The COVID-19 Pandemic has both underlined the importance of access to information, and how far we are from achieving this for all. From the need for rapid access to research to inform policy making, to the development of media and information literacy skills amongst individuals in the face of misinformation, the need for comprehensive policies […]
Read moreAs will have been highlighted by many of the posts made today – World Copyright Day (23 April), copyright has had a major influence on the way the modern creative industries have emerged. It has spread way beyond its beginnings in the early 18th century as a limited protection lasting just 14 years, and now […]
Read moreA recognition of the importance of access to information is at the heart of the work of libraries, and the first of IFLA’s core values. This access refers to all types of information, from all sources. Given their focus on the wellbeing of users, what matters in the end is how the information provided can […]
Read moreCopyright can easily seem scary. One reason for this is the fact that so much discussion on the subject is highly legalistic. There are intense debates about individual articles, sub-articles, or even sub-sub-articles, and an abundance of terminology and technicality that understandably puts a lot of people off. This is neither desirable or inevitable though. […]
Read moreIn February, we blogged about copyright reforms that were upcoming or ongoing in 2018 and whose outcomes were likely to have an impact on libraries. As such, copyright remains one of the core elements of IFLA’s advocacy work, both at the global level, and in support of its members nationally and regionally. Our goal is […]
Read moreOriginally posted in the IFLA SpeakUp! blog, run by IFLA’s FAIFE Committee. Libraries have traditionally acted as facilitators of access to information. In this role, libraries serve as intermediaries not gatekeepers or watchdogs. Libraries diffuse the use of new technologies to their patrons, empowering and unleashing the potential of human mind. The law generally views […]
Read moreIn IFLA’s advocacy work, two recurring phenomena point to a key challenge that we need to overcome.
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