World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) Papers and Presentations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.ifla.org/handle/20.500.14598/1941

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 2068

Raising Truth Sleuths: Helping kids spot misinformation and disinformation about Parliament
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-24) Ivory, Christine
Children today navigate an online environment where misleading, inaccurate, and intentionally deceptive information is increasingly common. Truth Sleuths: Uncovering Misinformation and Disinformation About Parliament is a new interactive learning resource from the Parliament of Canada designed for learners aged 9–12 to help them identify reliable from unreliable content about Parliament and the legislative process and build early information evaluation skills. Through a game based investigation, students take on the role of "Truth Sleuths" tasked with researching a proposed law while encountering a mix of trustworthy, biased, and false sources. The resource introduces essential media literacy concepts including verifying sources, distinguishing fact from opinion, recognizing AI generated content, and cross checking information, within an engaging, accessible format suitable for diverse educational settings. A companion lesson plan and teacher guide support classroom integration and align with widely shared civic education outcomes across Canada. This presentation will demonstrate the game, outline the pedagogical approach behind its design, and discuss how tools like Truth Sleuths can strengthen civic literacy and help young people develop resilience against misinformation related to democratic institutions. It will also highlight opportunities for legislative libraries to work with educators to adapt similar approaches in their own outreach and learning programs.
Preserving Legislative History: The Use of Ontologies and Linked Open Data to Visualize the Work of Chilean Parliamentarians
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-24) Quiroz Ubierna, Ángela
Preserving collective memory is essential for strengthening legislative systems and avoiding the repetition of past mistakes. In this context, understanding the historical contributions of parliamentarians—both in legislative processes and cultural production - becomes particularly valuable. This paper presents an ongoing initiative at the Library of the National Congress of Chile aimed at enhancing access to and understanding of parliamentary work through the use of ontologies and linked open data. The project is based on interdisciplinary collaboration among librarians, historians, legal scholars, and other specialists, with the goal of making the work of Chilean parliamentarians more accessible to a broader audience. The initiative begins by integrating authority records for parliamentarians with their corresponding bibliographic records in the Horizonte Integrated Library System. Building on this foundation, an ontology is being developed to enable interoperability between these records and other institutional resources, including parliamentary activity and political history. Additionally, the project incorporates external linked data sources—such as Wikidata, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, and VIAF—to enrich and contextualize information about "parliamentarian-authors." By combining metadata integration, semantic technologies, and linked open data, this work contributes to the preservation and dissemination of Chile's legislative heritage while promoting greater public engagement with parliamentary history.
Building Connections, Powering Transformation: Indonesia’s Community Literacy Volunteer Model (RELIMA)
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-23) Wijiastuti, Sadariyah Ariningrum
What does it take for a library to become a genuine center of community life? This question lies at the heart of IFLA Trend 7, which highlights a growing global demand for social connection. In resource-constrained settings where library infrastructure cannot reach every village or island, the answer may lie not in buildings or technology, but in people. Trusted community actors who connect residents, mobilize participation, and extend the library’s reach well beyond its physical walls. This paper presents RELIMA (Community Literacy Volunteers), a national program launched by the National Library of Indonesia in 2025, as a concrete and replicable response to IFLA Trend 7. In its inaugural cohort, 180 trained volunteers were deployed across 177 districts in 38 provinces from July to December 2025. Of these, 154 continued into 2026 and submitted reflective essays documenting their literacy program, roles, outcomes, community impact, and sustainability plans. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of 90 essays, this paper examines how RELIMA’s grassroots practices align with the six dimensions of IFLA Trend 7. Community network building (T7-6) was the dominant pattern, present in 62% of essays, followed by place-based program delivery (T7-1) at 22%. The analysis also reveals a significant gap: social cohesion (13%), intergenerational connection (12%), and the library as a third place (9%) are underrepresented, pointing to areas where LIS education and program design could offer stronger support. Through cases from Bali, Yogyakarta, East Java, West Kalimantan, and West Nusa Tenggara, this paper shows that RELIMA volunteers do far more than facilitate reading. They rebuild social fabric, one community at a time. The model offers practical lessons for LIS educators and practitioners globally, and speaks directly to the theme of WLIC 2026: Libraries Powering Transformation.
Manga and Libraries: Bridging Popular Culture and Literacy Institutions in Indonesia
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-23) Wijiastuti, Sadariyah Ariningrum; Yodha, Muhammad Bagus
Indonesia is home to one of Southeast Asia’s largest manga and anime fan communities. For decades, titles such as Doraemon, Detective Conan, Naruto, and One Piece have shaped youth reading culture and fandom in different ways. Yet Indonesian libraries and cultural institutions have not fully recognized manga culture as part of contemporary literacy practices. This paper examines how libraries respond to manga fandom and youth readership in Indonesia, highlighting gaps in collections, access, and engagement programs, while exploring opportunities for libraries to connect with young readers through popular culture.
