What's on this page

IFLA and its information literacy activities

University that administers ECDL as well as an info lit module

Library groups with an interest in working on an ECDL equivalent

Recent, and forthcoming
Conferences

Other countries

IFLA and Interest on the part of Librarians in
Other Counties in Information Literacy and
Information Literacy Assessment

IFLA -- IFLA is the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. It is "the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users." (From their Web page).

IFLA had a World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in 2003, and will be having a follow-up conference on the same topic in Tunis, 16-18 November 2005.

International Guidelines on Information Literacy (draft) came out of an IFLA conference held in Buenos Aires in August 2004.

IFLA has an Information Literacy Section. The Information Literacy Section has published a history of its 1990-1996 activies (pdf), written by individuals at Helsinki University of Technology. The doc is identified as "Part One;" I haven't seen a Part Two.

At least one university administers the ECDL and also has an Information Literacy program (presumably because, currently, the ECDL doesn't sufficiently cover information literacy skills) -- University of North London: "Completion of the Information Literacy module is separate from the process for acquiring the ECDL certificate."

There appears to be interest among library groups to work for "an ECDL equivalent" for information literacy, e.g., SCONUL (Society of College, National, and University Libraries; UK) --

Go to Waterford Institute of Technology Libraries "About Information Literacy" Web page. The current objectives of their Information Literacy Advisory Committee include plans to

• Work with Open University and SCONUL Executive Board to develop a customised certificated generic information skills qualification for UK higher education students
  
• Work with other stakeholders on an ECDL equivalent for information literacy
  

  SCONUL has a Web page with Conference Papers, Presentations, and Proceedings, e.g., J.S. Town, 2002. Information Literacy: Definition, Measurement and Impact. IT&ILit 2002 - 1st International Conference on IT & Information Literacy. Glasgow, March 2002.

Recent and forthcoming International Conferences on Information Literacy (not a comprehensive list)

• Program on The International Information Literacy Certificate from World Library and Information Congress, August 2003, Berlin (PDF)
  
• Prague Declaration: Toward an Information Literate Society (PDF) 9/2003 from the International Conference of Information Literacy Experts, held in Prague, September 2003.

"We the participants at the Information Literacy Meeting of Experts, organized by the US National Commission on Library and Information Science and the National Forum on Information Literacy, with the support of UNESCO, representing 23 countries from all of the seven major continents, held in Prague, the Czech Republic, September 20-23, 2003, propose the following basic Information Literacy principles:..."

Many librarians around the world became aware of this Prague Declaration

• eLiteracy Conference 2004 -- Third International Conference on eLiteracy; St. John's University, New York, USA
  
• Librarians' Information Literacy Conference Imperial College, London, April 2005
  
• World Summit on the Information Society Geneva, December 2003 and Tunis, December 2005.

Other countries -- I have only looked for Australia; I could add to this if there were interest.

Australia: Information Literacy Standards

T. N. Smalley 12/04/03; revised and updated 12/20/04
tosmalle@cabrillo.edu