An International Training Program on "INFORMATION":


STIMULATE
= Scientific and Technological Information Management in Universities and
Libraries:
an Active Training Environment
(Edition 7)


Announcement


Information about this training program can be found on the WWW starting from:
http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/itp/
The program is planned to take place mainly in Brussels, Belgium,
for 3 months from May 2 to July 27, 2007
Language used is English.
Our motto is
“Helping educators and innovators to advance knowledge and to enrich lives”


Context and evolution of the program:

The initiative has been approved by the Flemish Interuniversity Council
(VLIR) and is sponsored by the Belgian Government (the directorate named
DGOS since December 2002). This fits in a series of similar international
training activities that have been organized since 1991, named MIST 1, 2,
3, KNOW-HOW, and STIMULATE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
This initiative is aimed primarily at persons with a university degree
(Bachelor or Master), who work in universities, information and
documentation centres, and libraries, including of course university
libraries, and who have a few years of practical experience.
The term Active Training Environment in the title of the training program
reflects our wish to create an environment in which each participant is
stimulated to get involved actively, supported by the lecturers and the
infrastructure provided by the training program. This fits well into the
general, worldwide trend away from "teaching" to "learning management".


Aim / goal of the training program:

The main aim and goal of this International Training Program is to offer a
stimulating learning environment to the participants. These are young
scientists and professionals who have a function as information
intermediary in the area of science and technology, so as to sharpen their
skills in collecting, storing, retrieving, presenting and managing
information. This can be of great benefit to the teaching and research
activities going on in their institute and to the further development of
their organisation and region.
This initiative corresponds well with the basic, general aim of all VLIR
the International Training Programs: to train young scientists and
professionals from developing countries in a domain that is relevant for
the further development of the country, and to stimulate the participants
to transfer their increased knowledge and skills to their colleagues and
other stakeholders in their home country.


More specific objectives of the training program:

-- to provide participants with a clearer view on the importance of
information in general and for their environment in particular, and on how
to manage information:
summarised: ”Management in libraries and information centres”
-- to learn the participants to cope with modern technology, in view of the
increasing importance of ICT;
summarised: “Information and communication technology for libraries and
information centres”
-- to guide them in retrieving information that is publicly accessible on
an international scale:
summarised: “Information retrieval/searching”
and
-- to learn them to store, organise, present, manage, publish information
resources at personal, institutional, regional or national level:
summarised: “Information architecture”

After being actively involved in this International Training Program, every
participant will have improved the ability
-- to appreciate and explain the importance of access to information for
their organisation
-- to present information to users and potential users, using appropriate
information technology
-- to train interested persons in the use and management of information,
using appropriate presentation techniques
-- to contribute to the planning of the (further) development of an
information service
-- to communicate through the Internet with users of information,
information providers, colleagues,…
-- to apply quantitative methods in decision making related to information
systems and services
-- to retrieve information from the Internet
-- to store information for later retrieval and access by potential users,
using information technology


Contents of the program:

3 months means about 10 weeks or about 50 days.

During about 3 days per week for 10 weeks = 30 days, the participants will
be guided by professors and other experts.

During the other 2 days per week for 10 weeks = 20 days, they will work on
tasks=assignments as individuals or in groups, and their reports will be
presented and discussed afterwards again guided by professors and other
experts.
The sessions are organised in such a way that
--the first month = introduction level,
--the second month = intermediate level, and
--the third month = more advanced level.
Thanks to this approach and organisation, it may make sense to participate
exceptionally during only one or two of the three months, depending on
expertise. However, the available scholarships are granted only to persons
who will participate for the full three months.
To start with, the participants are offered an orientation tour of the
University and the University Library. Then some of the following subjects
are covered. Of course, due to the limited available time, not all the
mentioned subjects can be discussed in each training program, but a
SELECTION will be made by the organisers. The concrete content of each
training program depends on the availability of suitable expert lecturers
from Belgium and from abroad during the period of the training program. As
soon as possible, the concrete schedule is made available through the WWW
site of the program.


