Changes to the programme – Tuesday

Due to unforeseen circumstances, there has been an alteration to the timing of three sessions on Tuesday 13th October.

For those of you who were planning to attend these sessions, 4C and 5A, there will be a change presentation time.

Here’s are the new session times :

Ursula Cheer & Nat Torkington (Balanced Copyright would be nice) will now be presenting between 11am – 12noon.

Patti Manolis (Libraries building communities in Timor-Leste) will now be presenting at 2.30pm.

Susanne Newton (Samoan library, Australian librarian) will now be presenting at 3.00pm.

Also, some of you may want to catch Nat Torkington’s latest appearance on Radio New Zealand’s Nine to Noon programme this morning. 

The easiest way to find it is to check out this page : http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/ and then do a search for Nat Torkington.

 

Conference from a Heritage Library Perspective

Past Conference-goers

Heritage libraries are great places to work, but they certainly have their challenges.  There are plenty of sessions at the LIANZA Conference to engage and inspire those working in the heritage sector.

Otago University lecturer Chris Brickell will be sharing his experiences using libraries and archives to research his award winning book Mates & Lovers : a history of gay New Zealand. I heard Chris speaking earlier this year, and he’s a great speaker. I’m always interested to hear the challenges researchers face using our collections, and how we can work together as institutions to make access easier.

Unfortunately, Chris is on the same time as Terehia Biddell from Archives New Zealand. Terehia is going to talk about working with iwi to care for and make discoverable taonga in their collections. I have heard such great things about Terehia, and I am sure this is going to be wonderful. Thank goodness the sessions are recorded!

I’m also keen to hear Sam Minchin discuss Auckland City Libraries and the New Zealand Chinese Association collaborating to create the Chinese Digital Community. The content that is being added to this kete is really exciting.

Copyright is something we all have to be up to speed with, so it will be cool to hear Nat Torkington and Ursula Cheer on Tuesday afternoon.

This is just a taste, and other sessions you might want to attend  include a workshop on the Maori subject headings, DigitalNZ and of course the Preservation SIG meeting on Tuesday.

If you are spending a few extra days in Christchurch, you might want to look at some of the events that are part of Beca Heritage Week. Christchurch City Libraries, University of Canterbury Library and many other local heritage institutions are all involved.

 

Richard Stallman on Radio New Zealand

Did you know that Richard Stallman was interviewed by Kim Hill on Saturday?  I missed it but ended up listening to the podcast yesterday.  It’s pretty interesting listening.  He covers a lot of topics including 911 “conspiracy” theories, airport security in the US and why he considers some kinds of electronic surveillance to be deeply disconcerting in terms of the way they put a lot of power into the hands of law enforcement (which the public then has to take on trust will not be exploited).  Pretty thought-provoking stuff.

His views are perhaps on the more extreme end of the range to my own but I think the basic principle of his arguments are sound.  Kim Hill however seemed quite annoyed with him, repeatedly accusing him of saying things he hadn’t and extrapolating wildly though I suppose it gave him the opportunity to clearly define what his specific view was on several things, but why so grumpy, Kim?  Another surprise is that he sounds a bit like Woody Allen (which is something that a fellow librarian pointed out, and I have to agree).

If you’re looking for a little background radio to listen to this afternoon, why not check out the podcast for yourself? It runs to just over 39 minutes and LIANZA Conference gets a mention (yay!).  I can’t wait to hear what he says in his keynote address.  I wager it’ll generate quite a lot of debate so make sure you get along to that one.  You don’t want to miss out on the “watercooler conversation” that’ll go on afterwards.

 

Professional Registration at Conference

If you are are coming to LIANZA 2009 Conference and you are professionally registered, you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve added a section in the Delegates Handbook to help you record information for your Body of Knowledge (BOK) and to remind you to record things that would be useful in relation to your Professional Registration.

Personally, I’d also recommend heading along to the workshop on Tuesday 13th October at 11am with Anahera Morehu and Eddie Neha about Mātauranga Māori and Professional Registration.

For those of you not yet registered, here’s the lowdown from the LIANZA website to get you motivated!

We also strongly encourage you to come along to the LIANZA Awards on Monday afternoon, at 4.15pm to celebrate those folks who have been awarded Associateships and Fellowships. You might be surprised at who you may see there

 

Conference from an Academic Librarian’s Perspective

There’s heaps of good stuff for tertiary librarians at this year’s conference.  On Monday, we have Simon Hart and Charlotte Brown talking about the Cephalonia method of library instruction.  Usually the  phrase “library instruction” makes me cringe, but Cephalonia sounds very student-centred and I am keen to learn more.

