UNESCO Endorses the IFLA Manifesto for Digital Libraries
From International Federation of Library Associations:
UNESCO has endorsed the IFLA Manifesto for Digital Libraries at its General Conference .2011The Manifesto provides principles to assist libraries in undertaking sustainable and interoperable digitisation activities to bridge the digital divide –a key factor in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. Digital libraries are essential for access to information, and for preserving national heritage.
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IFLA President Ingrid Parent welcomed the endorsement: “IFLA believes that access to information resources supports education and health as much as cultural and economic development. Information about the world’s achievements allows all people to participate constructively in the development of their own social environment.” She further pointed out that equal access to cultural and scientific heritage is every person’s right. “It helps promote learning and understanding of the richness and diversity of the world and its peoples, not only for the present generation, but also for the next generations”, Parent said.
Promoting the free flow of ideas is also one of UNESCO’s priorities. Janis Kārkliņš, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information stressed the importance of digital libraries within UNESCO mandate: “Their ability to reach and serve broader communities, while offering access to a range of information that would otherwise have been difficult, is perhaps the key asset of digital libraries. Users can freely browse library collections irrespective of the time of day or their physical location”. However, Kārkliņš cautioned that “Marginalized groups and disadvantaged peoples could remain on the periphery of knowledge unless barriers to access, including digital illiteracy, were reduced”. He therefore lauded the endorsement of the Manifesto as “part of the efforts of UNESCO and its partnership with IFLA to develop strategies for the sharing of information”.
The IFLA Manifesto for Digital Libraries is also an important instrument for achieving the objectives of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Many countries have created national digitisation programmes, and more will do so. IFLA strongly supports and encourages both national and international digitisation strategies as well as single library and partnership initiatives. Digital libraries can only offer full access to the heritage of nations if steps have been taken to develop policies and to implement initiatives for digitising documents and records, as written down in the Geneva ‘Principles’ and the Geneva ‘Plan of Action’ of WSIS.
Read the Complete Announcement
Read the Complete IFLA Manifesto For Digital Libraries
Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Libraries, Patrons and Users
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.