6th AfLIA Conference and 8th African Library Summit at Windhoek-Namibia from 19th – 23rd May, 2025.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CONFERENCE & CALL FOR ABSTRACTS FOR PAPERS, POSTERS, IGNITE TALKS & BIG IDEAS PODIUM PROPOSALS

AfLIA (African Library and Information Associations and Institutions), serves as the rallying point and voice of the African Library sector with a core purpose of building the capacity of librarians and allied professionals within the sector in order to enable them equitably open up and drive access to information and knowledge for sustainable development in Africa. Furthermore, AfLIA always seeks to empower African librarians and allied professionals to effectively discern, understand, adapt and respond to the evolving trends and developments in the information and knowledge universe.

AfLIA hereby invites all library and allied institutions professionals to be a part of her 6th Conference and 8^th African Library Summit which will hold in Windhoek-Namibia from 19th – 23rd May, 2025.

AfLIA will hold its 6^thConference and 8^thAfrican Library Summit for:

• LIS practitioners in all Library types
• LIS educators
• LIS policymakers
• Organizations and professionals working in partnership with African libraries

• A. Theme: Open Knowledge: present, future and African realities

  Subthemes –

  1. Whose Knowledge? Open practices, technology and African scholarship
  2. Sustainable open knowledge Communities of practice (CoP) in Africa
  3. Open research infrastructure in Africa
  4. Open knowledge and Intellectual property legislation in Africa
  5. Open knowledge, AI and the African book sector: present and future
  6. Open knowledge, acculturation and African ethnic identities
  7. AI, Open Knowledge and African datasets
  8. Open knowledge, climate change and food security in Africa
  9. Open knowledge, citizenship education, democracy, good governance
  10. UNESCO OER Recommendation and African educational systems
  11. Open knowledge through Wikimedia projects: impact in Africa
  12. Looking into the future: AI, Open Knowledge, Technology and quality education in Africa

  B.   Special Sessions

  In addition to the paper, poster and ignite talk presentations, AfLIA, in collaboration with its partners, will organize special pre/in/post conference sessions including;

  1. Semantic Authority file through Wikibase for National Libraries: Workshop
  2. Information integrity, and digital rights within the Open knowledge framework
  3. Managing perceptions about libraries for stakeholders engagement
  4. AI and Openness: the inflection points
  5. AfLIA / Figshare / TCC Africa – Research Data Management Workshop

  C.    Expected Outcomes

  It is expected that by the end of the Conference and Summit, participants would have been able to:

• Understand the realities of different strands and possibilities within the open ecosystem present and future in Africa.
• Be conversant with various principles, practices, educational technology and African scholarship  
• Expand their knowledge as pertains to the sustainable Open Knowledge Communities of practice (CoP) in Africa
• Recognize the African Open research infrastructure and the critical place of libraries within the framework
• Identify the linkages between AI, Open Knowledge, and African datasets as well as projections of how these paradigm shifts affect libraries and the book sector within the continent
• Realize how to widen the intersections between Open knowledge, citizenship education, democracy and good governance in Africa
• Understand the interplay between intellectual property legislations and open knowledge in Africa
• Gain more knowledge of the relationship between Open knowledge, climate change and  food security in Africa
• Recognize the role of Open knowledge in cultural exchange, acculturation and African ethnic identities
• Understand how the UNESCO OER Recommendation can be a driving force for quality education in Africa
• Clearly identify the impact of Open knowledge through Wikimedia projects in Africa
• Explore the possible future of AI, Open Knowledge, Technology and quality education in Africa

• Important Dates (Deadlines)

  Papers

  • Submission of Abstracts for papers – 15^th September, 2024
  • Notification of Acceptance/Rejection – 15^th  October 2024
  • Submission of full papers – 5^thFebruary 2025
  • Submission of presentation slides (PowerPoint) -5^th March 2025

  Posters

  • Submission of description for Posters –15^th October 2024
  • Notification of Acceptance/Rejection – 15^th November 2024
  • Submission of the representation (picture) of full poster – 5^th February 2025

  Ignite Talks

  • Submission of description for Ignite Talks –15^th November 2024
  • Notification of Acceptance/Rejection –15^th December 20224
  • Submission of presentation slides (PowerPoint) – 21^stFebruary 2025

  Big Ideas Podium

• Description for Big Ideas Podium –15^th November 2024
• Notification of Acceptance/Rejection –15^th January 2025
• Submission of full presentation – 1^stMarch 2025
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