Vol. 2, No. 9: Access to government information 🔓

The importance of access to information as a right for all is of course at the heart of IFLA's values.

September 2022 — Vol. 2, No. 9 View in your browser → Dear all, Welcome to the September IFLA Newsletter! The importance of access to information as a right for all is at the heart of IFLA's values. It is a valuable goal in its own right, and an essential precondition for the achievement of so many other rights – to education, health, culture, science and more. Crucially, it is also part and parcel of effective and good governance. As already highlighted in IFLA's statement on the topic a few years back, not only do those in power need information in order to take the best possible decisions, but so too do the legislators who shape legislation, and of course the citizens who vote in elections, and engage in between. As guarantors of access to information, selected, packaged and presented in ways that best enable this, libraries have an essential role, and one that we need to underline at any opportunity. Read more → Anoja Fernando, Chair Division B IN THE FIELD IFLA President Barbara Lison gave an virtual address at the International conference "The disasters of war - Why save culture", held in Tortona, Italy, while the President-elect spoke at the Sri Lankan Library Association's Annual national conference on Library and Information Science. IFLA representatives were also present at the UN Transforming Education Summit, the G20 Urban 20 Summit, the Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, and the UNESCO International Literacy Day Conference – see the Policy and Advocacy section below for more information! PROFESSIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT Copyright Reader IFLA is proud to announce that Navigating Copyright for Libraries – Purpose and Scope, is available for free, open access download from the IFLA Repository and the de Gruyter website thanks to support from IFLA's Professional Council (previously the Professional Committee) and from the de Gruyter website to order in print. The 20-chapter volume is intended as a resource for library professionals around the world as a reference, a tool for learning, and as a way of catching up on key processes and developments. Read more → UNITS + STRATEGY The Power of Public Libraries: IFLA Public Libraries Section + the IFLA Strategy This month, IFLA features the IFLA Public Libraries Section in the Units + Strategy recognition series, for their success in aligning their work to the 2019-2024 IFLA Strategic plan with accomplishments such as The IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto 2022, the IFLA/Systemic Public 2022 Library of the Year Award (PLOTY), amongst other strong initiatives. See how the Unit is supporting Key Initiatives 1.1, 2.2 and 2.3. Read more → Celebrating International Literacy Day: What makes libraries unique as literacy learning spaces? For this year's International Literacy Day, we asked the members of IFLA's Literacy and Reading Section Standing Committee for their views on the day's theme – transforming literacy learning spaces. Read more → Law Libraries Section: Working to Ensure Public Access to Digital Law and Legal Information The IFLA Law Libraries Section has been involved in promoting access to government information, with a particular emphasis on access to law and legal information, for many years. Access to legal information is a critical part of ensuring citizens can be active participants in democratic governance.  It is the goal of the Law Libraries Section to play a role in encouraging governments to make law and legal information available to the public.  We welcome partners and others who wish to engage with us on these efforts.  Read more about the Law Libraries Section's work with the IFLA Statement on Government Provision of Public Legal Information in the Digital Age here: Read more → Parliamentary Libraries & Archives: Providing information and related services Constitutions assign to parliaments not only the functions of law making and approval of expenditure/taxation but also the role of overseeing the work of the executive branch of government. Focusing on this last function of parliaments Josefa Fuentes, IFLA Library and Research Services for Parliaments (IFLAPARL) Chair, analyzes some of the inherent challenges ensuring public access to information produced and attained by the libraries and research services in parliaments related to government information: Read more → Library and Research Services for Parliaments: it's complicated! Parliamentary Libraries contribute to democracy through the provision of information, of reference and research services, of subject matter expert support to parliamentary committees and associations, and in many cases, the provision of information to the public about parliament. The work of IFLAPARL in providing an international network for parliamentary libraries is essential to the library and research service leaders navigating these environments and issues.  IFLAPARL's guidance on the core functions of library management has recently been updated (Guidelines for Parliamentary Libraries, third ed.), and there is also guidance on provision of research services (Guidelines for Parliamentary Research Services) and ethical considerations (IFLAPARL Ethics Checklist). Read more → UK's Crown Copyright and the Government Web As in many other countries, United Kingdom (UK) government information to citizens has been revolutionised over the last two decades, moving from largely paper based forms and publications to online provision 24/7.  