SCECSAL 2014: Airport welcome

All participants traveling to Malawi for the SCECSAL 2014 Conference should inform SCECSAL Protocol about their flight schedules for proper planning on how to welcome them at the Airport.

Please, send the flights details (names, date, airline/flight number and arrival time) to:

Felix P. Majawa
Chair Protocol Sub-Committee
Email: fmajawa@yahoo.com OR fmajawa@gmail.com

Any changes to flight details should also be communicated to SCECSAL Protocol.

Social media reporters for SCECSAL 2014 wanted

Are you planning to attend SCECSAL 2014?

A social media reporter at work during the ICT4Ag Conference.
Source: CTA ARDYS

I am looking for library and information professionals to volunteer as Social Media Reporters during the SCECSAL 2014 conference in Lilongwe, Malawi, 28 July - 1 August. These should meet the following requirements:

1. Will already be attending SCECSAL 2014 conference
2. Own a WiFi enabled laptop or a tablet (i.e. iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, etc.)
3. Have some experience with using social media (at least one of the following platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Flickr, and YouTube)

Social Reporters will be part of the SCECSAL 2014 Social Media Team and will be involved in a coordinated, live reporting of the proceedings of SCECSAL 2014 on various social media platforms.

If you are interested in this experiment, please drop me a note at: chisenga_j@yahoo.co.uk. Please, put Social Media Reporter in the subject of your email

Justin Chisenga

Pre-conference workshop on Digital Course Redesign, 27 July 2014

This day-long program will introduce participants to theory, best practices, and hands-on experience in assisting educators to redesign traditional curricula into digital courses that can be delivered in the classroom, via a local area network, or over the Internet.

For course details, download the course annoucement (in PDF).

Venue: Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi
Time: 9am - 4pm

Document delivery now available to registered Research4Life institutions

The International Association of STM Publishers (STM) has invited their member publishers to endorse a Statement on Document Delivery for institutions in the 48 United Nations-Designated Least Developed Countries. Participating publishers have agreed to authorize their library customers to provide copies of articles, free of copyright fees, to Research4Life-registered institutions in the 48 Least Developed Countries (which tend to have the worst problems of intermittent electricity supply, shortage of computers, and excruciatingly slow and expensive internet connections). So far, 18 Research4Life publishers have pledged their support, representing nearly 8,000 STM journals. 

Through this agreement, librarian customers of these publishers will now be able to offer document delivery services to their colleagues in these least resourced countries without charging the usual publisher copyright fees. STM and the publisher partners are very pleased to offer this expanded access opportunity to those who need it most.

For any queries about the STM Statement contact STM's Director of Outreach Programmes, Richard Gedye at gedye at stm-assoc.org

Orignator of  the message:

Kimberly Parker
HINARI Programme Manager
Library (LNK)
World Health Organization  Tel: +41 22 791 4467
Av. Appia, 20                     Fax: +41 22 791 4150
1211 Geneva 27                 E-mail: parkerk@who.int
SWITZERLAND               http://www.who.int/hinari

SCECSAL 14 - Yellow fever requirements

All those planning to travel to Lilongwe, Malawi for SCECSAL 2014 should note that it is a requirement that all visitors to Malawi must be inoculated against Yellow fever. Please bring evidence to show at the airport upon arrival.

IFLA Trends Report: Letter to Chairs/Presidents of Library Associations

Chairs/ Presidents of Library Associations,

The IFLA Trend Report was launched in Helsinki in 2013. It is a discussion document for engagement and comment by the LIS community. SCECSAL has placed the matter on the agenda for discussion at AGM the July 2014 meeting. A panel of experts will lead discussion. Furthermore the Trend Report is also set for discussion on the recently set up Africa-L listserve.

On behalf of the IFLA Regional office for Africa, I would like to ask you and the LIS community in your country to engage with the IFLA Trend report before heading to SCECSAL in July 2014 in Malawi. I request that you please send me a brief report of the outcomes of your discussions so that we can compile a combined report for SCECSAL.

You may access the report on the link http://trends.ifla.org/ or download a PDF copy.

