IASL2006

The 2006 IASL Conference

Lisbon, Portugal, 3-7 July

General Information

The theme of the 35th IASL Conference is: The Multiple Faces of Literacy: Reading. Knowing. Doing.
Venue: Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa, Portugal

School libraries have a central role in a knowledge-based society, one that involves both literacy competencies and multi-literacy thinking, working collaboratively with teachers, project teams and the whole school community.

As society changes, the skills needed to negotiate the complexity of our daily interactions are becoming more complex and multi-dimensional. Literacy competences encompass much more than the traditional reading, writing and numerical skills, and even challenge our contemporary concept of information literacy. Our world is undergoing a critical process of change, and through these changes traditional literacy and information literacy are acquiring multiple dimensions of economic, technological, visual, scientific, multicultural and global literacies.
The learner-centred curriculum that is either established or emerging in many countries is actually leading to the creation of school library learning environments that are essential to support these constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. The greatest challenge school libraries now face is to discover ways to promote the varied literacy or multi-literacy skills, and help both schools and the educational system to fulfil their missions and challenge ongoing literacy problems. IASL is pleased to invite you to join its 2006 conference, where these issues will be explored and debated.

Important Dates:
16 December 2005: Closing date for submission of proposal and abstract
16 February 2006: Notification of acceptance of proposal
16 February 2006: Earlybird registration opens
31 March 2006: Submission of full paper
2 May 2006: Earlybird registration closes
3 July 2006: Conference opens
7 July 2006: Conference closes

Sub-themes:

School library networks
The information world of the 21st century is a networked one. This means that no organization can survive without co-operating and interacting with others. The development of local, national and international networks is the most effective way to perform with quality in our society.

Questions to challenge our thinking:

  • Can school libraries achieve their goals without being developed in the context of local, national and international networks?
  • Should these networks include other types of libraries -- such as public libraries and organisation libraries, especially at a local level?
  • What are the leading examples of collaborative library networks from around the world? How can the development of national school library networks be helped by those countries?
  • In which ways can local, national and international networks of school libraries promote literacy programmes?

Literacy and multi-literacies

Literacy, in all its aspects, is a major issue for school libraries. As a fundamental partner in the learning process and the teaching of information skills, the services and collections of the school library are an essential means to support the global effort to help children and young people in the development of global multi-literacy abilities.

Questions to challenge our thinking:

  • How do school libraries deal with the multiple faces of literacy in the world today?
  • What are their priorities in promoting literacy?
  • What facilities, collections or approaches create an informational environment capable of dealing with literacy issues?
  • Is the training of the pupils as effective users of information resources being included in the school library programmes?
  • Should the school librarians be specially trained to run and lead literacy policies inclose cooperation with the school community?
  • Can effective literacy policies be led without the introduction of innovative practices and a change in the traditional teaching methods?

Digital libraries, hybrid environments

The contemporary school library is challenged by the merging of traditional materials and services within the new digital world. The use of information resources increasingly includes digital libraries and Internet resources. Research-based learning in an online environment leads to the demand for online library and information services, accessible at all times from any location.

Questions to challenge our thinking:

  • How is the digital environment changing the way that school libraries work?
  • How are school libraries facing the changes and the challenges created by both the use and the construction of virtual libraries?
  • Are school libraries building digital collections and producing their own digital resources, in response to school needs?
  • What difficulties do they face in dealing with the special characteristics of electronic resources?
  • What kind of digital services are being developed?
  • How can school libraries collaborate in the development of accurate and user-friendly search engines and online databases?
  • In which ways do school libraries include digital literacy in their literacy programmes?

Schools libraries, information gap and social inclusion

School libraries, just like the school community, reflect the social environment in which they operate. The pupils that attend the public school libraries reflect the local society as a whole, with its social, cultural, ethnic and economic differences. Underlying the many issues related to the promotion of information literacy skills is the critical issue of the 'information gap'. This issue determines the access that children and young people have to the processes of the research-based learning and, finally, to knowledge. In addition, the information gap is also a geographical-political question, which may affect the basic development of adequate school libraries in many countries.

Questions to challenge our thinking:

  • How can the school library contribute to the School task of promoting social inclusion?
  • What policies are being developed to encourage the integration of heterogeneous ethnic communities?
  • Have our school libraries the means to promote positive human relationships that will help the most needed and the socially disadvantaged to achieve the same goals as their more privileged colleagues?
  • How can our international school library networks contribute to fight the information gap?

Last Updated 16 March 2006 (KSB)