Category Archives: General

RELINDIAL SIG IFLA Social Science Libraries Sponsor (La Section des Bibliothèques en Sciences Sociales est le Commanditaire du Groupe d’intérêt Spécial Nouvelle (SIG)

RELINDIAL
La Section des Bibliothèques en Sciences Sociales est le Commanditaire du Groupe d’intérêt Spécial Nouvelle (SIG)
Bibliothécaires curieux des cultures du monde, venez vous joindre à notre première réunion, le lundi 13 août 2012, « Session room 6 », de 16h à 18h.
RELINDIAL (Bibliothèques Religieuse dans le Dialogue)
Le professionnel de l’IFLA Comité a approuvé le nouveau SIG en Avril 2012 comme un véhicule pour promouvoir le dialogue entre les cultures.
Les activités proposées sont les suivantes:
– Répertorier le patrimoine religieux accessible en ligne
– Répertorier les ressources numériques au service des pensées religieuses
– Initier une coopération internationale pour un partage des expériences
– Travailler sur les langages d’indexation pour que les évolutions du Web puissent prendre en compte la complexité des problématiques religieuses
– Coopérer avec le groupe des « Sisters libraries », de la section IFLA des bibliothèques pour enfants et jeunes adultes, pour un partage d’expérience qui fasse tomber des barrières dès le plus jeune âge
Deux conférences seront également proposés au cours de cette première réunion:
• L’IDEO au service du dialogue interculturel islamo-chrétien [grâce au FRBR]
Frère RENÉ-VINCENT DU GRANDLAUNAY o.p. (Institut Dominicain d’études orientales, Le Caire, Egypte)
• GlobeTheoLib: Ressources théologiques en ligne pour la formation et le dialogue oecuménique [une plateforme gratuite]
AMÉLIE VALLOTTON (Globethics, Geneva, Switzerland)

Odile Dupont
Responsable du SIG – IFLA RELINDIAL
Chargée de mission pour la promotion et les réseaux de bibliothèques
Présidente de l’Association des bibliothèques européennes de théologie BETH
Institut catholique de Paris
21 rue d’Assas
75270 Paris cedex 06
Tel : 33(0)1 70 64 14 27
Fax : 33(0)1 44 39 52 98
[email protected]

Hello Social Science Libraries Section

Letter from the
Chair

Hello Social Sciences Libraries Section!

I hope to see you all at the upcoming IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Helsinki, Finland! Our Social Science Libraries Standing Committee has organized an exciting conference program on Thursday, August 16, from 10:45 a.m. -12:45 p.m., entitled “Empowering Library Users to Solve Problems: Our Stories.” We hope you will come to hear your library colleagues from six different countries share their stories and case studies related to how they used data to drive change in their libraries. Please also stop by our Social Science Libraries Standing Committee poster during the poster sessions. Our poster will highlight the work of our section and the importance of social sciences libraries.

The Social Science Libraries Section has had a busy year. The section’s work to create a new Special Interest Group (SIG), Religions in Dialogue (RELINDIAL), has been moving forward thanks to the efforts of standing committee members Odile Dupont and Lynne Rudasill. They have worked very hard to make this new SIG a reality. The SIG will have its first meeting in Helsinki on Monday, August 13, 4:00-6:00. If you are interested in participating, please attend this inaugural meeting to learn more.

Social Science Libraries Standing Committee members, Maria Elena Dorta-Duque and Lynne Rudasill, have begun work editing a new book highlighting the papers presented at our 2011 satellite conference in Havana, Cuba. Dorta-Duque and Rudasill, the chairs of the satellite conference, invited several satellite conference presenters to write book chapters expanding on the themes covered in the satellite conference. The book, tentatively entitled, “Open
Access and Digital Libraries: Social Science Libraries in Action,” will hopefully be published by the end of 2012.

When in Helsinki, please join us at the Social Science Libraries Standing Committee meetings (see schedule in Newsletter) as we plan our future projects and programs and begin to prepare for the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Singapore in 2013. Even if you are not a member of the Standing Committee, we welcome you and encourage you to attend our meetings.
Liz Cooper
See you in Helsinki!
Chair, Social Science Libraries Standing Committee

The IFLA Social Sciences Libraries Section invites you to the…Empowering library users to solve problems: our stories

27 July 2012 — Wilda Newman
IFLA World Library and Information Congress
78th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
11-17 August 2012, Helsinki, FinlandSession 203
16 August 2012 10:45 – 12:45
Room: Session Room 4
Congress track 3: Users driving access and services.

http://conference.ifla.org/ifla78/session-203
… a two-hour program on Thursday 16 August 2012, offered in cooperation with the Law Libraries Section and the Government Libraries Section.

