63rd IFLA General Conference

Copenhagen, Denmark, August 31 - September 5, 1997

IFLA Pre-Session Seminar - Call for nominations

Dear colleagues,

Before the General Conference, IFLA every second year holds a week-long Seminar to study a particular topic of importance to the library profession in developing countries.

The next Pre-Session Seminar will be held during the period 24-29 August 1997 in Aalborg, Denmark before the IFLA Council and General Conference in Copenhagen. Seminar participants are also expected to attend the IFLA conference August 31 to September 5, for which they will pay no registration fee.

The theme of the Seminar will be "Bridging information gaps through technology".

The seminar will be held under the auspices of the IFLA Division of Regional Activi-ties, Division of Management and Technology, and Universal Dataflow and Tele-communications Core Programme. Funding support has been offered by DANIDA, UNESCO and the local organizers. The ALP office is acting as the secretariat of the planning committee.

About 20 professionals will be invited to attend the Seminar. IFLA would be glad to receive nominations of suitable professionals from your association, country or region. All nominations received will be considered by the selection committee. Normally each country represented can have only one participant. See attached "Criteria for selection of candidates". Each participant will be expected to produce a country report. Working languages at the Seminar will be English, French and Spanish.

IFLA's funds for sponsorship are limited. Please indicate if your association can offer some financial support, or suggest where the nominee can obtain such support. IFLA will also send documentation on request to assist with applications to local offices of funding agencies.

Please ask the nominee to fill in the enclosed questionnaire. Nominations must be received at your IFLA Regional Office, with a copy to the ALP Secretariat, not later than August 1, 1996. There will be a selection meeting at the IFLA Conference in Beijing in August. Nominations may be sent by fax or E-mail, with supporting documentation by separate mail. Address list is enclosed.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,
Birgitta Bergdahl,
Core Programme Director

General criteria

• Age: up to mid-40s to ensure that the person has significant experience, but is still young enough to "reinvest" knowledge gained at the seminar;

• Not be a regular participant in IFLA meetings (unless that person has special expertise directly relevant to the seminar);

• Be able to contribute to the seminar on the basis of knowledge and experience, and pass on the benefits to the profession in his/her own country on return;

• Have institutional support to be able to follow up or implement the recommendations of the seminar and report back to IFLA in due course.

Special criteria

• Be practising professionals within the library and information field with experience from library services;

• Have proven experience in information technology applications;

• Have access to information technology and Internet;

• Be sensitive to difficulties of others who have little or no experience in information technology.

A good working knowledge of English will be necessary to benefit fully from the group discussions. Simultaneous interpretation will, however, be provided in English, French and Spanish during the paper sessions.

QUESTIONNAIRE

"Bridging information gaps through technology"

Name:

Place and date of birth:

Institution:

Position:

Address:

Tel:

Fax:

E-Mail:

Academic degrees: (When, at which university?)

Other professional education: (Continuing education courses, attachments, study tours etc.)

Please describe the positions which you have held in the last five to ten years:

Research or publications of relevance:

Please describe your interest in and knowledge of information technology:

Languages and level of knowledge:

Date:

Signature:

ADDRESS LIST

Asia and Oceania

Latin America and the Caribbean

ALP IFP