Candidates are welcomed for several positions as co-opted members of IFLA’s Social Science Libraries Standing Committee for a term of up to four years.

More on the co-opting process.

SocSci brings together librarians who are involved with or interested in social science libraries in order to serve scholars working on the big issues of our time – how people behave, work in groups, and impact the world around us.  Our librarians work with social science disciplines such as anthropology, communications, demography, data librarianship, economics, global studies, gender and women’s studies, geography and cartography, history and philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and social work.

Why join SOCSCI?

  • To expand your professional network
  • To learn about best practices and trends in social science libraries and librarianship
  • To learn social science research methods to improve your library’s outreach and impact
  • To connect with librarians supporting research on key social issues around the globe

Serving on an IFLA Section Standing Committee represents a great personal and professional opportunity. It brings you in contact with library and information experts and specialists to contribute resources, research and practical guidance to the library and information field, and to bring this back to your own practice and community.

Responsibilities

Alongside other Members of the Committee, successful candidates are responsible for:

  1. working together to develop and deliver action plans responding to the needs of the library field and review progress on delivering the IFLA Strategy;
  2. building capacity to advocate at all levels, and identify and work on advocacy priorities, cooperating with Sections, Regional Committees and Advisory Committees, as well as other organisations, and also contribute actively to efforts to engage Members of the Section;
  3. building awareness of IFLA’s work, and reach out to non-Members.

As with other members of the Committee, they are expected to be able to show:

  • Expertise and experience in the thematic focus of the Section Committee.
  • Ability to integrate diverse perspectives and to collaborate virtually and in person with a diverse range of colleagues.
  • Proven record of developing ideas and successfully designing, organising and producing practical outputs which support the work of the library field.
  • Motivation and ability to devote time and energy to the role outside of their local time zone’s typical work hours – this can be 5-10 hours per month.
  • Time allowance to prepare and attend virtual meetings of the Committee which are held across a global set of time zones.
  • An ability to act with respect, trust, confidentiality and transparency and recognise the need to protect personal and privileged information. They must declare any conflicts of interest and abstain from discussions where they have a conflict or potential conflict of interest.

Candidates

  • Need to be based in one of the below regions that are currently not represented (or underrepresented) on the SocSci Committee: committee has no one representing the Middle East and North Africa Region, and three Regions are represented only by one person: Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Are expected to provide a statement of up to 200 words to justify their candidacy, explaining their experience and motivation for standing for the Committee
  • Should submit their self-nomination by 26 November 2023. Candidates should apply using this form.

Successful candidates will be notified of their selection before 1 December 2023. Unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted but will remain in the pool of available candidates.