International Special Librarians Day - Information Ethics Day

Held on : 17th April

International Special Librarians Day (ISLD) honours the unique contributions made by information professionals by promoting their critical roles in the global information community. ISLD is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday of National Library Week (ALA), which is generally the second full week in April. ISLD encourages information professionals to promote the services they provide to their users, customers, and management within their organizations and to external communities. From 2009 onwards ISLD was replaced with Global Information Ethics Day.

History

The Special Libraries Association (SLA) Board of Directors established International Special Librarians Day (ISLD) in 1991. International Special Librarians Day is sponsored by Factiva (a Dow Jones Reuters Company), and SLA. The continued growth of this international event encourages information professionals to promote and showcase their resources and services through a variety of activities using promotional materials provided by SLA.

ISLD was put on hiatus in 2006 while the SLA Public Relations Advisory Council assessed its effectiveness in educating the public about special librarians and information professionals. Over the course of 2007, the PRAC aspired to create an event that would replace ISLD, as well as recognize and showcase the specialized skills and the value that info pros bring to an enterprise. After looking at the issues that are important to clients and the business community in today's information economy, the PRAC determined that there is very little knowledge out there focused on what SLA members do every day - search, gather, and share information in an ethical manner.

Do CEOs and executives realize that their resident special librarian or info pro is providing additional value by protecting their organization from scandal, litigation, or worse? Not typically. And sadly, it is often only when it is too late that matters of information ethics (or the lack thereof) are brought to their attention. With a desire to change this unfortunate reality, a decision was made to replace ISLD with a new, more engaging and informative day of education and celebration in April 2009. Thus, the days was officially launched as Information Ethics Day in 2009 during SLA's Centennial Celebration.

Events

Conferences are held which highlight the current trends in Library System and show the importance of Library and Librarians.

Themes -  Past ISLD Themes have been:

2004 - Creating Information Currency.
2003 - Orchestrating A World of Information.
2002 - Leadership, Partnership, Membership: Expanding Global Knowledge Frontiers.
2001 - A World of Information Within Your Reach.
2000 - Navigating the World’s Knowledge.
1999 - Exercise Your Resources.
1998 - The Time Is Now.
1997 - Putting Knowledge to Work.
1996 - Partners in Global Information Management.
1995 - Mastering Global Information with a Competitive Advantage.
1994 - Building a Better World with Information.
1993 - Global Understanding Through Information.
1992 - Information Knows No Bounds.
1991 - Information Beyond Borders: Building Global Partnerships.

ISLD Logo - The logo features numericals 1 and 0 dropping on three golden coloured coins.

Holiday Status - It is not a holiday.