Category Archives: General

IFLA Online Learning Platform

IFLA is pleased to announce the launch of the first stage of the Online Learning Platform, a new section of its website that makes available training materials in a dedicated learning environment. Initially, the five Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA) modules will be available through the platform, with specialist modules and other training materials to follow.

Powered by the open source learning platform, Moodle [http://moodle.org/], the website allows IFLA members to:
• Download high-quality training materials and case studies
• Participate in online learning activities and discussions
• Contribute their stories of how they have used the programme

The online learning platform will be a significant new resource for all of IFLA’s members. Beginning in November 2010, IFLA will make available a growing number of downloadable resources, and interactive learning activities. Content will be continually rolled out, with each Building Strong Library Associations module available for download at launch. From February 2011, all five modules will be complemented by a range of blended learning content, quizzes, and activities.

The launch of the Online Learning Platform also includes more than 20 high-quality, research-based case studies that illustrate examples of the work of library associations around the world. This resource will continue to grow, and IFLA will actively seek out examples of innovation from associations.

For more information about the contents available and access to the platform, visit the Online Learning Platform at the IFLA website.

Fiona Bradley

ALP Programme Coordinator
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 95312
2509 CH The Hague
Netherlands

Email: [email protected]

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IFLA Satellite Conference “Social Science Libraries: A Bridge to Knowledge for Sustainable Development” August 8-10, 2011, Havana, Cuba

Colleagues –

We invite you to register for and attend the IFLA satellite conference “Social Science Libraries: A Bridge to Knowledge for Sustainable Development” which will be held from August 8-10, 2011 in Havana, Cuba. The conference is limited to 60 registrants. We hope the program will provide you with a basis for discovering the many possiblilities of open access and digital libraries. For more information and to register, please go to:

http://www.library.illinois.edu/cgs/IFLA/

which now includes the preliminary program.

We hope to see you there, and in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the main IFLA conference this year.

Lynne M. Rudasill
Chair, Social Science Libraries Section, IFLA
Associate Professor of Library Administration
Center for Global Studies – 217-265-6879
[email protected]

The search engine for business research and economics – EconBiz gets a facelift

The search engine for international online information in business research and economics http://www.econbiz.de   has been restarted. The most important modification for the extensive relaunch has been the changeover to search engine technology. In addition to the improved search algorithms, EconBiz offers advice from research professionals. EconBiz is a nonprofit initiative by the German National Library of Economics (ZBW) and the University- and City Library of Cologne

The Future of Social Science Research

The United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF), which is well known for funding major research in computational and physical sciences, is setting its sights on the role of “the social, behavioral, and economic sciences [to] face extraordinary opportunities to address next-generation research challenges.”  On August 10th, NSF issued a request for white papers that pose “grand challenge questions that are both foundational and transformative”.

As reported at the meeting of the American Sociological Association, a major emphasis in this future funding initiative is to foster and support interdisciplinary projects that link social sciences to other sciences as well as among the social sciences.

This move of the NSF complements the questions raised about social science librarianship in the IFLA Social Science Section’s recent volume on Social Science Libraries.  Interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarirty and a growing emphasis on the need for social knowledge to inform scientific research that ranges from climate change to genetically modified foods have been trends acknowledged by librarians and information professionals for years.

Research initiatives such as this pose challenges to social science libraries to support new directions in research while creating the opportunity to aid organizations such as NSF set new research agendas through work in identifying gaps in knowledge and practice within the disciplines.  I would be interested in reactions from the social science library community on how the social science disciplines (and their allied information/dissemination services) might meet this challenge.  Also, are other nations, foundations, or intergovernmental groups making similar overtures to the social sciences?