World Library and Information Congress: 74th IFLA General Conference and Council

"Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding"

10-14 August 2008, Québec, Canada

Call for Papers

Education and Training Section - off-site session

Theme: LIS support staff education: library technicians & library assistants

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) will be meeting in Quebec, Canada, August 10-14, 2008. As part of the 74th IFLA General Conference & Council, the Section of Education and Training is planning to organise an off-site whole day session at the CEGEP François-Xavier Garneau. This event represents a great occasion for LIS educators and professionals to discuss, share knowledge and learn more about LIS education and practices in the country and the region where the WLIC is held.

In Quebec, library technicians are trained mainly in the three-year programme "Techniques de la documentation" in the "Collèges d'enseignement général et professional" (CEGEP's). It is an undergraduate LIS program which is not located at the University. Although, we can find in Canada some two-year programs for library technicians.

The session will address "LIS support staff education: library technicians & library assistants".

Papers under this main theme can include discussion of the following relevant topics:

Issues arising from professional education for librarianship versus library technicians and library assistants education (two or three-year college degree or bachelor's degree).
Overlapping duties and tasks among library staff at different levels of training, different groups.
Library technicians and assistants recognition as a group in the library's staffing profile.
Hiring a librarian or a library technician?

Views from students are welcome.

Language of the session

French or English, although any IFLA approved language is welcome. However, simultaneous interpretation is not available during IFLA off-site sessions. We will ask speakers to use English for their power.point presentations.

Important dates and information

Proposals for papers must be submitted by February 1st 2008. The proposal should include a 200-400 words abstract and all relevant biographical information. All proposals will be evaluated by a refereeing committee representing the IFLA Section of Education and Training: Mouna Benslimane (Morocco), Barbara I. Dewey (United States), Jacqueline Dussolin-Faure (France), S.B. Ghosh (India), Niels Ole Pors (Denmark), Kerry Smith (Australia).

Please send proposals to:
Mouna Benslimane E-mail: moubens@yahoo.com.

Successful proposers will be notified by 3 March 2008 and must supply the full paper by 15 April 2006.

Please note that all fees, including registration to the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors of the accepted papers.