Yes its back yet again!  Library Day in the Life Round 8, will run from Monday 30th January to Sunday 5th February.

You can share a day, days or your whole librarian week, through blogging, tweeting, pictures, video or however else you are inspired.

To participate, register at the Library Day in the Life wiki and then record your (choose time period) in the life of you as a librarian, for others to discover the joys of how varied work as a librarian is, both here and around the world.

Then watch the same wiki, to learn about what other librarians around the world do in their respective jobs. It is very inspirational!

If you are going to be in Melbourne for VALA, then you have to stick around for Library Camp Australia, which is happening the day after VALA finishes – Friday 10th February.

Registrations are open now, so get in quickly so you don’t miss out on what is going to be an awesome day!

Or at least a venue….

The unorganising committee for #LibCampOz12 would like to welcome and thank The University of Melbourne Library for agreeing to be our venue sponsor.

The University is located on the edge of the CBD. It is easily accessible by tram, train and bus and casual parking is available.  The library is centrally located within the picturesque grounds and we will be providing maps and tram routes you can take to get there.

Hopefully this will be the first of many more exciting announcements about Library Camp Australia 2012.

There is still time to get involved- please contact Kim or myself if you wish to be part of the unorganising team.

Internet Librarian 2011, with the theme “Revolutionizing the Net with Content, Connections & Conversations”, is heading into its last day at Monterey, California – but its not too late to watch the Live Stream (if you’re a night owl), or follow the live action from the participants views on Twitter. (follow the hash tag #IL2011 or #InternetLibrarian)

Much as we would like to be there, we can still get the latest on what’s coming out of the conference through the Conference Blog. Alternatively, the conference is also being well covered by the likes of David Lee King and Librarian in Black, or one of the officially listed conference bloggers.

If you want to see the presentations, you can download them, but have to login. (User name/Password: il2011/il2011)

Don’t forget that Internet Librarian International in London is coming up, on 27th and 28th October, where more great content will be shared.

And once you have been suitably inspired, ALIA Biennial is seeking abstracts for the conference in Sydney in 2012.

libcampoz the national library unconference which kicked off in Perth and has been held in Adelaide and other States is making its way to Melbourne. I would encourage you to put the date in your calendars.

I recently attended Libcampoz (Perth) and had a great time. Participating the unconference was invigorating.  Benefits include:

• flexibility (choose on the day the sessions you want to attend)
• networking (you can network your socks off)
• topics voted on by participants (on the day we decide what to talk about)
• create your own session (you can create a session for the day – if the people want it it will be in)

It will be free and will be held on the day after VALA2012.

News

• Date – Friday 10 Feb
• Location – Melbourne
• Venue is yet to be confirmed

The website for the last library camp has been archived and the new logo is ready. So watch this space as more information comes to hand. We are calling on local library folk in Melbourne to join the un-organising group. If you have some time we would love to hear from you. Contact me and we will get you signed up for the wiki. To all those lovely interstate people who have indicated your interest in un-organising we will be in touch soon.

Somehow, I nearly missed this!  Today starts Round 7 in the Library Day in the Life Project.

“The Library Day in the Life Project is a semi-annual event coordinated by Bobbi Newman  of Librarian by Day. Twice a year librarians, library staff and library students from all over the globe share a day (or week) in their life through blog posts, photos, video and Twitter updates.” (Library Day in the Life Project)

So why not tell the world what you’re up to today, or this week, as a librarian in the 21st Century. And let us know too via comment. This sort of information is what librarian’s do best and can be very inspirational.

This is great. The Auslan version of Feathers for Phoebe by Rod Clement – made available by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) for National Simultaneous Storytime 2011 (NSS).

The simultaneous bit starts at 11.00am AEST today.

The 2011 Library Journal Movers and Shakers have been announced.

There are quite a few familiar names spread through the lists of fifty innovators, community builders, tech leaders, marketers, advocates and change agents, who have been recognised for their “extraordinary work to serve their users and to move libraries of all types and library services forward”.

This year, we have our 2nd Australian Mover & Shaker – Ellen Forsyth from the State Library of New South Wales, awarded as Tech Leader for her innovative work with Ref Ex and the 2011 Twitter Reading Group.

All the details of the winners and their innovative work (inspiration for us all) is available at the 2011 Library Journal Movers and Shakers website.

Congratulations to Ellen and all the other worthy winners!

Libraryhack is a mashup and apps competition being held in May 2011 and is a key project outcome from the NSLA Re-imagining Libraries project – Community Created Content.

Libraryhack aims to encourage the creative and innovative re-use of library data and digital content from Australian and New Zealand libraries.

Have you got a great suggestion for a new and innovative way to use library data but maybe not the technical skills to bring that idea to life? Why not submit an idea for an application or data mashup for the chance to win in this pre-Libraryhack competition. Your idea might then be developed by someone else as an application or mashup as part of Libraryhack. For inspiration have a look at the list of datasets to be made available by the participating libraries and submit an idea on the Libraryhack website. Victorian public library staff are eligible to enter and you can enter as many times as you like.

Entries opened on the 8 February and close on 30 April.

Check out some of the ideas that have been submitted at
http://libraryhack.org/ideas/idea-entries/

Submit your entries at
http://libraryhack.org/ideas/ideas-form/

The State Library of Victoria is running a 2-day event around Libraryhack on Friday 20 May and Saturday 21 May. Booking are free and can be made at:
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/event/libraryhack

The first day will be a day of sharing inspiration and wisdom around informing people how they can improve and refine their apps, mashup, artwork, or digital stories for the Libraryhack competition, which closes on 31 May. The second day is a hands on event for developers and technology experts to share ideas and develop their projects.

What a challenge!

Now that you are all returned from Online, its time to start thinking about the next big thing – VALA 2012.

The call for papers was opened at the Online conference, but details are now available online at the VALA Website.

The theme is eM-powering eFutures, with lots of topics to work with. Many topics are suggested at the VALA website, but don’t feel limited by these, there is scope for much more.

If you haven’t presented at a conference before, here’s your opportunity. If you have, then VALA is a great place to do it again. I know some of our twitterers are already plotting paper ideas between themselves, so why not do the same. You can get together an abstract by yourself, or work with immediate work colleagues or professional contacts from around the country or across the world.

Great things are happening in Australian libraries and VALA 2012 is a great place to showcase them. Details are available at the VALA 2012 website, so get your thinking caps on, as abstracts have to be in by 30 April 2011.

I look forward to seeing you in Melbourne in 2012!