The European certification of competences, CERTIDoc is being developed in Romania… a fruitful co-operation  between ABIDOR and ADBS

Further to a jury organised by ADBS in Bucarest at the 22 october 2007 in which Sophie RANJARD and Eric SUTTER participated at the decision taken by the General Management Committee on 26 October 2007, five Romanian professionals have been euro-certified in Information and Documentation by ADBS :
- Florin ROTARU, General Director of  the Metropolitan Library in Bucarest (a network comprising 35 specialised or public libraries), PhD in History, a specialist  of  old books, President of the Romanian Association of librarians and documentalists (ABIDOR) ;

- Elena LEONTE, Director of the Public Library, department of Iasi (a network comprising 85 country libraries), graduated in  journalism and Librarian science, author of several professional books ;

- Corina STANILA, who has degree in International relations and European Studies,  since 2004 the National responsible of the French-Romanian project "Education in Information" implementation of Documentation Center s(CD1)  in schools (from primery to secondary level), National teacher for documentalists professors ;

- Nicoleta MARINESCU, Librarian at the central library of the University of Iasi (nord east of Romanian), author of numerous professional publications , in charge of Library science and information specialist for the librarian and documentalist sector ;

- Maria MICLE, Master of Arts, has degrees in Library Science and Information Science, responsible of the department Special Collections of the Central Library of the University of Timisoara (west of Romanian), Professor-Assistant of Library Science.
Those five professionals have also been trained to the CERTIDOC procedure in order to be empowered as evaluators of CERTIdoc and participate to next juries of certification.
More other applications of Romanian professionals are in preparation or under examination.
Two professionals working in Chisinau, in Moldavia, have as well transmitted their Applications.
ABIDOR has the hope to promote the Euro-certification in other countries of the Balkans.
Contact : certification@adbs.fr

ES/26/10/2007

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Paris, 18 June 2007

Twelve European information associations work together for the promotion of professional competences

Organized at the initiative of ADBS, a one day seminary devoted to the promotion of professional competences of Europe's information and documentation professionals was held in Paris on 15 June 2007. It brought together representatives of twelve national professional associations or groups of associations from Germany, Belgium, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. . The  Euro-certification of competences The first part of this day offered the opportunity to make a progress report on the development of the Euro-certification, the system of certification of competences  set by international standard ISO 17024. Seven associations or groups of associations are already engaged in the process of awarding Euro-certificates in information-documentation based on the rules of the European System of certification of levels of qualification in  information-documentation (CERTIDoc) put in place by the end of 2005*. To support this movement, the members of the consortium CERTIDoc, in particular have approved the creation of a "planning committee" for the exchange of information and experiences among the associations and organisations involved or interested in the Euro-certification of individual competences in our field of activity. In the coming months, communication activities will be conducted together to expand the audience for Euro-certification and to make it better recognised by a number of partners, recruiters, human resources directors, national employment agencies, and in all professional circles. The « Euroguide LIS » The second part of the day was devoted to the development of the «Euroguide LIS». The second edition (2004) is now available in eleven languages and has achieved great success across Europe and beyond. Several thousand copies were distributed in printed form or downloaded by users. Participants in this European meeting have all emphasized the importance of this document for the profession and highlighted its diverse uses. In several countries, training programs in universities and professional schools have been restructured based on the Euroguide and its thirty-three fields of expertise (in total conjunction with the restructuring of higher education programs imposed by the “Bologna Process ").  It has become an essential tool which must follow the evolution of the profession and of the practices in information and documentation. In order to prepare a third edition in 2009, it was decided to establish a "Euroguide group”, grouping bodies involved in the translation or updating of the Euro-guide. In each country or language area, a national association and consortium member, will, if necessary make the handover to other local professional associations or any other body using the Euroguide. A wake site will be set up to promote collaborative work between the various associations and avoid unnecessary travel. Work on terminology will also be refined. The European collaboration At a continental European scale, the profession now has in the Euroguide and the Euro-certification two major tools contributing to the analysis and enhancement of competences of information and documentation professionals. This meeting has demonstrated the relevance of "the project based approach" in the inter-association work at European level. It has also shown a strong tendency towards collaborative work, for such a tool cannot, of course, be developed by a single association, especially as the boundaries between traditional jobs disappear. In several countries (Switzerland, Italy, etc...), "consortia" of several local associations have been established to participate more effectively in this European project.   The participants in this meeting have also highlighted the role of ADBS which for nearly fifteen years invested in the design, maintenance and promotion of these tools for collective management of competences.   * Project supported by the European Commission (Leonardo da Vinci program)

To know more about the European system CERTIDOC : www.certidoc.net Contact : certification@adbs.fr

 

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Paris, 16 February 2007

Euro-certification is growing

In recent months, several events have contributed to the development of the Euro-certification of competences in information and documentation:
 