As social scientists we are interested in data gathering and its impact. The six presentations for this program relate to results of qualitative and quantitative assessments and examples of how libraries have used these assessments to answer the needs of users. Specifically we will offer case studies/papers that show the impact of gathering data and how the data gathering process led to changed or improved services. Our focus is not on how data was gathered – but how that data was used to empower users. Program papers include descriptions of interventions/changes made after data was collected, attempts to understand how users use information and stories of how data gathering led to new services, etc. Questions and discussion will follow.

Desk statistics under a microscope = improved library services
SUSAN GARDNER ARCHAMBAULT (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, USA)

Was wir von unseren Nutzern lernen können – und wie
SEBASTIAN NIX (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Bibliothek und wissenschaftliche Information, Berlin, Germany)

How to be competitive in the educational & cultural landscape: the challenge of the Carol I Central University Library in Bucharest, Romania – case study
MIREILLE RADOI (Carol I Central University Library, Bucharest, Romania)

Libraries supporting national development goals in Namibia
ELLEN NAMHILA (University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia) and RITVA NISKALA (Namibia Library and Archives Service, Ministry of Education, Windhoek, Namibia)

Empowering library users, establishing channel of communication for service quality expectations of trainers from government Administrative Training Institute (ATI) libraries in India
MANOJ KULKARNI (Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YAHSADA), Pune, India) and NEELA J. DESHPANDE (University of Pune, Pune, India)
Die Befähigung von Bibliotheksnutzer, das Einrichten des Kommunikationskanals
für Qualitätsansprüchen der Trainer von Government
Administrative Training Institute [staatlichadministrativen Ausbildungseinrichtungen] (ATI) Bibliotheken in Indien

Dr. Manoj Kulkarni
Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA)
Pune, Indien
Und
Dr. Mrs. Neela J. Deshpande
Jayakar Library, University of Pune
Pune, Indien
Zusammenfassung
Im 21. Jahrhundert das Bibliothekswesen, die zusätzliche Dienstleistungen und die Zufriedenheit der Bibliotheknutzer sind die Stichwörter für irgendeine Bibliothek. Es ist wichtig, um Dialoge mit den Anwender zu etablieren und zu finden, was eigentlich ihre Erwartungen sind, um die Anwender der Bibliothek zu befriedigen. Die Hauptrolle des richtigen Kommunikationskanals ist, die Bedürfnisse der Anwendern zu etablieren und die Anwendern bevorzugen in der Bibliotheksverwaltung teizunehmen. Das hilft der Bibliotheksverwalter, die Nutzung der Bibliothek zu erweitern. Die Erwartungen über die Qualitätsansprüchen der Bibliotheken wurden von 29 staatlichadministrativen Ausbildungseinrichtungen aus Indien studiert. Die Rückmeldung war ermutigend und die Anwendern waren froh, ihre Erwartungen über verschiedene Aspekte der physischen Umgebung, der Anleitung, das Personal, die Ressourcen und Dienstleistungen zu teilen. Die Erwartungen der Anwendern werden umgesetzt und die Infrastruktur der Bibliothek, die Ressourcen, die Schulung von dem Personal, der Büchergemeinschaft, die Ausstellung von der Regierungsveröffentlichungen und andere Aktivitäten werden in die Praxis umzusetzen.

Giving them what they need, more simply: empowering students through internet specific subject websites
DOUG SUAREZ (Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)

The IFLA Social Sciences Libraries Section invites you to the…

IFLA World Library and Information Congress
78th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
11-17 August 2012, Helsinki, FinlandSession 203
16 August 2012 10:45 – 12:45
Room: Session Room 4
Congress track 3: Users driving access and services.

http://conference.ifla.org/ifla78/session-203

Empowering library users to solve problems: our stories

… a two-hour program on Thursday 16 August 2012, offered in cooperation with the Law Libraries Section and the Government Libraries Section.

As social scientists we are interested in data gathering and its impact. The six presentations for this program relate to results of qualitative and quantitative assessments and examples of how libraries have used these assessments to answer the needs of users. Specifically we will offer case studies/papers that show the impact of gathering data and how the data gathering process led to changed or improved services. Our focus is not on how data was gathered – but how that data was used to empower users. Program papers include descriptions of interventions/changes made after data was collected, attempts to understand how users use information and stories of how data gathering led to new services, etc. Questions and discussion will follow.

