EBLIDA Newsletter January 2016

The EBLIDA Newsletter is published monthly on European library & information society issues, programmes, news and events of interest to the library, archive and cultural heritage community.

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Issue No. 1. January 2016.

Forward

The President’s Editorial

Dear all,

Welcome to 2016! Wishing you, your families, colleagues and friends a healthy and prosperous new year! I also extend these wishes to EBLIDA, hoping that 2016 will be a successful year for all our members and for the organisation itself.

As 2015 drew to an end, I realised that 8 months have already passed in my EBLIDA Presidency. I would like to compare my experience as EBLIDA President so far, so playing ice hockey, which I’m sure you’re familiar with. Why do I make this comparison?

Because to win an ice hockey competition as brilliantly as Finland just did, we need a good coach, a good team, great supporters, and we also need formidable opponents!

I strongly believe that in Europe, we have all of the above ingredients to make this recipe work!

So let’s continue to play.

To ensure success, we need enough resources to sustain the organisation. As you know, EBLIDA is mainly funded by our members so your timely payment is always much appreciated. And I would like to send many thanks to those of you who have already fulfilled their membership fees for 2016.

Your ongoing support is key to our collective future and I hope to meet many of you at our upcoming Council and Conference 2016.

The EBLIDA-NAPLE conference is supported by the Dutch Library Forum (FOBID) to which I extend my special thanks, and is hosted under the EU Presidency of the Netherlands that just started at the beginning of the month (see article below).

Please save the following dates in your calendar: Council is Monday 9 May (afternoon) and Conference is 10 May 2016. Read further down for more substantial information.

In the coming months and year, there are many events in which EBLIDA will participate and this starts no later than next week with the ELINET Conference. See article.

Soon after, as you might have read in our previous issues, EBLIDA together with the Latvian Library Association is organising a convening dedicated to Library Advocacy in Brussels at the start of February. I will be among the limited number of participants representing either Library Association Presidents or Directors aiming at increasing the library’s influence at EU level.

I hope to come back to you with some positive feedback in the next EBLIDA issue.

Soon after this convening I will have the great pleasure to meet the colleagues of the EBLIDA board at the Executive Committee Meeting organised in Valencia (Spain) on 22 and 23 Feb 2016. Soon after in the beginning of March I should gather with representatives of publishers, authors and booksellers to follow-up on our discussions.

The year just started, and my diary is already full! I’m sure you know the feeling!

Again, on behalf of the EBLIDA team, I wish you all a wonderful and peaceful 2016!

Yours Sincerely,

Jukka Relander
EBLIDA President

Inside Brussels

EU Presidency
The Netherlands take over from Luxembourg

On January 1st, The Netherlands took over from the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Dutch Presidency will end on 30 June 2016.

As detailed on the Council of the EU website "[…] the presidency wants an EU that focuses on what matters to Europe's citizens and businesses, an EU that creates growth and jobs through innovation and connects with civil society. The presidency will promote action at EU level only if it is more effective than policies at national level."
During the next 6 months, the presidency will focus on four key areas:

migration and international security
sound finances and a robust eurozone
Europe as an innovator and job creator
forward-looking climate and energy policy

The Dutch Presidency website
The Dutch Presidency work programme

The focus of the EU Presidency specifically on the connection with civil society has caught the attention of the steering committee in charge of the EBLIDA conference. Indeed, for EBLIDA and its partners, promoting action at EU level is key to the development of a cutting edge library environment at the service of EU citizens.

17. December 2015:
EBLIDA met with Vice-President Ansip

In the context of the Copyright reform discussion, and further to our meeting with Commissioner Oettinger (see previous EBLIDA issue) and the release of EU Commission’s Communication on the Modernisation of the EU Copyright Rules (see previous EBLIDA issue), EBLIDA met with Vice-President Ansip on 17 December.

During the meeting, EBLIDA highlighted that the importance of libraries within the social and economic landscape in Europe should be maintained in the future. Furthermore, there were exchanges about the issue of digitisation and e-lending.
Vice-President Ansip acknowledged the importance of libraries and their role within the European Union, as well as the importance of cultural diversity as a wealth of the European Union.

He informed us that the discussion on the exceptions and limitations to copyright should be organised in Spring 2016.

To be continued.

European Commission launched a Public Consultation on Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement (deadline 1st April) on 9 December.

