Sharing common aims.

This article reports on a conference in Helsinki, Finland, which looked at how librarians can respond to the World Summit on the Information Society as of January 2005. The key point that libraries and memory institutions around the world have much more in common emerged at the Libraries for Active Citizenship global perspective conference, organised in October 2004 by the Finnish Library Association. The fact that the LIS community is an international one which shares many issues, concerns and problems clearly came through in presentations on the development of the learning society in Namibia, Estonia and the Caucasus. From the international perspective, the position of the libraries in the information society is an important issue. The main aim of the day, which was certainly achieved, was to raise awareness of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process and what librarians can do. The development of ICT usage in Estonia is one example of how the WSIS is being put into practice. The event also showed that LIS professionals could use the WSIS action plan as an advocacy tool. Two main areas emerged: political perspectives on the overarching trends; and advice based on good practice. The seminar succeeded in promoting networking between people from around the globe.