Teaching What Machines Can’t: Human Skills in School Libraries
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-20) Lujanac, Antonija
As artificial intelligence and automated systems become increasingly integrated into modern educational landscapes, school libraries are evolving from traditional repositories of physical resources into vibrant, community-oriented centers for human development. This paper explores how school libraries can intentionally cultivate empathy, emotional awareness, active citizenship, and cross-cultural communication. Drawing from empirical practice at Osnovna škola Dobriše Cesarića in Zagreb, this paper examines three experiential frameworks: outdoor urban gardening with European Solidarity Corps volunteers, bibliotherapy, and student-led community problem mapping. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates how empowering young learners to identify and address real-world local challenges cultivates civic responsibility, agency, and collaborative problem-solving skills essential for the future workforce.
Libraries as Spaces of Hope and Belonging
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-15) Garcia-Febo, Loida
Libraries can be powerful catalysts for migrant inclusion—not only by providing access to information, technology, education, language learning, and services, but by creating spaces of connection, participation, and belonging. Through multilingual collections, language programs, community partnerships, cultural activities, and trusted information services, libraries can serve as bridges between languages, cultures, and communities. The presentation calls for a shift: - From "for" to "with." - From services for migrants to opportunities created with migrant communities. - From access to belonging. When migrants are recognized not only as library users but also as contributors, creators, storytellers, and partners, libraries become civic spaces where people can maintain their identities, build connections, participate in their communities, and imagine a future. Libraries can provide access. Libraries can create connection. Libraries can nurture belonging. And libraries can be spaces of hope.
Balancing Efficiency and Authority: Use of AI in the Canadian Parliamentary Context
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-09) Smith, Johanna
IFLAPARL 40th Satellite Meeting (Seoul, 6-7 August 2026): Day 1, Presentations & Lightning talks Session (Part II). AI enhances parliamentary information management, but growing adoption requires intentional oversight to prevent risks like misinformation, algorithmic bias, and data security breaches. Through its AI Roadmap, the Library of Parliament—alongside the Canadian Senate and House of Commons—implements usage guidelines, staff training, and pilot projects to digitize historical documents and streamline trade data.
A Comprehensive Analysis of NAL's Reference Service: Trends and Evolution (1997-Present)
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-08) Sohn, Hyein; Shim, Eunsol; Choi, Gayeon
This study aims to examine the evolution of the National Assembly Library of Korea(NAL)'s reference services. While NAL's reference service originated in 1963, the library enhanced its legislative support functions in 1997 by digitizing responses and workflows, thereby building a knowledge database known as the Reference Service Management System. Since 2007, metadata elements regarding requesters and respondents have become more sophisticated. This reflects the system's evolution from a simple data management tool to a structured information resource system. The study traces the history of the reference service and then analyzes accumulated service data from 1963 to the present. The analysis incorporates various metrics, ranging from administrative data (temporal data, duration) to content data (subjects, keywords, standing committees). The study focuses on an in-depth analysis of the most recent decade (2016-2025). By categorizing frequently requested response types during this period, the study analyzes thematic shifts over time. Furthermore, by identifying the most frequently referenced countries, the analysis demonstrates how international precedents have been adopted and utilized within the Korean legislative process. Based on these analytical results, by integrating historical analysis with future-oriented recommendations, this research aims to enhance reference and legislative support services.
Access reclaimed: Fanzines, metadata and the defence of open knowledge
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-02) Resende, Janaína Barcelos; Costa, Clara Bessa de; Parente, Clarisse F.F.; Silva, Neemias Oliveira da; Kuster, Silmara
University libraries traditionally focus on canonical academic literature, often overlooking ephemeral materials like fanzines. However, these alternative publications are vital "object-monuments" that preserve the affective memory and the voices of underrepresented groups. This study presents a Brazilian experience of reclaiming access to these marginalized narratives through specialized subject cataloging and metadata management. Historically, standard cataloging rules have struggled to capture the nuances and the social weight of independent publications, leading to their invisibility within academic collections. By applying the "panning for singularities" methodology, the librarian exercises their curatorial and political authority to identify, value, and describe these unique items. Focusing on a collection of fanzines, originally gathered during a master's thesis research, this study demonstrates how tailored metadata can rescue these sources from obscurity and integrate them into the open knowledge ecosystem. Providing accurate, context-aware metadata for fanzines not only guarantees their preservation but also promotes cognitive justice. It transforms the library from a mere repository into an active political agent that defends open knowledge and diversity. By bringing these underrepresented perspectives to the forefront through subject cataloging, the university library fulfills its role as a space for social construction and democratic access to information, effectively combating epistemicide in the Global South.
