Network training for librarians in Latin America



Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author     : cisler@POBOX.COM
## date       : 03.07.99
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The Internet Society held its annual conference last week in
San José, California. One of the most important events that
has taken place each year is a workshop for networkers from
countries in the early stages of networking.  One workshop
was held in San José for English and French speaking
attendees, and one in Mérida, Venezuela, for those who speak
Spanish and Portuguese.

The Universidad de los Andes was the host institution, and
unlike the San José session, there was a track for
librarians.  I worked with Gabriela Ortúzar (U. of Chile) to
plan the course. Our instructors came from Peru, Venezuela,
Chile, Mexico, and Colombia.  The 27 students came from
Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, and Costa Rica.
Most were in university libraries. Most attended on a
scholarship.

In the five days of instruction we had sessions on metadata,
search engines, locally produced library systems (Alexandria
from Venezuela), use of computer mediated collaboration for
networking with other librarians, libraries and telecenters,
intranets, html, and daily lab sessions.  In addition, we
stressed participation by the attendees in discussing the
changing roles of librarians from print-oriented reference,
cataloging, and reader's advisory work to more expansive
ones that engage others in the community--whether that is
higher education, a local city, or a school.

Sessions for the general audience (more than 200 students)
included presentations on network planning, system security,
future technologies, e-commerce, school networks, community
networking and a video message from Vint Cerf on the theme
"Internet is for everyone."

The sponsors of the event include the World Bank (infoDev),
UNESCO, 3Com, Cisco, and various networking associations,
and high tech companies. Details on the training are here:
http://www.ing.ula.ve/~walc99/English/.

We have set up a mailing list for Spanish speaking
librarians who attended the course, but others are welcome.
If you have any questions, please write me.

Si usted tiene  preguntas, escríbame por favor.

Steve Cisler
4415 Tilbury Drive, San Jose, CA 95130
cisler@pobox.com
http://home.inreach.com/cisler
(408) 379 9076




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