IFLA takes Lyon Declaration to the UN

Thanks to Cat Cooper, CILIP Communications and Campaigns manager for news of IFLA taking the Lyon Declaration to the UN.

IFLA is calling for a focus on increased access to information in the new framework, and is working to highlight the role that information intermediaries, such as libraries, can play in helping achieve the new set of Sustainable Development Goals that all UN Member States will commit to reaching from September 2015.

It's great that they are highlighting the role of libraries. The role of libraries was also highlighted at the recent IL symposium in Scotland. The introduction of Universial Credits and the support many citizens need and are requesting from their public libraries highlights the key role libraries are playing in life. it does however highlight as one delegate pointed out the pressure this places on library resources at a time of reduced local government budgets, closure of public libraries and reduction in staff. Hopefully the need for these resources and support can be used to advocate support and funding for public libraries.

Returning to the IFLA and Lyon Declaration news. Donna Scheeder introduced the Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development which has now been signed by over 500 organisations from across the library, development and ICT sectors. Her intervention focused on the danger of information poverty. I was going to quote certain statements that resonated with me and that I hoped to quote them in the future for both my thesis and in my IL activities. However I decided to copy the full text of the intervention as I think it is all great. I hope it resonates and inspires you. 

"Thank you Mr. Chair for giving the floor to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, or IFLA, the global Voice of Libraries.

I’m Donna Scheeder, the President-Elect of IFLA, and I’m speaking on behalf of more than 500 organisations and institutions who have signed The Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development. The Lyon Declaration calls upon UN Member States to recognize the importance of increased access to information in supporting the post-2015 development agenda.

I wanted to remind delegates that in moving forward we must pay attention to a different kind of poverty that has not been mentioned much here - information poverty.

Information and knowledge really are the foundation for making progress towards sustainable development. Without access to information, people will lack the means to take the crucial decisions needed to improve their lives.

Increased access to information is a cross-cutting issue that will contribute to the achievement of all goals - whether in health, education, transparency and accountability: all goals will benefit from people being able to know more about how to achieve them.

And we - libraries - can help you get there. There are over 320,000 public libraries worldwide, and hundreds of thousands of school and research libraries - in all of your countries. Librarians are skilled information professionals who can be strong partners in increasing access to information. And we can help people gain the information literacy skills needed to improve their lives.

So when considering how we do this, let’s make sure we use the institutions who can help open up the datasets, knowledge resources and provide access to the ICTs people need to achieve sustainable development. 

We look forward to being partners in the data revolution and helping us get to 2030 in great shape.”

At the end of the news item is a plea which I support

IFLA urges upon you to sign the Lyon Declaration, access our advocacy toolkit and contact your government representatives about the importance of access to information to development. We need your help to achieve our objectives!

I've signed have you?

The full news item is at IFLA taking the Lyon Declaration to the UN.

Exploring the information literacy skills of teachers in Northern Ireland

Giants Causeway Northern IrelandOn a recent visit to the University of Ulster's Coleraine campus in Northern Ireland I met Christine McKeever a former school lbrarian who graduated from the University in July with an MSc in Library and Information Management. She commenced a full-time PhD programme in September and is exploring the information literacy skills of teachers in Northern Ireland.

Although it is very early days it is great that this area is being looked at and I'm interested to see how Christine's research progresses and how it differs or not to the research carried out by Dorothy Willams from RGU (Robert Gordon University) in Aberdeen some years ago now.

The University of Ulster's postgraduate programme in Library and Information Management has been developed by the School of Education in close collaboration with the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), the Library and Information Services Council NI (LISC), with the University of Ulster Library, and with library and information employers and practitioners in Northern Ireland.

This close collaboration with the School of Education is great news and hopefully along with Christine's PhD may provide an inroad for information literacy training for teachers. 

Christine is not the only PhD student at Ulster looking at schools. Francesca Fodale is in her second year and is evaluating school library services in Northern Ireland. I wonder if this includes the impact of the school librarian? In Scotland SLIC recently commissioned Robert Gordon University (RGU) to undertake research into the impact of school libraries. Full details of the project, including the RGU final report should be available soon.

Nearing completition of his PhD is Anthony McKeown, his PhD focuses on public libraries and information poverty in Northern Irealand. Another really interesting research area. I'll do a posting about Anthony's PhD later.