IFLA 2002

Citation

Gelfand, J. (2002), "IFLA 2002", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 19 No. 10. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2002.23919jac.001

IFLA 2002

Julia Gelfand

More than 4,000 registrants attended the 2002 annual meeting of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) (www.ifla.org) held 16-24 August, in Glasgow, Scotland. This was a special meeting since it was the 75th anniversary event of IFLA that was founded in 1927 in Edinburgh. Emerald, the publisher of LHTN is a major IFLA sponsor and exhibitor at this conference, since a large proportion of its publication output serves the library and information communities.

Emerald Library Link Workshop

Emerald hosts several events at IFLA and since the conference was held so near to Bradford, Yorkshire where Emerald is based, there was a significant number of staff present to promote Emerald's products and services. Among this year's festivities, was the Library Link Workshop offered over lunch on the Tall Ship moored just behind the Convention Center on the River Clyde. This historical and nautical environment gave pause to the theme, "Partnerships in the electronic age," that was keynoted by Linda Ashcroft, Editor of New Library World, and a faculty member at Liverpool John Moores University. Her framework was the digital divide and the electronic environment and it was made clear that all parties privy the information distribution models need to rethink how best to reduce the obstacles in the digital divide and make sure that information is readily and easily available, archived and affordable.

Following Ashcroft's articulate talk, extensive discussion took place at several tables that addressed the following sub-themes:

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  Is the Library & Information Science professional literature relevant?

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  Usage statistics: how will new standards influence what librarians do?

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  Usability – what are the major Web site problems and issues that contribute to reducing usability?

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  Accessibility – how can Web site improvements be made for better access by the visually impaired and challenged?

A very animated and excited discussion took place at each table and capturing the ideas is a real challenge. The first group was committed to a very research-oriented focus in LIS publications where research is well described and documented with clarity about the methodology employed. It was also shared that the needs of librarians vary greatly from specialty, environment and the success or experience of networking. There was not very much of a divide between practitioners and researchers. It was suggested that there was room for a journal in the area of information literacy, as it was growing in its acceptance worldwide. Articles are more likely to be read if they contain helpful and significant abstracts. It was perceived that many journal readers are reading more specifically for content and just do not have the time to skim or browse the volume of journals out there. They also tend to increasingly utilize listservs for current information and news about practices, trends, partnerships and what is happening in the information industry as well as services such as DIALOG Alerts and the major indexing services, such ERIC and Library Literature. It was shared that conference proceedings have more benefit than some thought – not everyone can attend all meetings but they want to know what took place. For international coverage and happenings, organizational Web sites and documents about standards and access are critical content that readers seem to seek out. The professional librarian also seems to prefer electronic content, but there was strong support for print as well and wants to read about subject specialties of their customer base, thus the demand for professional literature spans a much wider landscape than just LIS journals. Holding workshops for potential authors was suggested as potentially meaningful and may influence contributions to the literature.

Usage statistics continues to challenge librarians around the globe. The fear with data is how it is interpreted and what it is used for. In the print environment we never had reliable statistics and now we must focus on what the usage differences are between the two formats. Data are often used to justify collection decisions for renewal, cancellation and renegotiation. It may also lend to answering the questions, "what can this library do without" or "are more frequently used journals more meaningful?" For content that was once considered "nice to have but not essential," this marginalia probably does not stand a chance at being retained. It is a bit frustrating that use now dictates decisions instead of anticipating value of material over time. Some issues that were raised about the integrity of the data and whether publishers can inflate usage since they control that suggest the need for external audits and greater accountability. Statistics also are increasingly valuable to editors and publishers because we now know exactly what in the issue or volume is consulted and read. Levels of use are another criteria we need more experience with. Since most libraries report that they want as much user statistics as they can get, most are drowning in it and how frequently it should be reported remained unclear. However, it was very clear that more universal standards would be helpful instead of having every aggregator or publisher release data in a different format. Libraries are beginning to understand more about the user behavior of their readers and this data will help inform more appropriate decisions for a given library's needs. Still, lots of work remains to be done in this area.

Web usability provoked serious discussion about what users and librarians think would improve Web delivery of information. That included:

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  a simple search interface, i.e. similar to Google;

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  incluttered screens;

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  simple clear terminology;

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  include site maps for navigation;

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  better interface feedback to reach destination;

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  better source/provenance information to assist evaluation, i.e. last updated …;

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  omit "gimmicky" technology such as Flash unless critical to using content;

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  include a "Back Home" option;

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  pop-ups tend to have a "bad name" thus should be used sparingly – an example of inappropriate use of a useful application;

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  mixed sense of value of personalization – again should be used to promote institutional tailoring and offer the option to remove personalization if not wanted;

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  help screens should direct users to contact details;

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  consider printability of screens and of entire site if useful;

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  give significant attention to colors and backgrounds, font size and shapes;

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  downloading time must be considered – if content does not load efficiently, user moves on.

