Library Organizations in Belgium and Information Literacy

Belgian libraries reflect the political and economic divisions that exist within the country.  The North/Flanders and South/Wallonia each have their own library institutions.  In addition they are divided by type of institutions and are dependent on regional and community governments instead of their federal government.  University and school libraries depend on their own institutions for funding and as a result there isn’t a global strategic framework. 

Pachet and Thirions conducted a study in 1995 on the Information Literacy situation in Belgium.  They found that there is a significant dichotomy between the technical and intellectual aspects of information literacy with a heavy emphasis on the technical aspect.  Instruction focuses on what “buttons to push” instead of the how and why of information literacy.  They discovered that there are infrequent partnerships between librarians and teachers and that computer assisted learning is rare.  They identified AFFD’s Strategic Directions are as follows:
-    Developing statistical and qualitative evaluation of Information Literacy
-    Developing marketing policy within the institutions
-    Developing a legitimization process of Information Literacy
-    Integrating libraries and teaching
-    Developing official recognition of Information Literacy programs in political and institution decisions
AFFD is also working on modifying the following practices:
-    Integration of student use of libraries
-    Teachers integrating libraries into the classroom
-    Increasing librarians awareness of the role as teachers
Pachet and Thirion cite lack of financial resources as reasons for the slow progress in these areas. They also indentified the organization CERFISTS three main goals:  teacher training, development of training, and measuring Information Literacy impact. The last organization they discuss is the SOFIE Project who aims to train the user community to use Belnet (Belgian National Research Network for education, research and public services) and in selecting and indexing online resources. 
Pachet and Thirion assert that problem areas within the Belgian Library system stem from the lack of a key role in education and training.  Libraries are “far from the centre of concern in Belgium” as policy makers do not think that users need assistance in accessing information.   

The following is a list of organizations in Belgium:
Wallonia
Association Belge de Documentation (ABD)
Fonds National de la Recherche/Scientifique (FNRS)
    -they focus on library instruction and supports federal projects
Belgian Collective Catalogue et Monographs (CCB)
Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS)
Association Belge des Bibliothécaire d'Expression Française (ABBEF)
Association Professionnelle des Bibliothécaires Documentalistes (APBD)
-    Concentrates on public libraries
Fédération Interdiocésaine des Bibliothécaires et Bibliothèques catholiques (FIBBC)
-    concentrates on the Catholic sector
Prodoc-edu
-    high school librarians
-    created by EduDOC Group
-    focuses on the role of libraries within the teaching community
Conseil Interuniversitaire francophone (CIUF)
-    Coalition of University libraries
Ateliers Francophones sur la Formation Documentaire (AFFD)
Réseau Coopératif pour une Documentation plus Accessible (RéCoDA)
-    Cooperative network of libraries
Development d’une Formation à Information Scientifique and Technique (DéFIST)
-    Collaboration between RéCoDA
Federal Projects
Belgian Collective Catalogue of monographs (CCB)
National Collective Catalogue of the Serials (Antilope)

Flanders
Mededelingenblad van Vlaamse Vereniging voor Bibliotheek -,Archief- in Documentatiewezen (VVBAD)
-    Association includes public, scientific, school, academic and private libraries
-    financed by the Flemish government
-    Journals include “INFORMATION" and "Bib-SCOOP"
-    Does not currently have an IL project
Thirion P., Pochet B. "Information literacy in Belgium. An overview by the EduDOC group".
In Basili. C (ed.). Information Literacy in Europe : a first insight into the state of the art
of information literacy in the European Union. Rome : Italian National Research Council,
2003, p 12-24.