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ROSS SHIMMON
Biography:
Ross Shimmon was Secretary General
of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA) from 1999-2004. He took an active part in the many meetings
leading up to the World Summit on the Information Society held in
Geneva in November 2003, at which he led the IFLA delegation.
Previously he was Chief Executive of The Library Association from
1992 to 1999. He has been President of the International Committee
of the Blue Shield (ICBS) and of the European Bureau of Library,
Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA). He began his
career in public libraries in the south of England, was on the staff
of the libraries section of the Department of Education & Science,
a lecturer at the College of Librarianship Wales, Aberystwyth, Head
of the Department of Library Studies at the Administrative College
of Papua New Guinea and Services Librarian and Deputy at Preston
Polytechnic. Ross was awarded Honorary
Life Membership of the Papua New Guinea Library Association in 1983,
Honorary Fellowship of the Library Association in 1999, an OBE also
in 1999 and Honorary Fellowship of the University of Central Lancashire
in 2002.
He is now retired and lives in Kent.
Title:
The World Summit on the Information
Society: attempt at equity or political minefield
Summary:
The UN World Summit on the Informaton
Society is a unique opportunity to promote the potential of libraries
and librarians to help bridge the digital divide and to enable people,
whatever their location and economic status, to access the knowledge
they need to take control of their lives. However, the Summit
has so far largely concentrated on the electronic "pipes" rather
than the content that should flow through them. It has also
been caught up in a bureaucratic cats cradle. Ross Shimmon will
report on what IFLA has done so far to demonstrate the value of
libraries and explore the possibilities for the profession in the
preparations leading up to the final summit in Tunisia at the end
of the year.
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