From now on GB will mean Governing Board for me, and PC Professional Committee not Personal Computer or Politically Correct.
The conference is over but today is an all-day meeting of the GB. IFLA is governed by 10 elected representatives, the five Divisional chairs representing the sections, the chair of the Professional Committee, the President and President-Elect. It will have to be a rapid learning curve – I have only two years without the option of re-election.
I also have to find a line between breaking GB confidentiality and writing a totally uninformative blog! Not unnaturally, many of the issues are of a sensitive nature. (I’m also on the Professional Committee, which looks after the interests of the sections and the content of the conference, but that isn’t meeting today.)
Almost all the morning is taken up with introductions, while most of the afternoon is taken up with elections to the various committees and boards of IFLA itself or of other bodies to which IFLA nominates. I draw the IFLA/International Publishers’ Association Steering Group. This group looks at areas where the two bodies have mutual concerns but different perspectives, for example collective licensing, or legal deposit.
The most substantive debate of the day is about the Google Book Agreement. As an affected party (being a publisher and copyright holder of books falling under the agreement), IFLA is entitled to make a submission to the court hearing. The Copyright and Other Legal Matters committee has been working hard all week to draft a position statement, as submissions have to be made by 4 September. Our main concerns revolve around the international implications of a strictly American process and agreement.
In reviewing the conference the usual things emerge — not enough social space or refreshment facilities. The wifi issue is deferred to the December meeting of the Professional Committee. The social evening in city-centre restaurants was thought to be a good idea with some failings in its execution. It transpired that most of the volunteer student helpers were from overseas and couldn’t help very much with local matters.
We finish at twenty to six. Time to pack for departure tomorrow, but not before the opportunity for more sightseeing in Milan first.
Scooters are all the rage in Milan -- here's a fetching one in pink, outside La Scala
Tags: Google Book Agreement, IFLA, IPA
August 28, 2009 at 7:12 pm |
Thanks for writing such a frank and lively blog with real substance, Mike.
The WiFi issue is really about adapting the practices of the organization – at all levels – to the conditions that people will see as normal – once the web is fully utilized. The pressure is really on, now.
The only choice IFLA and schools and universities and governments and and and … really have, is the timing: doing it quickly or dragging one’s feet – which just means postponing the inevitable.
Organizations can resist all their users some of the time, and some of their users all the time, but not all their users all the time … to paraphrase a well-known president.
I’d like IFLA to take a more forward approach – following the ideas of Michael Stephens (first speaker on the US Embassy booth roster) – and really plan for augmented and blended conferences in the future.
The web site revision, the listing of blogs and photos during Milan, and the coming wikis are positive steps – but more can be done to facilitate 2.0 communication in and around the conferences.
http://p2pfoundation.net/Augmented_Conferences
http://p2pfoundation.net/Blended_Conferences