Library unconference fever has hit Perth again with libcampperth09 kicking off this morning.

Live coverage should be available from the unconference wiki using Coveritlive – although at time of writing it still says “Upcoming Event”.

In addition a Twitter fountain can be seen on Kathryn Greenhill’s blog “Librarians Matter”.

This year, Michael Stephens is attending and I believe, is facilitating a session on what are the next 23 things. Have a great day libcampers.

The Western Australian Library Unconference is on again this year. This year the theme is : Library 2.0 and beyond: getting our hands dirty. We hope to include half a day of small hands-on workshops and a “technology petting zoo” with gizmoes and gadgets to fiddle with.

DATE: Friday 22 August 2008
TIME: 9:30am – 5pm
VENUE: State Library of Western Australia

If you would like to help out with organising, please subscribe to the unconfwalib google group and join in. If you attended last year, now is the time to give us feedback about what you’d like to see so we can make it even better this year.

Check out the unconference wiki for up-to-date details. You can
find out more and see what happened at the Library 2.0 on the loose unconference in 2007 here.

An unconference works on the principle that whoever turns up is the right person and whatever you discuss is the right thing. People prepare topics, but sessions are decided on the day. Everyone is expected to participate by either presenting, joining in the discussion or doing another job.

We aim to run this as a free event again this year, and are grateful to the State Library for providing the venue. If anyone would like to sponsor lunch on the day, please let us know.

The venue only holds 75 people. Registrations for attendance will open on 1 July 2008. Watch the wiki for details.

Contact people:
Kathryn Greenhill: k.greenhill@murdoch.edu.au
Hoi Ng: HNg@vicpark.wa.gov.au
Sue Cook: sue.cook@csiro.au
Constance Wiebrands c.wiebrands@curtin.edu.au

Western Australia’s ALIAWest has joined the blogosphere with Biblia. Billed as “A virtual conversation for librarians in Western Australia”, it hopes to make Biblia (a newsletter , once upon a time – see the newsletter’s archives) “more accessible to today’s generation of library workers”.

I look forward to hearing more about ALIAWest events and WA library events in general (hopefully I’ll be participating, too!).

Oh, and this has got me wondering – how does your local ALIA group communicate with you?

Calling all West Australian library folk, and anyone else who’ll be in Perth that day:

LIBRARY 2.0 ON THE LOOSE: AN UNOFFICIAL UNCONFERENCE

Feel passionate or curious about new library approaches, want to share it with a group of like minded librarians? Come to participate in discussion and presentations about new definitions of content, new definitions of library collections and new ways that we can get out of our buildings to serve our customers where they are.

DATE: Friday 3 August

TIME: 9:30am – 5pm

WHERE: State Library of Western Australia, Great Southern Room 4th Floor

AFTERWARD: 6pm – late , Annalakshmi on the Swan, 1st Floor – Western Pavilion, Barracks Square (Between Jetty No. 4 & No. 5), Perth

An unconference works on the principle that whoever turns up is the right person and whatever you discuss is the right thing. People prepare topics, but sessions are decided on the day. Everyone is expected to participate by either presenting, joining in the discussion or doing another job.

TO GET INVOLVED:

1. Go to the registration site.

2. Then, go to the “What is happening on the day” page of the wiki and edit it to suggest a topic for discussion, volunteer to give a presentation or do a job.

The event is FREE, but you MUST REGISTER. Tea. coffee, bikkies and a pizza lunch are all provided. You will need to pay for dinner. This unconference is supported by the State Library of Western Australia, Murdoch University Library, Curtin University Library and ALIA West, but is facilitated by an independent group of volunteers.

For more details, visit the UnconfWALib web page, or contact Kathryn Greenhill on k.greenhill@nospam.murdoch.edu.au, or Hoi Ng on HNg@vicpark.nospam.wa.gov.au or Sue Cook on sue.cook@csiro.au.nospam or Con Wiebrands on c.wiebrands@curtin.edu.nospam.au. (remove the anti-spam device before clicking send)

This should be a great event – if you work in a library you are most welcome to come along!

What’s a collaborative blog for if not collective brain picking? I’d like to harvest some thoughts about which technologies/social software/new web tools you think libraries should be prepared for.
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We just wrapped up a two month project at work where we used a tikiwiki installation to look at new web tools using new web tools. For MULTA (Murdoch University Library Thinking Aloud), I wrote a wiki page describing what each one was, why we should know about it and giving some examples. Participants had a few tasks to do each week based around one tool and then I gave a hands on workshop for each. I also wrote some pages describing some Library2.0 concepts and associated memes like The Long Tail. We looked at:

• Content Management Systems
• Forums
• RSS feeds
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Social tagging (del.icio.us and Flickr mainly).

We’d like to continue with the wiki page/workshop model to look at new technologies regularly. Some of the suggestions have been:

• Screencasting using Captivate
• Podcasting
• Vodcasting
• Virtual worlds like Second Life
• Using flash in web sites

What else would you add and why?

My colleague Sue Grey-Smith will be retiring next year, and I thought it might be a good time to interview her and ask her to share a few insights on our profession. Sue’s worked in a number of different roles within the Library and Information Service at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, including web co-ordinator, and Senior Librarian, Humanities.

The interview was conducted via email.

How long have you been working in libraries?

Fifteen years in all (two as a library officer when I was untrained).

Why did you decide to become a librarian?

I had worked part-time as a library officer in a small country public library, then a few years later decided to go back to do some more study. I had the option of choosing to upgrade my skills in graphic design or in librarianship, but I decided to get a postgraduate qualification in librarianship as I thought I’d have a better chance of getting work in libraries than in graphic design which is very much a young person’s environment I think. Besides, I really enjoy interacting with people, and libraries are a good place for that!

Talk about the work of information workers – such as librarians – being outsourced, has been around for a while now, and recent books like The world is flat and A whole new mind, are suggesting that information technology, by enabling rapid and easy communication, is “flattening” the world, and enabling many jobs to be done by workers in countries like India. So in India we have accountants preparing tax returns on behalf of American companies, radiologists reading CAT scans for American hospitals, lawyers conducting legal research for American law firms, and of course we have all those call centres. Professionals will need to change and adapt, and will need to be able to “do what workers abroad cannot do equally well for much less money”.

The next few years are going to be (already are!) an interesting and challenging time to be a librarian. You’ve always inspired me (yes, really!) by always having great ideas, and always being able to see the bigger picture and coming up with creative and interesting solutions to problems– have you any suggestions for how to stay fresh, engaged and interested?

Well, I think that if we keep our eyes on all the new technologies that are happening every day, and think of how they could be used by our clients, (or explained to our clients) then life as a librarian is sure to be interesting. The key is to remember that most people are not as technically literate as us, so it needs to be promoted in a way that makes it accessible – that’s where libraries can be so helpful! (And CW, you are already doing this – you help me all the time by explaining things to me!!) The other way to make life interesting is to think of ideas that can be done easily and quickly so it can happen without any fuss from management, and to share ideas with others outside the organisation (again, you already do this!)

CW: Well, Sue, I think the lesson here is for library professionals to keep talking to each other and sharing ideas and enthusiasms… And while I’m on this subject, I don’t think I have ever thanked you for your positive attitude and for encouraging me to keep looking… at blogs (and RSS and wikis…). I have learned a lot from you, the most important lesson being the importance of being positive and open to new things. Always looking for ways to achieve things. Your example has made a big difference to my professional practice. Thank you Sue!