• TREND 1 New Technologies will both expand and limit who has access to information.
• TREND 2 Online Education will democratise and disrupt global learning.
• TREND 3 The boundaries of privacy and data protection will be redefined..
• TREND 4 Hyper-connected societies will listen to and empower new voices and groups.
• TREND 5 The global information environment will be transformed by new technologies.

It is envisaged that at the end of the session Africa’s contribution to the Trend Report will be shared with the rest of the LIS global community on IFLA listserve and the newly formed Africa – L list http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/africa-l

We look forward to hearing from you and welcome your responses by end June2014. Follow up reminders will be continuously be sent to you before the deadline. Kindly submit your country report to me, copy mbambtb@unisa.ac.za and Justin.Chisenga@fao.org

Regards
Lindy Nhlapo
IFLA Regional Manager for Africa
IFLA Regional Office for Africa

SCECSAL 2014: A Selection of entertainment, shopping and eating places

The Malawi Library Association has issued a list of selected entertainment, shopping and eating places for the benefit of SCECSAL participants. Click on the link below for details.

• Selection of entertainment, shopping and eating places

Accommodation during SCECSAL 2014

The SCECSAL 2014 Organizing Committee has announced a list of hotels (and room rates)  available to participants during the conference.

• Hotels list (PDF)

SCECSAL 2014 Organisers update registration and exhibition payment information

The Main Organizing Committee for SCECSAL XXI 2014 has updated payment information on the Participants Registration Form and Exhibitors Registration Form. Please, download and use the forms available on the SCECSAL website or the links below:

• SCECSAL XXI Participants Registration Form (Word)
• SCECSAL Exhibitors Registration Form (Word)
• SCECSAL XXI Invitation Letter (PDF)

Pre-SCECSAL event: BSLA workshop, Lilongwe, Malawi, 26 – 27 July 2014

An IFLA Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA) programme preconference to SCECSAL XXI under the auspices of Malawi Library Association, will be hosted by IFLA in partnership with IFLA Regional Office for Africa on 26 – 27 July 2014 at Sunbird Capital Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi.  IFLA invites library associations attending SCECSAL to apply to participate in the workshop.

IFLA's successful Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA) programme is being through a series of convenings and projects at the regional level in Africa, Asia and Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean from 2014. This workshop is an outcome of the Africa Regional convening held in Kumasi, Ghana, in February 2014.

The workshop will include training from the BSLA programme, group work, discussions, and practical activities to take back to national associations to implement at the national or regional level. During the workshop, associations will identify their own needs for further activities and development and form action plans for implementation. The workshop language will be English.

Expected outcomes
To build a strong library sector that benefits society, associations need a strong foundation in representation, governance, organisational development and strategy. The long-term goal of the programme is to build the foundation for library associations to assist their work in representing the interests of library users, telling the story of libraries and gaining policymaker support and partnership.

The workshop will:

• Reinforce inter-country networks and expertise to support development in the regions;
• Increase understanding and adoption of IFLA policies and manifestos to support high quality library and information services.

Register to attend the workshop

Registration is open until 30 April 2014. Attendance at the workshop is at participants’ own expense. Associations that have not participated in BSLA workshops previously are particularly encouraged to attend.

Workshop participants should have:

• Demonstrated, current active leadership within their national or regional association;
• A depth of understanding of issues that have a current or expected impact on the library and information services sector on a national and regional level;
• The ability to use their knowledge and experience to develop the capacity of their Association after the convening.

To register to attend the workshop, contact:

Lindy Nhlapo
IFLA Regional Manager for Africa
IFLA Regional Office for Africa
Tel: +2712 429 6374
        +2711 471 2826
Fax: +2712 429 6130
Mobile: +2772  7145 125
lnhlapo@unisa.ac.za
iflaafrica@unisa.ac.za  

Please include the following details to complete your registration:

1. National or Regional Association name
2. Names of the representatives that will attend the workshop, and their position in the Association
3. Library association profile: does it provide services and run activities for members, have a strong governance structure, a clear direction and strategic plan? Please outline the objectives for your association’s current strategic plan, and an overview of progress towards these goals.
4. Needs assessment: How will your participation in the workshop  complement any existing development projects that the association is undertaking? What are some of the Library Association's strengths? What are some of the challenges facing the Association?