Desk statistics under a microscope = improved library services
SUSAN GARDNER ARCHAMBAULT (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, USA)

Was wir von unseren Nutzern lernen können – und wie
SEBASTIAN NIX (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Bibliothek und wissenschaftliche Information, Berlin, Germany)

How to be competitive in the educational & cultural landscape: the challenge of the Carol I Central University Library in Bucharest, Romania – case study
MIREILLE RADOI (Carol I Central University Library, Bucharest, Romania)

Libraries supporting national development goals in Namibia
ELLEN NAMHILA (University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia) and RITVA NISKALA (Namibia Library and Archives Service, Ministry of Education, Windhoek, Namibia)

Empowering library users, establishing channel of communication for service quality expectations of trainers from government Administrative Training Institute (ATI) libraries in India
MANOJ KULKARNI (Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YAHSADA), Pune, India) and NEELA J. DESHPANDE (University of Pune, Pune, India)

Giving them what they need, more simply: empowering students through internet specific subject websites
DOUG SUAREZ (Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)

The future of research infrastructures: a look at Germany

Information and knowledge are important resources for resource-poor countries. Thus, it is hardly surprising that the future of research infrastructures in Germany has been discussed rather intensively for about two years by information professionals, academics and political decision makers. In 2011, several reports and recommendations on the future of research infrastructures in Germany were presented by different institutions.

In January 2011, the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat), the most important advisory body to the German Federal Government and the state governments on research policy issues, began to present a series of recommendations on the six publicly financed German library service networks (Bibliotheksverbünde), on scientific collections and on research infrastructures in humanities and social sciences. Finally, based on these recommendations, the Council published a comprehensive paper on research infrastructures in general.

It is perhaps interesting to look more closely at the Council’s recommendations concerning the social sciences. According to the Council, digital resources will become even more important for these disciplines in the future. Moreover, the online accessibility of research data is considered to be a very important topic. Consequently, existing research data centers should be consolidated and new ones should be established. As for the long-term-archiving of primary research data, the Council recommends expanding the option of referring to and quoting datasets. Moreover, qualitative data and information “volatile” data sources such as websites and weblogs should also be archived to a greater extent than today. All this should be done in discipline-specific way.

Furthermore, the Council expects the Federal Government to commit itself to international infrastructure projects such as the “Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe” (SHARE).

With regard to the framework for the science research infrastructure the Council advocates the development of a competitive strategy for funding infrastructure projects in coordination between the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation (DFG). Such a funding program is considered to be a potential starting point for the creation of ongoing infrastructure projects that could then be incorporated on a national and/or European roadmap for research infrastructures.

Another interesting point is that the Council expects higher education institutions, non-university research institutions and scientific societies to give greater recognition to the individual commitment of scientists in their development of infrastructures. Infrastructure funding and development should be linked to training concepts for early career researchers.

Besides the German Council of Science and Humanities, the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz), an institution which is in charge of coordinating the research funding activities of the Federal Government and the state governments, instigated the creation of a “Commission on the future of information infrastructures” (KII). The Leibniz Association, an association of more than 80 German non-university research institutes from various disciplines, invited 135 persons from 54 different institutions to joint the KII which presented the results of its work in April 2011.

The commission identified eight important areas of areas for action:

  • licensing,
  • hosting / long-term-archiving,
  • retrodigitization / cultural heritage,
  • virtual research environments,
  • open access,
  • research data,
  • information literacy / education.

The recommendations of the KII will find their way into a 2012-awaited comprehensive set of recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities on the information infrastructure in Germany.

Social Science Libraries Section Satellite Conference in Cuba

Social Science Libraries Section Satellite Conference – Social Science Libraries: A Bridge to Knowledge for Sustainable Development was held in Havana, Cuba at the Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba Jose Marti from August 8 – 10, 2011. Approximately 90 librarians from Cuba and abroad attended the conference in newly refurbished rooms of the Biblioteca Nacional. Conference presentations targeted open access, the development of digital libraries and the philosophy behind the development of these resources as a driver for sustainable development. The papers that were presented at the conference are available through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign institutional repository – IDEALS . Over one dozen posters were also presented at the conference that will also soon be available online through the IFLA Social Science Libraries website.
The Section wishes to thank the Director of the Biblioteca Nacional, Dr. Ernesto Torres-Cuevas, for the marvelous support received by both Dr. Torres and his staff. Their hard work and great organizational skills made the event one that will be remembered for many years to come.