Teresa Hackett, Manager of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme, reports on an unusual five days at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).

In 2018, the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) and the Namibia Library and Archives Service (NLAS), which leads a network of 66 public libraries, staffed by over 260 librarians, entered into partnership to strengthen continuous professional development of public librarians in Namibia. The partnership developed the skills and knowledge of 16 talented public librarians, positioning them to become expert trainers for their colleagues.

In Part II of this two-part blog, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager Teresa Hackett examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the right to research through two key issues, text and data mining and digital preservation by cultural heritage institutions, and how WIPO’s proven formula could address the issues.

June was a busy month for the LIBSENSE Initiative - a collaborative space through which libraries and research and education networks (RENs) are advancing open access and open science in Africa.

In Part I of this two-part blog, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager Teresa Hackett looks at the immediate challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has posed for the copyright and licensing framework as education moves online.

In February 2020 five young public librarians from Africa travelled to Nashville in the USA to take part in an international learning, knowledge-sharing and networking experience organized by EIFL and partners. The five were participants in the EIFL Initiative for Young African Library Innovators (IYALI). After their journey, we asked them about the experience and how they might apply what they had learnt in their libraries back home.

In May 2020, member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) appointed Mr Daren Tang to WIPO’s top job in Geneva. As leader of WIPO, the global body that sets international law and policy on intellectual property issues, the new Director General takes charge of an organization whose direction on copyright determines how libraries do their work, especially in the digital environment.

EIFL Guest Blogger, EIFL Open Access Programme Coordinator in Serbia, Milica Ševkušić, shares ideas for helping Serbian researchers obtain discounts and waivers and for raising researchers’ awareness about Article Processing Charges (APCs).

EIFL guest blogger Velenasi Mwale Munsanje, the immediate past president of the Library and Information Association of Zambia (LIAZ), looks back at a two-year partnership with EIFL to build capacity of public librarians in Zambia.

Digital inclusion was one of the main themes at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2019 in Berlin (25 - 29 November), presenting opportunities to highlight the role of libraries in providing meaningful access to the internet. Ramune Petuchovaite, EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme Manager, shares highlights from the event.