Call for applications: Enhancing librarians’ ICT skills for research enablement in African universities

Applications are now open for the first intake of the Carnegie-funded Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, which is aimed at enhancing ICT skills for research enablement in African universities. Academic librarians and LIS faculty in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are eligible to apply for admission to this programme.

Eight four-week training sessions will take place over a period of three years. 32 participants will be selected for each intake.

This four-week residential training programme with both practical (70%) and theoretical (30%) components will cover the following topics:

1. Setting the context: Libraries, ICTs and research 
2. Leadership and innovation
3. Advanced Information Literacy and Advanced Information Retrieval
4. Social media for research discoverability in an academic environment
5. Mobile technology and mobility
6. Managing and organising information
7. Personal Information Management
8. Open Scholarship and Open Science - Publishing
9. Open Scholarship and Open Science - Institutional Repositories.
10. Open Scholarship and Open Science - Understanding and using research data management
11. Digitisation
12. Evaluating website architecture
13. Cloud computing and storage
14. Virtual research environments
15. The next generation librarian

This is a fully funded programme which will take place in Pretoria, South Africa. The funding covers books and other academic expenditures, flights, accommodation, and a daily stipend while in Pretoria. All participants are expected to reside in the accommodation provided in Pretoria for the duration of the programme.

Grant exclusions:

• Visa applications, personal expenses (for example medicine, laundry, phone calls, etc.)
• ICT equipment such as laptops, modems, internet access top-ups etc.
• Travel to and from the airport in your home country

Application for the first intake of 2014 closes on 29 April 2014.  No late applications will be considered. (There will be a second intake in November 2014, as well as further intakes in 2015 and 2016.)

For additional information on the programme content, eligibility and selection criteria, application procedures, important dates, etc., please see: http://web.up.ac.za/default.asp?ipkCategoryID=22719&subid=22719&ipklookid=7

All correspondence or enquiries: Joan de la Haye at Carnegie-cpd@up.ac.za

Joan De La Haye
Carnegie CPD Programme Administrator
joan.delahaye@up.ac.za
+27 (0)12 420 2887

SCECSAL XXI 2014 Update

Conference Papers

The Main Organizing Committee for SCECSAL XXI 2014 would like to remind presenters whose abstracts were accepted that the deadline for submission of full papers is 29th March, 2014. The SECCSAL and MALA websites and SCECSAL blog have the Guide for Authors for the full papers. Presenters are advised to have their papers peer reviewed before submission in order to increase chances of acceptance.

The Committee so far has no sponsorship for presenters or any conference participants. Acceptance of papers, therefore, does not mean that authors will be offered sponsorship. All prospective presenters whose abstracts were accepted are being advised to start sourcing sponsorship for their attendance to the conference.

Information on Visa

1. We are expecting delegates from countries in the SCECSAL region and beyond. All countries in the SCECSAL region do not need a visa to enter Malawi except those from Uganda.
2. Delegates from Uganda can have their Visa processed from the Malawi embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Alternatively, it can be processed right here in Malawi. 
3. If the Visa is processed right here, then the delegates will have to pay an application fee of MK10,000 each. In this case, we will need a copy of a passport with the holder’s photo well in advance to forward it to Immigration Office.
4. More information about the Malawi visa application will be provided later on if need be. Otherwise contact Felix Majawa using the following email addresses (fmajawa@yahoo.com or fmajawa@gmail.com) for more information. 

Yellow fever

It is a requirement that all visitors to Malawi they must be inoculated against Yellow fever; please bring evidence to show at the airport upon arrival.

Please send any queries about the conference to:

• Gray Nyali Chairperson, SCECSAL XXI 2014 Main Organizing Committee (gnyali@hotmail.com)
• Gift Kadzamira Secretary, SCECSAL XXI 2014 Main Organizing Committee (gkadzamira@ncst.mw)
• Geoffrey Salanje Chairperson, Publicity and Publications Sub-Committee (gsalanje@bunda.luanar.mw)

SCECSAL XXI guidelines for authors updated

The Organisers of SCECSAL XXI have updated the guidelines for authors for preparing and submitting conference papers. Please, download the updated guidelines HERE.

