ALIA WA Library Technicians conference grant

Conference report 2001

A student's reflection on the Library Technician's conference in Tasmania

Mason Clark

I'd like to start with some thankyou's: I'm grateful to the WALT's group for the generous grant and enabling me to participate and experience the conference.

Special thanks: Sandra - for her tremendous support and keeping me informed on what was happening prior to the conference.

Also: Bonnie - for her friendly support and willing advice in assisting me both before and during the conference.

What I gained from the conference

Being my first conference I wasn't sure what to expect but as the days unfolded I started to get a feel for how I could get the best out of the conference.

The conference helped me, as a student, to put things into perspective: It's hard to realize what's out there until you experience a national conference such as this one.

I was amazed at just how many attendees there were and just how bigger impact ALIA has on its members. It also reinforced the fact that it's a female dominated profession...but that's OK by me....

By seeing and talking to people directly involved in the industry it really grounded me in understanding the profession a lot better.

Features of the conference that impacted on me.

I found the keynote speakers especially interesting: Margie Anderson's talk on the secrets of career success was very relevant to me as it highlighted employment trends and skills and attributes needed to pursue personal goals in the field of library technology.

Grant's speech was very entertaining and very clever in the way he portrayed future libraries.

The afternoon sessions were good in that I was able to pick and choose what interested me personally and also enabled me to study particular areas in detail.

The Information literacy, online learning and library of the future was one session which impacted on me as a lot of my learning at uni is on-line based.

I really enjoyed the tours, I went to the heritage library and the university library and both gave me insights into the different roles library technicians play.

Relevance

Experiencing the conference has made my studies more relevant in that I'm able to see what exactly what I'm heading towards once I finish my studies.

Understandings

One of the main factors which was brought up at the conference and one which I can see will impact in the future is that of the changing face of libraries. Buzz words such as digital divide and everything begins with E are sayings which highlight the current situation faced by libraries. It's clear that while the new technologies contribute to the growth of access to information and sharing of knowledge it's also evident that users personal issues should not be lost in the technology available.

Hobart

I found Hobart to be ...cold. But it was a good experience, snow-covered mountains aren't an everyday sight here in Perth so it was refreshing to see things like that.

Future grants

It would be great if future students could continue to have this opportunity of experiencing a national conference. I will certainly recommend that other students participate in the future.