Libraries Commission
With broad participation from directors of CRUCH university libraries, the second ordinary plenary session of the commission was held at the University of Magallanes on November 8 and 9.
The rector of UMAG, José Maripani, praised the work in updating library standards, "which have contributed to the accreditation processes and demonstrate the commitment to quality, constant improvement and academic excellence," he noted.
With the purpose of advancing improvements to the management of university libraries, the Advisory Commission on Libraries and Documentation (CABID) of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), held its second plenary session of the year on November 8 and 9 at the University of Magallanes (UMAG), Punta Arenas.
At the start of the well-attended meeting, the rector of the host university, José Maripani, welcomed the participants and emphasized that “this working space serves as an opportunity to share experiences and reflections on the past, present, and future of university libraries in Chile, and also as a platform for fostering collaboration and the search for joint solutions.” He also commended CABID's work in updating library standards, “which have contributed to accreditation processes and demonstrate a commitment to quality, continuous improvement, and academic excellence.”.
The highest authority of UMAG also referred to the transformation of libraries, which have evolved from traditional spaces to digital environments, as well as to digitization and public access to information, which should be established as central themes in the conversation, since the creation of repositories and the opening of data are valuable steps towards more transparent and sustainable research.
Meanwhile, the rector of the Catholic University of Temuco and head of the commission, Aliro Bórquez, remotely greeted the directors of libraries from the CRUCH universities, thanked them for their work, and highlighted the importance of the topics discussed in the plenary session, which “will contribute significantly to the development of the country's library system.”.
For her part, the president of CABID and Director of Libraries at the University of Concepción, Karen Jara, while thanking the host university for its support, valued the commitment of the CRUCH rectors to the commission "by providing their directors with the facilities to participate in person, which, without a doubt, is a sign of the support for our management by the higher authorities.".
Main advances
For the president of CABID, the meeting was very fruitful. “We approved the update to the 'Standards for University Libraries of the CRUCH: fundamental principles,' which we will submit for CRUCH review and approval. In addition, we are working collaboratively with the Chilean Librarians Association and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to address the role of university libraries in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This initiative aims to recognize and highlight the actions taken by university libraries that contribute to achieving the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. We expect to have a document ready to present to CRUCH during the first half of next year.‘.
Regarding the topics presented by invited speakers, Karen Jara highlighted the presentation by Andrea Detmer, PhD in Higher Education from University College London, which focused on improving community engagement in CRUCH libraries. She also noted “the presentation by Lautaro Matas, from La Referencia, which allowed us to update our knowledge on increasing the visibility of our institutions' scientific output, with a particular emphasis on publicly funded results from universities.”.
In general terms, the Director General of Libraries at UMAG, Sara Yusta, assesses that “in addition to what was learned from the exhibitions, the exchange of successful experiences that have been implemented in other university libraries allows us to know where we stand, how much we can achieve and also where we can go.”.
Plenary topics
The plenary program included various presentations by guests, workshops, the progress report of the CABID working subcommittees, document analysis, review of the yearbook and planning of the work agenda for 2024, among other topics.
On the first day, Dr. Andrea Detmer, a specialist in Higher Education at University College London, gave a presentation entitled "How to work on community engagement from university libraries?" Following her, Lautaro Matas, Executive and Technical Director of LA Referencia (Federated Network of Institutional Repositories of Scientific Publications), also gave a presentation.
The proposed update to the 2024 Standards for Chilean University Libraries was also analyzed, and Principle XII, Inclusion, was approved. This principle, along with other updates, will be incorporated into the new, improved, and expanded version. It should be noted that this principle was previously ratified by the CRUCH's Academic Vice-Rectors' Commission.
On the second day, the workshop “Libraries and Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs” was held, led by the National Councilor of the College of Librarians, Jessica Carvajal; and the deputy director of Networks and Strategy of the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), Patricia Muñoz, announced the progress in the installation of the Support Network for the National Infrastructure of Access to Information.
On the other hand, the subcommittees on Statutes; Communications; Standards for Chilean University Libraries; Databases; Open Access (OA); Digital Competencies; and Research shared their respective progress, challenges, and next steps. The latter subcommittee announced that the document “Digital Identity in Researchers: A
"A view from Chilean University Libraries belonging to the Council of Rectors of Chile," the first in a series of documents that seek to contribute to the development of Open Science from Libraries.
In addition, the InES Open Science Projects Technical Committee (Innovation in Higher Education projects) was established, made up of the universities that participate in these projects through their libraries, with the purpose of increasing collaboration and learning for long-term development.
Finally, the agreement was adopted to continue in 2024 with the “Cycle of Good Practices in University Libraries”, within which the libraries organize various activities.
The next CABID session will be held at the University of O'Higgins in May.
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