Winds of Change - Centar za ljudska prava Univerziteta u Sarajevu ...

Repositories of Human Rights Information and Documentation:
Introduction
Note on Research Methodology
Saša Madacki, Veronika Bauer and Andjela Lalovic
The purpose of this mapping/research is to analyse the status quo of existing
human rights digital libraries in South East Europe and Western Europe, in
particular their content and their usage/application in human rights education.
This research project aims to finally come to the conclusion whether such digital
libraries are needed to improve and how they can foster human rights education.
Furthermore the actual structures of these libraries shall be analysed and
compared and good/best practices shall be identified.
Having effective and efficient library service(s) is a clear indicator of the
development stage reached by any organisational system in any given context.
Successful business enterprises are supported by a comprehensive information
and documentation system; a good library will be found in the backbone of
every prominent educational system worldwide; research and development
departments cannot function without timely provided information coming from
their specialised libraries. The same is applied to human rights organisations and
digital libraries. The existence of a well-functioning library and library service,
founded on the effective usage of ICT applications, is saying a lot about how
serious the given organisation is.
Since the fall of the communist regimes in SEE, human rights were a subject of
a number of quite expensive international aid programmes. In many cases, the
main aim of these support policies was to create sustainable and relevant
mechanisms for promotion and protection of human rights. By analysing their
ICT based library service, it will be possible to conduct an indirect assessment
of the quality of their work and end results of their projects in the human rights
field, as well as to compare them with their western counterparts. Furthermore,
it will be possible to draw some important conclusions regarding future
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