*International Conference “ Convergence of Libraries , Archives and Museams on User Empowerment through Digital Technologies* * * The three day International Conference “ Convergence of Libraries , Archives and Museums on User Empowerment through Digital Technologies organized by National institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi in collaboration with IFLA Art Libraries section held on February 14-17, 2011 concluded successfully. The truly world class and prestigious venue of IIC provided a stimulating environment and fostered an unleashing of intellectual discourse, debate and discussion in this unique international conference of Librarians, Archivists & Conservators to promote digital convergence of the memory institutions. The well attended event sourced together nearly 300 delegates and scores of experts ranging from academicians , Librarians, , Computer Scientists, Conservationist , Software Engineers to Technocrats both from academia and industry representing several countries . Conference was marked by lively talks, passionate presentations and subtle arguments and counter arguments. Stalwarts from across the country grappled with issues and offered wide ranging opinions and views. Conference opened with the remarks of Dean, Academics, NIFT who welcomed the participants and speakers and wished conference a great success and emphasized the need for preserving cultural heritage of the country through digital depositions . She further laid stress upon the need for sectoral collaboration and networking for the exchange and sharing of knowledge. The conference was inaugurated by Ms.Monika. Garg, (IAS) Director General , NIFT who in her inaugural talk deliberated upon preservation of knowledge for posterity.. She dwelt upon the need for organizing and delivering information in more efficient ways as it is driving force behind knowledge economy. In ‘knowledge-driven’ environment, scholarship can flourish if the existing stock of knowledge is made adequate use of, and concerted efforts are made to build further on it. Accessing and retrieval of desired information, to facilitate this process is, undoubtedly, a most challenging task. She stated that Information Technology (IT) has facilitated this challenging task a great deal for both, users as well as providers of information, Spread over four days , 2 plenary sessions, 18 technical sessions, 12 invited talks, product presentations , tutorials by leading Academicians & Industry experts, special session by Wikimedia , a special day of parallel sessions on Preservation of Heritage Resources and two penal discussions, conference witnessed presentation of nearly 60 research papers and involved a galaxy of eminent experts, leading professionals, academicians and entrepreneurs like Prof. Shalni Urs, ,Prof.PB Mangla Prof.T Visvanathan, Dr. Jan Simane, Ms Lucy Tedd, Mr. Guss Ven Den Brakel, Mr. Rolf Kallman, Mr.Matin Flaynn, Dr. S Majumdar, Dr. Roshan Raina Dr. Jagtar Singh , Dr. RK Chadha , Dr. PR Goswami, Dr. Rakesh Bhatt Prof. IV Malhan, Mr. Dinsh Katre ,Prof, JK Mitra and Dr. Mrs SP Singh and many others exchanged views on issues related to technological, infrastructural and organizational developments including partnerships in the knowledge sector. One of the recurring thread which held the discussion together for three days was bringing together of set of individual cognitions and experiences of authors forming a common collective of memories sharing, interacting and integrating with the memories of a wide array of participants. The themes and topics of papers straddle the whole spectrum from collaboration to convergence to divergence, from social media for empowerment to digital divide, from digital preservation to institutional repositories, from enhancing user access to heritage material to library service through social networking, from information literacy as a tool for user empowerment to visualization for digital libraries, from information seeking behavior to open content; from hanging together to crossing continents. The issue of empowerment of users in Libraries, Archives and Museums was analyzed from multiple perspectives during the conference. All issues related to user empowerment ranging from changing roles of users and their rights, special needs of the disadvantaged user communities to digital preservation technologies, social media and sustainability concerns were dealt with. Library & Information professionals, Archivists and Conservators, as end users of open source and commercial software discussed trends and problems specific to their own sectors. It was opined that digital revolution has initiated an irrevocable process of convergence in the knowledge sector in the 21st century. The traditional barriers of academic disciplines, professions and institutions are disappearing fast as a unified world of knowledge is emerging. The traditional physical infrastructure and organizational setups have become irrelevant and various forms - textual, audio and visual – have fused together to create a mutable global knowledge repository. It was further observed that advancements in the fields of Information and Communication Technologies have also unleashed democratizing forces enabling access to all to the inner recesses of the knowledge world. The role of the user in knowledge repositories such as libraries, archives and museums has transformed from a passive receiver to a participant in the creation and dissemination of information. Some of the specific themes and areas covered during the conference are as under: 1. Development of information systems and services with the goal of optimum user empowerment 2. Sensitization of information professionals and conservators to deliver user-oriented service 3. Creation of awareness among users about their rights 4. Promotion of partnerships of institutions and professionals of the knowledge sector for resource sharing 5. Attaining of convergence of the memory institutions viz., Libraries, Archives and Museums. Participating delegates complimented the organizers for organizing such a successful convention and bringing together so many diverse stream at a single platform and discussing issues both in context and threadbare and felt they will go back to their work places much enlightened and keep the memories of this four day convention alive in their minds and hearts for long time to come . They emphasized the need for continuing with such kind of endeavor in future too so as to institutionalise and strengthen the concept of convergence for the larger benefits of information based professionals. The beautifully produced 600+ conference volume and an attractive conference kit was a special draw with the delegates. Dr.Tariq Ashraf University of Delhi South Campus -- Dr.Tariq Ashraf South Campus, University of Delhi Benito Juarez Road New Delhi (India )110021 Email: tariq22@gmail.com ; tariq@south.du.ac.in Ph: 011-24110221 (Direct) Fax: 011-24110221 Cell:9868335593 Website: http://www.du.ac.in The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination or copying is strictly prohibited. If you think that you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.