Abstract
The process of selecting some of the best papers from the Helsinki World Library and Information Congress, based on recommendations from IFLA Sections and other units, and from Editorial Committee members, is now under way, and the first of the papers selected by this process will appear in the next issue. We open this issue, however, with a slightly revised version of another paper presented at the Congress which documents an important aspect of IFLA’s history. In ‘The IFLA-UNESCO partnership 1947–2012’, Peter Johan Lor, formerly National Librarian of South Africa and Secretary General of IFLA from 2005 to 2008, reviews in detail the evolution of the relationship between IFLA and UNESCO since 1947, and evaluates what this relationship has contributed to the international library and information community. He notes that, as UNESCO gradually shifted its attention away from libraries to documentation and information society issues, its importance to IFLA as a source of support declined; however, possibilities remain for fruitful, mutually beneficial relationships between the two organizations.
In contrast to the international perspective of Professor Lor’s paper, the next four papers focus on developments in specific countries. The first of these, ‘Information-seeking by print media journalists in Rajshahi, Bangladesh’, by Md Arman Hossain and Md Shariful Islam of the University of Rajshahi, report the results of a study which attempted to identify how successful journalists in Rajshahi are in finding information and what information sources they prefer. The Internet was found to be the most frequently used information source. The kinds of information services required by journalists from libraries and information centres were also investigated, and the authors conclude that journalism schools in Bangladesh should offer courses on information behaviour, types of information and information sources, information retrieval, search strategies, etc.
We remain in South Asia with the next paper, ‘Digital preservation of cultural heritage resources and manuscripts: An Indian government initiative’, by Anil Singh of the National Council of Educational Research and Training in India. This paper examines the potential for preserving Indian’s cultural heritage resources in a digital world and making it globally accessible, and discusses the initiatives taken by the Indian government for digital preservation of cultural heritage resources and manuscripts.
Still in Asia, the next paper is also a revised version of one presented at the Helsinki Congress. This paper received the IFLA LIS Student Paper Award 2012, sponsored by IFLA and ekz.bibliotheksservice GmbH, Germany, and as such is not subject to the selection process described above. ‘Local studies centers: Transforming history, culture and heritage in the Philippines’, by Martin Julius V. Perez and Mariel R. Templanza of the University of the Philippines Diliman, is an exploratory study of local studies centres in three regions of the Philippines. It aims to identify and describe the nature, practices and status of these centres and to explore their role in the fields of history, culture and heritage studies in the Philippines. The centres collect library materials, archives and museum artefacts pertaining to ethnic groups, conduct research and publish books relating to the history, culture and heritage of the localities they serve and of the Philippines in general.
The next paper, ‘Demographics of the library and information profession in Kuwait’, by Taghreed Alqudsi-ghabra and Nujoud Al-Muomen, is a complement to the authors’ paper, ‘Library and information science alumni of Kuwait University: Tracking positions and functions’, published in the previous issue (pages 111–122). This second study looks at women LIS alumni in Kuwait as a subpopulation and also investigates gender relevant issues. Based on the results of a questionnaire survey and phenomenological discussion groups, the paper discuses issues such as employment, management, academic positions, and ICT skills, in addition to barriers to professional progression. Other issues, such as professional development and lifelong learning skills, curricular changes in MLIS, title of the MLIS and image of the profession and finally career positions and salaries of the professional LIS community are discussed in light of the experience of the MLIS alumni in Kuwait.
The Helsinki Congress is represented by two further items in this issue; a collection of addresses to the Congress and the General Assembly by IFLA President Ingrid Parent, and the very powerful keynote address, ‘Defending cultural heritage – defending humanity’, by Dr Helena Ranta, a Finnish forensic dentist and professor at the University of Helsinki who has been involved in several forensic investigations of international conflicts, most notably in Kosovo in the 1990s.
Even if you could not be in Helsinki for the Congress, you can get a flavour of the event by logging on to the IFLA Express site at http://express.ifla.org/, where you can find day-by-day news bulletins and many photos and videos of what was going on.