Beyond the Labels: Transforming LGBTQ+ Discoverability in the Philippine Library Landscape
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-01) Salcedo, Miriam Charmigrace Q.; Bagunu, Jessie Rose M.; Amandy, Michael D.; Tinao, Maria Maura S.
This study explores how subject access practices in academic libraries shape the visibility and discoverability of LGBTQIA+ knowledge, focusing on systemic gaps in representation within the Philippine academic landscape. Standardized subject headings and legacy classification schemes often fail to capture the nuanced complexity and evolving nature of LGBTQIA+ identities. Analyzing over 1,400 bibliographic records across five library units at the University of the Philippines Diliman, this study employs a mixed-methods research design that combines computational natural language processing with qualitative insights from librarian interviews and user feedback. The methodology implements a three-stage computational pipeline: keyword extraction using RAKE and TF-IDF to generate high-impact descriptors, thematic exploration via K-Means clustering to reveal latent structures, and semantic retrieval using Cosine Similarity to build relationship-based pathways. Findings reveal that while relevant resources are present, discoverability is severely constrained by generalized terminology, missing metadata (with ~73% of records lacking summaries), severe keyword flattening, and record duplication. To address these structural barriers, the paper proposes a responsive subject analysis framework that integrates localized vocabularies, multi-dimensional keywording practices, and AI-assisted metadata enrichment to establish equitable knowledge systems.
The hybrid chiera: AI as a decolonial tool for panning for singularities in University Library heritage
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-09-01) Resende, Janaína Barcelos; Bessa da Costa, Clara; Ferreira Parente, Clarisse Fontenelle; Oliveira da Silva, Neemias; Kuster, Silmara
As university libraries navigate the era of Artificial Intelligence, a critical tension arises between traditional preservation and digital innovation. This article argues that, far from being a threat, AI can be a powerful ally in unearthing unique materials, identifying and highlighting marginalized heritage within vast academic collections. We present a Brazilian perspective on how AI tools can be employed at the University of Brasília’s Central Library (BCE/UnB) to bridge the gap between "disobedient" community memory (such as fanzines and ephemeral local publications) and the global digital ecosystem. By leveraging AI to assist in decolonial curation and the generation of specialized metadata, librarians can combat epistemicide on an unprecedented scale. This "chimera" approach transforms the library into a technological laboratory dedicated to social justice rather than mere administrative efficiency. The study demonstrates that, when guided by human curatorial authority, AI does not automate the librarian's role; instead, it enhances their capacity to safeguard the university's diverse soul, ensuring that community-centered narratives are not lost during the digital transition. Ultimately, it proves that the most powerful innovation is a political, human-centric commitment to using technology to protect diversity and democratic access to knowledge in the Global South
Not the Answer, but the Ability to Choose: What 19 Years of Research Support Data Reveal About the Librarian's Evolving Role
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-25) An, Yu Gyung
Seoul National University Library started research support services in 2007. Over the past nineteen years, the kinds of requests researchers bring to librarians have changed. This presentation looks at 11,424 requests from 2007 to June 2026, and asks what this change means for the role of librarians in the AI era. The analysis focuses on the type of requests, not the total number. In earlier years, most requests were about finding previous studies and getting full text. In recent years, more requests are about decisions. Which journal should I submit to? Is my search strategy good enough? How should I read this similarity report? In the earliest period, search and access support was 94.0 percent of requests. In the most recent period, decision and workflow support was 58.9 percent. This change matters. Researchers now have many tools, including ChatGPT, that can quickly give answers, summaries, and options. What they often need is not more information. They need to know what is enough at their stage of research. Librarians help with this. We narrow the options. We explain why we recommend something. We also share knowledge from editors, colleagues, and field conversations that is not yet in published papers. The future of research support is not about competing with AI to produce more answers. It is about helping researchers understand their options, judge what is enough, and make the final decision themselves.
Challenges and Solutions in Cross-Border Resource Sharing
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-17) Colombo, Giovanna; Mangiaracina, Silvana; Lomba, Carmen; Maimone Ansaldo Patti, Loriana
The results and the findings of a DDRS Committee promoted survey on the difficulties and barriers of cross-border interlibrary exchanges of physical items (custom duties and delays, payment and shipping methods) and possible international resource sharing solutions adopted and strategies proposed by libraries around the world will be presented. Comments and open responses provided global information from libraries worldwide regarding the challenges faced in cross-border resource sharing and to explore effective approaches that can enhance international cooperation. Special attention is given to possible alternative strategies to overcome the limitations of physical delivery through the supply of partial or complete copies of books using Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) and the Resource Sharing Collaborative and Voluntary Document Delivery (RSCVD) initiative.