Whilst this has many advantages, there are also dangers that all information professionals should be aware of and communicate to their customers. A particular problem is fake or copycat offering access to government services such as visa applications for an inflated fee. One way the UK government has combatted this is by streamlining all government websites into a clearly signposted gov.uk site, which has greatly improved the 'citizen experience' of using government web services online. IFLA Government Libraries Section Information Coordinator, Jonathan Ginn covers the bases: Read more → Building a Better Government Information Landscape Next week, we'll be promoting the Government Information and Official Publications Section's 2021 Professional Report on The Government Information Landscape and Libraries at a meeting of the African Union's African Peer Review Mechanism. In advance of this, take a look at this excellent and comprehensive insight into the state of government information today, and priorities for improvement. Read more → POLICY AND ADVOCACY IFLA Announces the Launch of the 2022 IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto at the United Nations Transforming Education Summit The Transforming Education Summit has brought diverse stakeholders including policymakers and civil society organisations together at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York to make commitments towards reimagining and transforming education. In our engagement, we promoted the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto, as well as the role of libraries in supporting inclusive education. Read more → Photo Source: UN Photo/Manuel Elías. IFLA Policy and Advocacy Officer Claire McGuire at the Transforming Education summit in New York. IFLA to Engage at MONDIACULT 2022 IFLA is excited to bring the perspective of libraries to the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 . This is a historic conference which will bring leaders together to shape a more robust and resilient cultural sector – enabling it to fulfil its potential to drive progress on sustainable development. Read more → Recovering stronger, recovering together in cities: libraries engage at G20 Urban20 Conference IFLA has participated for the first time in a G20 related summit, the Urban 20 summit, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Drawing on the excellent work and examples of the Indonesian library field, we underlined the importance of inclusive education policies, mobilising core infrastructure such as libraries, and basing decision on cultural insights. Read more → 10 years of the IFLA open access statement: a call to action The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is proud to share its 2022 statement on open access (OA), "10 years of the IFLA open access statement: a call to action". The new statement updates IFLA's 2011 statement, affirming the value of open access and related initiatives while outlining IFLA's ongoing work in the area. Read more → REGIONAL FOCUS Libraries as Literacy Champions: an Indonesian Case Study To mark International Literacy Day 2022, we took a look at the work done by libraries in Indonesia in order to help the over 8.5 million people lacking basic literacy skills there to develop the capacities they need to participate fully in the knowledge society. Read more → Missed the regional sessions at WLIC? If you were not able to attend the sessions organised by our Regional Division Committees at WLIC, never mind - we're running them as webinars over the coming weeks. It's a great chance to hear about what they're doing, and how you can get engaged. Register now (MENA) → Register (Asia-Oceania) → OPEN CALLS Do you want to join our dynamic team and help us change copyright practice and policy? Or do you want to send us your great idea for a national initiative that supports the KR21 Programme? We currently have vacancies for National Coordinators and open calls for National Initiatives. Read more → IFLA MEMBERSHIP Become a member now and have your say in IFLA's future Did you know that if you join now as an IFLA member or affiliate you pay at the 2022 rate and your fee will cover your membership for the rest of the year and all of 2023? It's true, and there's more if you join now! Join today → NEW MEMBERS IFLA warmly welcomes the following new members: Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation – Jordan Carlos Hilado Memorial State University – Philippines Casalini Libri – Italy Chitalishta Union – Bulgaria Deanship of Library Affairs in Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University – Saudi Arabia Department of Information and Library Science, Universitas Airlangga – Indonesia Dublin City University – Ireland Duke Kunshan University – China Eversheds Sutherland – United States of America Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture & Recreation –South Africa Imperial War Museums – United Kingdom Kabale University – Uganda Kyambogo University Library – Uganda Novartis Ireland Limited – Ireland Parliament of Albania – Albania TSU National Science Library – Georgia University of Iowa Law Library – United States of America We look forward to your engagement and involvement! UPCOMING EVENTS 28 September, 19:00 (UTC) Libraries Accelerating Education-Culture Linkages: partnering to empower the cultural sector IFLA HQ / MONDIACULT 2022 Side Event 28 September International Day for the Universal Access to Information Unesco 29 September, 17:30 (UTC) The Practice of Inclusivity and Connectivity in MENA Public Libraries: Highlights from Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar and Iraq Middle East and North Africa Regional Division Committee 5 October, 16:00 (CEST) OER and Collection Development Hosted by IFLA Acquisitions and Collections Development (ACD) Section 24-31 October Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2022 Hosted by UNESCO To the events calendar → SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT Want to get featured here? Don't forget to use the #WeAreIFLA hashtag! Update your preferences / Unsubscribe

