Monthly Archives: September 2021

SSLS planning for the 2021-23

On the 10th of September, 2021, the IFLA Social Sciences Libraries Section held their Business Meeting II of (in ZOOM format).

Donatus Düsterhaus, the Convenor of the Religions: Libraries and Dialogue Special Interest Group, sponsored by the Social Science Libraries Section, presented a brief resume of the session Facing the future: working together to improve the interreligious dialogue at IFLA WLIC 2021.

Gene Hayworth, the outgoing Chair of the Section, presented a draft of the annual review, which was accepted without any comments. The Report is forwarded to the Division Chair for approval and will be published after all the procedures are passed.

Speaking about the Action Plan for the period 2021-2023 SC members agreed to continue working on the webinar session series Research Methods in Librarianship, From A- Z: designing, implementing and disseminating your researchThe series will be organized in cooperation with the LTR section and members of the IFLA Journal Editorial Board. In 2022 we are planning up to 3 events to be organized. The beginning of the series is available on our YouTube channel.

The planning for WLIC-2022 is going to be organised during the upcoming months when all the procedures become clear.

IFLA Social Science Libraries Section will start to introduce members of the Standing Committee on the pages of social media.
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Facing the future: working together to improve the interreligious dialogue

The session, organised by RELINDIAL – Religions: Libraries and Dialogue Special Interest Group (sponsored by the Social Science Libraries Section), was titled “Facing the future: working together to improve the interreligious dialogue” and was held on Wednesday the 18th of August. The programme – due to the concept of our SIG – fitted well into the IFLA’s sub-theme Libraries Enable.

The session was moderated by SIG’s Convenor Donatus Düsterhaus, who shared the information about RELINDIAL, its work and plans. There were three presentations by colleagues from Africa, America and Europe.

• The first presentation came from Ubong Ottong from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. Libraries as the Impetus for Religious Tolerance in Nigeria U. Ottong talked about the country of Nigeria and there was a focus on a study that examined the influence of libraries on religious tolerance in Nigeria.

The Presentation Description is available on the WLIC website for participants with the subscription, the video of the presentation is published on the event page.

• The second presentation was done by Margot Lyon who is Director of Business Development at Atla (American theological Library association). She presented ideas about Religion in the Public Square: Best Practices and Opportunities for Libraries and Religious Literacy. In her paper, she provided an overview of best practices and programs related to the broad topic of Religion in the Public Square and how these activities can frame, inspire and connect initiatives and opportunities related to religious literacy and libraries.

The full paper with Session transcript (12 pages) is available on the WLIC website for participants with the subscription.

• The third contribution came from Nada Dimitrikevic and Suzana Tanasijevic from Serbia. They talked about manuscripts of the old Serbian church. Revival of the past for the future – preservation of old Serbian church manuscripts and printed books.

The Presentation Description is available on the WLIC website for participants with the subscription.

During the Question and Answer Session, we had more than 20 participants.
The SIG RELINDIAL is planning a webinar Serie this autumn about themes related to the Interreligious dialogue in libraries in the world. For more information please follow our social media accounts on Facebook & Twitter.