Tag Archives: Registration Grant

IFLA WLIC 2023 Grant Winners Congress Experience

My Experience as a Grant Winner at the World Library and Information Congress 88th IFLA General Conference and Assembly

My name is Anabelly Tinoco Altamirano, I live and work in Costa Rica. In this document I write some of my experiences at the World Library and Information Congress 88th IFLA General Conference and Assembly and in the Dutch country, which gave me the opportunity to appreciate and better understand areas of library science worldwide.

The World Library and Information Congress 88th IFLA General Conference and Assembly gave me the opportunity to meet, interact and learn with librarians from other countries. Such as dynamics of work, cooperation, collaboration, strategic alliances, access to information, open access, artificial intelligence, accessible documentary materials, accessibility in the library from the physical and technological infrastructure. In addition, I learnt about the impact that a library can generate when it integrates and executes any of the Sustainable Development Goals in their strategic plan.

On the other hand, the experiences shared and acquired in the host country of the World Library and Information Congress 88th IFLA General Conference and Assembly have allowed me to have a broader vision of the organization, administration and improvement in libraries, organizations that contribute to the access and generation of knowledge through books, information resources in digital format through technologies and applications.

By participating in several sessions, I was able to reflect and analyze that with effort, collaborative work, strategic alliances and library cooperation, the improvement of a library can be achieved and they could contribute towards the development of their community, users, regions, and countries.

Therefore, many thanks to all the people, organizations and sponsors who contributed to making it a reality for me to attend and participate in the World Library and Information Congress 88th IFLA General Conference and Assembly.

The experience of the World Library and Information Congress 88th IFLA General Conference and Assembly has been enriching, the vision of a congress of international magnitude to share knowledge reaffirms the potential of librarians, the value of knowledge and libraries.

Expanding my knowledge in spaces of personal interaction like this is very valuable, as I realized the value of knowledge, information, culture, language, reading, sources of information, media or mechanisms used to offer users access to information as the fundamental work of the librarian.

Finally, the Congress was a space for analysis and retrospective in library work.

Thank you to the IFLA staff, everyone who collaborated at the Congress, the participating librarians, attendees, the sponsors, Sage and Ex Libris and the host country. Thank you so much.

Anabelly Tinoco Altamirano

Institutional email: [email protected]

Personal mail: [email protected]

 

IFLA WLIC 2023 Grant Winners Congress Experience

This post features Snehal Dilip Bhalerao, one of the 2023 IFLA ARL Grant winners from India.

I am Snehal Dilip Bhalerao and I studied at the Savitribai Phule Pune University. I currently work as a research fellow at the Centre of Publication Ethics at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India. I feel very lucky to have won this grant which gave me the opportunity to attend the IFLA Conference, which was held from 21st -25th August, 2023. IFLA gave me the opportunity to visit Rotterdam and experience another world of libraries.

After visiting IFLA Rotterdam venue, I realized I could gain some valuable knowledge about Libraries which are different from the Indian setting. I had the opportunity to meet, interact and network with many librarians from across the world at the Conference.

The conference was organized in sessions which represented the different interest in IFLA. I therefore attended sessions that were of interest to me. All the conference sessions were very useful to the development of libraries and provided a great source of knowledge to the participants. The various presentations included the sustainable development goal activities in the various countries of the presenters. Topics included the Green Libraries. Some other presentations also showcased the impact of artificial intelligence on libraries and how for instance ChatGPT is helping in all aspects of our lives, both personal and professional, and how to apply it appropriately and effectively.

Again, the conference educated me on the role of IFLA in the development of the LIS profession.

Then there was the Cultural Evening which was organised by IFLA for participants. This event was very exciting and was another avenue for me to meet many colleagues on an informal level. This event comprised partying, eating and dancing. There was also a photo session and I had the opportunity to meet and take photos with the IFLA President. The evening helped me get off my hectic personal life to have some fun and enjoy myself. Thank you IFLA for the cultural evening. It was a very memorable day.

On the last day, there was a Library visit to Belgium by bus. I joined other librarians on this trip. We visited two libraries in Belgium to see how they operate and manage them. These libraries were very beautiful and are currently using AI to enhance their library operations. I initially did not support the use of AI in libraries but after the tour, I got a first hand experience of AI at work and it changed my mind. I have therefore resolved to advocate for its use in Indian libraries. I hope to be able to share my experiences and knowledge with my colleagues in India.

