IFLA WLIC 2021 – get your e-Library ticket now!

This year’s World Library and Information Congress (WLIC), the annual big-tent event put on by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), was delivered virtually over a three-day period. In pre-pandemic times, WLICs take place over a six- or seven-day period, with hundreds of standing committee meetings, paper sessions, governance meetings, poster and vendor exhibitions and cultural events taking place. This years virtual alternative strove to bring together some of the magic of being together in-person, whilst also delivering new kinds of content and sessions, and also across multiple time-zones to a global audience.
One of the major benefits of this approach is that all of the sessions, and many of the Q&A sessions, were recorded for future consultation of any registered participant. IFLA has just announced, too, a WLIC “e-Library ticket” for EU50 which provides access to all of the recorded content from WLIC for 12 months.
This year’s congress had a number of fantastic sessions which were directly on, or intersected with, themes of cultural heritage, rare books and special collections. Below, find our starter for ten list of sessions which might be of interest to the IFLA Rare Book and Special Collections members and the wider sector:
- IFLA’s President’s Session: Working Together for Culture
- “What are the values of cultural heritage and special collections?” IFLA Rare Books and Special Collections Section sponsored session
- “Can we create surveys that capture hidden value?” IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section sponsored session
- “Special Collections: more than books in the library!” IFLA Preservation and Conservation Section sponsored session
- IFLA Regional Focus Session, Middle East and North Africa: Dialogue on Policy Priorities for Preservation in MENA region
- The IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto
- “Sustaining our identity and heritage through collections, documentation, and genealogy” IFLA Local History and Genealogy Section sponsored session
- “Preserving our recorded sound and visual heritage for the future…and beyond!” IFLA Audiovisual and Multimedia Section sponsored session
- Documentary Heritage Trafficking Update: IFLA Roundtable
- Libraries Sustain Keynote: Andrew Potts (Founder of the Climate Heritage Network)