With this public consultation on the evaluation and modernisation of the legal framework for the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR), the “[…] Commission seeks views from all interested parties, in particular rightholders, the judiciary and legal profession, intermediaries, public authorities, consumers and civil society, on the question if the legal enforcement framework is still fit for purpose. [...]."
The consultation under the lead of DG GROW (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), “[…] also aims to help assess the functioning of Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRED) in the online environment, with a view to identify the possible need for adapting such provisions and to propose corrective measures. It will gather experience on the use and impact of IPRED and also seek views and opinions from those concerned with the application of the Directive on its functioning and the possible need for amendments. It also aims to gather experience and opinions about the use and impact of so-called 'follow the money' initiatives in the area of IPR enforcement.
The consultation consists of 5 different questionnaires for the different stakeholder groups (rightholders, the judiciary and legal profession, intermediaries, Member States and public authorities, and consumers and civil society).”

Though it was announced on December 9 that the consultation would be available in 6 languages (DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, PL) (why 6 and not the 23 official EU languages?), to date, it is yet only available in English.

For this consultation, the EU Commission adopted a broken down approach with 5 different questionnaires for 5 different stakeholder groups.
That echoes the concerns we expressed on 25 November together with a broad range of stakeholders regarding the consultation process on copyright issue at EU level.

EBLIDA will follow-up on that issue and will keep its members posted of any actions needed.

Meeting with FEP, EIBF, EWC

EBLIDA representatives had a second meeting with the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the European Writers Council, the European and International Federation of Booksellers (EIBF) on 17 December in Brussels.

The goal of these meetings is mainly to look at issues of common interest such as literacy.

This meeting gave the opportunity to provide information on the ELINET conference, and to collect information on actions led by those organisations on this question. We looked at ways for further collaboration on literacy issues, options for other specific projects and we also exchanged ideas on our differences.

The next meeting of the Presidents of the 4 associations should take place on 8 March 2016 in Brussels.

Inside EBLIDA

ELINET News

The Final ELINET Conference will be held on 21-22 January in Amsterdam. Registration closed on Wednesday 13 January 2016.

This will be the last of the 3 conferences organised by ELINET. The main difference with this conference is that is half of it is open to the public and the rest to ELINET partners only. Indeed as advertised on the programme, the goal of the ELINET European Literacy Conference is to shift the focus from idea generation to idea execution –providing reliable and Innovative insights on how to improve literacy in Europe. We will introduce all results, findings and tools developed in the past two years, while giving the floor to prominent speakers and giving answers to larger questions in the literacy field.
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In our previous issue we already made reference to the programme (accessible here), and we would like to reiterate here some important information on the content.

The conference’s features high-level speakers such as Ms Jet Bussemaker, Dutch Minister for Education, Science and Culture, the author Abdelkader Benali and the keynote speaker H.R.H Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, UNESCO Special Envoy on Literacy for Development whom EBLIDA members known very well from previous work together and keynote speech at the EBLIDA Conference in Greece in 2013.

The conference workshops will be on the following themes:

Country Reports (special topics: Teacher Education; Libraries; Adult Education)
Good Practices (special focus: Reaching struggling literacy learners)
Fundraising and Awareness Raising Tools; Indicators of good practice
The Concept of Literacy / Literacy Terminology
ELINET Present and Future
Cross-Cutting Themes: Digital Literacy, Reading for Pleasure.

This final conference will be preceded by an internal conference with all ELINET partners.

This time EBLIDA will be the only library organisation involved, and we will take an active role in demonstrating the ability of libraries professionals in being a strong driving force behind access to information including for people with literacy difficulties (see our December issue).

Thanks to the work coordinated in partnership with Anne Marie O’Dwyer (from Libraries Development LGMA in Dublin, Ireland, a partner in ELINET team 8), we hope to help ELINET Partners to understand how libraries can be used as a primary channel through which to improve literacy skills among those with literacy challenges. A last report will be made in our next issue.
Lieflong Learning Programme
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EBLIDA LBB PL2020 Library Advocacy for EU Event, Brussels 1-3 February, 2016

On 1 – 3 February 2016, EBLIDA, together with the Latvian Library Association and Public Libraries 2020, is proud to organise its Library Advocacy 4 EU event in Brussels, entitled “Increase the power of your influence: individually and collectively.”

There has been a very positive response from participants and we are very much looking forward to it.

We believe that this meeting is crucial in order to mobilise our collective power, as well as to grow stronger as individual advocates. The convening also aims to intensify our dialogue with European institutions in setting out an agenda for libraries in a modern European knowledge economy.

This event is supported by a grant under the Public Libraries 2020 Programme of the Reading & Writing Foundation.

Save the Date:
24^th EBLIDA Annual Council and EBLIDA-NAPLE Conference

The Hague, The Netherlands
9 - 10 May 2016

Programme Overview

Together with our local host FOBID Netherlands Library Forum we are preparing the programme for you.