A great thank you to IFLA, I am really grateful for this opportunity. I appreciate IFLA for giving me the learning experience which will help progress my career in the future. I also want to thank the IFLA President and all IFLA Members and Volunteers who guided us during the IFLA Congress -2023 in Rotterdam.

Snehal Dilip Bhalerao

Savitribai Phule Pune University, India

IFLA WLIC 2023 Grant Winners Congress Experience

This post features  Ezequiel Vallejo Ríos who is one of the 2023 IFLA ARL Grant winners. from México.

Attending the IFLA WLIC 2023 Congress certainly opened an opportunity for those of us who are not in mainstream librarianship to see the various aspects of the profession. I experienced this through my interactions with colleagues who are involved in the day to day activities of the profession, their challenges and successes and other experiences from their various perspectives.

The various presentations at the congress were another source of great experience for me as they provided me with the latest trends in the profession, as well as new ideas which I can implement in my own environment. Some general topics which were discussed included  open access, inclusive publication, copyright, adaptation of copyrighted materials to formats accessible with the Marrakesh Treaty, access to culture and the future roles of the librarian in the environment of access to information. Again, there were discussions that addressed how the role of the librarian changes as society demands it, the implementation of technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) or Chat GPT and with this the development of new digital skills to respond to the constant change in the knowledge society, and innovations in libraries.

Again, attending this congress has helped expand my panorama about the profession also to network with librarians from other institutions, as well as exchange ideas, knowledge, and success stories from their libraries which will help guide me in my work going forward.

Without a doubt, it is gratifying to have experienced professionals sharing their lives, and interests with the new generation of librarians who are barely getting involved in the relevant issues of the profession in order to be able to contribute to the discipline. In turn, it is gratifying that young professionals who came with fresh ideas were given the space to contribute to the profesión and also enrich themselves intellectually. Being in these congresses of global trajectory offers us an excellent environment to get involved with the dynamics of the profesión and thus contributing to the profession.

Inclusion, the theme and topics of the congress are a determining factor for more people to be involved in the development and participation of these congresses. As such, the congress organisers could be more open in their ideas, regardless of gender, religion, social status, political ideology or some kind of motor weakness. This would allow for a more inclusive congress.

 

IFLA 2012 experiences by Sarah Kaddu [National Library of Uganda] Recipient of the 2012 Academic and Research Libraries Section Registration Grant

I was one of the three beneficiaries of the IFLA Registration Grant to attend IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2012 organised by Academic & Research Libraries section. After winning the registration grant, I also applied for the International Leaders Programme which I also won. I therefore arrived on 8th August 2012 for the International Leaders Programme organized by IFLA then later participated in the main IFLA General Congress and Conference.

Experiences
First, I had excitementof winning the Academic and Research Essay Registration Award.  This was the first time I was going to receive a certificate and recognized before other professionals.  Second, it was very exciting to locate the IFLA venue and the respective sessions and interacting with the Academic and Research Section participants.  Third, after a few days in Helsinki, I came across old friends whom I had met a previous professional gatherings.  Fourth, I was privileged to win two opportunities to attend IFLA.  Besides the Registration Grant, won the IFLA International Leaders programme exposing me to the international world.   This was also very exciting because I got to understand IFLA and its functions.  Furthermore, listening to the inspiring presentations, responses and discussions by well travelled and experienced information professionals broadened my understanding and articulation of issues. I got to learn current trends in information storage and retrieval such as cloud computing which I had not heard of before and many others and other best practices.

The cultural shock about the Finnish people – their kindness, neat environment, time management and above all, their love for libraries and reading. I got to know that libraries across Finland are accessed by all at zero cost. This was really amazing. I was also able to acquire new knowledge, experience and techniques related IFLA all of which was inspiring.  I continued to be inspired at the different enriching exhibition stands. Exhibitors’ willingness to share knowledge was amazing. I loved the gifts I was given at the exhibition stands.

 

Challenges 

I trust I acquired a lot of knowledge and skills however, somehow, I failed to locate some presentations that I thought were of interest because the place was really huge and locating the places for the presentations was not easy.  There were a lot of interesting papers being presented at the same time. Yet, they were all of interest.