Declaration: Information as Public Domain: Access through Libraries

[Liblicense-L Listowner <liblicen@pantheon.yale.edu>]

>From Nicholson.D@Library.wits.ac.za Mon Nov 15 17:24:37 2004
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 09:40:32 +0200
From: Denise Nicholson <Nicholson.D@Library.wits.ac.za>
Subject: Declaration: Information as Public Domain: Access through 
Libraries

Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:04:05 +0100
From: "Seidelin, Susanne" <sus@db.dk>
To: "'ifla-l@infoserv.inist.fr'" <ifla-l@infoserv.inist.fr>,
Subject: Declaration: Informtion as Public Domain: Access through Libraries

Dear colleagues,

Please find enclosed for your information, the Declaration of the
International Conference "Information as Public Domain: Access through
Libraries". The conference was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia on the
27-29th of October 2004.

Best regards,

Susanne Seidelin
IFLA/FAIFE Office
__________________________

DECLARATION of the International Conference 

"Information as Public Domain: Access through Libraries"

On 27-29 October 2004 St. Petersburg hosted the International Conference
"Information as Public Domain: Access through Libraries", which was
attended by over 120 representatives of public authorities, academic
research organizations, libraries and other institutions from Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Belarus, Great Britain, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzia, Moldova,
Russia, USA, Tajikistan and the Ukraine.

Having examined an extensive range of agenda items, the participants of
the Conference hereby confirm their view that enabling access to public
domain information produced by public authorities should become
fundamental to the national information policies of all nations striving
for democracy and freedom of human development. Public authorities, as
well as libraries, archives and various information services providers
should assume a primary responsibility for the expansion of openness and
management of information as public domain. The mainstream principle of
information management should be as follows: information produced by
public authorities should be deemed publicly available, and any exceptions
to this rule officially banning the said access should be justified,
minimized and supported by the power of law. The national information
policy and its legislative and regulatory support should be based on the
presumption of openness of government information.

The participants of the Conference take note that any national information
policy should reside on the determination to develop a knowledge society
and a civil society. Libraries of today constitute an indispensable
institution of civil society and an effective tool for building it.
Support of the development of library services should be elaborated in
national information policies.

The participants of the Conference take note of the need for meaningful
efforts to implement the key documents passed at the World Summit on
Information Society, i.e. the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action
(2003), as well as the Policy guidelines for the development and promotion
of government public domain information (UNESCO, 2004).

28 October, 2004
Tavrichesky Palace, Saint Petersburg
Adopted by Plenary Session