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Libraries Play Prominent Role at World Summit on the Information Society in GenevaNational library associations had a strong presence at a United Nations summit meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, and aimed at expanding global access to information technology. More than 10,000 people, including 61 heads of state, mostly from developing countries, attended the first part of the World Summit on the Information Society, December 10–12, to help draft information policy statements that will be developed further at a second summit in Tunis in 2005. Ross Shimmon, secretary general of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, reported to American Libraries that “references to libraries in a draft Declaration of Principles on “Building an Information Society” and a draft Action Plan, thanks to intensive lobbying by our team, have survived.” American Library Association Past-President John W. Berry, who also has been heavily involved in preparations for the summit, said that “IFLA and many other non-government organizations worked very hard—and with considerable success—in getting language into these two documents that reflects the importance of libraries, museums, and archives to a global information and knowledge society; seeks inclusiveness for all the world’s peoples; strives for fair and equitable access to information and knowledge; attempts to ’bridge the global digital divide’; and respects and reaffirms all parts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Shimmon added that two primary controversies at the summit are the lack of support among developed countries for a proposed “Solidarity Fund” to help developing countries invest in information technology; and a movement to wrest control of the Internet from the private, U.S.-selected Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and replace it with an intergovernmental group. IFLA’s main session took place December 10, with a range of presentations by IFLA President Kay Raseroka, President-elect Alex Byrne, Genevieve Clavel-Morrin of the National Library of Switzerland, Sinikka Sipilä of the Finnish Library Association, and Sjoerd Koopman from IFLA headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. A full report on the summit is scheduled to appear in the February issue of American Libraries. Posted December 12, 2003. |
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