IFLAPARL Pre-Conference, Warsaw, 2017

The first day was organised by the Polish Parliament, who had the opportunity to present their organisation, legislative process and research/information output. 

SESSION I: Informing about legislative process, debate and parliamentary heritage – communication tools of the Sejm and the Senate

• The flow of information about the law in the modern society, Grzegorz WierczyÅ„ski
• Documentation of the legislative work of the Sejm in the databases on the Sejm website, Zenon Mikos
• The role of the Senate in the legislative process, Klaudia ZawiÅ›lak
• Information on the course of legislative work in the Senate – the perspective of the Senate Sitting Unit, Mariusz ParafiaÅ„czyk
• Museum Division of the Sejm Library, BÅ‚ażej PopÅ‚awski
• Resources of the Sejm Archives and their availability, MichaÅ‚ Barcikowski
• Archives of the Breakthrough 1989-1991, Agata Karwowska-SokoÅ‚owska
• European information on the Sejm website, Regina WÄ…sowicz

SESSION II: Access to developed parliamentary information – basis for citizens’ involvement in public affairs

• The role of research services and sharing their work with the public, Ziemowit CieÅ›lik
• Access to public information – legal regulations and parliamentary practice in Poland, Wojciech Odrowąż-Sypniewski
• The role of databases in regulatory impact analysis and assessment for parliaments, Prof. Kamilla Marchewka-Bartkowiak
• One year of the Senate’s experience of using Regulation Impact Assessment, Katarzyna Majewska, Marian Andrzej FaÅ‚ek

SESSION III: Public reception of the information delivered by Parliament

• Participation of civil society in parliamentary proceedings: public consultation, petition, public hearing, Maciej Kowalski
• Information on legislative process on the Sejm and Senate websites: opinions and expectations of NGOs, Danuta Adamiec
• Activity of the Senate in social media, Milena Kombor
• Activity of the Sejm in social media, Danuta Adamiec

The second day of the conference was organised by IFLAPARL and focused on sharing practical experience of how parliamentary libraries, research and information services develop new products and services according to ever-changing requirements from parliamentarians and citizens, and the impact on quality and planning.  It contained a mixture of keynote presentations on innovation, shorter case studies and interactive group discussions, see list below. The agenda also featured updates from regional networks and IFLAPARL partners, including a presentation on the on-going work to create a new ‘World Directory for Parliamentary Library and Research Services’.

• Innovation in analytical and information products and services for parliaments and citizens: client focus, visibility and new technology – Adolfo Furtado, Chamber of Deputies Brazil
• Multimedia products – Mitja Brus, European Parliamentary Research Service
• Improving access to the law drafting process: online information packages – Erika Bergström. Parliamentary Library of Finland
• Policy seminars: current initiatives and challenges at the National Diet Library – Hiroyuki Okuyama. National Diet Japan
• Information providing, society and Chamber of Deputies in Brazil: a new approach – André Freire da Silva. Chamber of Deputies Brazil
• Innovation in analytical and information products and services for parliaments and citizens: impact on quality and planning – Ellie Valentine
• Ethical issues in parliamentary research services and libraries – Iain Watt, European Parliament
• Training sessions for improving data visualization – Ida Kelemen, Hungarian National Assembly
• An innovation and change in researcher achievement evaluation – Seung Hyun Lee. National Assembly Research Service (NARS) Korea

On the last day of the pre-conference, delegates were offered the opportunity to take part in different workshops, which you can read more about below. These were well attended, and the presenters did an outstanding job of sharing their expertise. The feedback we collected shows that the workshops were much appreciated.

• Creating interactive data visualisations, Mitja Brus
• Managing Institutional Knowledge, Lillian Gassie
• OpenSource and Cloud Computing at Library of National Congress of Chile BCN, Luis Armando González
• Creating digital repositories, Chama Mpundu Mfula
• ALFRESCO in Parliament of Uganda, Julius Wabwire
• Ethical issues in parliamentary research & libraries, Iain Watt
• Open Source: Parliamentary Search, Steve Wise
• Conducting Parliamentary Research, Edward Wood

See https://www.flickr.com/photos/senatrp/albums/72157685158286224 for more photos.