Conference day 2

Here is a photo of me attending the conference sessions. It was taken by a Swedish librarian with a Scottish name. Any suggestions that I look like I'm asleep will not be received favourably -- I am concentrating -- we were asked to close our eyes and think of what our next generation library would look like, feel like, sound like, smell like. How about that?

The second day's keynote address was The Shanachie report -- presented by 3 people from the Delft Public Library who and toured several countries, visiting libraries, interviewing librarians and filming the process.

Here is a photo of them -- they are coming to Melbourne on Dec. 6th. We should go. Recommendation for library -- 3 staff members to produce a road trip documentary on library best practice (perhaps Austin Texas as the starting point).

I also attended sessions on Web 2.0 applications in Denmark, Finland, Cairo and Singapore. I probably need to follow these up with visits as the accents of the presenters made it a bit difficult to grasp all points.

A couple things I did pick were that the person who created the Facebook page for the American University in Cairo was jailed for 2 weeks, and that that library developed a concept of a deskless library. How good would that be for the person doing the desk roster?

Here is a photo of last night's dinner with some young people we hooked up with (some are my friends on Facebook)

Video report

This video should work -- if not I am not up with this technology and may need another trip

Conference registration achieved

I have registered at the Conference and collected my bag.

Earlier I visited the Marylebone Library (see photo)

It was near the Registry Office where Paul (McCartney) married Linda and Ringo married Maureen. (see photo)

Workshop on blogging

The world has gone crazy. The first librarian I met was from Nashville and he told me country music was not his preferred type of music.

Prior to the actual "Internet librarian international" Conference I attended a workshop "Blogging effectively" led by UKOLN's Marieke Guy and University of Bath's Ann Chapman. For those who don't know (including myself until recently) UKOLN is a research organization that aims to inform practice and influence policy in the areas of digital libraries, information systems, bibliographic management, and web technologies. It provides network information services, including the Ariadne magazine, and runs workshops and conferences (see http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/).A BLOG is an online journal. The term BLOG comes from web log.www.emerge-solutions.com/learning_glossary.htmlThe aim of the workshop was to learn about up-to-date blog features and tools, to identify potential issues with the implementation of blogs within an institution, to outline policy considerations which best fit their individual or organisational purpose, to learn about tools for measuring blog success and to hear about and discuss examples of best practices to make use of in developing a sustainable blogging service locally.

The night after the workshop I performed with Gary Day at the Hammersmith Ram pub -- his mother is a librarian in County Down Ireland

See photo

Kuala Lumpur

The first stop on the journey has been Kuala Lumpur.

The National Library in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is a uniquely-designed building. Borrowing its design concept from the traditional Malay headgear known as the tengkolok, the building was built to symbolise pride in and respect for Malaysian culture. The tengkolok-shaped roofs join at a courtyard that serves as an open-air amphitheatre. Another interesting aspect is the roof's songket design, which symbolises the rich cultural heritage of the country. Within the building are various levels that house different divisions and faculties. Each floor is linked by a striking staircase. Well planned and laid out, the library is a vast network of rooms and facilities that is user-friendly, taking the needs of the disabled into consideration as well.

Conference Proper - Day1

The conference on day 1 started with a welcome and keynote speech. The topic of this speech was "People at the Heart of Innovation". It was given byt Guy R. Cloutier, the author of "The Power of the Future". He spoke about:

Awakening — discovering fears that impede professionals in realising their objectives; Awareness — promoting creativity and innovation to improve individual and collective performance; and Realisation — learning how to promote innovation by creating a new type of network, the family of enterprises.

The day then split in to 3 different "tracks" -- search and discovery, special collections and transparent managment.

I attended transparency in libraries and using google analytics.

Update conference news -- meet the authors

Meet the Authors at Internet Librarian International!

Ulla de Stricker, author of Business Cases for Info Pros: Here's Why, Here's How will be signing copies of her book on Thursday, October 16 12:30 to 14:00.

Erik Boekesteijn and Jaap van de Geer, authors of ShanachieTour: A Library Road Trip Across America will be signing their book on Friday, October 17 from 10:30 to 11:30.

See you in London!
Conference ChairsMarydee Ojala, Editor, ONLINE Magazine, USA [marydee@xmission.com]
David Raitt, Editor, The Electronic Library, The Netherlands

Link: http://www.internet-librarian.com/index.php#Authors