24 September 2004

Librarian invasion of Gold Coast comes to an end

Today wraps up another highly-successful biennial conference for the Australian Library and Information Association.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and the Honourable Anna Bligh, Minister for Education and the Arts, opened ALIA 2004, Challenging ideas at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and addressed over 800 delegates from Australia and around the world.

In a thought-provoking session, keynote speaker Kay Raseroka, president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and current director of the University of Botswana Library Service made a passionate plea for us all to be aware of the importance of freedom of access to information. Ms Raseroka said that with major world powers dominating ownership of the internet and Arab and Chinese nations controlling content of the internet to citizens, information becomes inaccessible and we are in danger of facing intellectual colonization of less-developed nations.

Phillip Blackwell, chief executive officer of Blackwell Ltd UK, expressed his belief that e-books and print books will continue to thrive, side-by-side. E-books are an often contentious topic that have publishers on edge and librarians eager for more content and accessibility. Australian libraries have been among the earliest adopters of the e-book format, and Australia is the home of one of the world’s leading suppliers of e-books, Ebook Library.  

Acclaimed international author and Brisbane resident, Nick Earls discussed his new book The Thompson Gunner, a compelling story of self-discovery, shifting in time and place through Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland.

The social highlight of the week was CarnivALIA!, the official conference dinner at Dreamworld, with a tropical street-party theme.