Friday, February 3, 2017

SCECSAL 2018: First announcement and call for papers

The Twenty-Third Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL XXIII), Entebbe, Uganda, 23rd – 28th April 2018

 Call for Papers

The SCECSAL XXIII Organizing Committee has the pleasure of inviting Library and Information Professionals to the twenty third Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL XXIII) to be hosted by the Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA), in Entebbe, Uganda.   
SCECSAL is a bi-ennial conference founded in Nairobi in 1978, after the dissolution of the East African Library Association. It is the biggest conference for Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals on the continent and its purpose is to provide a platform for learning and sharing experiences on LIS developments in the region. Currently the conference has Library and Information Association members from the following countries:  Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

SCECSAL XXIII in Kampala will build on the fine tradition of this conference being the leading forum in Africa for headlining the role of library and information institutions in cultural and social development. Best practices and cutting edge innovations in fields as diverse as documenting and preserving national literary heritage and arte facts; driving the research, scientific and scholarship agenda; promoting mass literacy and; open government, human rights, democracy and accountability will be shared and showcased in the plenary presentations, workshops, posters and a conference exhibition.

This conference is coming at a time when countries in the region have made marked advances towards the attainment of Education for All (EFA) goals as noted by UNESCO. Equally to be noted, is that the same countries have registered tremendous progress in other development areas including: agriculture, health, governance, human rights, culture etc. It is therefore a timely opportunity for the library and information sector to develop a regional agenda for boosting their contribution to their countries’ development programmes especially in the context of the UN agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Investments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) especially in respect to Internet sub-marine cables and national backbones have grown, with attendant funds for ‘last mile coverage. Accordingly, the library and information sector in the region has been at the forefront of adopting measures to enhance access to information such as building institutional repositories, developing electronic collections including eBooks, e-journals; and the use of e-readers in public libraries to promote reading. There are still many challenges that have to be overcome for library user communities to have a full experience of hybrid library and information services such as lack of local content, varied pricing models, subscription licensing and privacy concerns.
It is in view of the above issues that members of SCECSAL will in 2018 convene in Kampala to draw up joint strategies for advocating and advancing library and information development in the region to facilitate LIS to play their cultural, educational roles and support innovations.

Objectives of the Conference

1. To devise strategies that will enable LIS inclusion in national development plans;
2. To provide a platform for learning new initiatives and innovations in the field of LIS from within the region;
3. To promote partnerships, networking and professional exchanges within and outside the SCECSAL region
Participants
Participants will include, among others: Librarians, Archivists, Records Officers, Information Scientists, Publishers, Authors, Book Distributors, Academics, Researchers, ICT Innovators, Literacy Experts, Policy makers and other persons with an interest in the Library and Information Sector in the SCECSAL region. As the conference has grown in importance over the years, participants are expected to come from the SCECSAL member countries as well as West and North Africa, Europe and United States.
ULIA welcomes proposals for papers to be presented at the conference. The papers are expected to include both the theoretical and practical elements of Records, Library and Information Science. 

Theme: Positioning Library and Information services to achieve Sustainable development: Innovations and Partnerships.

Sub Themes:
1. Inclusive library and information services for national development
2. Universal literacy through library and information services
3. Broadening LIS partnerships to achieve SDGs
4. Innovations in LIS Education
5. Innovations in the delivery of Library and information services
6. Trends in Gender and information services
7. Library and Information Services advancing open governance
8. Agricultural information services and food security
9. Bettering health through Library and information services
10. Open data, Open science and Intellectual property
11. Data science and LIS institutions
12. Cloud Computing and Information management
13. Indigenous knowledge and preservation of cultural heritage
14. Effective records management to fight corruption
15. Promoting Information Ethics for sustainable development

Requirements for submission of Abstracts for papers:

Abstracts of not more than 300 words, must address the theme and sub-themes, and should have the following details:
i) Title of the abstract;
ii) Name(s) of the author(s) with official titles or professional role;
iii) Author’s affiliated institution;
iv) E-mail contact of the corresponding author, and;
v) A maximum of four keywords.

The abstracts must be submitted to email: scecsal2018@ulia.or.ug

Important Dates:
Submission of Abstracts :      30th April 2017
Notification of acceptance:   June 2017
Submission of full paper:      September 2017
Review of submitted paper: October 2017
Submission of camera ready paper:  December 2017

For more information about the conference please visit the links below:
                                         

16 comments:

  1. Yipppee! Go SCECSAL! Forward ever Professionals and lets make this a tool to change the LIS world for the better! Best wishes Uganda as you make preparations)

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  2. We welcome you all to the Pearl of Africa for the 40th SCECSAL Conference. Prepare for that week of 23rd to 28th April 2018, await to welcome you..

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  3. Whom are to attend the conference?

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  4. Attendance is open to library and information professionals and individuals interested or working in the library and information service sector.

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  5. Looking forward for the 2018 SCECSAL conference.

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  6. woo this will be great but library and Information leaders seem to be in active we need people who will fight for us and the profession it self please because we love our profession,change is needed but thanks for trying,hope to attend.

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  7. Yes Kampala! here we come for the SCECSAL conference

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  8. Looking forward to the SCECSCAL conference, a platform for Information professionals to take part in achieving 2030 SDG's. Kampala here we come!

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  9. Hi Jolly.
    I am sure the SCECSAL 2018 organisers are looking forward to your participation in the conference. Have you considered presenting a paper? The deadlines for sending in abstracts is approaching. Send in your proposal.

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    Replies
    1. Good evening Justin; this emai has reached me a bit late , past the deadline. today the 12th day of May 2017.

      do I stand a chance by submitting my abstract

      kindly advice through gisesalk@gmail.com

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  10. This information has trickled in late but will share

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  11. Where was I all along. Thought the deadline was end of May!

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  12. Have they responded to the abstracts acceptance?

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  13. Hello I would like to inquire why the email address you posted for any communication does not work could you help us with another email address. Thanks

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  14. Hello Daisy.
    I have asked colleagues in Uganda to check whether the email is still operational.

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  15. Dear Daisy and SCECSAL Community,
    The scecsal2018@ulia.or.ug should be working well because we are receiving communication on it on our end. But we will try to consult our technical personnel for further action. Meanwhile, for any communication about SCECSAL, kindly cc kayaga@hotmail.com and haumban@gmail.com

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