An International Training Program on “INFORMATION”:
STIMULATE
=
Scientific and Technological Information Management in Universities and Libraries:
an Active Training Environment
(Edition 9)
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, May June July in 2009:
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, 6, 7 and 8.
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:
This International Training Program offers a stimulating learning environment to information experts in the area of science and technology, who are in the early phase of their career. The aims are 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 the International Training Programs that are supported by VLIR: 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 books and 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.
Evaluation of information retrieval strategies and systems.
Evaluating the quality of information sources.

4. Information architecture and digital libraries:

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 library of the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerpen / Antwerp, Belgium
–to the city library of Antwerpen / Antwerp
–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 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.

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.

Poster session by participants:

Each participant creates a poster to present information to the other participants of the training program as well as to other interested persons who may be present, about
1.      the location of their professional organisation/institute
2.      the aims of their professional organisation/institute
3.      their personal professional function and expertise
4.      their professional needs, expectations, wishes, desires, priorities
The posters are shown once in a poster session that lasts for about 1 hour.
This is organised as soon as possible, probably on day 2 of the program.
The hope is that during this session, the participants can get to know each other better and they can make interesting professional contacts.
The poster can consist of several sheets A4 or better A3 size, with printed text and figures and can contain a leaflet or brochure about their home organisation.
The secretariat of the program will provide adhesive tape to mount the poster on a wall.
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.
The poster should not cover more than 1 square meter.
Each participant should collect some supporting materials like folders, leaflets, photos, maps, etc… well in advance for inclusion in their poster and bring these to the program!

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, Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
”       Dekeyser, Catholic University Leuven, 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, Belgium
”       Goovaerts, Hasselt University, Belgium
”       Koninckx, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
”       Holans, Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
”       Hopkinson, Middlesex University, London, England, UK
”       Nieuwenhuysen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
”       Noordermeer, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium
”       Nyssen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
”       Quiroga, University of Hawai, Hawai, USA
”       Rousseau, Hogeschool Oostende, Belgium
”       Van Audenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
”       Van Borm, ex-director of the university library, Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium

Certificat:
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.

Social and cultural activities planned:

- Poster presentation by each participant to the other participants and to invited guests, about information management in their home institute, on the same evening as the welcome reception with drinks and appetizers, early in the program.
- Evening with the opportunity to learn more about beer tasting and to taste some of the world-famous Belgian beers and some Belgian food; with beer tasting contest.
- Tasting contest: various types of chocolate produced in Belgium.
- Two photography contests.
- Farewell gathering with drinks and snacks. (final evening of the program)
Furthermore the participants can join some of the many activities at the university and in Brussels, which are organized by others.

Participation, registration=tuition fee:

Grants=scholarships:

Participation is free of charge (!) for 12 participants from selected developing countries. Those participants who receive a scholarship 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 return flight ticket plus a scholarship to cover the costs of transport from the airport upon arrival to their room, accommodation, health insurance during the stay in Belgium, transport in Belgium, and finally transport from their room to the airport.
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.
The detailed forms that are needed to request a grant=scholarship should be available through the Internet starting from November preceding the Program, from the WWW site of VLIR-UOS concerning scholarships  http://www.scholarships.vliruos.be/
Applications for a scholarship must be received before the end of January! (and NOT before the end of February as in previous years up to 2005).
If you have requested a grant=scholarship for an earlier version of this program and you did not receive one of the scholarships, then you can send a complete, new request following the most recent procedure and using the most recent official forms.
Priority countries are selected by the government of Belgium, NOT by VLIR, NOT by the academic organisers of this program and the list changes over the years. The following is copied from the VLIR-UOS WWW site in 2008:
Only residents of developing countries on the VLIR-UOS’ List of Developing Countries are eligible for a scholarship. The Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGCD) decided to modify, as of 2008, the country list applicable to university corporation for development activities. Only 41 countries still remain on the list. Please check carefully whether your country of origin is on the list.
The geographical spread of students is a factor: 50% of the participants in an ICP or ITP must come from Sub-Saharan Africa. Efforts will be made to ensure equal representation.
Candidates must reside in their country of origin when they apply and when the programme starts, in case they are selected.
Latin America:
Bolivia
Brazil
Colombia
Cuba
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
Nicaragua
Peru
Surinam
Africa:
Algeria
Benin
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
DR Congo
Ethiopia
Guinea
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Madagascar
Mali
Morocco
Mozambique
Niger
Rwanda
Senegal
South Africa
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Asia:
Bangladesh
Cambodia
China
India
Indonesia
Palestinian Administrative Areas
Philippines
Vietnam

