[Webinar] Universal Bibliographic Control: Global Perspectives on the 2025 IFLA Statement
Join us in the second webinar in 2025 of our virtual event series
“Topics in National Bibliographies”!
The IFLA Bibliography Section in collaboration with the UBC working group is hosting a free webinar on Wednesday 10 December 2025, on the IFLA Statement on Universal Bibliographic Control 2025.
About the webinar
High-quality, interoperable bibliographic data is more important than ever in today’s interconnected world. Libraries play a crucial role in creating accurate, trustworthy metadata that supports discovery, research, and information sharing. UBC provides the foundation for libraries and bibliographic agencies to share information reliably across borders.
This webinar will present the newly revised IFLA Professional Statement on Universal Bibliographic Control and feature a panel of international experts discussing its principles, implementation, and the potential need for practical guidelines.
Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their perspectives through the Q&A during the webinar, with a follow-up survey inviting further input on how future directions could best support global bibliographic work.
Programme
Presentation
UBC Today: The 2025 IFLA Professional Statement on UBC and What Comes Next
With: Maud Henry (KBR – Royal Library of Belgium) and Mathilde Koskas (BnF – National Library of France)
Panel Discussion, with:
- Saeedeh Akbari Darian (National Library and Archives of Iran)
- Pat Riva (Concordia University)
- Mulugeta Woldetsadik (Hawassa University)
- Tolkyn Zamzayeva (National Library of Kazakhstan)
Moderated by: Anna Slawek (University of Toronto) and Satu Niininen (National Library of Finland)
Speakers and Panelists
Maud Henry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science and is a Metadata Librarian at the Bibliographic Information Agency at the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR). In her role, Maud specializes in standardizing cataloguing practices, aligning internal processes with international standards, and improving the Belgian Bibliography. She contributes to the transition to RDA and revises indexing policies to enhance data accessibility and accuracy. She is a standing committee member of the IFLA Bibliography Section and Co-Chair of the UBC working group.
Mathilde Koskas is Head of the Monographs section of the French National Bibliography. She was Chair of IFLA’s Bibliography section and Secretary of Division III (then H) between 2019 and 2023. She now is the Chair of IFLA’s Cataloguing section and co-Chair of the working group on Universal Bibliographic Control. Her work focuses on legal deposit and cataloguing of printed and electronic books, cataloguing standards and rules for National Bibliographies, and the online catalogues and services that give access to bibliographic and authority data.
Saeedeh Akbari Daryan is Chair of IFLA’s ISBD Review Group. She has been a member of both the Permanent UNIMARC Committee (PUC) and the ISBD Review Group for several years. She is an assistant professor at the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI), specializing in bibliographic metadata standards. She contributed to the development of IranMARC and played a key role in implementing it in the integrated library system of NLAI. She also led the project to implement NLAI ’s thesauri in Skosmos.
Pat Riva is Associate University Librarian, Collection Services, at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Pat is a member of the UBC Working Group and Chair of the METATEC Technical Review Group. She recently completed two terms as the Secretary of the Advisory Committee on Standards. Previously, she served on the Cataloguing (2005-2013) and Bibliography (2013-2021) Sections’ Standing Committees, and was Information Coordinator for Bibliography. She chaired the FRBR Review Group (2005-2013) (forerunner of the Bibliographic Conceptual Models Review Group) and co-authored the IFLA Library Reference Model, approved in 2017, as well as LRMoo, approved in April 2024. Pat’s main interest is bibliographic standards development and translation, and outside of IFLA she has served on standards committees for RDA, MARC 21, the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Mulugeta Woldetsadik is a passionate advocate for libraries as hubs of learning, innovation, and community development. With extensive experience in library and information science, he has led projects that bring modern technology, training, and research into practical use for both academic and public communities. Mulugeta works to empower library staff and inspire users, fostering digital literacy and lifelong learning. Through collaborations with local and international partners, he promotes libraries as dynamic spaces that connect people, ideas, and opportunities. His work continues to inspire the next generation of information professionals.
Tolkyn Zamzayeva was born in Almaty and graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in 2004 with a degree in Oriental Studies (Arabic Studies), later completing a Master’s in Turkology in 2022. She has worked at the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan since 2004, serving in specialist roles in the Centers for Documentary Heritage and Rare Books and leading departments including Rare Books and Manuscripts, World Literature, and External Relations. She compiled the Catalogue of the First Kazakh Printed Works in Arabic and Latin Scripts and has co-authored more than 15 books, including annotated editions of early Kazakh periodicals. Tolkyn currently heads the Information Resources Service, leads the Cataloguer’s School for nationwide librarian training, edits the bibliographic index Kazakhstan: Past and Present, and serves on the National Commission “Memory of the World” working group.
Anna Slawek is a Cataloguer and Librarian at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. She is currently the Secretary for the Subject Analysis and Access Section (SAA) and is a member of the SAA Knowledge Organization System Change and Data Structure (KOS-D) Working Group.
Satu Niininen is an Information Specialist at the National Library of Finland. In her current role within National Bibliography Services, she is responsible for developing and implementing new metadata production processes for online materials. With 15 years of experience in library science, her areas of specialization include metadata management, national bibliographies, publisher metadata (ONIX, Dublin Core) and accessibility. She is a member of the Bibliography Section Standing Committee.
Join us!
Don’t miss the chance to engage with leading professionals in the field and help shape the next steps in international bibliographic collaboration!
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