Monday afternoon also sees Terri Elder discussing the process of developing a sculpture trail in the University of Canterbury Library.  It seems like there is a growing trend for University art collections to come under the care of the library. It will be interesting to hear Terri’s ideas on how these collections can be used in teaching and learning.

Tuesday’s B stream is a triple-treat-star-set, featuring sessions on library services for distance learners and faculty-library publishing partnerships.  The icing in the middle is Deborah Fitchett’s unconference style workshop on making allies to support your innovation.  While Deborah works in an academic library, this workshop is bound to relevant to lots of you out there.  I heard there may even be whistles. If you still can’t get enough of unconferency stuff , take part in What would you do? brought to you by CPIT Library’s lovely Elizabeth Whyte and  this guy.  It’s going to be cool.

Succession planning is an issue for all library sectors, and on Wednesday there are two very promising sounding papers on developing potential library leaders.

This is just a small sample of the sessions  that tertiary librarians may want to attend. There’s much more content in the programme like  RFID, the very early TelSIG meeting, Maori subject headings, the keynotes,  the unconference in SOL Square.  Oh I could go on and on.

 

Got something on your mind? Share it at conference

Volunteers?

Facilitator of a freeform interactive session on the rough topic of “Doing more with less”, Elizabeth Whyte is looking for volunteers…

Hello!

We hope you have had a chance to thoroughly familiarise yourself with the LIANZA 2009 Conference programme and that you’ve lined up an interesting few days for yourself.  If you haven’t looked at it already, we’d like to draw your attention to the ‘What Would You Do? – Doing More with Less’ session on Tuesday afternoon.  This has the potential to be a highly interactive and thought-provoking hour and a half where ideas are thrown up, spun around, and looked at from fresh new angles.

However, to ensure success we need to have presenters!

Have you already decided what you’d like to talk about? Would you be prepared to jump up and present on something dear to your heart?  Or, have you got a question or issue you’d like to pose to your audience of participants? Maybe they will have some solutions or even just a new and different way to approach it.

If any of the above sounds like you, please get in touch with either Paul Sutherland (paul.sutherland@ccc.govt.nz) or Elizabeth Whyte (whytee@cpit.ac.nz) by Wednesday, 7 October. Don’t worry if your idea is not fully-formed or even if you don’t have all of the answers. Remember, these presentations are short and snappy conversation starters.

The only ‘rules’ we have are that each presentation must be no more than 5 minutes. If you’d like to use PowerPoint slides, maybe follow the Pecha Kucha formula and use only five:  1 minute per slide = 5 slides. These are not restrictions to make it difficult for you. They are a way to help you distil an idea or issue quickly and succinctly. You’ll have a chance to discuss more once the session breaks out.  Think of it as a doing more with less kind of approach!

We want this time to be your chance to let loose with your creativity and imagination. We can’t do it alone though so don’t delay, get in touch!

 

Meet the People’s Network… in person

Regular blogger Mo-mo takes off her “impartial professional” hat and does a shameless plug for her organisation’s presence at this year’s conference…because she can.

One of the great things about attending LIANZA Conference is the opportunity it affords you to catch up with other people in “the biz” from other parts of the country (or sometimes even further afield).  Working for the Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa (for this is our name now) you become even more aware of how widely dispersed library professionals truly are around the country.  Our network includes libraries in the Far North and Stewart Island, not to mention a whole swag of them inbetween.

Working and communicating with staff in partner libraries that are so widely spread means it’s very rare that you get the chance to talk face to face.  We at the People’s Network are hoping that partner library staff in attendance at this year’s conference will come and see us so that we can touch base and find out what’s happening in their neck of the woods.

We’ll be in residence in the Exhibition Hall on a stand groaning with computers and wearing our branded t-shirts (and we’ll be running a daily draw to win one of the sexiest library t-shirts ever screen-printed, so make sure you stop by).

In addition to our presence amongst the exhibitors the People’s Network (in the form of Margaret Garland) will be presenting our entry for the 3M Awards on Monday morning.  Conference delegates will be able to vote (for us) via the link in an email sent to you by Conference organisers until 2.30pm of that day.

Once you’ve voted (for us) you can then pop along to a session jointly presented by Sue Sutherland (Director of the National Digital Library) and Margaret (People’s Network head honcho) on the future direction of the People’s Network.  I would encourage partner library staff to attend this session if you’re able.

Looking forward to seeing you in October!

 

Guest Blogger – Corin Haines, ‘Making IT work for you’

Making IT (and kittens) work for you

Corin Haines is the Manager of Digital Services at Manukau Libraries and will be delivering a session on IT at this year’s conference.  We asked him if he’d care to enlighten us on what he’ll be talking about and he said yes.  Yay!

