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QUT ALIA 2004 mini conference

27 September 2004, QUT, Garden's Point, Brisbane

Tracy Creagh QUT student - Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies

While colleagues, employees and our peers busied themselves at the Gold Coast Convention Centre for the ALIA conference, students too shared in a portion of the event.

QUT library and information students have directly benefited from the 2004 ALIA conference held on the Gold Coast this year. Eight conference speakers kindly agreed to postpone their journey home and stay behind to present and share ideas with students at a 'mini' ALIA conference at the Garden's Point campus.

As a LIS student working and studying part-time with childcare issues, getting myself down to the ALIA conference for the week just wasn't an option I could entertain. Many students in similar positions took advantage of the opportunity not only to be introduced to the proliferation of conference ideas but importantly to ALIA as our professional body. This ALIA 'taster' proved invaluable in regards to our own professional development of which the association supports so fervently.

Eric Wainwright from James Cook University, Qld State Librarian Lea Giles-Peters, Roxanne Missingham from the national library in Canberra, Biddy Fisher from Sheffield Hallam Uni in the UK, Debbie Dawson from Christchurch City Libraries, QUT's own Helen Partridge, University of Queensland's Sue Hutley and Peter McCauley from Deakin University all provided a full day of presentations that left us inspired and confident in regards to career directions - but realistic with the knowledge that pathways are created by ourselves, for ourselves.

A major emphasis throughout the QUT LIS course is on professional development and reflective practice so it was interesting to hear about the innovations undertaken in Christchurch City Libraries in a presentation from Debbie Dawson. Dawson's presentation Are you fit for the job and are you the best fit for the job? introduced us to what Christchurch libraries are doing in relation to career development within the workforce.

The fitness analogy is utilised in relation to specific behaviours, encouraging the workforce to keep skills up-to-date, maintain learning goals and, as Debbie says, make it known that it is not okay 'to stand still and be a passenger'. Rather than question or cringe at in-house career workshops and development programs, staff have embraced these activities, and rightly so. Employees are discovering that their skills base equates to the expansion a wide range of opportunities both within and external to the library environment.

Finishing study and entering a library career is not the end of the journey in relation to professional development. As students it is important to recognise the shared responsibility of the individual, the employer and our professional association, ALIA, in the professional development process. ALIA's focus on career long learning and CDP schemes offer both ourselves and potential employees a commitment to professionalism.

Like Debbie said different career opportunities 'may not have a flashing neon sign on them with your name on it'. Workplace development sessions, value assessing and skills monitoring all contribute to highlight opportunities either within your workplace or externally. Like Debbie's New Zealand model, continued professional development gets you to think about your skills, fine-tune your specific interests and, ultimately, plan and consolidate career pathways.

Of course, special thanks go to the IT Faculty of QUT for sponsoring the event and the LIS teaching staff, lead by Gillian Hallam, for their hard work in offering students invaluable exposure to conference ideas and specifically, ALIA.

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