UNESCO OFFERS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS GEOGRAPHIC AND GENERATIONAL BOUNDARIES

1. UNESCO OFFERS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS GEOGRAPHIC AND GENERATIONAL BOUNDARIES • Paul.Nieuwenhuysen @ vub.ac.beVrije Universiteit Brussel, B-1050 Brussel • p.pissierssens @ unesco.org Head, UNESCO-IOC project office for IODE, OostendeBELGIUM Presented at the IFLA Satellite Meeting in Bologna, Italia=Italy, August 2009STRATEGIES FOR REGENERATING THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION PROFESSION

2. Full text paper is published in the Proceedings of the conference.

3. contents - summary - structure • overview • of this contribution • BACKGROUND:About UNESCO-IOC-IODE& Information management in IODE • Providing quality continuing education • IODE and “STRATEGIES FOR REGENERATING THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION PROFESSION”

4. Background About UNESCO-IOC-IODE

5. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO

6. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC

7. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC UNESCO-IOC-IODE

8. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Program for International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange • Established in 1961 • To enhance marine research by facilitating the exchange of oceanographic data and information between participating member states.

9. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Focused initially only on oceanographic data • Since 1987, marine information management included in terms of reference. • IOC member states have established 80 oceanographic data centers.

10. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Network has been created of national coordinators for marine information management. • Since 2005, the IOC Project Office for IODE is based in Oostende, Belgium.

11. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Aims: • Develop data and information management training programs & tools • …

12. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Aims: • Provide a ‘think tank’where data and information experts can work, meet and discuss • ...

13. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Aims: • Develop, information systems and public awareness tools • …

14. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC • UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Aims: • Provide a laboratory environment for the development of technology for data and information management • More information is available from http://www.iode.org/

15. Background Information management in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

16. Information management in UNESCO-IOC-IODE • Marine science libraries have a role in providing information about the marine environment: • to policy makers • to scientists • to educators • to students • to the general public • They help in generating a public that understands the value of the ocean and can make appropriate decisions to protect it.

17. On an international scale, networks of libraries and information centers have provided access to ever wider collections of information including the so-called “grey” literature. Marine information management centers interact with marine data managers to deliver information products, e.g. data that has been processed and interpreted. Information management in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

18. Background Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

19. About UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO UNESCO-IOC UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO-IOC-IODE capacity building

20. During the late 1990s, IODE designed a new way to assist with the development of capacity. Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

21. This new "strategy" is based upon: providing equipment providing training providing seed funding for operational activities of new centres work in a regional context, addressing not only individual (national) goals, but also common (regional) goals Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

22. This new strategy has been implemented as "Ocean Data and Information Networks" or “ODINs”. Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

23. The first region where the new strategy was implemented was Africa (see http://www.odinafrica.org) Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

24. Later, similar networks have been created in the Caribbean / Latin America … Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

25. Later, similar networks were created in the European countries in economic transition … Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

26. In terms of marine information management, the ODINs provide access to international research literature created the Open Science Directory (to make access to open access journals easier) develop and share holdings databases of participating libraries share resources between participating libraries(interlibrary lending / document delivery) … Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

27. In terms of marine information management, the ODINs share professional expertise through email lists sponsor memberships to professional associations (mainly the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers http://www.iamslic.org/ ) … Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

28. In terms of marine information management, the ODINs participate in developing the Global Directory of Marine (and Freshwater) Professionals http://www.oceanexpert.net/ contribute open access documents related to marine science to a global common document repository, managed by IODE in Oostendehttp://www.oceandocs.net/ Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

29. In terms of marine information management, the ODINs support their professional staff members with continuous professional education events Capacity building in UNESCO-IOC-IODE

30. Providing quality continuing education

31. The following description of the IODE training program is presented in the light of “Continuing Professional Development: Principles and Best Practices” by J. Varlejs, IFLA Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section http://www.ifla.org/VII/s43/pub/cpdwl-qual-guide.pdf Quality continuing educationby UNESCO-IOC-IODE

32.  2009:Up to 2009, training courses have been organized with a regional focus (in other words: for a particular ODIN). Quality continuing education: Regular learning needs assessment

33. The contents of these courses were always decided in close cooperation with the target group and based upon their needs. Then experts were invited to teach. Quality continuing education: Regular learning needs assessment