New Issue Online | Journal of Scientometric Research, 2022, 11(2)

Journal of Scientometric Research

Vol 11, Issue 2, 2022

https://www.jscires.org/v11/i2

Research Articles

• A Comparative Analysis of Unified Informetrics with Scopus and Web of Science | Parul Khurana, Geetha Ganesan, Gulshan Kumar, Kiran Sharma
• Empirical Study on Citation Count Prediction of Research Articles | Murali Krishna Enduri, Udaya Sankar, Koduru Hajarathaiah
• Factors Influencing the Citability of Stroke Articles: A Scientometric Study | Ali Izadipanah, Ali Alizadeh-Khatir, Mohammadhadi Yadollahpour, Mousa Yaminfirooz
• Relative Search Interest and Twitter Altmetrics of Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin in Latin America | Fabio Castro Gouveia, Priscila Ramos-Carvalho, Marcos Gonçalves Ramos
• What do we know about Employee Productivity?: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis | Shivangi Singh, Ajay Solkhe, Poonam Gautam
• The Impact of Faculty Members' International Collaboration on the Centrality Measure of their Local Collaboration Network: The Case of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Selected Iranian Universities | Seyed Reza Mirnezami, Molud Mohammadi
• Bibliometric Analysis of High-performance Organization Literature Review: 1984 till 2020 | Muhammad Shahid Iqbal, Mohd Faizal Moh Isa, Fadzli Shah Abd Aziz
• A Bibliometric Analysis of Studies on 'Start-up Success' Covering the Period 1981-2019 | Toan-Vu Le, Hiep-Hung Pham, Van Binh Tran
• Capturing Evolution of Research Trends in Air Pollutants and its Health Impact: A Bibliometric Approach | Anuj Raj Singh, Shiv Narayan Nishad, Naresh Kumar
• Magnetic Thin Films used for Memory Devices: A Scientometric Analysis | Balaji Rakesh, Neeru Bhagat, Brajesh Pandey
• An Analysis of Social Networking for E-learning in Institutions of Higher Learning using Perceived Ease of use and Perceived Usefulness | Samuel-Soma M. Ajibade, Nirmal Adhikari, Dai-Long Ngo-Hoang
• Bibliometric Analysis on an Indonesia English Education Department Academic Staffs' Productivities and its Potential for National Accreditation Stance | Afif Ikhwanul Muslimin, Yazid Basthomi
• Trends in Political Campaigning Research: A Bibliometric Literature Analysis | Chandra Prakash, Sunita Dwivedi

Commentary

• STI Performance in Indonesia: Policies, Indicators, Current Achievements, and Recommendations for 2045 | Prakoso Bhairawa Putera, Suryanto Suryanto, Sinta Ningrum, Ida Widianingsih, Yan Rianto

Book Review

• Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia | Anurag Kanaujia

Journal of Scientometric Research (JSCIRES) 