-  a fifth professional, an Italian national, was Euro-certified (at Expert level) by ADBS on 5 January 2007.
- on 29 November 2006 "CERTIDoc Italia" was created as the result of an agreement between the Italian associations of libraries and information management: AIDA, AIDB, GIDIF RBM and IAML - Italia; a specific website was launched and a representative of ADBS will sit on the Italian Committee for certification. The entry of CERTIDoc-Italia into the European consortium CERTIDOC (currently composed of ADBS, SEDIC and GDI) is under consideration.
- on 31 January 2007 a partnership agreement was signed  between ADBS and the Swiss certification committee (consortium of three Swiss professional associations: BBS, ASD and GRD) to facilitate the access to Euro-certification for Swiss professionals in information and documentation.
on 9 February 2007 a delegation of the Romanian Association of librarians and information (ABIDOR) led by Florin Rotaru, Director General of the Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti, was received at ADBS; between the two associations the basis for cooperation has been established for Euro-certifying Romanian professionals in  information/documentation. A similar agreement to these signed between ADBS and ABD / BVD Belgium, and between ADBS and the Swiss certification committee was signed; it should provide for the assembly of the first Romanian juries in 2007 in Bucharest.
At the national level, ADBS initiated a series of meetings with other French bodies certifying individual competences in order to carry out common actions and to promote this type of professional certification (based on the international standard ISO 17024, like the Euro-certification in I & D). There is indeed, a strong demand from both, government and private bodies for the validation of professional practices, particularly those regarding the new "professions" or the activities.

Éric Sutter
Member of the ADBS Management committee for certification

More on www.certidoc.net
Contact : laurence.dapon@adbs.fr

ADBS - 25, rue Claude Tillier 75012 Paris France tel. +33 1 43 72 25 25

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Announcement to other professional associations in Europe

The Euro-certification, the European certification of professional competences levels in information and documentation, developed under the European project CERTIDoc, is being implemented gradually.
Applicants for Euro-certification will submit their applications over the coming months and the training of assessors is scheduled for 20 June, with a dozen French speaking participants, for their authorization under ADBS Certification.

It should be remembered that the Euro-certification is being issued (or will be issued) by the three certifying bodies that have already been approved by the European consortium CERTIDoc (ADBS, SEDIC, DGI), in accordance with the rules adopted by the consortium in 2004.

As we are presently, unable to establish a complete system for the management of the Euro-certification process, the Belgian association ABD-BVD has signed a "partnership agreement" with the ADBS Certification to facilitate the delivery of Euro-certificates to professionals working in the information/documentation sector in Belgium (this is to include Dutch speaking professionals, due to the lack of a certifying body in I&D in the Netherlands). The ABD-BVD will promote the Euro-certification among its members, translate the papers in Dutch, and, where appropriate,  assist applicants in preparing their applications. ADBS certification will train bilingual evaluators proposed by ABD-BVD (no later as June 2005).

In several countries (Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, etc ...) working groups composed of international associations have been established in order to complete discussions on the practical implementation of Euro-certification.
 
For further information on the development of Euro-certification, please, contact Sonia Boucheron.

ES/24/05/2005

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ADBS certified its firts candidates

The European consortium, CERTIDoc, composed at present of three bodies entitled to certify at European level professional competences in information/documentation (ADBS in France, DGI in Germany and SEDIC in Spain) organised a meeting in Paris on 3 February last year.
Since the operational start of the European system of certification in mid-June 2005, four professionals in information-documentation have received Euro-certificates (two at Manager level and two at technician level). For the  moment, only ADBS has begun to distribute the application files, to train evaluators and to appoint juries; SEDIC and DGI have started to adapt their national system to comply with the rules adopted by the consortium and are hoping to award Euro-certificates during the first semester.

The Belgian association ABD-BVD has signed an agreement with ADBS to facilitate access to the Euro-certification process for Belgian information-documentation professionals; assessors have been trained and authorized. An agreement is also foreseen between Swiss professional associations, which have already established a joint committee for certification. Such committees are being set up in Romania and Italy. INCITE in Portugal has announced his interest for the Euro-certification process.

Concurrently to the establishment of certifying bodies, a number of associations are lobbying for government recognition of Euro-certificates (for example, its inclusion in the national professional qualifications system in France).

The European consortium CERTIDoc also noted the success of the 2004 edition of the Euroguide in Information and Documentation. This reference tool, which involves all professionals in addition to those responsible for training courses and recruitment, will soon be available in eleven languages (six of which are already accessible on www.certidoc.net). Keep in mind that candidates for Euro-certification of competences are evaluated on the basis of the Euroguide and the rules for the assessment prepared by the consortium; the Euro-certificates issued by one or the other certifying body accredited by the consortium are the same, and as such are independent of any association or country.

The consortium plans to meet (physically or virtually) three times a year to maintain the coherence of the EU system and to allow it evolve depending on the needs expressed by the profession.

February, 2006

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The first Euro-certified professionals

ADBS, one of the three founding associations (*) of the European consortium CERTIDoc (the European system of certification of competences in information and documentation) is the first body to implement the certification system adopted late 2004 as a result of the project financed by the EU's Leonardo project.

