{"id":22,"date":"2012-08-28T07:21:01","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T06:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/cpdwl\/?p=22"},"modified":"2012-09-10T10:48:22","modified_gmt":"2012-09-10T09:48:22","slug":"ifla-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/cpdwl\/2012\/08\/28\/ifla-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"IFLA Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opening statement from the IFLADIAL Working Group<\/em><\/p>\n

On Saturday, August 11, at the very start of the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2012 in Helsinki, all Section officers \u2013 including Special Interest Groups’ Convenors \u2013 were invited to the Leadership Brief arranged by the Professional Committee<\/a> (PC). There was great interest in this meeting \u2013 the room was full at 8AM.<\/p>\n

The formal agenda had four information items; the final point was devoted to “questions and discussion”. Many of the participants clearly wanted a more participatory meeting, and said so during the debate. Debates and decisions ought to be more transparent to newcomers and the library world outside IFLA. People want much more dialogue and mutual learning, rather than a steady stream of guidelines, deadlines and reports. Ann Okerson, who heads the PC, was later interviewed by IFLA Express<\/a> and expressed her strong interest in innovation.<\/p>\n

At the Division IV Leadership Brief on Sunday, August 12, we had a lively discussion about communication within IFLA, ably led by Division Chair Anna Maria Tammaro. As a result, Division IV decided to set up a small Working Group, coordinated by NPSIG Convenor Sebastian Wilke, to address the communication issue and to develop proposals for the PC. The Working Group had its first meeting on Tuesday, August 14.<\/p>\n

IFLA as an organisation is definitely moving towards greater openness, participation and web awareness. We recognise and appreciate this development. At the same time we \u2013 like many others \u2013 feel that IFLA needs to speed up the process.<\/p>\n

IFLA is changing, but the world is changing faster. As an institution IFLA is still five to ten years behind the \u201cbest cases\u201d of open, participatory, web oriented organisations.<\/p>\n

The IFLA language is forward looking. It stresses inspiration, participation, empowerment and the need for change. But much of the organisational practice is rather bureaucratic. The real decision processes are not transparent, and there is very little open debate about contested issues.<\/p>\n

We want IFLA to “walk the talk”. The best way to change this situation is to combine initiatives from the top \u2013 Governing Board<\/a>, Professional Committee<\/a>, IFLA HQ<\/a> \u2013 with initiatives from below. This means:<\/p>\n