Live coverage of VALA2010 continues here…

Twenty-two of libraries finest gathered together at Berth at Docklands for dinner on the eve of the VALA2010 conference proper.

Many of us had attended either the Boot Tech Camp or L-Plate Series during the day ( both of which were found to be valuable by those who attended), but we were joined by others both from Melbourne and interstate, for good food, good company and a good time.

It was nice to finally put faces to Twitter names and it was to our great delight that we discovered that all twenty-two people in attendance had Twitter accounts!  (a list will follow).

In the meantime, please check out the photos from the dinner on Flickr, follow the Cover It Live feeds on Libraries Interact and take a moment to check out the new VALA website.  Conference starts today and papers will follow after it finishes.

VALA 2010 will be held in Melbourne from February 9 to 11, 2010 and the program is now available on the website.  The keynote speakers are Marshall Breeding from Vanderbilt University, Karen Calhoun from OCLC, Stephanie Orlic from the Musee de Louvre, Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet Project, McKenzie (Ken) Wark from the Eugene Lang College and the New School for Social Research and Xiaolin Zhan the Director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Library.

The L Plate series will be returning, to be held on Monday the 8th, before the conference begins. For practitioners at the other end of the scale, VALAtech Boot Camp is new to the conference and offers “high-end technical and practical sessions”. It will run at various times over the course of the conference and will include a session with Roy Tennant from OCLC.

The Libraries Interact team will also be well represented, with three of our number presenting papers.

So there should be something for everyone. If you haven’t already, make sure you have the dates marked in your calendar. Registrations will open shortly.

Yes, its nearly 15 months away, but its time to start thinking about VALA 2010.  The theme for this must-be-at-conference in 2010 is Connections. Content. Conversation.

The invitation is out for interested persons “to submit abstracts relating to the use of information and communications technology for connecting, content and conversations across the galleries, libraries, archives and museum sectors.”

For further information, check out the VALA 2010 website.

It may be over a year away, but I’m very much looking forward to it and would love to hear some great new presentations, from familiar faces and new ones alike.  So get thinking, I’m sure there are projects in your workplace that the library world needs to hear about and VALA is potentially the place for that to happen.