EWU Library organised 4-day international workshop on Health Information Literacy
The launching ceremony of East West University Digital Library and an International Workshop on "Health Information Literacy (IWHIL) 2011 was organized at the university auditorium, from 27-30 July 2011 for information professionals, health professionals, researcher, students, faculty members from different universities, colleges, NGOs of Bangladesh.
The inaugural session of the workshop and the launching ceremony of EWU Digital Library were held on 27 July 2011. Syed Manzur Elahi, founder member, Board of Trustees, East West University, Chairman, Apex Group, and former Adviser to Caretaker Government of Bangladesh was present as the chief guest in this ceremony while Dr. Mohammed Farashuddin, President, Board of Trustees of East West University, presided over the session. Welcome speech addressed by esteemed Librarian Ms. Dilara Begum, Head of Library, East West University, Program Director, International workshop on Health Information Literacy (IWHIL) 2011 and Country Coordinator, Digital Library Network in South Asia (DlNetSA).
Dr. Jagtar Singh, Professor and Head, Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala, India was present as the Lead Resource Person. Beside him, Dr. Inder Vir Malhan Professor, Head & Dean, Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharmashala (HP), India; D.V. Singh, President Indian Library Association and Librarian, Shriram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, India; Mr. Kazi Ali Reza, Officer-in-Charge, United Nations Information Centres (UNIC), IDB Bhaban (Floor 8), Begum Rokeya Sharoni, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207 Bangladesh and Mr. Md. Abul Faiz, Professor of Medicine, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Mitford, Dhaka, Bangladesh & Former DG, Directorate General of Health Services, Dhaka, Bangladesh presented papers on different aspect of health information literacy to the participants at the workshop.
The workshop was focused on different health and health related issues to the participants for building future leaders to promote the health information literacy among next generation of the country.
A total of 35 participants from national & International leading public and private universities including North Bengal University, India, Maldives National University, Banaras Hindu Inuversity, Varanasi, India, Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Independent University Bangladesh, and other national & International institutions take hands on training on health information literacy.
The closing session of the workshop was held on 30th July 2011. This session was addressed by Md. Humayun Kabir, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as chief guest and Professor Dr. Muniruddin Ahmed, Vice Chancellor (In Charge), East West University presided over the program. At the end of the closing session the chief guest and program chair distributed certificates among the participants.
In this age of information and communication technology, Health Information Literacy (HIL) program becomes a multifaceted task which is frequently varying due to the technological innovation. Librarians need to be more competent to teach its patrons on health information literacy skills and to empower them as lifelong learners and critical thinkers.
This workshop will play a very significant role to launch this emerging and vital tool in regional libraries or health institutions to enable the librarians, researchers, health workers, students to play more effective role to ensure the best utilization of information resources to fulfill their health information needs. It may be mentioned that this workshop on HIL will be held for the first time in Bangladesh.