When AI Answers First, What Happens to Reference Work?
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-24) Jinio, Martian; Lastimosa, Nikko Angelo
This exploratory qualitative study examines how generative artificial intelligence is reshaping reference and information services from the perspective of library workers. In response to growing concerns about hallucinated citations and fabricated sources, the research explores how library staff describe and respond to AI-related situations in their everyday practice. The study's data consisted of 19 comments collected in April 2026 from researcher-initiated discussion threads on Reddit. These comments, representing library workers across academic, public, science, and archival settings, were analyzed using iterative qualitative coding and thematic analysis. The findings identified four major themes: reference work as verification and repair; workflow adaptation under AI conditions; trust, authority, and librarian mediation; and selective and context-dependent AI use. The study concludes that AI is not replacing librarians but is instead shifting their labor toward the time-consuming verification and correction of plausible but inaccurate information. This shift reinforces the continuing importance of professional judgment and human mediation in digital information environments where credibility is increasingly difficult to determine. The study provides an initial understanding of how AI-generated misinformation consumes institutional labor and highlights the evolving role of librarians as essential mediators who help users navigate environments where plausibility can no longer be mistaken for credibility.
Place as Seen by Creators: Lessons from a Youth Filmmaker Oral History Project for Local History Collection in Public Libraries
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-24) Chen, Xinyu
Public libraries have long collected local history through material change - urban development, architectural shifts, demographic change - while sensory and embodied dimensions remain largely absent from archives. This paper argues that organizing pre-linguistic, fragmentary sensory experience into narrative is a learned ability—one whose subjective, embodied quality conventional documentation struggles to capture. Oral history provides a lens for examining this process, as it foregrounds how narrators remember and articulate place. Creative communities (filmmakers, artists, writers, etc.) are ideal partners for collecting such memories. Trained to translate non-verbal experiential experience into preservable narrative, creators are not merely inhabitants of place but its interpreters. Grounded in an oral history project involving in-depth interviews with young Chinese filmmakers from the Vision Youth Awards (2003-2023), the analysis reveals three experiential patterns: sensory echoes of lost spaces, embodied pathways of memory, and affective layering of place memory. These constitute a personal experiential history of place—a dimension almost entirely absent from existing archives. The paper proposes three strategies for public libraries: expanding collection targets to include local creative communities; enriching metadata frameworks with experiential fields; and establishing collaborative mechanisms with universities, arts institutions, and film festivals to broaden reach and ensure inclusive representation.
How Can Libraries Bridge Heritage and Community Memory in the AI Era? A 5A Framework
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-24) Wei, Jingzhu; Chen, Zhipeng
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how cultural heritage is digitized, organized, retrieved, interpreted, and reused, while also raising concerns about weakened cultural context, algorithmic bias, limited community representation, and long-term preservation. Using an interpretive multiple-case study, this article examines four Chinese initiatives: the National Library of China’s China Memory Project, Shanghai Library’s genealogy services, the digitization of ethnic minority classics in Guangxi, and the Digital Dunhuang Open Materials Library. It proposes a 5A framework comprising Access, Awareness, Agency, Accountability, and Afterlife. Access enables cultural resources to enter the public knowledge sphere; Awareness supports contextualized understanding; Agency determines whether communities can participate in interpretation and reproduction; Accountability governs collection, algorithmic processing, access, and reuse; and Afterlife depends on preservation, provenance tracking, rights management, and sustained use. The cases reveal a distinctive pathway centered on institutional preservation, platform development, low-resource script processing, and tiered openness, but also expose gaps in community co-governance, algorithmic transparency, and user-impact evaluation. The framework reframes multicultural literacy as a shared governance capacity involving libraries, communities, and technical systems, offering an analytical tool for AI-enabled heritage projects and cross-national comparison.
