About ICL

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The International and Comparative Librarianship Communitas (ICL) website is an IFLA Section on Education and Training http://www.ifla.org/en/set project that brings together an international multilingual community interested in the education and research on international and comparative librarianship.  Its initial development was funded by an IFLA Projects 2010 grant (see proposal description below) and resources from the UNCG Department of Library and Information Studies. http://lis.uncg.edu.  ICL facilitates communication and resource sharing among educators, librarians, researchers, students and others interested in teaching and learning of ICL through a variety of tools that facilitate the international sharing of ICL ideas, opportunities, practice, scholarship and knowledge.  The website content is available in all languages that can be translated by our Google Translator powered tool.  IFLA SET welcomes and invites you to join ICL Communitas!

Register for an account in order to create blog/news entries, collaborate on the syllabus wiki, the bibliography, the forums, and contact other users about participating in their posted events and more! 

Teaching International and Comparative Librarianship Through International Collaboration: A Web Resource--A Project of the Section on Education and Training, IFLA, 2010

• addresses IFLA's Professional Priorities: A: Supporting the Role of Libraries in Society, H: Developing Library Professionals, I: Promoting Standards, Guidelines, and Best Practices, F: Promotes Resource Sharing
• supports IFLA Pillars: members, profession
• supervised by Clara M. Chu, Department of Library and Information Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 349-C Curry Building, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170; USA. Tel: (336) 334-5060, E-mail: cmchu@uncg.edu

Brief Description

A resource guide for the teaching of international and comparative librarianship from a truly international perspective is much needed. Although a few books have recently been published, these and past works often have a Western perspective, and the comparative aspect has not been rigorous, tending to be more descriptive accounts, often from a visitor's (i.e., non-local) perspective. The proposed project is to create a web resource guide that will engage IFLA Section on Education and Training (SET) members, many who are experts in the area, and seek contributions from other librarians and scholars globally, in order to create a truly international tool for the education and research on librarianship around the world and comparative research in librarianship. This international collaboration will not only tap into SET's wide network of experts and colleagues, but specifically our expertise and knowledge of librarianship and research locally, our multilingual skills, and our technology capacity. Clara M. Chu, IFLA SET Member, will coordinate and edit the resource guide along with the help of a research assistant and others who may volunteer, following a call during the initial stages of the project. The development of this international online resource will be guided by the following principles: Collaboration, Multilingualism, Access, Adaptability, Authenticity, and Authority. 

Project Description

Goals and Objectives

Goal: To develop a web resource guide that will facilitate and support the education and research on international and comparative librarianship (ICL). 

Objectives:

1. To develop an education and research ICL web resource based on the expertise and network of SET members.
2. To develop an education and research web resource from local voices/expertise to ensure authentic perspectives. 
3. To include information in multiple languages in order to ensure the availability of materials in vernacular languages.
4. To use technology to make the resource guide widely accessible, and to facilitate contributions and updating worldwide. 

Methodology

The development and creation of the web resource guide will take place in the first year of a long-term project of international and comparative librarianship. It will include (a) sample syllabi of courses taught around the world, (b) resources: publications, experts, other materials, (c) translation tools to facilitate the use of materials in other languages, and (d) an online forum or community of individuals interested in ICL. 

IFLA SET Member Clara M. Chu will coordinate and edit the resource guide along with the help of a research assistant and others who may volunteer. The research assistant will handle the technological aspects of the project ans assist in other areas as needed. A call for contributions and contributors/volunteers will take place in February 2010 and the data received will be added to the web resource. The launch of the ICL Web Resource Guide a preliminary assessment of the project will take place at the 2010 IFLA conference. 

After the first year and evaluation of the project, we will determine what additional work, other than updating, needs to take place to ensure worldwide coverage and access; work on developing a model syllabus (descriptive framework) of topics to cover which may be adapted to a shorter workshop or a semester-long course, based on a review of the sample syllabi; and determine other activities (e.g.; conference, workshop, publications, research, translations of materials, etc.) are needed to advance the education and research on international and comparative librarianship. 

The development of this international web resource will be guided by the following principles: 

1. Collaboration - an international collaborative approach will enable everyone to contribute their knowledge of resources, with local/national/regional experts introducing topics that should be covered. The efforts will be coordinated by an editor who will solicit the assistance of regional editors. 
2. Multilingualism - resources in vernacular languages of the contributors along with IFLA's official languages will be encouraged. Additionally, online translation tools will be recommended to make resources available in other languages. Translations, will be done as need, and time and resources permit. Social media will be used to facilitate collaboration and a diversity of perspectives. 
3. Access - noting that the cost of publications may prohibit access to textbooks, the resources will be made available at no cost and an open access approach will be used to provide access to publications as permissible. A web resource may not be as readily accessible in some areas of the world, thus PDFs of selected materials will be made available for ease of sharing and reproduction. 
4. Adaptability - the resource guide will use technology that will enable collaboration and contribution from any part of the world with Internet access (items may be received by the editor to be added digitally) and to be updated beyond the date of the project. 
5. Authenticity - an international collaboration that taps into local/regional expertise will ensure not only a diversity of perspectives but authentic ones, through the use of social media and contributions in vernacular languages.
6. Authority - expertise from the respective areas around the world will be solicited for contribution and comparative methodology as a rigorous research methodology beyond a descriptive approach will be emphasized.  

Anticipated beneficiaries and stakeholders

The anticipated beneficiaries will be library educators and researchers who will have a tool to guide them in their work and practitioners who can learn how others around the world may be doing similar work. The stakeholders are all library and information professionals who wish to see their profession globally represented online, who will ensure that there is broad coverage, beyond a Western perspective.