Some 200 parliamentarians, Secretaries General and staff of parliamentary library and research services took part in a one-day Conference on parliamentary information on 16 October. Participants identified common challenges and good practices in providing parliamentarians with the objective information and research they need to carry out their various complex roles.
These information needs can best be met by permanent, trained, and impartial parliamentary staff. As Ms. Doris Mwinga, Secretary General of the Zambian National Assembly said, "Knowledge is power – and we are trying to make our MPs very powerful". However, the financial resources required to provide these services must be adequately recognized and addressed. Parliaments in some developing countries may need external support to build capacity in this area.
The debate clearly highlighted that parliamentarians have several sources of information to which they can turn - the Internet, their political parties, lobbyists and interest groups – in addition to parliamentary library and research services. As the volume of information increases, parliamentarians are turning to their library services to synthesize and analyse this information to make it available to them in an accessible and timely way.
Parliamentary libraries and research services need to adapt their service model to reflect the fact that their service will increasingly act as a facilitator of the information process rather than the one and only focus point for information.
Some parliamentarians, particularly new members, may be reluctant to ask for help in finding information, fearful that they might give the impression that they are not sufficiently knowledgeable. A major component of the work of parliamentary libraries in the future will be to provide ongoing training to parliamentarians and parliamentary staff, let them know what is available to them and how to identify, manage and use the information resources that can help them do their jobs well.
The Conference was jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Section on Library and Research Services for Parliaments. It was the third in an annual series of conferences in partnership with the ASGP, following on parliamentary broadcasting in 2006 (with the European Broadcasting Union) and ICT in parliament in 2007 (with the United Nations and the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament). The full report of the Conference will be published at the end of the year. More information on the Conference is available on the IPU website.
