AARL

ALIA conference report

When over 700 delegates gather for a library conference at a Gold Coast venue, it is guaranteed that there will be enthusiastic professional interaction married to a raft of great social events. With the 8th Aurora Leadership Institute to convene in February of 2005 it is also sure that a good representation of the over 260 participants to-date will be amongst the conference delegates. The ALIA Biennial Conference - Challenging Ideas - was held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 21 to 24 September 2004 and delivered on all counts: great location, great program and a great opportunity for Aurorans to catch up.

The program contained both depth and breadth to challenge librarians from all fields. I was particularly impressed when Dr Peter Macauley (Deakin University) presented his paper Challenging librarians: The relevance of the doctorate in professional practice, arguing that librarians need to step up and take on further education through a focus on scholarship and knowledge. By undertaking and publishing research an individual can contribute significantly to the body of professional knowledge required to take the profession forward. I'll be looking for a supervisor in the next few years!

A panel of 'new generation librarians' presented a 'challenge' session on the afternoon of day one and made a significant impact on all delegates. The individual reactions of the audience to the topics and ideas they presented were diverse: nods of agreement from the under-30s; faces of disbelief from the more experienced members of the profession and feelings of alienation from the 30-40 year olds. Whilst it was great to see the enthusiasm and vibrancy of these 'new young things' it was a shame to see that their brash and confident approach challenged a significant proportion of the audience a little too harshly and in some cases, perhaps, the message was lost.

Congratulations to the conference organising committees for a very successful ALIA Biennial Conference. They have thrown down the greatest challenge to the organising committee for 2006 for a bigger and brighter event.

Anita Brown, manager (resources and access), State Library of Tasmania, (a not-so-new-youngish-thing and Aurora Participant 2002)