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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@vliruos.be
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.