• Europe/Helsinki
  • English
  • Login

Abolish Barriers: the role of libraries in an evolving Europe

from to (Europe/Helsinki)
at Parliament Annex Little Parliament
Description Welcome to the EBLIDA-NAPLE Annual Conference "Abolish Barriers: the role of libraries in an evolving Europe".

The conference is organised by EBLIDA and NAPLE with the support of the Library of the Finnish Parliament, Helsinki City Libraries, the Finnish Library Association and the Ministry of Education.

The conference follows up on last year's conference in Vienna in 2009 where the idea for a library policy for Europe was raised. This second conference intends to take this idea further by discussing what potential libraries have for developing Europe's digital agenda and what are the barriers. Europe is changing but it is not always clear to policy makers that libraries are changing too. It's important that we demonstrate that our profession and our libraries can react to the problems identified by the European Union such as poverty, inclusion, competitiveness, and employment. And we need to clearly show what barriers prevent us from doing so, and how they can be removed.

The conference will begin by hearing from four exciting speakers on the innovations in libraries. The second part will look in more detail at what problems libraries can help to address and what barriers stand in our way. We hope that by the end of the conference, we will be able to identify our strengths in relation to these challenges and recognize the barriers that prevent us from achieving our potential, ready to raise these in discussions with European partners.

Interview with the EBLIDA President, Gerald Leitner, on Finnish TV where he talked about EBLIDA and the idea behind the conference which is to create a library policy for Europe.
The conference also had some twitter followers: see #eblida.

