The UNCG LIS Department invites you to the following event:
Rethinking the Local: Reimagining Libraries in a Flattening World
3rd iDEAL (information, Diversity, Engagement, Access, and Libraries)
Monday, November 14, 2011, Noon-5 pm,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Elliott University Center, Auditorium
A panel of speakers will address the topic:
Dr. Peter Lor, Author, Former Director of the National Library of South Africa
Dr. Ismail Abdullahi Associate Professor, North Carolina Central University, School of Library and Information Sciences, ALA Councilor-at-Large
Ms. Amanda Click, Formerly librarian at American University, Cairo, and ELIME-21 Fellow at UNC, Chapel Hill, UNCG Alumni.
The Information Age has seen a tremendous surge in not only the amount but also the kind of information that is now almost instantaneously accessible through the internet and the Web, and this has promise not only for the “democratization” of information (that is to say, its “free flow”) but a realization of at least a rudimentary form of universal communication to which the main barriers are economic (access to the internet, computers, and the electricity that powers them); legal and political(proprietary rights and national security concerns); and educational (basic literacy, technological literacy, and information literacy). At the same time, what used to be called international librarianship—the bridging of linguistic, cultural, and political differences across national borders―has all but disappeared from LIS curricula as communications media has become more ubiquitous worldwide. The assumption would seem to be that international diversity will be erased by a media-made monoculture, although world events contradict that outcome every day.
In keeping with the stated focus of iDeals , this conference will explore the following questions:
1. Why do we need to re-think and re-imagine the local library in a world that is increasingly international?
2. How can the LIS profession help ensure better communication as well to enhance understanding between and among cultures at the same time that it increases the free flow of information?
3. What barriers to free flow and mutual understanding need to be addressed, and how?
The program of the day:
Program:
11-12 Set-up for poster session
12-1 Poster session with refreshments
1-2:15 Panel discussion
2:15-2:30 Break
2:30- 3:30 Breakout sessions with themes around:
What barriers to the free flow of information and mutual understanding need to be addressed, and how? Internationally? Locally? In LIS profession?
How can we ensure better communication as well as enhance understanding between and among cultures while we increase the free flow of information? What allies do we have/need?
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45-5:00 Summary session and wrap-up focused on action items for future research, work, and discussion.