Key Note Address
It is an honour and privilege for the International Federation of Library Associations
(IFLA) to have been invited to participate in the World Social Forum, through my
presentation of a keynote address in this Workshop on Democratisation of Information
with a focus on Libraries. We extend our deep appreciation to the National Institute for
Global Democratisation (NIGD) and Bytes for All for the initiative of infusing library and
knowledge society issues in the Social Forum discussions. We thank the host Tata Institute
for Social Sciences Library and the University Librarian and Staff for the venue and
support in organising for the Workshop.
Libraries: open spaces
Libraries share with the World Social Forum the principle of provision of open spaces,
which encourage reflective thinking, exchange of experiences, interlinking of common
interests for effective action. This workshop, therefore, provides the opportunity for
discussion of our values amongst like- minded organizations of the NIGD, and libraries
globally through the participation of IFLA. It is only on the basis of shared values that a
foundation for partnership and commitment towards interlinking of influence and taking of
action for the good of humanity may arise. May our discussions reinforce our belief in
social inclusion through democratisation of information access and contributions to the
emerging knowledge societies.
Library and information services have a key role in society for providing access to
information resources. They provide a public space through communication between readers
and books, whether for discovery of new information, life-long learning, or person-to-
person enquiry and group discussions can take place. These activities are enshrined in
Ranganathan’s Five Principles, the beliefs that librarians share as enshrined in the IFLA
core values and form the basis of professional library and information services, globally.
These principles and values are an aspiration towards the provision of unhindered access to
information for humanity, in the quest for knowledge to meet day-to-day human needs.
Libraries “encourage social inclusion, as they strive to serve communities regardless of
age, gender, economic or employment status, literacy or technical skills, cultural or ethnic
origin, religious or political beliefs, sexual orientation, and physical or mental
ability”(Libraries@the Heart of the Information Society, www.ifla.org). There are 2.5
billion registered library users worldwide. They access spaces that take a large variety of
forms from those that operate from under a tree, mobile examples and hybrid libraries
combining both physical space and collections with a virtual library of electronic materials
and services.
The ability to read is, historically, the prerequisite for independent use of library services.
Traditionally libraries are repositories of printed materials and thus access to their
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content demands functional literacy and thus implicitly deprives oral- aural communities of
the human right to freedom of access to information. This print focus contributes to a
social injustice that affects millions of people directly and billions indirectly.
Those that are affected directly are those declared illiterate, people whose languages are
not written and whose knowledge, that they are literate in, is transmitted orally and
therefore unavailable in libraries. The indirectly affected are those who read in languages
in which there are limited information resources and those that are accessible only
through scripts that are not generally used for widely accessible communication. Thus
libraries contribute to aspects of the digital divide between North and South, rich and
poor, urban and rural populations and men and women, as long as the core value of freedom
of access is circumscribed by literacy. The democratising process inherent in library
service cannot be advanced unless and until the system is redesigned to address people
centered communication rights, and information needs.
The right to memory
Memory, is defined as the store of things learned and retained from an organisms activity
(Webster,1987).It revolves around the ability to retrieve some impression of some past
experience or some past event that has had some impact on our
mind(Gedi&Elam,1996).Memory has to be retrievable and be shared experience or accessible
through communication for it to be public.
By definition communication is a sharing of thought or information i.e. a gaining of access to
information through whatever mode such as listening, reading or seeing. It involves the
ability to transmit and/or receive, decipher and analyze accessed information. In order to
participate fully in communication there is need to have the ability to create and share own
experience or knowledge thus contributing to the cycle of information sharing, or a way of
contributing to public memory. The communication of memory is the basis of community. The
role of the library as the repository of memory for humanity imbues it with the
responsibility for the communication of this memory in all ways that are possible. This
responsibility includes the deliberate analysis and appreciation of oral transmission/ person-
to-person information sharing processes of information as an essential part of the
communication role of the library. The integration of these processes in library operations
and systems will advance the democratizing role of the library.
Information communication technologies
The advancement of information communication technologies (ICT) as tools that facilitate
communication needs to be exploited to the fullest by libraries, beyond the current use in
the organisation of printed materials. Libraries need to extend their responsibilities and
embrace an active role in collecting, preserving and conservation of the non-print
communication media particularly memories of oral cultures and indigenous knowledge. The
broad spectrum of library and information service facilitators: from collectors and
organisers of content to providers of information services need to collectively address this
issue at local, national and international levels in order to fulfill the mission that arises out
of the core value of freedom of access to information .In this way the basic divide between
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those who have a right to communicate and those whose memory is lost through lack of
communication, will be bridged.
Conclusion
If this proposition is accepted, it implies a fundamental change in the role of the library. As
a facilitator of communication, the library has to establish contextual operations that are
determined by the needs of the community they serve. Indeed the introduction of ICT use in
libraries is changing the dynamics of library use.
The silent library has become the humming library as users discuss and learn from each
other how to operate ICTs for accessing to information and skills building in the use of
technology. The extention of library services to include a range of telecentre services that
provide access as well as mediate information access for the non reading public, provides the
entire spectrum of services whilst incorporating day to day interaction with the community,
and thus learning of the real challenges faced and require information.
Ms.Kay Raseroka
Director Library Services, University of Botswana
President,
International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA)
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From the Coordinators’ Desk
World Social Forum (WSF) was created to provide an open platform to discuss
strategies of resistance to the model for globalization. WSF is an open space for discussing
alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal processes, for exchanging experiences and for
strengthening alliances among mass organizations, peoples' movements and civil society
organizations.
