Transnational Meeting
Equal programme
The ABSIDE Project
Pier Giacomo Sola, Amitié, Italy
Trois Ilets - Martinique
25-27 mars 2003
ABSIDE: Apprendere in Biblioteca: la
Società dell’Informazione contro la
Discriminazione e l’Emarginazione
Abside is a project carried out within the
framework of the EQUAL Programme,
launched by the European Union to facilitate
inclusion of disadvantaged population.
The acronym means: “Learning in Libraries:
the Information Society facing discrimination
and exclusion”
The Background:
The Cremisi Project
The Cremisi Project, promoted in 1997 by
Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali
Ambientali – Direzione Generale per i Beni
Librari e gli Istituti Culturali (the Italian
Ministry for Cultural Heritage), created a
network of multimedia halls in National
Libraries, focusing on providing training
courses either for librarians, workers and
citizens. It ended in 2000.
The Idea:
Library is an Open Learning Space
Abside starts from the consideration that the
library, one of the few structures uniformly
distributed in Italy, can be a perfect place for
“learning”.
This resource is particularly efficient towards a public
who can perceive the library as a “friendly” source,
open and available for the most part of the day,
reachable without long journeys, otherwise necessary
to attend courses offered in big cities.
The Objective:
Developing New Training Models
The project, to be ended in November 2004,
will develop and test new training models to
support people who are in a weak and situation
with regards to labour market.
The pedagogical methodologies used in the framework
of the project integrate individual training, Open and
Distance Learning and practical activities,
in order to create a flexible and useful
fruition for the beneficiaries.
The Training Offer
The ODL materials developed and used in the
framework of the project will provide
horizontal knowledge regarding new
technologies - their potentialities and their
specific applications to telework – and
professional competencies, both generic and
transversal ones.
The Beneficiaries:
Criteria used to identify them
A) Market opportunities, to promote the
development of SMEs on the market;
B) Young people, to promote skills for selfemployability and entrepreneurships;
C) People living in rural and mountain areas, facing
little training and working opportunities forcing them
to move towards cities;
D) Social exclusion, especially focusing on people in or
quitting prison, offering training course to promote
social inclusion and job opportunities.
The Beneficiaries:
Criteria used to identify them
E) Linguistic discrimination, to facilitate
integration of recent migrants;
F) Youngsters, mainly in main cities’ suburbs,
to guide them towards new professions;
G) People physically and psychically disabled,
increasing experience of pilot libraries and
documentation centres especially set-up for them;
H) Gender discrimination, addressing women who
encounter difficulties in entering or re-entering the
labour market.
The Beneficiaries:
Criteria used to identify them
I) Cultural discrimination, limiting job
opportunities to young people with a
humanities degree;
J) Access to information, to support educational
and training systems easily accessible by
everybody in each library, wherever located.
The Activities
1. Creating Learning Spaces within public
libraries; training librarians to act as tutors;
2. Identification, design, development and
purchase of training materials for the ODL;
3. Activation and experimental supply of courses
4. Development of a credits system
5. Support, awareness raising, information and
dissemination activities
6. Transnational exchanges with similar experiences
The Multimedia Halls
Each multimedia hall is (will be) equipped for
e-learning with PCs, printers, etc., and
connected to the Internet so as to promote a
collaborative learning environment
Their main role is to be a demonstration centre to
facilitate partnership with other organisations
interested in promoting local cultural
and economic development.
The Project Management:
Connecting the Social Actors
Research Centres:
Amitié
Professional associations:
Associazione
Italiana Biblioteche
Companies:
Comerint
Higher education:
Università della Tuscia
Trade Unions:
Cisl and CGIL
Sectoral associations: Associazione CDH
(disabled)
COSPE (migrants)
Lilith (women)
Policy Issues:
The Impact on Local and National Agenda
The following organisations are supporting the
project:
Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali
Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione
Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia
Regione Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria,
Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardia,
Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Toscana,
Umbria, Veneto
Comune di Roma
Province di Parma e Salerno
Conclusions
- High communication and relational
competences are requested to librarians.
- He/she does not play only the traditional role
of static interface to the fruition of knowledge,
but also assumes the role of tutor, consultant,
guide for people going to the library.
- The approach is flexible, because it adapts
modalities, quantity and typology of the
services offered, according to the specific local
needs.
Conclusions
The librarian/tutor does not substitute other
people and organisations already present on
his/her area, but becomes the main reference
point (one stop shop) of the training needs,
providing advice and addressing the users to
other offices with more specific competences.
Conclusions
The role played by the national, regional and
local administrations in the project is very
important, because it guarantees:
- the quality of the process of updating the
skills of library personnel;
- the availability of spaces dedicated to
learning, hosted by public libraries;
- a close connection with the other
organisations working on social issues.
To Know Something More
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
URL:
++39.051.27.31.73
++39.051.65.60.402
[email protected]
http://www.abside.net
Pier Giacomo Sola
Amitié
via Val d’Aposa, 3
I-40123 BOLOGNA