Normal registration without scholarship from VLIR:

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, transport in Belgium, meals and accommodation, but do include transport from the airport upon arrival, welcome reception, health insurance, printed study materials, study visits, 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 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, which 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. Also there is no age limit. The decision to participate to the program is to be made by the person who is interested and NOT by the organizers. This is like participating 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.

Didactic materials and notebook pc:

Every participant who receives a grant/scholarship from VLIR-UOS receives next to his/her monthly grant/scholarship a lump sum of about 280 euro from VLIR-UOS for the purchase of didactic materials (e.g. books needed for a course, printed course notes, cost of study visits, use of a notebook pc).
Each participant who receives a scholarship from VLIR-UOS pays a lump sum of 150 euro to the program organisers for the didactic costs, durin the first week of the program. For participants who are participating without a VLIR-UOS grant/scholarship this cost is included in the registration (=tuition fee).
Because  of the content of the program and because the schedule is online and because communication is organised through the internet, it is obligatory that every participant uses a notebook=laptop pc with a wireless network card=component=interface (WIFI) during the program. Each participant should bring a suitable bag to carry and transport the pc safely during the program; ideally this should not look like a special pc bag to avoid theft. Access to a notebook pc can be arranged as follows:
OPTION 1:
The participant brings a notebook pc of his/her own. In this case it is important that the participant should try to bring the official purchasing papers for the  notebook pc, so that in the case that a technical problem arises, the participant in question can go to an official dealer for technical support and so that the pc can be exported and imported through the customs at the airports without problem.
OPTION 2:
The participant can not bring a pc. In this case he/she informs the program organisers as soon as possible and well in advance of the start of the program. Then the program organisers will try to provide a notebook pc which can be rented for the whole duration of the program. Rental cost for three months is 130 euro. Guarantee is 400 euro; this sum is refunded to the participant after returning the notebook pc in good condition at the end of the program. The notebooks provided by the program organisers are suitable for all the tasks required during the program. The provision of a notebook pc by the program organisers cannot be guaranteed, as there is only a limited number of notebook pc’s which the program organisers have available. The participants that inform the program organisers first concerning their need to rent a notebook pc have priority to the others. If the participant prefers not to rent but to buy a notebook pc during the first week of the program, then this can also be arranged, with assistance of the program organises.
OPTION 3:
The participant cannot bring a notebook pc and the program organisers cannot provide one for rent. In that case, the participant has to buy a new notebook pc during the first week of the program, with assistance of the program organisers, in a shop freely chosen by the partcipant. Of course in this case the partcipant should have the needed funds available (minimum 600 euro at the time of writing this text).

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, local transport, food… In Belgium, tap water available free of charge is safe and healthy, suitable for drinking.

Total cost:
An estimate of the total cost to participate can of course be made by adding all cost factors which include probably the following:
registration=tuition fee, travel, accommodation, food and drinks, medical insurance, taxi at arrival, local transport mainly in Brussels, study materials, use of a notebook pc, taxi at departure.
Some of these are mentioned and explained above.

How to contact the academic 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

However, correspondence about scholarships should not be addressed to the academic organizers, but to VLIR-UOS as explained elsewhere in this text.

Location:

The training is mainly organized at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
The main 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.eric-maerschalck.be/Brussels/bruxelles.php?log=NO offers photos made in Brussels
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.use-it.be/
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 full-time 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.

This version is dated 2008-10-11

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