Here’s the overview at a glimpse:
Day 1 – Monday May 9^th 2016
EBLIDA Council Meeting (for EBLIDA members only)
Time: 13.30 – 16.30 (incl. coffee), welcome from 13.00
Place: The Hague Public Library

Reception offered by The Hague Public Library
Time: 17.00 – 18.00

Conference Dinner Optional – Fee: € 40

Day 2 – Tuesday May 10^th 2016
2016 Conference: “Empowering Europe! Libraries opening up new perspectives”
Conference registration: 9.00 – 10.00*
Conference: 10.00 – 16.00* (lunch/coffee included)
Place: National Library of The Netherlands
* time subject to change

Early registration fee (before 31st March)
- EBLIDA or NAPLE members: € 60
- non members: € 70
- students : € 30

Standard registration fee (from 1st April):
- EBLIDA or NAPLE members: € 75
- non members: € 85
- students : € 35

Note: For participants arriving on Sunday 8 May 2016, an optional informal social and cultural excursion programme may be organised.

We are also continuing work on the Conference website, which will be up and running by the end of the month. Watch this space!

Keynote Speaker: Dimitris Protopsaltou

24^th EBLIDA Annual Council and EBLIDA-NAPLE Conference

Dimitris Protopsaltou Empowering Europe! Libraries opening up new perspectives matches the Dutch EU-Presidency themes (especially the growth of jobs and competitiveness, and aim that the Union empowers and protects all citizens) as well as libraries actual topics and concerns.

An inspiring keynote speech and round-table will be followed by 3 interactive workshops on cutting-edge issues such as civic participation and visibility of libraries, library advocacy, and open with the libraries (open science, open data, open government..) with the aim of opening up libraries to the outside world.

About Dimitris Protopsaltou

Dimitris is the co-founder and the Director of Future Library, a non-profit established in Veria in 2011, addressing the call of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to contribute to the development of a sustainable network of public and municipal libraries across Greece. Today, Future Library coordinates the transition plan of the National Library of Greece to its new location at the SNF Cultural Centre in Athens. In 2015, Dimitris launched the International Network of Emerging Library Innovators in the Balkan region, a leadership training program primarily funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to Future Library, Dimitris was an associate partner of the Veria Central Public Library; responsible of its innovation strategy that has led to the Access to Learning Award 2010 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He holds a PhD in information systems from the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

EBLIDA Executive Committee Meeting

The next EBLIDA Board Meeting will be held in Valencia, Spain, on 22^nd and 23^rd February 2016.

Invitation to INCONECSS

The German National Library of Economics – ZBW invites you and all interested EBLIDA-members to the first International Conference on Economics and Business Information – INCONECSS. The INCONECSS will take place from 19 to 20 April in Berlin.

URL: the German National Library of Economics – ZBW invites you and all interested EBLIDA-members to the first International Conference on Economics and Business Information – INCONECSS. The INCONECSS will take place from 19 to 20 April in Berlin.

URL: www.inconecss.eu The international conference addresses issues relating to economics and business information. The topics range from content management in a digital age to staff development issues and even strategic development of new services. Main topics are: Research Data, Ebook Strategies, Current Research Information Systems (CRIS), Reshaping of Skills and structures, Research support and Open Access.

The uniqueness of the conference lies in its international scope in combination with the focus on economics: bringing together best practices from different countries, establishing a platform for stimulating discussion, exchanging opinions and helping participants to improve and enhance their local services.

Among the highlights of the international conference are the keynote from Liz Lyon, Visiting Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and two workshops about Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) and Ebook Strategies.

We would be delighted to welcome you in spring in Berlin.

Program:                    http://www.inconecss.eu/program.html
Location:                     Schleswig-Holstein Representative Office to the Federal Government in Berlin, In den Ministergärten 8, 10117 Berlin
Twitter Hasthag:         #inconecss
Registration:               http://www.inconecss.eu/registration.html
About ZBW:                http://www.zbw.eu/en/about-us/profile/who-is-the-zbw/

Events and Dates

January

January 19, The UK creative media workforce - priorities for access, professional development and public policy
Place: London, UK
Sponsor/Organizer: Westminster Media Forum
URL: http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/forums/event.php?eid=1105

January 20, The European Literacy Conference 2016
Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sponsor/Organizer: ELINET, Stichting Lezen & Schrijven & the University of Cologne
URL: The European Literacy Conference 2016

January 19 – 20, Academic Publishing in Europe 11: The Digital Agenda: The Road Ahead for Scholarly Communication

Place: Berlin, Germany
Sponsor/Organizer: Organizing Committee
URL: http://www.ape2016.eu/index.html

January 20, Discovery and Discoverability
Place: London, UK
Sponsor/Organizer: University College London Centre for Publishing
URL: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/publishing/events/discoverability/

January 27 – 29, 24th BOBCATSSS Symposium: "Information, Libraries and Democracy"
Place: Lyon, France
Sponsor/Organizer: European Association for Library and Information Education and Research (EUCLID)
URL: http://bobcatsss2016.com/

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