FIRST OPEN ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

 

The 1st International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives (ICADLA-1), will be held on 24-26 June 2009 at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Rationale: Africa as a continent is lagging far behind in the global drive to build digital libraries and archives.  As a continent, it has not engaged in any significant discussions and dialogue on strategy and policy for preserving and accessing its resources in digital form. There is urgency to these policy discussions as major digital initiatives involving African content are currently being undertaken by non-African organisations without widely accepted protocol and agreement on issues of ownership of intellectual property rights, local African access rights, and long term sustainability. The aim of the conference is to: bring together key African and international stakeholders to discuss critical policy issues and explore approaches and challenges facing Africa in relation to the digitisation of African resources; and promote ways of strengthening, coordinating and forging stronger links between African digitisation initiatives, networks, projects and policies.
Format of the Conference: The first day of the conference (24th June) will take the form of a Strategic Roundtable with key African regional and sub-regional organizations to advocate for the inclusion of significant library services and other knowledge input elements in African development strategies and programmes. The event, which is being held pursuant to IFLA Presidential theme, is titled Building on Knowledge: IFLA Roundtable with Intergovernmental Organisations on Putting Libraries on the African Development Agenda. The 2nd and 3rd days will be devoted to the main conference theme Connecting Africans to Their Own Resources: Developing Policies and Strategies for Africa’s Digital Future.
We invite participation from all African countries, private and public international development organizations, and other countries aiding Africa to tackle its development challenges.


Themes & Issues:

  • Knowledge as the Basis of Development Effectiveness

  • Knowledge Audit of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and other African Development Strategies

  • How Best to Put Knowledge onAfrica’s Development Agenda

  • Re-orientating Development Policy in Africa for the Information and Knowledge Age

  •  Regional, National and Local Policies and Strategies for Developing Digital Libraries and Archives in Africa to  improve access  to knowledge for development

  • National Perspectives, Cases and Best Practice Projects and Programmes Involving the Digitisation of African Heritage & Scholarship

  • Access to Knowledge in Africa: Challenges and Innovation

  • Institutional Repositories: Policies, Strategies, and Practices

  • Capacity building in Context: what is needed to create critical and sustainable digital outputs and services

Submission of Abstracts: Pertinent and original policy/strategy-oriented papers are invited for oral presentations. Individuals are invited to submit proposals for papers in the form of abstracts - about 300 words long - Abstracts should briefly outline the focus of the paper, description of issue(s), policy and strategic frameworks proffered, methodological orientation(s), and a summary of the findings and recommendations to be discussed. Submit proposals/abstracts as an attached file by e-mail to:

 

Mr. Abraham Azubuike
Chief Librarian
ECA Library
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
email: aazubuike@uneca.org
Tel. +251-11-5443667 Fax: 251-11-5514416

and

Mrs. Michele Pickover
Curator of Manuscripts
Historical Papers, The Library
University of the Witwatersrand
Private Bag X1, PO Wits 2050
South Africa
email: michele.pickover@wits.ac.za
Tel: +27 11 717 1940
Fax" +27 (0) 86 553 3438

Deadlines:
Submission of paper titles and abstracts:  10 April 2009.
Notification of acceptance of paper: 17 April 2009.
Final submission of full paper or extended abstracts: 22 May 2009.

Conference Fee: There is no conference fee. Delegates are responsible for their own travel, accommodation and other costs and are encouraged to seek funding from their own institutions, or other sponsors.

Sponsorship: Conference organisers have only been able to raise limited funds for the sponsorship of persons presenting papers at the conference. Where possible, subsidised attendance of the conference might be available for those presenting papers adjudged core to the conference, on application. However, such funding might well be limited.

Organisation: ICADLA-1 is co-hosted by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Africa Section, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. ICADLA-1 has been made possible with seed funds from the IFLA Action for Development through Libraries Programme.

To download the preliminary programme & registration form please click here

For submission of completed registration forms and for more information contact:

Mrs. Frehiwot Fekadeselassie
ECA Library
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
e-mail: ffselassie@uneca.org
Tel.: 251-11- 5443058
Fax: 251-11-5514416

For suggested accommodation and contact details please click here

9 March 2009