CFP: FUTURE PROSPECTS: FUNCTIONS, NETWORKS AND RELATIONS (Corporation of Professional Librarians in Quebec)
FUTURE PROSPECTS: FUNCTIONS, NETWORKS AND RELATIONS
38th Annual Congress of the CPLQ, May 16 to 18, 2007, Gatineau, Quebec.
URL: http://www.cbpq.qc.ca/actualites/actualites.html
CFP URL: http://www.cbpq.qc.ca/congres/congres2007/Call4Papers_2007.htm
Future social and technological changes are bound to jostle the practices
of information professionals and to lead them to question their profession
and their inherent functions. Very few librarians are indifferent to the
debate surrounding the sharing of responsibilities and tasks in all
milieus. In addition, the bonds created or still to develop, whether with
employees, management, or associates within the organization, or with
suppliers, customers, or media in the community, are a source of constant
concern. If our roles have to change, so should our relations. The
relationships between professionals or organizations are also influenced
by technological developments which allow us, more than ever, to work in
concert.
All things considered, we must question ourselves on what the future holds
for us... or better still, on what we want to make of our future. The
organizing committee is therefore seeking proposals which will explore the
following subjects:
-Future of information professionals:
-What do schools and programs in information sciences prepare us for, what are the tendencies in education?
-What actions should be taken regarding the report carried out by the University of Alberta research group (8Rs), submitted in April 2006, on the gaps in education?
-Is there already a shortage of librarians in Quebec?
-If so, how do we meet the challenge?
-Do the programs in library techniques properly prepare the technicians we will so surely need?
-Does peer and mentor training offer a solution for the shortage of qualified manpower?
-How are the roles and responsibilities of information science professionals being asked to change (greater interaction with archives, document management, computer science)?
-Will it be necessary to look towards new opportunities, and if so, which?
-How do we sensitize leaders of educational establishments, organizations, or elected officials to the importance of the role of information professionals?
-How do we integrate the continual update of knowledge into our daily functions?
Roles and relations in the library/information centre:
In the context of social and technological changes, as well as in a
shortage of labour, are the roles of library employees to be re-examined?
In what ways would task sharing and team work be affected?
Do we have to question ourselves on the relations between librarians,
technicians, clerks, and other employees, but also with the arrival of new
professionals in the workplace?
Defending the hierarchy, encouraging collaboration... or are both possible
at the same time?
What do human relations on a daily basis signify for managers, but also
for other employees who are not managers?
External relations:
In the organization and in the community: management, associates, media,
suppliers, customers or users... How to draw advantageously from the
relations involved with other services and individuals: to be well
perceived, to be well understood... and to understand, always with the
goal of being better supported and of offering better services?
Are human relations superseded by technologies?
Are customers henceforth more interested in "robotized" services or are
direct relations still crucial?
Networks and relations:
The movement towards Open Access: what are the initiatives and the
tendencies in Quebec, Canada and elsewhere in the world?
What is the place and what can the contribution be of institutional
milieus in these projects?
What will be the impact of digital access in the evolution of libraries:
necessary resources, staff training, procedures and services offered?
What roles and what place will librarians take in face of the
possibilities offered by technological developments and in particular
those of Web2?
Where is data processing headed? Is traditional cataloguing in full
change? If so, what is its future? What is happening to collective
cataloguing projects?The congress addresses librarians, but also all
professionals in the field, as well as all those with an interest in the
stakes and the challenges posed by the diffusion of information today
If you are interested in participating to this congress, please fill in
the application form to the following web page
http://www.cbpq.qc.ca/congres/congres2007/Application_form.htm
Robert BILODEAU
Bibliothecaire
Responsable du service du catalogage
Services techniques
Service des bibliothiques
Universite du Quebec - Montreal
(514) 987-3000, poste 3516
fax: (514) 987-0285
bilodeau.robert@uqam.ca
