FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

The SCECSAL XXIII Organizing Committee has the pleasure of inviting Library and Information Professionals and Development partners to the twenty third Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL XXIII) to be hosted by the Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA), in Kampala, Uganda.

SCECSAL is a bi-ennial conference founded in Nairobi in 1978, after the dissolution of the East African Library Association. It is the biggest conference for Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals on the continent and its purpose is to provide a platform for learning and sharing experiences on LIS developments in the region. Currently the conference has Library and Information Association members from the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SCECSAL XXIII in Kampala will build on the fine tradition of this conference being the leading forum in Africa for headlining the role of library and information institutions in cultural and social development. Best practices and cutting edge innovations in fields as diverse as documenting and preserving national literary heritage and arte facts; driving the research, scientific and scholarship agenda; promoting mass literacy and; open government, human rights, democracy and accountability will be shared and showcased in the plenary presentations, workshops, posters and a conference exhibition.

This conference is coming at a time when countries in the region have made marked advances towards the attainment of Education for All (EFA) goals as noted by UNESCO. Equally to be noted, is that the same countries have registered tremendous progress in other development areas including: agriculture, health, governance, human rights, culture etc. It is therefore a timely opportunity for the library and information sector to develop a regional agenda for boosting their contribution to their countries’ development programmes especially in the context of the UN agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Investments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) especially in respect to Internet sub-marine cables and national backbones have grown, with attendant funds for ‘last mile coverage. Accordingly, the library and information sector in the region has been at the forefront of adopting measures to enhance access to information such as building institutional repositories, developing electronic collections including eBooks, e-journals; and the use of e-readers in public libraries to promote reading. There are still many challenges that have to be overcome for library user communities to have a full experience of hybrid library and information services such as lack of local content, varied pricing models, subscription licensing and privacy concerns.

It is in view of the above issues that members of SCECSAL will in 2018 convene in Kampala to draw up joint strategies for advocating and advancing library and information development in the region to facilitate LIS to play their cultural, educational roles and support innovations.

Objectives of the Conference

1. To devise strategies that will enable LIS inclusion in national development plans;
2. To provide a platform for learning new initiatives and innovations in the field of LIS from within the region;
3. To promote partnerships, networking and professional exchanges within and outside the SCECSAL region

Participants

Participants will include, among others: and other persons with an interest in the Library and Information Sector in the SCECSAL region. As the conference has grown in importance over the years, participants are expected to come from the SCECSAL member countries as well as West and North Africa, Europe and United States.

ULIA welcomes proposals for papers to be presented at the conference. The papers are expected to include both the theoretical and practical elements of Records, Library and Information Science.

Theme:

Positioning Library and Information services to achieve Sustainable development: Innovations and Partnerships.

Sub Themes:

1. Inclusive library and information services for national development
2. Universal literacy through library and information services
3. Broadening LIS partnerships to achieve SDGs
4. Innovations in LIS Education
5. Innovations in the delivery of Library and information services
6. Trends in Gender and information services
7. Library and Information Services advancing open governance
8. Agricultural information services and food security
9. Bettering health through Library and information services
10. Open data, Open science and Intellectual property
11. Data science and LIS institutions
12. Cloud Computing and Information management
13. Indigenous knowledge and preservation of cultural heritage
14. Effective records management to fight corruption
15. Promoting Information Ethics for sustainable development

Requirements for submission of Abstracts for papers:

Abstracts of not more than 300 words, must address the theme and sub-themes, and should have the following details:

1. Title of the abstract;
2. Name(s) of the author(s) with official titles or professional role;
3. Author’s affiliated institution;
4. E-mail contact of the corresponding author, and;
5. A maximum of four keywords.

The abstracts must be submitted to email: scecsal2018@ulia.or.ug

Timelines:

Submission of Abstracts : 30th April 2017
Notification of acceptance: June 2017
Submission of full paper: September 2017
Review of submitted paper: October 2017
Submission of camera ready paper: December 2017