With the emerging digital economy becoming a major driving force of our nation's
economic well being, we must ensure that everyone of us have the information tools and skills
that are critical for the development. Access to such tools is an important step to ensure
that our economy grows strongly and that in the future no one is left behind.
World Social Forum’s effort in this regard is an important step to understand,
measure, and explain how the information revolution is affecting this world. While we know
that many of us are more connected to digital tools than ever before, there is still evidence
that the "digital divide" between certain demographic groups and regions continues to persist
and in many cases is widening significantly. We should be alarmed by this news. The very
objective of this workshop is to understand the role of libraries in bridging this digital
divide and the democratization of information with a focus on libraries.
In this regards, I would like to quote from the report of William M. Daley of United
States of America. Ensuring access to the fundamental tools of the digital economy is one of
the most significant investments we can ever make. Our country's most important resource
is its people. Our companies are only as good as their workers. Highly skilled, well-educated
workers make for stellar businesses and create superior products. In a society that
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increasingly relies on computers and the Internet to deliver information and enhance
communication, we need to make sure that all have access. Our domestic and global economies
will demand it.
The governments must embrace policies and initiatives that bridge the divide.
Very recently, Asian nations agreed to share their information technology resources
to overcome the digital divide between rich and poor in the region and pledged to widen
Internet use. A declaration issued at the end of the two-day Asia IT minister's Summit in
the southern Indian city of Hyderabad said the 31 nations, which attended, would
set up community information centers in the region.
It is my firm belief that today’s' libraries have a very crucial role to play in ensuring
the democratization of information. However, the developments in the information environment
have made this task difficult if not impossible. Technological developments have posed several
Challenges before Libraries. I would like to mention some of them here.
Social Challenges, which include Globalization and Digital Divide.
Technological Challenges, which include Information Sources: From Palm Leaves to Palm top.
Financial Challenges which constitute shrinking budgets and manpower.
In order to meet these challenges, library has to perform the role of a super system.
The theme “Democratization of Information with a focus on Libraries is divided into five sub
themes in order to facilitate panel discussions and also to ensure that all relevant concepts
under this general theme are touched upon.
The response from the panel members and delegates is very encouraging. We appreciate
the efforts of the editorial committee members and others for their efforts in bringing out
this Proceedings Volume. We also would like to thank all the associations, which have provided
financial support to this international workshop.
We hope you will find this volume useful.
Dr. Muttayya Koganuramath Mr. Mikael Book
University Librarian Network Institute for Global Democratization
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Tata Institute of Social Sciences Helsinki (Finland)
Mumbai (India)
PREFACE
The main objective of this international workshop on “Democratization of Information:
Focus on Libraries” is to strengthen the role of libraries, formulate local and global policies
on information and to involve library and information professionals in World Social Forum
2004.
To democratize means “to make accessible to all classes of people and to make popular.
This process has become much easier owing to the advantages of information technology.
We can safely say that use of Internet has led us to democratize information; as such a
network makes the information that is available in electronic format widely accessible to
everyone. Nevertheless, there may be some requirements for one to benefit from such access
such as computer literacy, language literacy, ability to understand jargon, etc.
The idea of organizing this workshop was proposed to the Network Institute for Global
Democratization (NIGD) by Mr. Mikael Book in August 2003. Planning of the workshop
started and the website http://www.nigd.org/libraries/mumbai became functional during
September-October.
IFLA President Ms. Kay Raseroka became interested in the workshop during her visit to
Finland in November 2003. She promised to contact the President of Indian Library
Association (ILA), India Professor C.R. Karisiddappa and asked him to help her in finding
out a library in Mumbai where the workshop could be held. Professor Karisiddappa
proposed the name of “Sir Dorabji Tata Memorial Library, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
Mumbai (India)”
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Eventually Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD), Helsinki (Finland) and
Sir Dorabji Tata Memorial Library, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (India)
decided to jointly organize this workshop on 18th January 2004.
This Workshop comprises of five sub themes to facilitate Panel Discussion.
The sub themes are
• Library Paradigm – Library Power
• Open Source Systems in Library and on the Net
• Information Literacy and Capacity Building
• Alternative knowledge Formation
• The Right to Memory
We have received an encouraging response from the panel members. About 18 Panel
Members from across the nation and abroad have been invited and 12 articles by them are
brought out in this as Proceedings Volume. We hope these articles will be of immense help to
all those looking for information on democratization of Information.
Editors
Muttayya Koganuramath
Mikael Book
B. S. Kademani
Mallikarjun Angadi
Satish Kanamadi
Acknowledgements
On behalf of Organizing Committee of International Workshop on
Democratization of Information with a focus on Libraries under the aegis
of World Social Forum 2004, we take this opportunity to acknowledge the
help given by Director, TISS for giving us permission to conduct this
workshop.
We thank the Key Note Speaker, Panel Members, Rapporteur General,
Rapporteurs, Delegates, members of various committees and volunteers
for helping to organize this workshop.
We also thank the following organizations for financially supporting this
workshop
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1) Finnish Library Association (Suomen kirjastoseura)
2) Finnish Research Library Association (Suomen tieteellinen
kirjastoseura)
3) Finnish-Swedish Library Association (Finlands svenska
biblioteksförening)
4) Finnish Society for Information Services (Tietopalveluseura)
5) Coalition for Environment and Development (Ympäristö ja kehitys)
6) M/s.Allied Publishers and Subscription Agency, India
We acknowledge the untiring efforts put in by our Colleagues and Office
Staff of TISS Library.
Organizing Committee
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