IASL 2006 - Portugal

IASL 2006 began yesterday with my induction into the working of the Executive and the Board. Meetings went from 9:30am 6:30pm and we haven't finished yet. The keynote this morning was by Ross Todd and challenged participants to become proactive in lityeracy and information literacy outcomes for students. Participants are from all over the world with 30 Australians, but only one from WA. It is always interesting to see how others are tackling essentially the same problems - poor recoginition and status, lack of funding and staffing, difficulties with technologies and a lack of understanding about the role of the TL in schools. Others who are working in developing countries have additaional probelms such as lack of essential infrastructure (like roadsn and buildings!), no trained staff and poor communications. It is always surprising to learn that we are all facing the same issues - how to effectively solve them and re-empower citizens through access to information (and this includes location and understanding) is the challenge for the profession in the 21st century. Hope to be back online agian tomorrow.
:)
BC

Conference Begins

Hi All,
An interesting 3 days. Spent the weekend with Judy Kong exploring the National Library - 13 stories of pure bliss. They have managed to get it right. Culture, user focus and preservation in a state of the art building that incorporates cutting edge technology and is designed to last for the next 50 years. The National Library has also focused on taking services to the users, so local libraries are situated in shopping malls. However, the collections at each shopping mall are different and tailored to the clientele - so at the Arts Centre + shopping mall, the collection was mainly nonfiction, arts or arts related subjects, photography and multimedia. They even had performance space and an instrument practice room. They all also have cafes in the library, reading spaces and access to a wide range of newspapers. Another library which had just relocated out of the shopping mall due to space constraints, was in a separate building next door to the shopping mall and housed with the local community centre - much like a telecentre here, with Internet access for the general public. All libraries were heavily utilised. The National Library of Singapore uses RFIDs on all its resources and has automated some the the ciruclation functions in the returns section. Of course a national ID card helps - anyone can borrow from anywhere with their card. The National Library building also has indoor gardens and corporate spaces where big business can hold functions - really taking knowledge to the people.

Had the doctoral seminar today - an intimdating experience but very worthwhile - had to hold my own so the speak in front of 3 professors in the field firing off questions about my research. Have gleaned some very useful information. The morning session consisted of a 3 hour workshop on strategic marketing in libraries which was also very useful - will incorporate some of this information into IST1161/4103 - not something we think about very much but becoming more and more important.

All in all a very useful 3 days. Conference begins tomorrow and the schedule is gruelling - 8:30 - 5:30, with the dinner until 10:30.
:)
BC

A-LIEP 2006

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/A%2DLIEP/

This looks to be an exciting conference and I hope to catch up with Judy kong and ex-student, and Mazlan, Marissa and Philip who were our guest speakers at TILC last year.
:)
BC

Oslo, WILC and IFLA

Hi All,
Finally arrived and just missed the BA strike, my luggage on the other hand took the long way and arrived 24 hours after I did. The paper went well and will supply anyone with a copy - it is about an Information Literacy framework I have been formulating for some time with the able assistance of Jan Ring. The conference - World Information and Library Congress - is huge with 5000 delegates from all over the world. Oslo is very expensive, but the sessions have been very informative. Will come back with lots of ideas and links for extra information. Am attending the information literacy section sessions tomorrow. See you all again next week.
(Can't work out how to do a smiley on this keyboard!)
BC

IFLA Conference

Hi All,
I will be attending the IFLA Conference from the 10 - 22 August, where i will be presenting a paper titled: From smorgasbord to satisfying meal: an holistic approach to information literacy and lifelong learning.

I will post on the Blog and access the eCourse forums while I'm away provided I can get connected or to an Internet cafe.

Contact Dr Jan Ring if you have any pressing concerns.
:)
BC

IASL Hong Kong

Hi All,
I wil be in Hong Kong until the 15th July at the IASL Conference.
http://www.iasl-slo.org/conference2005.html

The Conference schedule looks great and it will be wonderful to catch up with everyone again. You can contact me by posting to the Blog or via email.
:)
BC

Message from Prague

Hi All,
Europe is in the middle of a big freeze, so the last 2 days have been full of biting winds, ice and snow. The sun has appeared for the first time today, but that just means that everything is very slippery and the wind is cold and wet!
A beautiful city and so full of history. Delegates began arriving yesterday and the program looks really interesting. Hope the on- campus students are enjoying their time as online students - keep talking to each other via the forums.
:)
BC