The Politics of Promoting Freedom of Information and Expression in International Librarianship
The IFLA/FAIFE Project
Series: Libraries and Librarianship: An International Perspective #4
Alex Byrne

List Price: $60.50 ISBN: 0-8108-6017-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6017-9 Pub Date: Oct 2007 240 pages Binding: Paper Availability: In Stock   European customers click here

SUBJECTS
Library & Information Science » Library & Information Science (General)
Literature » Literature (General)
Political Science » International Relations
Library & Information Science » International Librarianship
Library & Information Science » Library History
Political Science » Political Science (General)

REVIEWS
"This is not a student textbook on freedom of information, but a seminal work for the professional. Turn off your television for a few evenings and read this book, then act with your colleagues to further the professional philosophy and actions which it highlights." —November 2008, The Australian Library Journal

DESCRIPTION
The Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) initiative took the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) outside its traditional focus on the status and techniques of the profession and postulated a new role for the Federation. FAIFE invested librarianship with a higher responsibility: to promote the fundamental human right to information. This responsibility has been embraced as the key principle underlying and informing library and information service.

This study traces the development and implementation of the FAIFE initiative by IFLA. It traces the origins of the decision to implement this initiative and assesses the outcomes of its first five years as it developed from a project into a continuing and central program of the Federation. Both the internal effects on IFLA and the consequences of the project for the profession of librarianship are explored. The Politics of Promoting Freedom of Information and Expression in International Librarianship: The IFLA/FAIFE Project offers a rare example of an international professional association in transition. In examining this project to promote unrestricted access to information as the reciprocal right of freedom of expression, the research becomes a case study of the politics of an expanding sense of professionalism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alex Byrne is the University Librarian and Vice President (Alumni & Development) at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

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