The motto for the last discussion about Web accessibility for the visually impaired (VI) is "No one size fits all." It was noted that sometimes designing access for the visually impaired helps the general population as well and also that many sighted users may suffer from other disabilities. Interestingly, one out of four persons in the UK may be VI at some stage in their life. Nearly 23 percent of VI users have access to ICT. Typical problems with Web accessibility and assistive technologies include a preponderance on left-hand navigation and jumps from section to section. There are a variety of assistive technologies to support Braille, enlargement, speech synthesis and other resources that must be considered to integrate fully for the full scope of VI readers. Web browsers also offer different problems. It was suggested that Internet Explorer might be a better and more consistent choice. Sensitivity to customizing the online catalogs would be useful to VI users. What can publishers do to correct some of the shortcomings? These ideas were generated:

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  try to mainstream as much as possible;

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  integrate information – separate sites are not always useful nor wanted – offer more access than just a text-based Webster – promote "whole" experience;

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  do not "ghetto-ise".

Those in attendance definitely felt that this was among the best brainstorming sessions and would like to encourage other publishers to engage in such focus groups before they launch new design and content programs.

Emerald also hosted a second workshop for potential new authors. Building on the recommendations of the first group, this was very well timed. Nearly 40 librarians from around the world came to hear five Emerald LIS editors share their needs and goals for their publications. One area that was highly emphasized was to encourage contributors to write even when English is not their first language. It was made clear that good, relevant content was eagerly sought and that editorial support was available to make sure that the language and grammar were indeed acceptable for publication.

Another distinction is that editors seek out a variety of submissions – long detailed research pieces with significant methodology and findings required for peer review, as well as shorter features, reviews, interviews, conference reports, and the like. Again, a very favorable interaction between presenters and attendees described this session. A Confirmation was made that as professionals we all read a variety of materials, but are more selective with the range of choices and we want to determine relevance and find it easily and have a good read.

The IFLA conference had as its theme for this 75th anniversary, "Libraries for life: democracy, diversity, delivery." It could not have been a more appropriate theme for the occasion to invite the Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, to deliver the keynote address to this diverse attendance of nearly 5,000 delegates from 122 countries. "The world's creative output" was mentioned by Heaney as something we always want to inspire and preserve. He also alluded to how he perceived that librarians must reinvent themselves in ways that we may never have neither imagined nor anticipated. IFLA had its origins in Scotland, having been founded in 1927 in Edinburgh. Only in 1987 had IFLA previously met in the UK until this meeting.

Some of the more visible IFLA themes this year included:

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  intellectual property rights and issues;

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  digital preservation;

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  open access to the Internet;

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  the study of and promotion of readership habits among children and youth;

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  the 25th anniversary of the IFLA Section of School Libraries;

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  the Internet Manifesto released by the Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) core program;

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  directions in eReference activities and the increasingly global methods of participating in that;

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  encouraging diversity in the profession and commitments to continuing education and professional development;

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  information literacy;

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  blending traditional library values with ongoing developments in technology applications;

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  other equally critical topics.

Incoming President-elect Kay Raseroka of Botswana, the first IFLA president from a developing country, held a ballroom-capacity brainstorming session to launch her presidency with current input from IFLA participants. The tone was upbeat and the reporting out of the 30 plus tables confirmed a great pledge to support Raseroka's concerns about ways to bridge the digital divide. Solutions are not only economic but reflect all demographic indicators with a need to promote local cultural institutions and preserve the traditions of indigenous people throughout the world.

Like most large conferences, there was always a sense of conflicting schedules, as one wanted to attend multiple events scheduled for the same time. In addition to the formal program, delegates had lots of opportunity to engage in a full smorgasboard of library visits, cultural and social events. There was a huge exhibition this year, the largest ever at IFLA. Also there were extensive poster sessions, a Model Children's Library that functioned in real time with groups of visiting children and a range of programs and services being offered, and a first time "Mobile Meet," with a large parking lot of bookmobiles representing the UK and many parts of Europe, for attendees to tour and visit.

The organizing committee arranged for a wide variety of venues and activities, ranging from receptions at the Glasgow Science Center, to the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh where our visit coincided with the chance to see the "Treasures of the Forbidden City" exhibition. Options to attend the Military Tattoo, an especially festive program this year due to the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, of international military units demonstrating their musical and marching skills to an enthralled audience.

Conference proceedings are available from IFLA on a CD-ROM and many papers will be published in IFLA Journal or division publications such as Inspel. I believe that everyone had a good week in Scotland and looks forward to the 2003 Annual Conference in Berlin as a place to renew friendships and continue this important work. For information about the next conference 1-9 August 2003, frequently visit the Web site at: www.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/index.htm

Julia Gelfand(jgelfand@uci.edu) is Applied Sciences and Engineering Librarian, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.