Zimbabwe Library Association - 48th Conference & AGM, Victorial Falls, 24-27 June 2014

Main Theme: ‘Working smarter and adding value: Library services in a new paradigm‘ 

3rd Call for Papers

The Internet, with its array of new media technologies has opened a new world to information seekers from academics, researchers, business communities and even those with a casual information need. The increasing Internet penetration as a means of communication has resulted in the flourishing of digital publishing and increased capacity of individuals to access vast amounts of information. It has also provided the means for new connected virtual communities to develop across the world. This development has resulted in many regarding the library as an antiquated institution from another period  no longer relevant and easily targeted for budget cuts and low prioritisation. Libraries are also attracting criticism from people who argue that technology has made them obsolete. The question that arise from these views is; ‘Is the library still playing an indispensable role in today’s information society?’

It is against this backdrop that the Zimbabwe Library Association (ZimLA) invites interested professionals from the broad, interdisciplinary Library and Information Science field to submit abstracts of papers to be presented at its 48th conference and AGM. These papers should attempt to address the above main theme but stemming from, but not necessarily limited to the sub-themes listed below.

Sub-Themes

• Innovation in library services
• Information literacy and lifelong learning

          - In different types of libraries
          - Approaches/models in academic and school curricula
          - As a vital life skill
          - In protecting Intellectual property and Copyright

• Embedded librarianship
• Responsiveness to changing information and technology landscape
• Information brokering and info-preneurship
• Community librarianship
• Library out-reach services
• Corporate librarianship
• Use of social media in library services
• Changing roles of librarians
• Proactive librarianship
• Knowledge management
• Open access

Dates to note:

28 March 2014: Deadline for submission of abstracts

15 April 2014:  Submission of full text papers

15 May  2014:  Program with presenters sent out

For gudelines on submision of abstracts, please contanct any of the folloiwng:
 Ronald Munatsi [ronaldmunatsi@gmail.com]

Lantern R Fusire [lantern.fusire@nust.ac.zw; fusirelantern@gmail.com]

Harriet R Ncube [hrncube@nrz.co.zw; hrncube@gmail.com]

 

15th Annual Conference of APLESA, April 7 - 11, 2014, Radisson Blu Hotel, Lusaka, ZAMBIA

We are very pleased to announce that the 2014 Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Eastern and Southern Africa (APLESA) annual conference and meeting will be hosted by the National Assembly of Zambia at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Lusaka from 7-11 April 2014.

The conference will unite parliamentary library and information professionals and other interested parties from across the Southern and Eastern regions of Africa with the objective of promoting co‐operation, communication, networking, resource sharing and capacity building among APLESA member Parliaments. From this unique intersection, new ideas and relationships are expected to emerge from the conference.

Held under the theme “Legislative information and Parliamentary Libraries: pursuing frontiers of knowledge”, the conference will widen discussions from previous interactions and consolidate current thinking in order to plant seeds for the future. With the gathering expected to be a stimulating week of presentations, interactive sessions and discussions aimed at addressing issues and challenges related to legislative information, and library and information services, everyone will have the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge, network with colleagues, and learn about new and innovative ways.

We look forward to a great conference and welcome you to Zambia.

Ms. Chama M. Mfula
Chief Librarian
P.O Box 31299
Lusaka, Zambia
Fax: (+260) 211-292252
Email: cmmfula@parliament.gov.zm
Tel: (+260) 211-292425 – 36/ 292929
Mobile: +260-977-117972

Other contacts include:

1. Mrs M Suuya
Deputy Chief Librarian
Email: msuuya@parliament.gov.zm
Mobile: +260-955/977-829666

2. Mr Peter K.Moatswi
Secretary General, APLESA
Email: kmoatswi@gov.bw
Tel: (+267) 3705502 / 3616800
Mobile: (+267) 72246680