Críticas Magazine

Loida García-Febo

ACURIL 2008
June 5, 2008

Caribbean Librarians met in Montego Bay from June 1-6 for their 38 annual conference. The Association of Caribbean University and Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) welcomed close to 300 librarians who attended programs related to the topic of "E-Librarian: Ideas, Innovation and Inspiration." The purpose was to examine the evolution of the web and e-resources and the role and skills of librarians. The conference offered a wonderful forum to share ideas. The keynote speaker, Stephen Abram, President of the Special Libraries Association talked about Web 2.0. He also explained why the Internet rocks and how librarians can see it as a resource to increase access to information.

--Other highlights from the conference included:

***A workshop presented by ALA Past President and IFLA Goberning Board member and FAFE member, Barbara Ford, and Loida Garcia-Febo, FAIFE member and NPDG co-convenor about the IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto Guidelines. A number of librarians from various countries participated and are already thinking about training colleagues back home, and working with their communities to encourage use of Internet to find jobs, and improve/create small business among others.

***A presentation by the dynamic duo from the LIB Shanachietour 2007. Erik Boekesteijn and Jaap van de Geer. They have toured the USA, and made videocasts about Web 2.0, and gaming and libraries among others. They crossed the states from Chicago to Monterrey interviewing librarians about these topics and presented results at the Internet Librarian 2007 conference. Definitely, Delft Public Library is lucky to have them!

--ACURIL was wonderful. Jamaica was superb. Cannot wait to come back!

Posted by Loida García-Febo on June 5, 2008 | Comments (0)