Two juries have already met on 19 October and 21 November  to assess five applications (analysis of the evidence file, self-assessment grid and interview with the applicant). Among the first "Euro-certified" persons are Aline Martin and Georgette Charbonnier, two French professionals who obtained the title of Qualified Technician and Manager in Information-Documentation, respectively.

This Euro-certification, common to several professional associations, seems to be of interest to various professionals: those who want peer validation for the experience they have gained over years within a company, those who work in European or international organisation, consultants who want to put forward their expertise and inspire confidence in their customers, professionals who want to change their job, and others who take this opportunity to make a professional assessment ... The list of Euro-certified persons and the list of qualified assessors who are potential jurors are available on www. certidoc.net

Also keep in mind that the Belgian ABD-BVD group signed a partnership agreement with ADBS to facilitate access for professionals to the Belgian Euro-certification system. In other countries (Switzerland, Portugal, Romania, etc...), national associations have set up preparatory working groups to develop the Euro-certification system and are considering joining the consortium in order to issue Euro-certificates for persons in information- documentation.

(*) ADBS, SEDIC, DGI

February 2006

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The European certification system is up and running!

The European project CERTIDoc, co-financed by the Leonardo da Vinci program of the European Commission, was completed on 30 October 2004. Its objective was to design a European system of certification of competences for information and documentation professionals, which broadly-defined, includes librarians, archivists p for the project, grouped together three organisations with experience in certification (ADBS in France, SEDIC in Spain and DGI in Germany), the Free University of Brussels and a Company of Advisors specialized in information management, the Bureau van Dijk, in Paris. The project, which was rolled out over two years has produced such results that the European system could be implemented early in the year 2005.

Any association that intends to develop a system for issuing euro-certificates of competences now has a series of rules: Functioning of the European consortium of certifying bodies, Functioning of the certification process, Accreditation of assessors and constitution of juries, A Guide to the process and types of evaluation of competences, etc.. The Euro-guide of competences, which is the heart of the evaluation system was adopted. It is available in French and will soon be published in English, German and Spanish.

In early September 2004, a training session of a group of nine assessors was held to introduce the new system and to ensure consistency of assessment between the various certifying bodies and between different juries. Further sessions are already scheduled. On 4 October 2004, the European certification system (known as Euro-certification) was presented in Brussels to professional associations of documentation and libraries from seventeen different European countries licited a great response. Undoubtedly ,other associations will soon join the consortium founders, or will sign an agreement with them.

In France, ADBS Certification, the Department of ADBS which manages the system for certification, is preparing the "transfer" of the current procedures to the European system in order to issue the first Euro-certificates in 2005, classified in four qualification levels (assistant, technician, manager, expert) which remains the same. A computerised self-evaluation toll based on the Euroguide of competences will help to fill in the self-evaluation grid that accompanies the application folder (portfolio of evidence) submitted to a jury ,and an interview with the jury will help to clarify certain points described in the application before the deliberation of the jury and the issuing of the Euro-certificates.

The Euro-certificates issued by ADBS Certification will be identical to those issued by the other consortium members. Details of arrangements for candidates will be released in early 2005 once they are approved by the Certification Steering Committee.
To learn more now about the general rules adopted by the consortium visit www.certidoc.net

Éric Sutter, 06/10/2004

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CERTIDoc, the European project for the certification of information professionals, has just moved on to a new stage

On 18 November last, barely twelve months after being launched, the European consortium CERTIDoc, bringing together three major professional associations, ADBS (France), DGI (Germany), SEDIC (Spain), and two technical partners (Bureau Van Dijk and the Free University of Brussels), completed an essential phase of the project by adopting the Bye-laws of the European competencies certification mechanism. The competencies certification model has now been decided: certification will be awarded by certification bodies which must be approved by the consortium (in accordance with these Bye-laws), will cover four levels of qualification and will be available to all the sectors of information-documentation (archives, libraries, documentation, information management…) whatever the candidate's nationality. The conditions to be fulfilled to apply for certification are flexible and open, with the restriction that the candidate must have been in the profession for the past three years at least. The type of certification being set up will be essentially geared towards "professional experience" and the 2004 edition of the Euro Competencies Guide, currently being finalised, will be at the core of the candidate evaluation process. Specifically, for each area of competency, the candidate must be able to demonstrate practical implementation of knowledge acquired through academic tuition, further training or on-the-job experience.

It will soon be possible to consult these Bye-laws on-line on this site, in French and in English (and subsequently in Spanish and German).

The CERTIDoc consortium is currently working on a multi-lingual self-evaluation tool which will be accessible on-line. The French computer programme for competencies management I-Profil has been selected and will be the platform for this tool. A panel of professionals will be set up in a number of countries (including France) in 2004 to test the mechanism. The overall objective is to award the first European certificates at the end of 2004.

For further information, visit FAQ.

November 2003