To IFLA Annual Conference

The World Library and Information Congress: 73rd IFLA General Conference and Council, “Libraries for the future: Progress, Development and Partnerships” takes place from 19-23 August 2007 in Durban, South Africa and I can’t wait!

This will be the 4th year in a row that I attend IFLA annual conference. My first conference was in 2004 in Buenos Aires (thanks to an ALA/IFLA fellowship). The second conference was in ’05 in Oslo and the third in ’06 in Seoul. 

I’ve made life friends at IFLA. There is Maria Cotera from Spain and the UK,  Joanna Ball from the UK, and Mr Divine, Andrew Cranfield from the UK and DK. Every year we see each other at IFLA and some years we get to see each other two times! There are also Paul and Bob who are truly fantastic. I can’t wait to see the lovely gang! 

 Besides seeing friends, I attend committee meetings. That’s an important and most serious business. I am a member of IFLA/FAIFE and a co-convenor of IFLA NPDG which I co established with Divine Andrew and Mr. Hamilton in ’04 in Buenos Aires.

I will do my best to blog the conference but if not, I will write about it when I return!

Below, I’ve included NPDG and FAIFE programs at IFLA-Durban:

08.30 – 10.30, Monday
88 New Professionals
Developing new professionals for the future

• Diversity counts: challenges for new professionals in promoting a diverse workforce
  TRACIE HALL (Dominican University, Illinois, USA)
• Developing leadership skills
  UJALA SATGOOR (University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa)
• Rising to the challenge: contributing to the strategy of your organisation
  ANDREW CRANFIELD (EBLIDA, The Hague, Netherlands)
• Developing skills through exchanges: the “Inform the World” programme
  VERONDA J. PITCHFORD (Urban Libraries Council, Chicago, USA)

 08.30-10.30
107  SI – FAIFE with Health and Biosciences Libraries
Access to HIV/AIDS Information in Africa and Intellectual Property Issues

• The Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa
  ZACKIE ACHMAT (Treatment Action Campaign, Cape Town, South Africa)
• HIV/AIDS and Intellectual property issues related to the pharmaceutical industry
  CARLOS PASSARELLI (Brazilian Ministry of Health Program on Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS, Brasilia, Brazil)
• Overview and information issues concerning the HIV/AIDS situation in Africa
  KINGO MCHOMBU and CHIKU MCHOMBU (University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia)
• HIV/AIDS Information Seeking and Healthcare Communications in Sub-Saharan Africa
  
  KENDRA ALBRIGHT (University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK)