Belgium ABD-BDV.
The highlight of the period from November 2003 to April 2004 was the Inforum 2004 conference in April. The theme for the conference was "Which competencies are relevant today for the information professional?" - a subject close to our hearts. As the number of job descriptions multiply, there is uncertainty as to which disciplines future information professionals should study. Equally the profession itself and the information associations are today concerned about the difficulty of defining their audience. The importance of the topic was reflected in the high number of attendees. Some 180 participants including many human resources professionals contributed to its overall success.
ABD-BDV organised number of monthly meetings during this period. Topics were as diverse as theft in public libraries and SDI profiles.
France ADBS.
Since the last ECIA meeting, ADBS has organised the following activities:
· A new series of talks on topical issues, "les 5 à 7". These talks, which are free to members, began in February 2004. They are held between 5 and 7 pm. Topics have included: " New standard on information management " (February) and " Resources Description Framework (RDF) " (April);
· Preparations of the "Assises" (meeting with ADBS leaders, in December) and "the interprofessional congress" (with librarian and archivist associations - January 2005);
· "Image" Project (to demonstrate our knowhow within companies): exploitation of many investigations and preparation of information supports;
· An important "Study session" in December: "To know how to communicate: a strategic stake for documentalists".In addition, ADBS has had a presence at professional meetings and members have given talks on up-to-date subjects:
· Salon "Documation": "Contribution of information and documentation professionals to large data-processing projects";
· Breakfast show with MEDEF (employers' organisation): "Reference frames of competences";
· Salon du livre (with other associations): "Information access and copyright".ADBS has issued press releases relating to the many laws being discussed for EU directives (Paquet "telecoms"). Examples are "Copyright: exceptions requested " and "Re-uses of public data".
ADBS has been active in international affairs:
· For the World Summit on the Information Society (first phase in Geneva, December 2003), the association produced a strategic paper, "Les professionnels de l'information-documentation au service des citoyens, des organisations et des entreprises " (Information and documentation professionals at the service of citizens, organisations and companies). This paper, which was widely distributed, is available at http://www.adbs.fr/site/publications/texte_ref/smsi.php
· Within the "Copyright" group of EBLIDA, Michèle Battisti has defended the French position on issues like information access and copyright.
· Jean Meyriat has been involved with CERTidoc.
· The International Commission has started to work with other French associations (e.g. ABF) to cooperate on international affairs, e.g. participating in international meetings, offering complementary training.
Italy AIDA.
The period autumn 2003 to spring 2004 was significant for AIDA, the Italian Association for Advanced Documentation. In particular AIDA celebrated its 20th anniversary, which was marked by the 7th National Congress.
The Congress was held in Rome, at the National Research Council, on 2-3 October 2003. Entitled "AIDAVenti: Vent'anni di AIDA: la documentazione tra teoria ed applicazioni", it offered an overview of the history of 20 years of professional experiences from theoretical, methodological and professional perspectives. Presentations from the 7th Congress are available at http://www.aidaweb.it/2003/7convegno/
Other activities have focused on: education, certification, editorial activities (see section on Publications), politics of cooperation with other Italian professional associations, and meetings.
Education
AIDA is developing educational activities for various institutional partners. In addition, it has signed an agreement with AIB (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche, Italian association for libraries) to develop basic courses. Massimiliano Tosato is in charge of educational activities.Certification
AIDA uses certification as an approach to identify professional competences and as a method to evaluate educational experiences.In January 2004, the AIDA position on certification was presented by Ferruccio Diozzi; it is now available at http://www.aidaweb.it/2004/certificazione.html
Politics of cooperation with other Italian professional associations
In January 2004, the first exploratory meeting of the Italian Information Associations (AIDA; AIB, Associazione Italiana Biblioteche; ANAI, Associazione Nazionale Archivistica Italiana; GIDIF, Gruppo Italiano Documentalisti dell'Industria Farmaceutica e degli Istituti di Ricerca Biomedica; CNBA, Coordinamento Nazionale Biblioteche di Architettura) was held in Rome. These associations are considering the possibility of a joint Federation of associations. Serena Sangiorgi is the AIDA representative responsible for this matter.Meetings
AIDA has participated in the following meetings:· BIBLIOCOM 2003, Rome, 31 October 2003: New challenges of e-content management for different users, Chair: Paola Gargiulo, Panelists: Federico Massaioli, John Akeroyd, Maria Guercio.
· Online Information 2003, London, 2 December 2003, Italian Session: Content management: a aspect of information management, Chair: Lucia Maffei, Panelists: Paola Gargiulo, Piero Cavaleri.
· AIDA participation in COLAP, (Italian Professionals Associations Alliance) General Meeting, Rome, 5-6 May 2004.
Election
During the annual general assembly, held in Rome on 31 March 2004, associates voted for the election of the new AIDA Board. The results of the election gave the following team:· Ferruccio Diozzi (President), Head, Documentation Center of CIRA, Italian Aerospace Research Centre, Capua;
· Serena Sangiorgi (Vice-President), Head, Library of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma;
· Piero Cavaleri, Director, Central Library of University "Carlo Cattaneo", Castellanza;
· Elisabetta Di Benedetto, Responsible for Serials, Central Library, Faculty of Lettere & Filosofia, University of Arezzo;
· Augusta Franco, Record Management Officer, University of Basilicata;
· Valerie Matarese, Managing Director and promoter of Up To Infotechnologies scrl, Pieve di Soligo;
· Piergiorgio Vezzoli, Casalini Libri, Fiesole, New Markets & Public Relations.The new Board confirmed Domenico "Ingo" Bogliolo as General Secretary and Treasurer, and appointed Raffaella Lalle (for the Secretariat) and Lisa Reggiani (for AIDA Informazioni) as members of staff.
Associates voted for the following Auditors:
· Adriana Dracos, Documentation Service, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome;
· Ambretta Davì, Faculty of Economics, Central Library, Università "La Sapienza", Rome;
· Gabriella Poppi, Library, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome;
· Giuseppe Bagli, CASPUR, Administrative Department, Rome;
· Luisa Gaggini, Casalini Libri, Fiesole.The programme of the new Board, based on continuity with the old, is to reinforce AIDA presence in Italian and international contexts and to continue with AIDA activities in many areas. In particular the Board wants:
· to increase the number of associates;
· to develop AIDA action in such international contexts as ECIA;
· to develop educational activities, both with basic and advanced courses (e.g. on knowledge management);
· to address strategic topics: digital divide; knowledge & content management;
· to meet such challenges as the role of information in a complex society; the role of ICT; and changes in users and in services.
Portugal INCITE
Portugal INCITE participated in the Conference on Information Science organised by students on the Information Science Course at Oporto University (a partnership between the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Engineering). The meeting discussed the profile and role of the information manager as well as labour market opportunities for new information professionals and their recognition as being responsible for information in public and private sectors.
INCITE presented the work developed within the scope of the ECIA for the publication Euroguide - The Guide to Competencies for European Professionals in Library and Information Services, and discussed studies on the competencies required by information and documentation professionals and the role that individual aptitudes play in professional life.
INCITE organised the Annual Meeting of the European Council of Information Associations (ECIA) in Lisbon on 9-10 November 2003, in which all ECIA member associations except AIDA participated. The Technical meeting took place on 10 November at the Department of Management of the Faculty of Economics of "Universidade Nova de Lisboa".
At a workshop on the Competencies of European Information and Documentation Professionals, which was held on 11 November, the following presentations were given:
· European Guide: Origins and construction process - by Zita Correia (INETI)
· European and INCITE works: the CERTIDOC project - by M. Odete Santos (INCITE)
· The development of competencies through the "Guide" in a workplace context - by Paula Ochôa (Ministry of Education)These presentations gave an overview of the process of the creation of the European Guide and of the role played by INCITE. They also discussed INCITE's role in the new project CERTIDoc (supported by the European Commission), which aims to implement a European System for the Certification of the Information Professionals. A document by Jean Meyriat on the CERTIDoc project, which had been prepared for the ECIA meeting, was distributed.
INCITE reported on its work on the analysis of the Euroguide as a basis for the construction of a training manual on information, documentation and communication techniques and pointed to many examples of its use either by professionals in this field, or by employers, scholars and researchers.
By giving this workshop INCITE has fulfilled its obligation to disseminate the works that led to the publication of the Euroguide and to collect proposals and ideas relating to its evolution and implementation at national level.
The Specific Technical Group of INCITE analysed the ECIA Euroguide. The group identified some deficiencies, harmonised the contents, adjusted new data to the competence areas, improved the terminology, and updated some areas. These adjustments and corrections will be provided to ECIA's technical group as INCITE's contribution to the Euroguide updating.
Structure of the "Training Guide"
This guide is concerned with information, documentation and communication techniques for the training of information, documentation and communication professionals (Level 3). It presents a guide to the curriculum that includes pedagogical activities and theoretical and practical contents. It designates four training units as:· Information and documentation: techniques and procedures
· Communication: techniques and procedures
· Organization and information management
· Information, documentation and communication: societal contextApprenticeship Manual
INCITE has designed three training pathways for the draft ordinance on Apprenticeship in the area of "Library Science, Archives and Documentation". Two pathways are for Information, Documentation and Communication Techniques (Level 3) and one is for Information Management Techniques (Level 4).Meeting of the National Apprenticeship Committee (CNA)
On 16 December 2003, the INCITE President and Vice-president, together with the Technical Group, attended the CNA plenary meeting (22 members representing 14 entities). Since it was the first time that a proposal in this area had been made, it was necessary to provide a detailed explanation of the skills of the professionals in question and of the objectives set for the design and development of the proposed training pathways. Once the proposal had been approved in general by the CNA members, members of a Specific Sub-Commission were appointed to discuss it in detail with the INCITE Working Group. A meeting had been held in March 2004 and in April there was a CNA plenary for the final approval. The publication and public discussion of the Decree took place in the first semester of 2004.INCITE strategy
At a time of change and budget constraints in public and private sectors, the services most affected frequently include information service units, libraries, documentation centres and other scientific and technical research units. For this reason, it has not been possible for INCITE to attract more people or to implement some of its plans for expansion that would allow greater diversity of associates. INCITE hopes that during 2004 there will be more favourable financial conditions and more stable administrative support. In 2003, the INCITE statutory principles were reiterated: "To promote information management principles, methodologies and tools" and "To contribute to the development and upgrading of professionals in the field of information management". Some investment has been made in terms of the expertise obtained within the Association as well as of the "Study on the Vocational Skills" based on the Euroguide.The work that INCITE has carried out fits in with the INCITE mission in a substantive way and at two levels: at macro level, it contributes to the development of the potential of the information, documentation and communication professionals through joint initiatives with European institutions and the creation of diverse professional training at national level; and at the level of INCITE itself, it contributes to continuing training programmes. INCITE is convinced that its work during 2003 will have a significant impact on the training of new information science professionals.
Sweden TLS
Sweden TLS's autumn conference "Evolution - Revolution" was held in Gothenburg in November. It was an outstanding success with all seats and exhibitor stands taken. The theme of TLS's annual meeting in May was "Back to the future - trends, visions and scenarios" and strongly featured e-publishing and digitisation.
The 12th Nordic Conference on Information and Documentation will be held on 1-3 September 2004 in Aalborg, Denmark.
UK Aslib
Aslib is keen to evaluate the degree of impact that EU Copyright Directive is having on working practices. The Directive, which was implemented in the UK in October 2003, has on the face of it generated very little reaction, which is in stark contrast to its implementation. Managing Information and the Aslib Groups and Branches network are organising a number of consultations around the UK this summer, to further raise awareness and seek feedback on its effect. This is part of our agreement with the UK Patent Office to iron out snags and forestall issues going to the Copyright Tribunal. Aslib proposed that the consultation should include ECIA member countries and this was welcomed. In due course a full methodology and list of questions will be sent to ECIA members for their participation.
Aslib circulated its latest submission to the British government. The submission to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee: Inquiry into scientific publications was produced following extensive consultation with its members. The future for scientific and technical publications is naturally critical to the advancement of learning at all levels and the feedback received indicates that committee members have found Aslib's evidence to be very useful in their deliberations.
Freedom of Information legislation, giving statutory individual rights of access to information held by government and other bodies, comes into effect in the UK in January 2005. The magazine Managing Information will be publishing an important series of articles in the second half of this year.