News 2015
ALADIN Online Alert #7, November 2015
The seventh ALADIN Online Alert has been published in the middle of November, designed to share on a bi-monthly basis recent online and full-text information and documents in the areas of adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning, TVET and the role of libraries in these areas.
ALADIN supports the shipment of books from Canada to Ethiopia, November 2015
A shipment of 40 boxes with books on adult education started its journey from the University of British Columbia (UBC, Vancouver, Canada) to the DVV International East/Horn of Africa Regional Office in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The books are from the Coolie Verner Memorial Reading Room (CVMRR – Coolie Verner was the first Professor in the Department of Adult Education at UBC), which is a specialised library, affiliated with the Department of Educational Studies at UBC. The collection holds hundreds of books and academic journals published between the 1920s and the late 1990s in the areas of adult education, community development, research methodologies, critical theory and feminist studies. The CVMRR is going to be closed due to the impending move of the department into another building.
Once the books have reached Ethiopia, some will be kept in the Resource Centre of the DVV International East/Horn of Africa Regional Office, the remainder will be sent to Universities throughout Ethiopia which have Adult Education and Community Development Departments (including Addis Ababa University). The shipment was made possible through the cooperation of the Department of Educational Studies, in particular Shauna Butterwick and Maren Elfert (UBC), Lisa Krolak (UIL, ALADIN coordinator, Hamburg) and Sonja Belete (East/Horn of Africa Regional Director, Addis Ababa).
Two ALADIN members from Canada had to close services in 2015
Two ALADIN members had to close down services in 2015 due to the deep funding cuts in adult learning and literacy research over the past few years that basically dismantled the Canadian literacy support infrastructure.
In February 2015 Copian (Connecting Canadians in Learning, formerly known as NALD – National Adult Literacy Database) was legally dissolved after having represented the national, bilingual voice for adult literacy for more than 25 years, connecting adult learners’ organisations and practitioners to the latest information on literacy and essential skills. With resources in both English and French, the Copian library constituted the most comprehensive collection of digital tools and documents in Canada until federal funding ended in 2014.
With the closure of Copian in Fredericton, ten information staff lost their jobs. And with the closure of the Centre for Literacy in Montreal in May 2015, an additional seven staff were laid off. Also in CDÉACF (Le Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition féminine) in Montreal, although not closed down, severe budget cuts led to staff reductions and difficult working conditions.
Copian was a member of the ALADIN network from the beginning. Luckily the Copian online library has been transferred to CDÉACF which, in collaboration with the RESDAC and the Centre for Literacy, re-launched the Copian bilingual online resource collection on their servers. CDÉACF has committed to keeping the name Copian for at least one year so the resources are recognisable to users and the memory of Copian is preserved. The Centre for Literacy has kept its website online for a year while they explore options with CDÉACF and other partners for ways to preserve their online resources. The 6000 physical items in their collection have been culled and distributed to various libraries and adult learning centres in Quebec and to Better World Books.
With a new Canadian government in place, we all sincerely hope that the Canadian funding situation for adult education and literacy will improve in the near future.
ALADIN Online Alert #6, September 2015
The sixth ALADIN Online Alert has been published, designed to share on a bi-monthly basis recent online and full-text information and documents in the areas of adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning and TVET. Again a section on libraries has been added at the end.
ALADIN Online Alert #5, July 2015
The fifth ALADIN Online Alert has been published, designed to share on a bi-monthly basis recent online and full-text information and documents in the areas of adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning and TVET. Again a section on libraries has been added.
All ALADIN membership information has been updated, July 2015
During July 2015, all ALADIN members were contacted individually and requested to update their membership information. Corrections and amendments were done in the online ALADIN Membership Directory on the ALADIN Website.
New ALADIN members, June 2015
The ALADIN network welcomes three new members this month:
- Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc (BNRM), Morocco
- Bibliothèque Centrale de l’Université M’Hamed Bougara de Boumerdes, Algeria
- Bibliothèque de l’École Supérieure de Banque, Algeria
This makes 103 members.
ALADIN Workshop at ICAE World Assembly, June 2015
An ALADIN workshop was held at the World Assembly of the International Council of Adult Education, which took place from 11-14 June 2015 in Montréal, Canada.
The workshop took place on Saturday, 13 June 2015 and was on the topic ALADIN - Facilitating access to information and documentation on adult learning
15 participants discussed past, present and future ALADIN activities. Among them was a delegation (group photo) of ALADIN members, five of them fully or partly funded by UIL.
The following powerpoint presentations were given:
- Introduction to the ALADIN network, by Lisa Krolak (UIL, Germany)
- The ALADIN Online Alert, by Sharon Hackett (CDÉACF, Canada)
- The PALDIN learning package, by Prof. S.Y. Shah (International Institute of Adult and Lifelong Education, India)
- How library villages in Upper Egypt support literacy and self-learning, by Tharwat Salama (Horus Foundation for Development and Training, Egypt)
Please find the further information in theminutes of the workshop, including the following major results:
- A mobile version of the ALADIN Online Alert will be launched in the near future
- How to set-up an online archive of previous ALADIN Online Alert documents will be explored
- An upcoming ALADIN webinar on community libraries will strengthen peer learning and professional exchange among ALADIN members
ALADIN Online Alert #4, May 2015
The fourth ALADIN Online Alert has been published, designed to share on a bi-monthly basis recent online and full-text information and documents in the areas of adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning and TVET. Again a section on libraries has been added.
ALADIN Online Alert #3, March 2015
The third ALADIN Online Alert has been published, designed to share on a bi-monthly basis recent online and full-text information and documents in the areas of adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning and TVET and a section on libraries has been added.
New ALADIN member, February 2015
ALADIN welcomes CODE-Ethiopia as a new ALADIN member.
ALADIN Online Alert #2, January 2015
The second ALADIN Online Alert has been published. The ALADIN Online Alert is a new ALADIN initiative, designed to share on a bi-monthly basis recent online and full-text information and documents in the areas of adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning and TVET. Additionally a section on libraries has been added.
To make this service as regionally balanced as possible, ALADIN members from all over the world are encouraged to share recent information and documents for upcoming alerts.