It began with the guitar stylings of Thomas Andersson, crested with a keynote address by Jan Eliasson, former president of the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and ended with a get-up-and-dance happening to the music of Sweden's most famous pop singers Abba. In between, the opening ceremony of the 76th General Conference and Assembly of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions also featured warm welcomes from the leaders and organizers who made the conference happen.
Agneta Olsson, chair of the National Committee, welcomed some 3,300 delegates from 128 countries to "safe, friendly, and green" Gothenburg and turned the podium over to IFLA President Ellen Tise, of South Africa, who noted that Sweden, on its fourth IFLA, now has the distinction of having hosted more IFLA conferences than any other country. She expressed her gratitude to the Swedish organizers, who stepped in on short notice after scheduled host Australia had to bale for lack of funds.
Tise noted with gratitude that the Swedish organizers picked up on her presidential theme, "Libraries Driving Access to Knowledge," in establishing the conference theme, "Open Access to Knowledge: Promoting Sustainable Progress." The wonderful thing about "used knowledge," Tise quipped, is that unlike other commodities "its value doesn't diminish with use."
Gothenburg native son Jan Eliasson talked about his childhood in Sweden and what his minimally educated parents gave him: "a respect for knowledge." He noted that "knowledge is perhaps the strongest engine for development." There is no peace without development, he said, and no development without peace, but without respect for human rights there will be neither.
Eliasson also observed that the rapid pace of change in his lifetime has created an enormous gap between rich and poor. "There are more computers in New York than in all of Africa," he said. Harkening back to his time at the United Nations, he said that access to knowledge opens the door to creativity and expressed his respect for librarians by saying, "The quest for knowledge is what you stand for in your daily work."
Referring to a mandate in the U.N. charter that calls for the organization to ameliorate society's ills, Eliasson tied the work of librarians to "caring for The Word," which is essential for us all "to become good human beings."
Following the opening session, the Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters presented a two-hour forum for discusssion of issues facing publishers and librarians alike in the digital age, with illegal copying and pirating being a plague to both. Moderated by Winston Tabb of the U.S., the discussions concluded with comments from attendees from Spain, Egypt, Russia, and other parts of the world agreeing that publishers and librarians ought to be less at odds over fair use and more partners in the protection of the rights of copyright holders to profit from their work.
