The 82nd IFLA General Conference and Assembly and the 2016 World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) took place in Columbus, Ohio from 13-19 August. The conference attracted over 3,500 participants from 145 countries this year. Its 220 sessions ranged over issues of copyright, copyright exemptions for libraries, data protection, semantic web and linked data, professional development, new uses of library space and equipment, and adapting libraries to a new role.

One of the highlights of the conference was the IFLA President’s session, chaired by Ms Donna Scheeder, which focused on responses to the challenges presented in the original IFLA Trend Report. In 2013, the report identified five high-level trends in the information society, including access to education, privacy and data protection, civic engagement and transformation. The 2016 update fulfils the original mission of the report to be just the starting point for ongoing reflection. It concerns the development of new technologies, and underlines the importance of redefining the role of libraries and the need to invest in skills and staff development. IFLA’s new vision – ‘Global vision: local impact’ – was presented by the new Secretary-General, Gerald Leitner, during this session as well.

It was a very busy week for the IFLAPARL Section! The Standing Committee reviewed its past and future activities during the two business meetings and organised its own open session, several joint sessions and a much appreciated visit to the Ohio Statehouse.

The Section convened an open session entitled “Meeting the needs of parliamentary clients: a knowledge sharing session”. Based on feedback from its members, the Section organised a more interactive session this year, with six short presentations followed by group discussions. Each of the presenters provided a short and specific example of an innovative project, and left the audience with two questions for discussion in small groups. The presentations were highly engaging and the group discussions lively and informative.

Below are the list of IFLAPARL open and joint sessions at WLIC 2016, with associated presentation files/reports where available.

Session 138: Meeting the needs of parliamentary clients: a knowledge sharing session

Session 153 Government and Parliamentary Libraries as innovators: supporting communities of practice – joint session with Government libraries

Session 204 Knowledge Café "Continuous Learning in Libraries & their Communities"- joint session with Knowledge Management and Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning. Read the report summarizing the discussions at the Knowledge Café.

Session 212 Privacy Law in the Digital Age: Governments Rethink the Meaning of Information Access Policies – joint session with Law libraries

Photos;
IFLAParl open session, Columbus Ohio, Tuesday 16 August
Tour of the Ohio Statehouse, Wednesday, 17 August 2016