Website: https://www.jscires.org 

New Submission: https://www.jscires.com/index.php/submissions/login

Launch of Inaugural Issue - Journal of Data Science, Informetrics, and Citation Studies: https://jcitation.org 

ICSSR invites applications for the ICSSR Research Projects (Major/Minor) for the year 2022-23

ICSSR invites online applications from Indian Social Scientists for the ICSSR Research Projects (Major/Minor) for the year 2022-23

Last Date for Submission of Proposals: 8 October 2022

Further Details

FISD Lecture on India's Evolving Engagement in the Arctic on 14 September at 15:00 IST

FISD Lecture on India's Evolving Engagement in the Arctic on 14 September 2022 at 15:00 IST

RIS Webinar

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CSIR-NIScPR invites Walk-in-Interview on 13-14 September for Engagement as Project Staff in various MLP projects

CSIR-NIScPR invites Walk-in-Interview on 13-14 September 2022 for engagement as Project Staff in various MLP projects

CfPs: International Conference on the Infrastructure, Information & Innovation (I3): Building New Bharat (4th DLA-SRFLIS Summit 2022)

International Conference on the Infrastructure, Information & Innovation (I3): Building New Bharat (4th DLA-SRFLIS Summit 2022)

10-12 November 2022

Organizers: Delhi Library Association (DLA), SR Foundation for Library and Information Science (SRFLIS), Gandhi Bhawan, University of Delhi; and Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti

Conference Objectives
This conference intends to provide a national forum for discussion and exchange of ideas on the main theme as well as the various sub-themes of the topic. The conference's main objectives are to:

• Develop a clear understanding of the role of I3-Information, Infrastructure, and Innovations in Nation building.
• Discuss, debate, and develop strategies to build strong infrastructure related to information and innovations for building New Bharat.
• Identify and share 'Best and Benchmark Practices' developed and adopted by various sectors of R&D, Academica, Industry, Corporate, etc. in India.
• Increase the expertise and provide the best possible platform by educating students and attracting new researchers.

Conference Dimensions
The conference will feature Panel discussions, Expert talks, and Paper presentations and will provide a platform for working Academicians, Technocrats, Scientists, Management Experts, Political Thinkers, Research Scholars, and Students to exchange ideas and evolve new programs and strategies for building New Bharat.

• Theme: Innovative Information Infrastructure

Call for Manuscripts
Original contributions and case studies based on application, research, surveys, case studies, and practices related to the themes mentioned are invited. The contributors may also include any other topic under the broad categories of the main theme of the conference. Registration of authors is mandatory for manuscript presentation and publication. All manuscripts should be uploaded with the Registration Form.
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Manuscripts on the theme and sub-themes listed above or any other issue related to the broad theme of the conference, based on research and practical experience in the field and case studies may be submitted and accepted for publication and presentation. The authors should strictly follow the structure and guidelines while submitting the manuscript.
Important Dates

• Submission of Full Papers: 20 September 2022
• Decision on Acceptance of Paper: 15 October 2022
• Camera Ready Copy and Registration: 30 October 2022

Download Brochure | Conference Website

Successful archaeological mission for UNESCO and 8 Member States in the Mediterranean

UNESCO Press Release

 

Successful archaeological mission for UNESCO and 8 Member States in the Mediterranean

 

Paris, 3 September 2022 – Today an archaeological mission under the auspices of UNESCO concluded its 14-day exploration of the Skerki Bank (Tunisia) and the Sicilian Channel (Italy) in the Mediterranean. For the first time, International scientists from 8 Member States have modeled the shipwrecks and improved the mapping of the area in order to protect important underwater cultural heritage in the long term.

 

Download Photos and videos here

 

"This mission is the result of unprecedented international cooperation. I thank the eight Mediterranean Member States that worked together to organize and conduct scientific research, under the coordination of UNESCO, based on our 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage," said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

 

Researchers from Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia collaborated for this mission. It took place over 14 days, aboard the French scientific vessel, The Alfred Merlin, in international waters, on the Italian continental shelf, under the coordination of Italy, and then on the Tunisian continental shelf under the coordination of Tunisia.

