The annual EBLIDA Council meeting took place in Madrid, Spain from 5th to 6th May 2000 and was attended by over 45 full and associate members from 13 European countries. Local organisation was carried out by FESABID [1], "Federación de Sociedades de Archivística, Biblioteconomía y Documentación" in Spain together with the EBLIDA secretariat in The Hague. Teresa Hackett gives further details.
EBLIDA, European Bureau for Library, Information and Documentation Associations, was founded in 1992 as an independent umbrella association of national library and information organisations in Europe, as well as individual institutions. EBLIDA [2] aims to represent, promote and lobby for the interests of the library and information profession at European level, from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers to the Council of Europe. Members receive regular information on current developments in the cultural heritage sector within the European Union, including EU programmes and initiatives e.g. eEurope [3], eLearning [4], eContent [5], European Year of Languages 2001; EU directives e.g. copyright [6], e-commerce [7]; research and funding opportunities e.g. Culture 2000 [8] and the Information Society Technologies Programme [9]. EBLIDA also aims to strengthen co-operation between members and actively encourages participation by the ten Central and Eastern European accession countries of the EU.
The first Council meeting of the new millennium was opened by Britt-Marie Häggström, President of EBLIDA, who chaired the morning session dealing with internal affairs. The annual activity report provided an overview of recent EBLIDA activities, including lobbying in relation to the draft EU Copyright Directive, involvement in the successful EU projects, ECUP+ [10], CECUP [11] and TECUP [12] and new policies on books and reading. The financial report and work programme for 2000-2001 were also presented to the Council by the new Director, Teresa Hackett. There was some general discussion on future strategy and projects, funding and library promotion.
The afternoon continued with presentations on topical subjects including the FESABID experience of Co-operation between archives, documentation centres and libraries by Nuria Lloret Romero. Erik Norberg, Director General of the Swedish National Archives [13] provided an insight into challenges and solutions for archives and Ingrid Mauritzen, Legal Adviser to the National Library of Norway [14] and a member of the EBLIDA Copyright Expert Group presented The Council of Europe/EBLIDA guidelines on library legislation and policy in Europe. Rob Davies, Education for Change Ltd. [15] gave a short presentation on an EU project proposal to strengthen the role of public libraries.
More than 50 people attended dinner in the evening in "El Espejo", a restaurant opposite the National Library in Madrid, renowned for its art nouveau decoration commemorating scenes from the beginning of 19th century and a popular meeting place for artists and entrepreneurs. Participants were joined by the EBLIDA Copyright Expert Group, who were meeting the following day. Some delegates embraced Madrid social customs and continued their discussions late into the night!
Things got underway on Saturday morning with a lively presentation by Emanuella Giavarra on legal issues of interest to libraries, including the e-commerce directive and the Green Paper on Public Access Information, followed by John Cox, who gave an interesting presentation on model standard licenses [16]. Alicia Wise from JISC [17] in the UK gave a good overview on "the latest UK digital developments: the Distributed National Electronic Resource". And while about 30 people took a bus tour to the imposing Royal Monastery of El Escorial [18], the Copyright Expert Group got down to discussing the latest situation of the EU draft directive on copyright and related issues of great importance to libraries.
Although the weather was unseasonably cold and wet, this didn’t deter delegates from sampling Madrid nightlife, the many restaurants or the flamenco dancing. The next Council meeting takes place in the Hanseatic City of Bremen [19], Germany on 11th and 12th May 2001. We are looking forward to it already!
Presentations from the EBLIDA Council meeting Madrid
5th-6th May 2000 will be available at :
<http://www.eblida.org/conferences/Council00/>
For more information on EBLIDA, our work or how to
become a member, please see <http://www.eblida.org/>
or
email eblida@nblc.nl
Teresa Hackett
Director
PO Box 43300
NL-2504 AH
The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-70-309 0608
Fax: +31-70-309 0708
Email: eblida@nblc.nl
Teresa Hackett is the Director of EBLIDA, the European Bureau for Library, Information and Documentation Associations, managing the association and secretariat, representing the interests of the information profession at European level and providing current information on a wide range of relevant European programmes and legislation. Previously, Teresa worked on the Libraries Support Team in Luxembourg, providing technical support and services to the Libraries Programme under the Fourth Framework Programme, on contract from the British Council. In addition to experience working in a variety of library services, Teresa has managed Customer Support for a UK library automation company, involving consultancy, project management, Help Desk, technical training and support worldwide. She later worked for the British Standards Institution, responsible for electronic product sales and development before joining the British Council Munich to set up and manage a new electronic Information Centre.
For citation purposes:
Teresa Hackett, "EBLIDA Annual Council Meeting",
Exploit Interactive, issue 6, 26th June 2000
URL: <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue6/eblida/>
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