1. Management in libraries and information centers:

Statistics to support decision making for information science and for
library management.
Business plans for libraries and information centers.
Using spreadsheets in the management of libraries and information centers.
Collection development.
Consortia of libraries for the acquisition of electronic journals and
databases.
Scientific writing methods.
ISBD = International Standard Bibliographic Description.
Formats for computer-based cataloguing; MARC formats.
National libraries and national bibliographies.
Knowledge organisation: subject classification schemes; thesaurus systems,
ontologies.
Citation analysis.
Assessing the influence of scientific journals; citations and impact factors.
The bibliometric laws.
Scientometrics.
Architecture of libraries and information centers.
Orientation of information users; relations with information users.
Interlibrary lending and co-operation; document delivery.
Development of a national or regional information network.
The information society.
Cultural aspects of the information society and information technology
transfer.
Copyright; information security; trans-border data flow.
Writing a project proposal (for instance related to the establishment of an
information network).
Conservation/preservation of printed documents.
Conservation/preservation of digital documents.
Informetric aspects of the Internet.
Artificial intelligence and knowledge representation in information science.
Electronic journals: implementation in a library.
Integration of e-learning environments and library services.
Libraries involvement in scientific publishing.
International co-operation projects.


2. Information and communication technology for libraries and information
centers:

Microcomputer systems: evolution of hardware.
Disks for computers.
CD-ROM.
CD-ROM in a local area network.
CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW.
Microcomputer operating systems.
Microcomputer systems: applications software.
Text editing; word processing; desktop publishing.
Presentation of data, using a microcomputer.
Creating charts to present information.
Image processing; graphics file formats; photo/image editing.
Multimedia / Hypermedia.
Data communication; computer networks; Internet.
Internet services.
Client-server systems.
Electronic mail.
World-Wide Web; hypertext and hypermedia.
Data-communications networks and librarians.
Selecting and procuring a computer system; writing a proposal for a
computer implementation.
Providing access to information through public Internet workstations.
Methods for access to databases through Internet: telnet, http/WWW, Z39.50
and ISO239.50, Open Archives Initiative - Metadata Harvesting Protocol.


3. Information retrieval/searching:

Introductory concepts about information.
Internet-based information resources: introduction.
Bibliographic databases.
The information industry and the information market.
Online information retrieval and database searching; search tactics and
strategies.
Internet search engines.
Information available free of charge; open access.
Online access databases about journal articles.
Electronic newsletters and journals.
Computer-network based interest groups.
Patent information.
Online systems versus CD-ROM.
Citation searching.
Theoretical and quantitative aspects of information retrieval.
Evaluating the quality of information sources.
Evaluation of information retrieval strategies and systems.


4. Information architecture:

Basic, fundamental, theoretical concepts.
Software packages for local storage and retrieval of bibliographic information.
Introduction to the ISIS software package family for information storage
and retrieval.
The application of ISIS: searching, editing data in a database, output of
selected data to file or printer; developing a database structure; indexing
data for fast retrieval; ISIS for Windows; WINISIS; history and future of
ISIS; programming in ISIS.
Formats: MARC; application of MARC in ISIS.
Databases (and ISIS in particular) through the WWW.
Downloading of information and record format conversion.
Relational databases.
Library automation.
Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs).
Archives and records management.
Archives in the domain of science and technology.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS): an introduction.
Developing a web site; HTML, CSS, XML, XSL; intranets; developing an intranet.
Evaluating web sites.
Dynamic web pages.
Developing co-operative community WWW sites; Web contents management systems.
Setting up an electronic newsletter.
Extensions of the classical WWW. (Client-based and server-based).


Study visits:

In addition to the courses taking place at the university campus, study
visits are organised.
A selection from the following possible visits is made:
--to the Royal (National) Library, in Brussels, Belgium
--to the European Patent Office in Brussels, Belgium
--to the Information Service of the Geology Department of the Royal Museum
on Africa, in Tervuren near Brussels, Belgium
--to the inter-university postgraduate school on information and library
science at the University of Antwerp, Belgium
--to the library of the University of Antwerp, Belgium
--to the human sciences library of the University of Antwerp in old Antwerp
city, Belgium
--to the old central library and to the modern science and technology
library of the KUL (university) in Leuven, Belgium
--to the VLIZ marine science information and documentation centre near the
sea coast in Oostende / Ostend, Belgium
--to the library of the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerpen
/ Antwerp, Belgium
--to the central library of the University of Gent / Ghent, Belgium
--to the Documentation Department of the KIT (the Royal Tropical
Institute), and to the high school on libraries, documentation and
information, both in Amsterdam, Nederland / The Netherlands
--to the headquarters of IFLA and to the National, Royal Library in Den
Haag / The Hague, in Nederland / The Netherlands
--to the Institute for Social Studies (ISS) in Den Haag / The Hague, in
Nederland / The Netherlands
More culturally oriented guided visits are also organised; these may
include trips to the old cities of Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Amsterdam,
Paris, and to the North Sea coast.
Soon after the start of the program, each participant presents to the other
participants and to interested lecturers his/her interests, working
environment, planning, tasks, experience. This is organised with printed
posters in a small poster exhibition with time allotted for stimulating and
ice-breaking discussions.
At the end of the course, each participant completes a presentation
supported by slides managed on computer, with constructive comments on the
training program experienced and with concrete recommendations to the
organisers of this training program and to the director of their own
organisation.

About half of the time, the participants are guided by experts who are
invited to the university. They use the other half time to solve problems,
to make exercises, to use microcomputers and the Internet, to prepare
discussions, for self study...
Besides the formal, guided course activities, the participants have access
like any regular student at our university
--to several rooms equipped with microcomputers connected to the Internet,
--to the university library which offers printed material, CD-ROMs and PCs
with Internet access,
--to the university restaurant and to sport facilities at low student prices.

At the end of the program all participants obtain a certificate stating
that they have indeed participated, with a reference to the full detailed
overview of the program contents on the WWW site of the program.
Several substantial parts of the program are followed by an evaluation by
the responsible expert of the knowledge and skills acquired by each
participant; this can lead to a certificate of active and successful
participation.

Participants should of course bring a notebook or laptop computer, if they
have one available.
Ideally they should buy or rent a personal notebook computer as soon as
they arrive, assisted by the program organisers.


Poster session by participants:

Each participant is expected to create a poster about ongoing activities
related to information management in their home institution. This poster is
presented in a poster session early in the program. In this way,
participants and some professors get to know each other efficiently and the
participants learn to present information in the format of a scientific
poster. Therefore, participants are encouraged to bring supporting
materials like folders, leaflets, photos, maps, etc… for inclusion in their
poster.


Scientific tutorial presentations by participants:

Each participant is expected to present a tutorial presentation during the
program of maximum 15 minutes, with 10 minutes of questions and answers
plus discussion foreseen. The audience is composed of the other
participants. The topic of each presentation is one aspect of their
expertise. The aims are the following:
- participants improve their scientific presentation, teaching and
communication skills,
- they share their knowledge with the other participants,
- participants get to know each other better,
- the session may form a basis for possible later co-operation, etc…


Teachers, professors, experts, resource persons:

The following will be invited. They may contribute as they did in previous
programs, if their agenda and the limited duration of the training program
allow this:
Collier, KUL, Leuven, Belgium
Dekeyser, KUL, Leuven, Belgium
De Keyser, Hogeschool, and Library School, Belgium
Dell'Orso, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
De Smet, Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium, and INASP, UK
Egghe, Hasselt University and Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium
Koninckx, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
Holans, KUL, Leuven, Belgium
Hopkinson, London, England, UK
Nieuwenhuysen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
Nyssen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
Quiroga, University of Hawai, USA
Rousseau, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium
Van Audenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
Vanden Berghe, VLIZ, Oostende, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel,
Belgium
Vanderpijpen, Royal/National Library, Brussel, Belgium


Social activities planned:

- Welcome reception with drinks and appetizers. (first evening of the program)
- Evening with the possibility to taste some of the world-famous Belgian
beers and some Belgian food.
- Farewell gathering with drinks and snacks. (final evening of the program)


Participation, registration=tuition fee and costs:


Grants=scholarships:

Participation is free of charge (!) for 12 participants from developing
countries. They are selected by the Steering Committee of the program, by
VLIR (the Flemish Inter-university Council) section for University
Co-operation VLIR-UOS, and by DGOS. They also receive a grant to cover the
costs of accommodation and a return flight ticket. The detailed forms
needed to request a grant=scholarship should be available through the
Internet from the WWW site of VLIR-UOS. Their site is http://www.vliruos.be/
At the time of writing this text, the required forms could be downloaded
from
http://www.vliruos.be/index.php?navid=380&direct_to=Scholarships_Programme
and from
http://www.vliruos.be/index.php?navid=322&direct_to=Downloads
Grant applications must be received by VLIR before the end of January! (and
NOT before the end of February as in previous years up to 2005)
Official and formal requests for a grant-scholarship or any other
correspondence about the grants should be sent to VLIR-UOS in Brussels, and
NOT to the organizers/co-ordinators of this specific program.
If this procedure is not suitable for you, you can contact your local
Belgian embassy or VLIR-UOS. The e-mail address is scholarships@...
The ideal participant applying for a grant is younger than 40 years, and
will be able to apply what has been learned directly in a professional
scientific or technical environment afterwards.


Normal registration:

Besides the persons who receive a grant from the Belgian Government through
VLIR, 8 persons can participate after paying a registration=tuition fee
that is small in comparison with similar programs.
The costs mentioned do NOT include air travel, meals and accommodation, but
do include transport from the airport upon arrival, course materials, study
visits and social activities.
-To participate during the full period: 2400 Euro
-Exceptionally, persons who cannot participate for the whole period can
nevertheless participate during 2 months only (1800 Euro) or during 1 month
only (1000 Euro). It makes sense to attend for instance the first month or
the first two months only. It makes less sense to participate only during
the second or the third month, as introductions to some activities or
topics may be missed.
-To participate to particular items selected from the program: 30 Euro per
half day.

To register and pay the registration=tuition fee, send the form (see below)
by classical mail or by private courier, together with an international
bank transfer / bank cheque / bank draft, payable to
University Library Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 BRUSSEL,
Belgium,
with no need for any bank account numbers.
If however this simple and fast procedure is NOT suitable for you, then you
can transfer the required sum of money to the following bank account of the
Vrije Universiteit Brussel:
Fortis Bank located at Warandeberg 3 in B-1000 Brussel, Belgium,
account number 001-0686459-66 or IBAN = BE07 0010 6864 5966
and do not forget (!) to mention as a remark:
for internal account VOPA21 BIBLINK3 University Library STIMULATE
International Training Program
The money received by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel financial department
must be transferred internally; this transfer takes about 1 week, which
means a delay in the registration procedure that is better avoided.
(Without your remark, the money may be not retraceable and lost.)
Realize that some bank transfer costs are involved and that these should be
paid besides the requested participation fee that is transferred.

There is no formal deadline. However, we recommend you to register as early
as possible, because “first come, first served”: the arrival of your
participation fee determines who can participate. Furthermore the later a
participant is registered, the more difficult it becomes to find cheap and
suitable accommodation.

There is NO need to “apply” prior to the registration, to request
permission to participate or to be accepted, from the organizers of the
program or from their universities. The decision if the program is suitable
and appropriate for an interested person is to be made by that person and
not by the organizers. This is similar as participation to a conference.
Invitation letters can be sent on request if needed, but in principle only
when the participation = registration fee has been received. This
announcement is in fact an invitation.

It is a waste of time to ask the organisers of the program about sponsors
besides VLIR mentioned above.

Medical insurance:

Participants are covered during their stay by a full medical insurance.
This costs about 40 Euro per month.
This is formalised as soon as possible after arrival in Belgium, with the
secretariat of the program.


Accommodation:

The organisers of this program normally book in advance a single, cheap,
basic room with access to a shared kitchen, as accommodation for each
participant, unless a participant writes us that he/she wants to take care
of accommodation personally, for instance by staying with a friend or by
renting a room that offers more luxury.
Participants pay for their accommodation directly to the person or
organisation providing accommodation in Brussels, as soon as they arrive in
Belgium. If we can book many weeks in advance, then we can normally find
basic accommodation for about 300 euro per month, meals not included;
however, a late receipt of the registration=tuition fee forces us probably
to book a more expensive room.


The cost of living in Belgium

According to previous participants and in agreement with the grants
provided by VLIR-UOS, 1100 euro per month should be enough to cover all
expenses, including accommodation, transport, food…


How to contact the organizers?

E-mail (Internet): stimulate at vub.ac.be (or in case that this does not
seem to work, to Paul.Nieuwenhuysen at vub.ac.be)
(change at in @ when you want to use an address)
Fax 32 2 629 2693 (or 2282)
Tel. 32 2 629 2629 or 32 2 629 2429 or 32 2 629 2609
Telex 61051 vubco-b
Classical mail:
STIMULATE-ITP (or Paul NIEUWENHUYSEN), University Library, Vrije
Universiteit Brussel,
Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, BELGIUM


Location:

The training is mainly organized at the University Library of the Vrije
Universiteit Brussel (V.U.B). The campus is located south of the older
centre of the city of Brussels, and can easily be reached by Metro
(subway), tram and bus.
Information about Brussels (and Belgium) can be found through the WWW; see
for instance:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Brussels
http://www.agenda.be/ about events going on in Brussels (in French and in
Dutch)
http://www.disgruntled.ca/writings/brussels/ offers information on Brussels
and some photos, based on the experience of living there for some time
http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/brussels.shtml
http://www.ilotsacre.be/site/en/default_en.htm offers an interactive map
and photos of Brussels
http://www.interknowledge.com/belgium/
http://www.jack-travel.com/
http://www.sievers.nl/visitbrussels/ shows some photos made in Brussels
http://www.timeout.com/brussels/
http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-touristattractions.htm
http://www.virtourist.com/europe/brussels/index.html
http://www.visitbelgium.com/

Interesting trips are possible to places in neighbouring countries like The
Netherlands and France. Therefore, participants should try to obtain also a
visa for those countries (a so called Schengen-visa).


Program and Steering Committee:

The course director is Dr. Paul Nieuwenhuysen, professor at the Vrije
Universiteit Brussel and guest professor at Universiteit Antwerpen, Science
and technology librarian of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/nieuwenhuysen/professional/
An official, formal Steering Committee is composed of members from the
co-operating universities in Flanders,
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel,
- Universiteit Antwerpen
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
This Steering Committee supervises the organisation, the program and the
budget. This committee reports formally to VLIR.

Feel free to distribute this document; this version is dated November 12, 2006.


____________________REGISTRATION FORM_______________________
to STIMULATE, University Library, Vrije Universiteit Brussel,
Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 BRUSSEL, Belgium
I want to participate. Therefore I send this as a letter AND I pay the
registration=tuition fee as described in the announcement of the
International Training Program on INFORMATION.
(So the following is NOT the form to apply for a grant.
Use this form only when you pay the registration=tuition fee.)
a. Family name (surname): ...............................
(married female participants please fill in maiden-name as well as name of
husband)
b. First or given names (according to your official passport): ..............
Personal address: ...................................
.....................................................
Country:.............................................
Electronic mail address
Telephone, fax, telex:

Date of birth: Place of birth:
Nationality: Sex: male / female

Present employment:
a. Name and address of employer: .................
...............................................
...............................................
b. Since: ../../..
c. Position – function - specialization
d. Telephone, fax, telex and/or e-mail of the employer:

Education - studies:
Name of institute Degree Date





Knowledge of English: writing: ........ speaking: ........ reading: .......
Have you been abroad earlier? Please specify:


Duties that you will carry out after returning to your country:
.................................................................
.................................................................

Please book a room for me OR
Do NOT book a room for me; I will take care myself of accommodation

Date and signature:………………………………………….

Please include a recent photograph, as this will simplify identifying you
upon arrival.