 

"It concludes with signifiant advances, in particular, high resolution documentation of shipwrecks from the Roman period to the 19th century. This confirms that the Skerki Bank is of the greatest interest for the underwater cultural heritage in the world," added the Director-General.

 

High resolution mapping for the first time

 

The archaeologists led a survey using two different robots, or, Remotely Operated Vehicles, adapting to the geographical and morphological submerged areas. The robot Arthur, designed especially for archaeological surveys in deep waters, was used to document shipwrecks on the Italian continental shelf.

 

Arthur documented 3 roman shipwrecks discovered by the American expeditions (Ballard-McCann) in the 1990s. Archaeologists were happy to find that the state of conservation of these shipwrecks and artefacts is almost the same as it was nearly 30 years ago; they have not been impacted by sedimentation, bioerosion or human activities (fishing nets, etc.). 

 

The new data collected allows for higher resolution photos and videos that help to characterize and date the ships' cargo. Documenting these sites, has uncovered substantial new evidence.

 

3 new shipwrecks documented

 

On the Tunisian continental shelf, the archaeologists used the robot Hilarion to verify and document the targets of the newly mapped area. The seabed was also explored with multibeam sonar to give more information about this area, which is unknown and dangerous for navigation, and on the potential location of other archaeological remains.

 

The area around the Keith Reef was scanned for the first time in order to produce a detailed map showing the traces of underwater cultural heritage. This allowed the scientific and technical team to document 3 new shipwrecks dating from the Ancient to the Modern period (C19^th), as well as several other areas of archaeological interest.

 

What's next?

 

This Autumn, the archaeologists will meet at UNESCO to unveil their preliminary findings. A full, detailed report will be presented at a later date. This is the first step in a lasting relationship of multilateral cooperation in the Mediterranean.

 

The archaeologists plan to process the photogrammetry of the revisited wrecks located on the Italian continental shelf, using the video taken by the robots and recommend continuing the mapping of the Skerki Bank area on the Tunisian continental shelf. They also want to organize several activities such as a scientific conference, follow-up missions and a reflection on the protection of these sites. 

 

This multilateral mission is both an opportunity and an example to be shared with other countries as a best practice for the study, protection and promotion of underwater cultural heritage in international waters.

 

***

 

Press Kit

Photos, videos and further information about the mission is available on this page.

This press page will continue to be updated after the end of the mission.

 

Press contact

Clare O'Hagan, c.o-hagan@unesco.org, +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 29

 

***

 

More about the mission

 

A Ship Graveyard

The Skerki Bank is situated in the Strait of Sicily / Canal du Cap-Bon along one of the busiest maritime routes in the Mediterranean, however it's also one of the most perilous. The shallow waters and rocky seabed hiding in places less than a meter beneath the surface have been the cause of shipwrecks for thousands of years, from antique trading vessels to World War II ships. Over the past decades some of these shipwrecks have been looted by amateur divers, jeopardizing this precious historical resource.

 

Archeological Mission

The Alfred Merlin, provided by France, is a state-of-the-art archaeological research vessel, equipped with underwater mapping and imaging technology. The exploration of the shipwrecks themselves are conducted by two Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROVs), deep-sea robots able to reach areas previously inaccessible to divers. Onboard the ship are more than 20 scientists, researchers, and representatives from each of the 8 Member States as well as a specialist from UNESCO.

 

Key Figures

• 8 countries
• 14 days mission
• 20 archaeologists
• Arthur Robot: 21h09 underwater (depths of 700-900m)
• Hilarion Robot: 18h11 underwater
• 400 hours of video
• over 20 000 photos 
• 10 km² surface covered by multibeam on the Skerki Bank, the multibeam offered a high definition survey with a line every 25 meters in an area of 2 km².

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