** Next EBLIDA-NAPLE event will be ECEI'10 (European Congress on E-Inclusion) in Brussels from 21st-22nd September 2010 **
See the preliminary invitation.
Material
Auditorium map pdf file}
Go to day
  • Friday, 7 May 2010
    • 08:00 - 10:00 Registration and coffee 
      The registration desk will be open from 8h00. Please arrive in plenty of time to pass through Parliament security.
    • 10:00 - 10:40 Welcome and opening
      Convener: Dr. Kimmo Tuominen (Head of Reference and Archival Services at the Library of the Finnish Parliament)
      • 10:00 Welcome from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture 10'
        Speaker: Mr. Marcus Rantala (State Secretary, Ministry of Education and Culture)
        Material: Speech pdf file}
      • 10:10 Welcome on behalf of the Mayor of Helsinki 10'
        Speaker: Mrs. Tuula Haatainen (Deputy Mayor, City of Helsinki)
      • 10:20 Welcome from the President of the Finnish Library Association 10'
        Speaker: Mr. Jukka Relander (President, Finnish Library Association)
      • 10:30 Welcome from the President of the NAPLE Board 10'
        Speaker: Ms. Maria Antonia Carrato Mena (Head of the Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination, Ministry of Culture, Spain)
        Material: Speech pdf file}
    • 10:40 - 11:00 Introduction
    • 11:00 - 11:30 Keynote speech
      • 11:00 Keynote speech from Eppo van Nispen tot Sevenaer 30'
        Speaker: Mr. Eppo van Nispen tot Sevenaer (DOK Library Concept Center, Delft, The Netherlands)
    • 11:30 - 12:00 Coffee break
    • 12:00 - 13:30 Session 1: Innovation and creativity
      • 12:00 Transforming the Public Libraries - an example from Denmark 30' 
        For well over a decade Danish public libraries have been developing a broad range of jointly operated internet based services. Some of these services are transforming into 'universes', communicating through several platforms and channels. A less visible, but even more important development is a new initiative that has the potential to create a nationwide IT-infrastructure for libraries and their users. At the same time a new "mental model" for the idea of the library will create new content and services in the physical libraries. Aarhus Public Libraries are among the leaders in their efforts to create new institutions for the networked society.
        Speaker: Mr. Rolf Hapel (Citizens' Services and Libraries, Aarhus, Denmark)
        Material: Presentation pdf pdf file}
      • 12:30 From information revolution to information society: settling the digital pastures 30' 
        The paper explores the role of academic libraries in helping to deliver the knowledge society in Europe. Examples are used to show how libraries are operating together to: aggregate content; add value to make it more discoverable; provide ready access to material; preserve digital content. The practical relevance of research to everyday life and business is stressed and the way in which libraries are reacting positively to social networking explored.
        Speaker: Prof. Derek Law (University of Strathclyde, Scotland)
        Material: Presentation pdf pdf file} Presentation slide show unknown type file}
      • 13:00 National libraries in the digital era 30' 
        National libraries have a vital role in society as custodians of the nation’s intellectual heritage, thus providing organisation, access to and preservation of the national imprint in all media. Although this role is also valid in the digital era, modern information technology has far reaching consequences for national libraries, for the nature of their collections as well as for their services. Also borders with other cultural and scientific heritage institutions become blurred. Co-operation within networks, therefore, becomes more important: the meaning of an institution is not only defined by its traditional “core business” directed towards its own identity, but also by its identity in a network. In its country’s library system, national libraries should play an important role towards a national infrastructure, providing every citizen access to all kinds of information, be it under different financial conditions. International co-operation with other national libraries will be necessary in the area of preservation and access. Furthermore, national libraries have to co-operate with other heritage institutions. The national infrastructure for libraries should become a part of a wider national digital information infrastructure. The result of this, then, can functions as an aggregator in international heritage networks such as Europeana.
        Speaker: Mr. Bas Savenije (KB, National Library of the Netherlands)
        Material: Presentation pdf pdf file} Presentation slide show unknown type file}
    • 13:30 - 14:30 Lunch break 
      A buffet lunch will be served in the restaurant just outside the conference room
    • 14:30 - 14:50 Session 2: The role of libraries in an evolving Europe 
      The introduction will be followed by an interactive session whereby participants will share their experiences and views in order to draw up a clearer vision of the role libraries can and do play in an evolving Europe. The four work groups will focus on separate areas. The resulting conclusions will be used to draw up a paper summarizing the strengths of libraries and the actions at European level that would help libraries fulfil their roles.
      • 14:30 The role of libraries in an evolving Europe: introduction 20'
        Speaker: Ms. Norma McDermott (Director, An Chomhairle Leabharlanna - the Library Council of Ireland)
    • 14:50 - 16:00 Work group 1: Illiteracy 
      Keywords:
o	Digital divide. 
o	Poverty
o	Crime
o	Qualifications for jobs
o	Active citizenship
o	Learning
o	Unemployment
o	Radicalism
o	Exclusion
o	IT literacy
o	Media literacy
o	Functional literacy
o	Isolation
      • 14:50 Co-ordination of Work group 1: Illiteracy 1h10'
        Speaker: Mr. Jan Braeckman (Bibnet, Flanders, Belgium.)
    • 14:50 - 16:00 Work group 2: Fragmentation of society 
      Keywords:
o	Lack of cohesion
o	Identity
o	Fragmentation
o	Migration
o	Cultural diversity
o	Inclusion
o	Integration
o	Language skills
o	Racism
o	Aging population
o	Democracy
o	Access to internet
o	Public (library) space
o	Ghettos
o	Community building
o	Ever-changing living situation
      • 14:50 Co-ordination of Work group 2: Fragmentation of society 1h10'
        Speaker: Mr. Jens Thorhauge (Danish Agency of Libraries and Media)
    • 14:50 - 16:00 Work group 3: Pressure for innovation 
      Keywords:
o	Employment. 
o	Skills for new jobs 
o	Changing labour market
o	LLL
o	Loss of jobs
o	Research support
o	Open data
o	New scholarly communication models
o	Technology change
o	Up-skilling
o	Student mobility
o	Employee mobility
o	Information market
      • 14:50 Co-ordination of Work group 3: Pressure for innovation 1h10'
        Speaker: Ms. Joanne Yeomans (EBLIDA, The Hague, The Netherlands.)
    • 14:50 - 16:00 Work group 4: Information overload 
      Keywords:
o	Information pollution
o	Critical assessment
o	Managing information
o	Google domination
o	Quality
o	Participation in web 2.0
o	Librarian skills: IT skills; 
o	Training
o	New business models, new services
o	Unknown information seeking behaviour
      • 14:50 Co-ordination of Work group 4: Information overload 1h10'
        Speakers: Ms. Maria Antonia Carrato (Head of the Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination, Ministry of Culture, Spain.), Ms. Barbro Wigell-Ryynänen (Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland)
    • 16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break
    • 16:30 - 17:30 Session 3: Get moving! 
      Panel discussion and Q&A with audience
      Convener: Mr. Gerald Leitner (Austrian Library Association, BVÖ)
    • 17:30 - 17:35 Closure 
      Closing words form the EBLIDA President, Gerald Leitner
      • 17:30 Closing words 5'
        Speaker: Mr. Gerald Leitner (EBLIDA President)
    • 20:00 - 23:00 Conference Dinner
      Location:
      • 20:00 Restaurant: Ravintola Katajanokan Kasino 3h0' 
        The restaurant is called "Ravintola Katajanokan Kasino"
Location:
Laivastokatu 1
00160 Helsinki
Tel: +358 9 6128 6300
Map
  • Saturday, 8 May 2010
    • 09:00 - 17:30 Boat tour and trip to Suomenlinna 
      9.00 - 17.30 Finnish fortress and boat tour.

40.00 Euros per person - please register in advance via the registration form.

9.30-11.30 : Sightseeing tour by boat.

12.00 : Lunch at Suomenlinnan Panimo at the Suomenlinna fortress.

13.30 : Guided tour of Suomenlinna including the library.

Participants can travel with the group back to Helsinki at the end of the tour, or leave at any time on the ferry which goes every half hour and will be at the participant's own cost (2.50 euros).
      Location: