IFLA and WSIS : a common tapestry

Abstract

For the past four years IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, has been deeply involved in the preparations for, and now the implementation phase of, the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), from Geneva 2003 to Tunis 2005 and beyond. Why has IFLA, a federation of librarians, committed itself so heavily to the WSIS process? What a position has it taken, what a document has it produced, and what outcomes has it influenced? The common threads and goals that inform IFLA's social pillar and the ongoing WSIS process are identified, and the prospects for building a new kind of information society in Africa are briefly explored.