that she/he is able to fund all other costs beyond the grant that are involved in attending the Congress, e.g. all other hotel, travel and subsistence expenses NOT covered by the Grant
• Those who have previously received this Grant (formerly known as Essay Contest) are not eligible to apply again.

Application Procedures

Your application will include the following:
(A) A covering letter providing:
• your contact details (e.g. name and email address)
• short summary of your employment and/or student status

First-time IFLA attendees, young professionals, students of Library and Information Studies (LIS) and those working in LIS jobs for the first time will have an advantage in the assessment of applications, so make sure you mention this if you belong to one of these categories.

(B) A written statement of up to 500 words, on
• how attending IFLA will benefit you in a personal and/or professional capacity, with
reference to the 2018 theme of the conference;
• how you intend to apply the benefits that you have outlined in a practical way after the Congress, either for you personally or for the library/information unit you work in;
• a budget/cost estimate for travel and hotel up to Euro 700, that would not normally be funded by other grants or your place of work.

(C) A declaration that you are able to fund all other costs beyond the Grant when attending the Congress, and that you are eligible to obtain a visa for travel.

(D) A statement indicating that you have approval from your employer, that if you are a recipient of this Grant, that you have their support to attend the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Submission
Your application must be received by 9 March 2018.
All applications will be acknowledged upon receipt.
All applicants will receive notification of award status no later than 1 May 2018.

Please send your application with your address, telephone number, and email address no later than 9 March 2018, to:
Liz State
Email: [email protected]

Please note
Our grant is possible because of the generous sponsorship by Ex Libris and SAGE. Our sponsors want to offer all our grant applicants an opportunity to receive news and announcements of their products and services, and we will be sharing your contact details with them. If you do not wish to have your contact details shared, please indicate your preference in your submission document.

Call for Papers: Theme: “Digital Scholarship and Knowledge Management: Building Confidence in the Digital World”

Knowledge Management Section Joint with Academic and Research Libraries Section and Rare Books and Special Collections Section are
pleased to invite you to submit a paper for their Open Session.

Deadline: 2 February 2018.

Full details are available here: https://2018.ifla.org/cfp-calls/knowledge-management-with-academic-and-rare-books-section