Libraries as Co-Creators: Developing a Living Digital Encyclopedia with Communities
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-24) Pandiyan, Azhagiya; Jailani, Haliza
The Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils (EST), launched in August 2025 by Singapore’s President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, is the first bilingual digital reference work dedicated to documenting the 200-year history, heritage, and contributions of the Tamil community in Singapore. Developed jointly by the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC) and the National Library Board (NLB), the EST represents a significant milestone in community-led knowledge creation and culturally inclusive librarianship. With more than 400 entries each in English and Tamil spanning history, arts, literature, education, media, organisations, politics, religion, and notable personalities, the EST addresses longstanding gaps in accessible and authoritative information on Singapore Tamils. This paper examines the EST as a model of collaborative digital heritage development, highlighting how volunteer contributors, researchers, educators, and cultural practitioners worked alongside librarians, cataloguers, and digital heritage specialists to create a sustainable and publicly accessible resource. The paper discusses the technical and curatorial frameworks underpinning the encyclopedia, including bilingual metadata structures, multilingual accessibility, digital discoverability, and community editorial workflows. It also explores the concept of the EST as a “living encyclopedia” , designed to evolve continuously through ongoing community participation and editorial stewardship. By presenting the EST’s development process, governance model, technical innovations, and community impact, this paper offers insights for libraries and cultural institutions seeking to co-create heritage knowledge with communities. It argues that collaborative digital encyclopedias can play an important role in amplifying minority voices, strengthening cultural resilience, and enriching national memory within increasingly diverse societies.
No Dedicated IT Team, No Limits: Automating Research Output Management with AI at ETRI Library
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-20) Bae, Seongjin
Accumulating research outputs in an institutional repository does not guarantee discoverability. The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) Library, part of Korea's largest government-funded ICT research institute, addressed the low visibility of its repository records in Google Scholar as a metadata quality problem rather than a search engine optimization issue. Using AI-assisted coding, the library developed scripts to inspect metadata and monitor indexing status, which improved Google Scholar indexing. Missing abstracts emerged as a major challenge, so for papers whose abstracts were unavailable from external databases, the library created a workflow combining OCR and a large language model (LLM) to identify abstract sections directly from original PDFs. Building on this work, the library is expanding automation through Codex-based agents and robotic process automation (RPA) to collect official conference and journal URLs and support the entry and verification of publication records. This case shows that libraries can achieve meaningful innovation without dedicated IT specialists or large budgets by improving metadata, automating repetitive tasks, and keeping final validation in human hands.
From Collection to Community: Reframing the Documentation of Local Wine Heritage at Katsunuma Library
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-18) Furuya, Michiru; Tanahashi, Yoshiko
This paper examines how Katsunuma Library, a public library in Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, documents and transmits local wine heritage through its long-running “Grape and Wine Exhibition” and related practices. Rather than treating exhibitions and public programs as temporary outreach activities, the paper argues that they function as part of a documentary cycle through which local memories, oral history interviews, photographs, booklets, and other materials are gathered, organized, preserved, and reused, and connected to everyday reference service. The case also shows how the library makes visible aspects of local life that had long remained undocumented because they were too familiar to be recognized as records. In addition, the paper discusses how trust has been built between the library and local residents, growers, and winemakers; how local culture is translated into accessible forms for children and visitors through kamishibai picture-card storytelling, outreach, and wine tourism-related learning and the activities of Come Come Club; and how digital projects expand the reach and discoverability of these local records. Taken together, these practices suggest that Katsunuma Library serves as a curator of local memory, making local wine heritage visible, durable, and capable of being shared across generations.
Community Memory in the Age of AI: Post-Custodial Frameworks from Kula: Library Futures Academy
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2026-08-18) Huculak, Matt; Bengtson, Jonathan
Libraries have long inherited the role of custodian: keeper of the collection, guardian of the record, arbiter of what memory endures. Yet the heritage most in need of safeguarding today — the contested, the dissonant, the politically inconvenient — rarely arrives at the library's door in a form the institution knows how to receive. It lives on phones, in private drives, in activist networks working at the edge of censorship, conflict, and climate disruption. In the age of generative AI, the ground beneath such material shifts again: fabrication grows cheaper, provenance thinner, and the line between preservation and erasure harder to hold. This paper introduces Kula: Library Futures Academy at the University of Victoria Libraries — a library-based institute of advanced studies built as a transdisciplinary collider for emerging research methods. Kula treats AI not as a neutral accelerant but as a technology requiring ethical stewardship grounded in the communities whose memories are at stake. Three initiatives anchor the approach: 1. Fellowship Programs to build new expertise in the profession; 2. LENS@UVicLib is building an endowment for digitization, metadata enhancement, and AI-enabled analysis of library collections; and; 3. Liberating Knowledge Partnerships supports co-custodial collecting — most visibly through Project 35, preserving oral histories of Indigenous leaders who negotiated Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. One might reasonably argue that the AI moment compels libraries not to consolidate their custodianship but to distribute it: to become, in short, infrastructure for others' memory work. Whether the profession is ready for that shift is what Kula means to ask.

Browse

Recent Submissions