Welcome to the IRRT Blog Space

At ALA midwinter in Seattle, members brainstormed and came up with strategic goals to move IRRT ahead and better serve the membership. These were further refined at the 2007 ALA Conference in Washington, DC and now it is time to move beyond ideas and implement them. One tool that seems ideally suited to help achieve several of these goals and objectives is an IRRT blog that can transcend time, distance and language. It is hoped that postings will reflect the spirit and intent in the following IRRT Strategic Goals:

Goal 1 Advocacy and Value of the Profession

Objectives:
-Increase awareness in the U.S. library community of library services and activities from other countries.
-Highlight U.S. Library projects ongoing in other countries to garner support for ALA's international efforts.
-Help mobilize, suport and sustain grassroots advocacy for libraries and library services internationally.

Goal 2: Education

Objective:
- Be educated as world citizens with an understanding of cultures and issues facing libraries world wide.

Goal 3: Influence Public Policy

Objective:
-Utilize technology and the IRRT website to increase the understanding of international issues affecting library and information services and generate support for international partnerships that strengthen library and information service.

Several members suggested having a place to highlight success stories or focus on a website of particular value to librarians. To start things off one difficulty facing librarians is keeping current with the latest technology trends and a resource that has been updated and enhanced is:Web Junction with lot's of suggestions and ideas for instruction of both staff and patrons. There are several resources for Spanish speakers and immigrant communities, but I think more languages need to be included.

Welcome to the IRRT Blog! Joan Weeks, IRRT Chair