21 September 2004

Queensland Premier and Minister for Education and the Arts to open national library conference

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and the Honourable Anna Bligh, Queensland Minister for Education and the Arts will address more than 800 delegates from Australia and around the world in Queensland this week at the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) 2004 Biennial Conference: Challenging ideas. Mr Beattie will officially welcome delegates to the conference at 9:00am, Wednesday 22 September, followed by the opening address, delivered by the Honourable Anna Bligh at 9:45am.

Hosted by ALIA, the four-day event brings together librarians, teacher-librarians, students and academics to provide a forum to challenge views, enhance knowledge, skills and career potential, and to explore emerging trends in the library and information sector.

Keynote speakers include Kay Raseroka, president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and Jay Jordan, president and chief executive officer of the Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC), USA.

Born in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Ms Raseroka is the current director of the University of Botswana Library Service, and has been involved with librarianship for more than two decades. Kay will be discussing the passions and perspectives of today’s library leaders.

In his keynote session, Meeting challenges, implementing solutions, Mr Jordan will discuss how the OCLC Co-operative of more than 52 000 libraries in 95 countries is responding to significant trends in the worldwide library and information community.

The 2004 conference also offers a large trade exhibition and exciting social activities including CarnivALIA! - the official conference dinner at Dreamworld - with a tropical street-party theme.

Challenging ideas is being held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 21 to 24 September 2004.