34. 2009 :Since 2009, funds are available to organize training courses on a more regular basis & on a multi-regional = global scale Participants may be sponsored by IODE or by others. Advantages of new approach: better response to changing training needs promotion of even more international cooperation Quality continuing education: Regular learning needs assessment

35. To assess training needs, to prioritize courses and to enable cost-effective planning, Web-based surveys were set-up,through which data managers or information managers can identify their training needs. On the basis of the results, a course program is organized. Quality continuing education: Regular learning needs assessment

36. Broad range of topics is offered, with an emphasis on applications of ICT standards & interoperability & platform independence Live activities are hosted by a member state or by the IODE project office in Oostende (Belgium) Quality continuing education: Broad range of learning opportunities

37. At IODE Project Office: Staff member at PhD level has been appointed to manage / co-ordinate / upgrade the education activities Investments have been made in infrastructure and facilities Quality continuing education: Building expertise in education

38. Information about continuing education is widely disseminated. Methods: Newsletters in electronic format. Email lists. Web sites. In addition to http://www.iode.org, some ODINs have established their own web site. Quality continuing education: Dissemination of information

39. High quality of the education activities is desired. Evaluation and follow-up can help: Individual feedback from trainees is invited after each course IODE Group of Experts on Marine Information Management evaluate activities Comments in planning workshops for the ODINs Difficulty: Not all course instructors combine subject expertise with expertise in teaching. Quality continuing education: Ensuring high quality activities

40. Continuing learning activities should be recognized in recruitment or promotion decisions. However, this principle is not directly applicable as IODE has no hierarchical relation with the trainees. Nevertheless, members of an IODE network (one of the “ODINs”) who perform remarkably well in training events and in other international activities are assigned as mentors or leaders of follow-up activities. Quality continuing education: Recognition of continuing learning

41. A reasonable part of the institutional budget should be earmarked for staff development. However, this principle is not simple to apply to here.This program does not deal with the internal staff development in a particular library. Nevertheless, we can state here that a considerable part of the budget of IODE is earmarked for training activities. Quality continuing education: Budget for staff development

42. Employers should give staff paid time off to attend workshops, conferences and for learning In our case, the partner institutions send trainees to IODE training courses which take place during working hours. Quality continuing education: Working hours provided for learning

43. Continuing education offerings for staff development are evaluated: Immediately after a training session, each participant is invited to write a structured evaluation of courses and instructors. Furthermore, recurring contacts with the same trainees allows a less formal exchange of ideas. Also the formal IODE Groups of Experts & the IODE Committee evaluate training offerings. Quality continuing education: Evaluation of education offerings

44. The efficacy and outcomes of staff development should be assessed regularly. IODE continuously examines the effectiveness and outcomes of trainings. This leads to improvements of the programs and products. Examples: fromad hoc training workshops in various locations, to more streamlined training in 1 well equipped and training center from NO collection of training materials, to materials collected on 1 WWW site. Quality continuing education: Examination of the outcomes

45. UNESCO-IOC-IODE and“STRATEGIES for REGENERATING the LIBRARY AND INFORMATION PROFESSION”

46. Challenging existing organizational structures?! One of the primary general aims of UNESCO is to stimulate co-operation on an international scale. IODE assists each member state to establish or improve a national infrastructure to empower marine information centers to become valuable partners in marine science centers, with more assertive roles and functions  information management has climbed in status, coming closer to the respectful position of numerical data management. Strategies: Challenging existing structures

47. Strategies:Retention of information professionals • Retention of trained information managers in marine science centers is desirable. • This cannot be achieved easily: • In developing countries, government salaries are low in comparison with those in the private sector. staff trained by IODE is frequently “headhunted” by the private sector or promoted out of the information specialty within their own institution.

48. Strategies:Developing leaders • Training employees to be good leaders is desirable. • Not easy. Can leadership be learned? • In IODE, just a few training sessions cannot “upgrade” employees to managers / leaders.

49. Strategies:Developing leaders • However several trainees have emerged as natural leaders and have contributed to the active development of their ODINs. • Information managers who perform well are given a role as “leader” of a project in some regional network.

50. Strategies:Developing leaders • In addition, efforts are made to convince information managers of some ideas related to management and leadership: • Taking over ICT management from ICT experts offers advantages • Skills required for convincing presentations and communication are not only desirable for top management, but also for information managers.