26/05/2006

An International Conference on public and municipal libraries on the theme of "Information Literacy-the Key to Lifelong Learning" was held in Athens on 14-16 June 2006 by the Committee for the Support of Libraries, in collaboration with the Representation of the European Commission in Greece, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.

Information literacy refers to people’s ability to correctly formulate their information needs, focus on appropriate information, approach it with a critical eye and use it effectively. Many university libraries offer relevant courses to students. Public libraries, however, can play an important part in disseminating information literacy, by providing the public at large with the possibility to creatively process and transform information and experiences into knowledge, views and skills.

Public libraries from Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, U.S.A., Egypt and Turkey presented successful information literacy applications at the Conference. Small workshops were also held on subjects including the role of librarians in the information age, practical information literacy applications for primary and secondary school pupils, information literacy support techniques, methods of enabling involvement in the training and retraining process, etc.

It should be noted that members of the Organising Committee for the Support of Libraries are the Athens and Thessaloniki Goethe Institutes, the Athens French Institute, the Cervantes Institute, the Documentation Centre of the U.S. Embassy in Athens, the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, the National Library of Greece, the National Book Centre, the Association of Greek Librarians and Information Scientists, the National Documentation Centre and the Representation of the European Commission in Greece.

Source: Committee for the Support of Libraries