NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES (NCLIS)

CONCISE BRIEFING DOCUMENT ON ACTIVITIES OF THE NCLIS FOR 2004/2005

FOR PRESENSATION TO MINMEC, THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE, AND THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND RECREATION

PREPARED BY THE NCLIS SECRETARIAT

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE

May 2005

OBJECT OF THE NCLIS

1. The NCLIS was established in terms of the National Council for Library and Information Services Act, 2001 (Act No 6 of 2001) (Annexure A). The object of the NCLIS is to advise the Minister of Arts and Culture and the Minister of Education on matters relating to library and information services in order to support and stimulate the socio-economic, educational, cultural, recreational, scientific research, technological and information development of all communities in the country. The functions of the Council are to develop and coordinate library and information services in the country.

 

NCLIS INAUGURAL MEETING

2. The inaugural meeting on 11 March 2004 was devoted to brief the NCLIS members on their duties and on orientating them on the finer points of the NCLIS Act. At the suggestion of the Chairperson, Prof. Seth Manaka, a Strategic Planning Workshop was held on 22 May 2004, where the vision and mission of the NCLIS were formulated and Committees formed.

 

NCLIS VISION

3. The vision of the NCLIS is: To position South Africa as the best-informed nation.

 

NCLIS MISSION

4. The mission of the NCLIS is: To provide strategic leadership and advocacy for literacy, a culture of reading and writing, innovation and open access to information.

NCLIS WORKING COMMITTEES

5. Working Committees that were formed, are:

 

MAJOR LIS ISSUES

6. At two further ordinary meetings held in Durban on 28 October 2004 and in Pretoria on 11 March 2005, further current issues in the LIS sector were raised.

6.1 Schedule 5 of the Constitution poses severe problems relating to the funding and governance of public libraries.

6.2 The lack of a reading culture and how to rectify it.

6.3 The impact of copyright restrictions on the re-publishing of works in Braille for visually impaired readers.

6.4 The updating of the four national LIS Acts to provide for changed circumstances, and to align them with each other, with new government policy, and with other information-related legislation.

(The above four issues have been attended to, as explained in par. 7 (issue 6.1) and par. 8 (issues 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4).

6.5 The lack of well-stocked, professionally staffed school libraries results in learners inundating public libraries with requests for information. This exacerbates the problem of under-funded and over-stretched public libraries. The various Education Departments should urgently address the matter.

6.6 The LIS sector should be re-orientated in accordance with a developmental agenda. Political decision-makers and administrators must be mobilised to prioritise funding for LIS.

6.7 The teaching of reading, needing input from the Department of Education.

6.8 The development of writers. The Writers’ Network, whose DAC funding has been terminated, should be incorporated into the functions of the Centre for the Book of the National Library of South Africa and appropriately funded.

6.9 The NCLIS must link itself to world thinking on LIS issues, e.g. the World Summit on the Information Society, which will take place in Tunis in December 2005. (It is recommended that Dr Graham Dominy, National Archivist, and the Chairperson of the NCLIS (or a specifically delegated member) should attend.

6.10 The Minister of Science and Technology should appoint a representative to the NCLIS (given the importance of science and technology information to the economy).

6.11 The Chairperson of the Legal Deposit Committee should become an ex officio member of the NCLIS.

 

PRESENTATION TO THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE

7. Dr Graham Dominy, National Archivist, who has overall responsibility for administering the NCLIS Act, made a presentation to the Technical Committee on Culture on 17 and 18 June 2004, in which he outlined the funding and governance problem of public libraries and possible ways of overcoming it. His report was titled DAC situation report on the funding and maintenance of libraries at national, provincial, and local levels (as at 1 June 2004). The presentation, pointing out the cost implications to the provinces and municipalities of rendering public library services, was forwarded to the National Treasury for consideration.

 

TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS

8. The NCLIS used the transformation funds provided by the Department of Arts and Culture to implement certain transformation projects to improve access to information by promoting a culture of reading and by revising the national LIS legislative framework.

8.1 In cooperation with the Department of Arts and Culture, it hosted a Symposium on the Cost of a Culture of Reading was held in Cape Town from 16 to 17 September 2004, followed by a Symposium on the Cost of a Culture of Reading in Alternative Formats for Blind and Print-handicapped Readers in Port Elizabeth from 20 to 21 January 2005. Whereas the first Symposium focused on the problem of publishers to keep costs down and general barriers to developing a reading culture, the second Symposium focused mainly on the problems experienced by blind print-handicapped readers and the impact of copyright restrictions on re-publishing works in Braille. The major outcome of the latter was that copyright protec data files of publishers. Government and the NCLIS will cooperate to address these issues.

8.2 As part of the legislative programme of the Department of Arts and Culture, a Consultative Workshop on the Review of National LIS, Archives, and Heraldry Legislation and Certain Related Legislation will be held in Cape Town from 14 to 15 June 2005.

The four national LIS Acts are:

9. The other major LIS issues will be attended to systematically, as funds permit.

 

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