[Pal-dc] Defining libraries in principles statement

[Christina de Castell]

Hello everyone,

We need to finalize incorporating comments into our principles statement this week. We have a comment that I'd appreciate your input on. It is from Makane, who has suggested the following in reference to our heading, which is "Public Access in Libraries":

It may be useful to attempt to have a definition of libraries to be inclusive of other access centres, such as “documentation centres”, “information centres”, ” archives”, “reference centres”, etc. Not having an inclusive definition, may exclude other professionals who are in charge of these access utilities.

Later in the statement, we make note of the importance of issues such as government funding and professional staff who can offer training and support.

My questions for you:

1. Do you agree that we need to expand the definition of libraries?

2. If so, should this be a footnote or part of the body?

3. Please react to the following: "Libraries includes other government-funded public facilities that prioritize access to information and provide the necessary technology to facilitate access, while recognizing the importance of information literacy skills for use and supporting access with professionally trained information staff. This includes publicly accessible facilities such as information centres, documentation centres, reference centres and archives."

Our statement is available here: http://review.intgovforum.org/igf-2015/dynamic-coalitions/dynamic-coalition-on-public-access-in-libraries-dc-pal/

Your comments continue to be welcome in the coming weeks, as we approach discussion at the IGF in November.

Christina

Christina de Castell
Manager, Policy and Advocacy
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
PO Box 95312
2509 CH The Hague
Netherlands

00 31 70 314 0884
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.apc.org/mailman/private/pal-dc/attachments/20150929/672c781a/attachment.html>