Invitation for Paper Presentation

Environmental Sustainability and Libraries

Special Interest Group
Theme:
Green libraries promoting sustainable development
The IFLA Environmental Sustainability and Libraries SIG - ENSULIB is currently planning
the program of its Open Session at the next IFLA congress and invites papers for this session
on the topic of Green libraries promoting sustainable development in line with the
National Committee theme Libraries, Citizens, Societies: Confluence for Knowledge and
the presidential theme: Strong Libraries, Strong Societies.
The planet is in the middle of a severe environmental crisis, in terms of resources exhaustion,
extreme pollution, climate change, extinction of species, etc. The role of libraries and
information professionals is crucial to help compensate for the lack of massive, decisive and
effective efforts coming from politicians and institutions. Libraries can act at the grassroots
level and inspire their communities by example, operating in a green manner in green
buildings, by acting as gatekeepers of appropriate information and becoming opinion leaders
and change agents in environmental matters. They also are obliged by circumstance to address
environmental impacts, especially on preservation and conservation. As year after year the
situation has become more serious, the need for change has also become more urgent, and the
future of libraries lies necessarily in becoming greener in every aspect.
The number of new green libraries is growing, many older ones are adapting to green
standards; sharing their experiences may benefit those that wish to stop wasting resources, as
well as those where available resources are scarce. Advocacy for sustainability through
activities for patrons or fellow professionals as well as appropriate collection development,
are a few of the other aspects of greening libraries.
Scope of the Session:
Papers are expected to cover diverse topics related to sustainability and libraries these may
encompass but are not limited to:
Trends in green library buildings, operations, conservation practices, services, etc., to
make them sustainable.
Collection development, innovations in access to "green" information resources.
Services, advocacy/outreach, programs, etc. focusing on sustainability and/or the
environment, climate change / adaptation, clean energy or other green technologies,
green living, etc.
Education / training or awareness building of information professionals on topics
related to sustainability, green best practices, climate change, etc.
Networking and/or library associations' activities related to sustainability.
Application of ITC as support to green library best practices.
Diffusion-of-innovations activities related to the above
If you or your library are engaged in one of the above topics or related issues, if you have
done research in these areas, or if you are otherwise involved in environment - and - libraries
activities, the Environmental Sustainability and Libraries SIG would be pleased to welcome
you to its public session as a speaker. Papers based on practical experiences and facts, rather
than theoretical aspects, and on specifics rather than generalities of any of the points will be
preferred.
Language of the session:
As simultaneous interpretation is not likely to be available for the session, presenters should
be prepared to deliver their presentation in English. It is strongly recommended that
presentation slides in English be available.
Proposals:
A.) If sending an abstract, this should be in English, and include:
Title of the paper.
The detailed abstract of the paper (no more than 300 words), if possible accompanied
by some references such as URLs and bibliography.
Author's name, address, telephone and fax numbers, professional affiliation, email
address and brief biographical statement of no more than 50 words.
Authors experience as a speaker.
E-mails should state "IFLA ENSULIB proposal" in the subject line and be directed to:
Petra Hauke,
on behalf of the Environmental Sustainability and Libraries SIG,
E-mail: petra.hauke@hu-berlin.de, with copy to
Philippe Colomb,
Convenor
E-mail: philippe.colomb@me.com
B.) If sending a full paper, this should be in English, and include a separate sheet with the
same contact and bio information as for A). Preliminary submission can be done in draft
format.
Full papers:
These should be submitted by email. Paper length should be 10 pages maximum, single
spaced, and accompanied by a longer, one page abstract for eventual publication in the
proceedings.
Text and bibliographic citations format should follow the rules for IFLA publications that
appear in the IFLA website. Text should be in English. Written translations in as many of the
official IFLA languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, Spanish will be
very much appreciated. The author(s) should indicate personal full contact details and include
summary curriculum vitae with the paper.
Main criteria for the selection of papers
Relevance to the SIG's mission, objectives and it's theme for this year.
Compatibility with the Conference and Presidential themes.
Interest /usefulness of topic.
Specificity and concreteness, as opposed to generalities.
Clearness of text.
Other outstanding characteristics of the paper.
Fairness/balance in countries represented at the session, other considerations being
equal.
Experience of the author as a speaker, all other considerations being equal.
Cases of practical experiences, research results with practical applications will be
preferred, other considerations being equal.
For research papers, obvious soundness of methodology will be taken into account.
Please note
All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the
responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a
special invitation can be issued to authors.