International Developments
CLIR’s mission to expand access to information, however recorded and preserved, as a public goodis not bound by geography. Concerns about preserving digital data, providing affordable access to information, and training leaders for a changing information environment are shared globally. CLIR therefore continues to seek opportunities for cooperation abroad that advance these and other common agendas.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Learning Award
Colombia’s BibloRed (Capital Network of Public Libraries) was honored with the 2002 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award, which CLIR administers. BibloRed was recognized for its success in providing free and innovative access to information for the citizens of Bogotá, particularly those in low-income areas. The library will use the US $1-million award to expand its services.
El Tintal is one of three major libraries and sixteen local libraries that BibloRed comprises. The libraries are strategically located throughout Bogotá to serve at least 70 percent of the school-age population and 40 percent of the adult population.
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Photographs: Douglas Robertson
The Access to Learning Award is given annually to a library or comparable organization outside the United States to recognize accomplishments in making information technology accessible to the public, particularly to underserved communities. CLIR, which began administering the award in November 2001, solicits applications. An international advisory committee of librarians and information technology experts reviews the applications and selects the recipient. More than 130 applications from 65 countries were submitted this year.
Web-Based Tutorial on Preservation and Conservation
for Developing Countries
Work continued on a Web-based tutorial for preservation and conservation designed for use in Southeast Asia. The first of its kind, the tutorial is being developed under the direction of Anne Kenney and John Dean at Cornell University. It will cover three areas: management and planning, preservation, and building capacity. It will include self-assessment tools and a model for developing an action plan. Other features of the tutorial will be a glossary of technical terms, a vendor database, links to other sources, and a search capability. The tutorial is scheduled for release in fall 2002. CLIR expects to develop additional versions of the tutorial forother regions of the world.
The State of Digital Preservation:
An International Perspective
In April, CLIR hosted the first in a new series of international symposiums that will address key issues in digital libraries, economics of information, and resources for scholarship. The symposium series, supported by a grant from Documentation Abstracts, Inc. (DAI), is called the DAI Institutes for Information Science. The inaugural symposium drew more than 150 participants from around the world to discuss strategies for digital preservation. A volume of conference proceedings was in press at the end of June.
Partnership with Mortenson Center
In 2001, CLIR became an official sponsor of the Mortenson Center at the University of Illinois, an organization that provides leadership training for librarians from around the world. The sponsorship offers a means for CLIR to extend its interest in leadership development to the international library community. Deanna Marcum and Anne Kenney presented leadership modules to librarians taking part in Mortenson Center sessions.