Last week I listened to a fantastic interview with Courtney Johnston from National Library in the New Technology section of Kathryn Ryan’s Nine-Noon show. In this she talked about the use of technology in the GLAM sector, which was perfectly timed for me as I refine one of the sessions I will be co-presenting at Conference. Courtney’s enthusiasm and passion for this area, served to remind me of exactly why the potential of social media is so wonderful for libraries.

The Tuesday of Conference is sponsored by Datacom and in the morning of this day I am presenting a session called “Making IT work for you” with Warwick Grey from H.P. In this session we will look at new technology, how you can use it and how you can leverage social media to engage with library customers.

In the social media part of our talk, we will look at how to use a mini video camera to quickly film online content and upload it to make it available in minutes. How to take multiple information sources and create a Mash Up and generate new content. How Twitter can be used within the library setting to not only engage with library users online, but create communities of interest.

Also, this year during conference I will be tweeting and vlogging my conference experience. This will include covering sessions, conversations with vendors and attendees, and of course the social activities.

Social media is all around us and libraries are perfectly placed to take advantage of it to connect with their customers. In fact it is already being used by libraries in New Zealand and around the world to great effect, and the best thing is it is achievable, low cost and usually requires little infrastructure. I hope you come along to our Tuesday morning session and take advantage of the other sessions at conference dealing with social media, and if you haven’t already begin to dip your feet in the water.

Come on in, the water’s fine!

 

A bicultural take on the programme

I recently met with Terrisa (aka TKG) from the Bicultural sub-committee and together we put our heads together to take a look at the programme from a bicultural perspective.

It all begins on Monday the 12th of October, when we start with a powhiri in Victoria Square. You can see a glimpse of Victoria Square at the end of the CSI – Conference Scene Investigators video here. And you can learn the waiata here.

Pou in Victoria Square

We’ll be sharing more specific details about the powhiri next week, where to meet, what the expectations are, what to wear, what the wet weather provisions are, but for now, all you need to remember is that it will take place on Monday 12th from 8.30am.

So, onto the ins and outs of the LIANZA 2009 programme through a bicultural lens.

Starting out on Monday October 12th, we are privileged to have, as our opening keynote speakers, the father and daughter team of Sir Tipene O’Regan and Hana O’Regan. They will be discussing the growth and future of Generation Ngai Tahu.

 

Presenting at Conference (or how to be the best darn presenter that you can be)

Presenting at Conference can be this easy!

So you submitted an abstract

Then your abstract was accepted – HUZZAHH!!!

Your session is listed in the Conference Programme

And you’ve booked your flights and accommodation in Christchurch.

But the last few nights have been horrible.  You’ve tossed and turned, driven away your partner, counted all of the rivots in the ceiling, and sweated through your favourite pyjamas.

You tried to attend a Conference Presentation Session but they were always the same night as your Star Trek marathons, or the local “stitch and bitch”, and it was just too dark or too hot to get off the couch… 

Now EEEEKKK!!! Conference is only a few days away.

What will you say?  How will you say it?

What if the delegates all get bored to sleep by your powerpoint?

Before you find yourself rocking under the table, here’s something that may help.

Moira Fraser and Paddy Plunket ran a series of workshops during May that focused on how to deliver great presentations.  Their top tips are:

• Always focus on telling your audience something that will be important or interesting to them. 

• Start by telling your audience WHY you think what you have to say will be  important or interesting to them.  This is a useful statement to work out in advance because it helps you stay focussed on your “value proposition”.  Audience members that know why a presentation is useful will pay attention to it differently and remember it better. An example of this kind of statement is “I hope that by the end of my presentation you will have a good understanding of some of the things to do, and some of the things to avoid, when starting up a new service for elderly users”, or “this will give you a framework for designing an information literacy programme in any kind of library or information service”.

• Audiences remember better the more involved they are in the presentation.  In the hierarchy of involvement listening is near the bottom!  Quizzes, practical exercises and discussions require the kind of involvement that helps people to remember.

• Your voice and your body are the most important and sophisticated delivery technology available to you.  Work on delivering your presentation in a confident and engaging tone and with strong body language.

Aoraki held a session in April during which Sally Thompson and Aurelia Arona (amongst others) spoke generally about doing a presentation and what to put on your powerpoint.  Their powerpoints are available online on the Conference Slideshare and contain many good ideas. 

But if you’re still chewing on your computer keyboard, there may still be time to register for the LIANZA Ikaroa presentation skills session.  It’s being held next Tuesday (29 September) at Massey University.  See their page on the LIANZA website for more information and to register online.

If all else fails, don’t forget, the delegates are interested in hearing what you have to say, and they are not there to give you a hard time.  They will forgive you your stumbles, and the odd powerpoint slide.  And there’s always light at the end of the gin bottle…

Do you have any other good ideas?  Post them here and we can share them.