Panel Discussion-Power of Collaboration

This panel session will explore the challenges and opportunities of bringing people and teams together to solve complex problems.  This will include general principles and specific examples that demonstrate how we can work together to create a corpus of knowledge; secure funding; and learn from each other for the benefit of our communities. 

Panel members:

Jill Benn - University Librarian, University of Western Australia and Chair, Council of Australian University Librarians

Damien Webb - State Library of NSW

Dr Keir Winesmith - Chief Digital Officer, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

Facilitator:

Catherine Clark - CEO and State Librarian, State Library of Western Australia

Facilitator: Catherine Clark

CEO and State Librarian, State Library of Western Australia

Facilitator Biography

After moving to Australia from Scotland as a teenager, Catherine commenced her professional career in public libraries and following experience in school and special libraries in the UK, worked in academic libraries in Western Australia for over 20 years at both The University of Western Australia and Curtin University.  Catherine was appointed as the CEO and State Librarian at the State Library of Western Australia in 2022.  

Additional leadership roles have included: Member of the Board of the Council of Australian University Librarians and Program Director for the Advancing Open Scholarship Program; Chair of the Aurora Foundation, an international organisation committed to providing development opportunities for emerging leaders in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums sectors; Member of the Curtin University Council, the University’s governing authority, Chair of the Libraries of the ATN Universities Executive Group and Member of the National and State Libraries Australasia Board.

In 2017, Catherine was honoured to be recognised with the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Australian and New Zealand Association for Tertiary Education Management

Panelist: Jill Benn

University Librarian, University of Western Australia

Panelist Biography

Jill Benn is the University Librarian at the University of Western Australia.  She has over 20 years’ experience in the higher education sector, is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Jill is passionate about the power of collaboration and provides strategic leadership locally, nationally and internationally to achieve shared positive outcomes within and across sectors.  This includes as the current Chair of the Council of Australian University Librarians, Australia’s peak body for academic libraries, through her role as the Director of the Council of Australasian University Directors of IT Leadership Institute, a well-established development programme for aspiring library, IT and eResearch leaders, and as Co-Chair of the international organisation, the Research Data Alliance.  Jill is proud of her Noongar heritage, as a descendant of the Ballardong people from the south-west of WA. 

Panelist: Dr Keir Winesmith

Chief Digital Officer, National Film and Sound Archive

Panelist Biography

Dr. Keir Winesmith joined the National Film & Sound Archive in early 2023 as Chief Digital Officer. He is responsible for the delivery of the NFSA’s strategic digital roadmap, which develops new products and services to enhance discoverability and shareability of the national audiovisual collection for all Australians. Keir also heads up the NFSA’s project office and information & communication technology activity. 
Keir joined the NFSA from the National Gallery of Australia, where he was the Tim Fairfax Head of Digital. His prior experience includes roles at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, UNSW Art & Design, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, and as an artist in resident at the State Library of Queensland. He is the co-author of the 2020 book The Digital Future of Museums, co-founded the Sydney Cultural Data Salon, and was an inaugural mentor in the Australia Council’s CEO Digital Mentoring program. 

Panelist: Damien Webb

State Library of NSW

Panelist Biography:

Damien is a proud member of the Palawa Diaspora, originally from Tasmania. He has worked in state libraries for over 10 years, including roles in Western Australia and New South Wales. He previously coordinated the State Library of Western Australia’s Storylines Project and has worked with Aboriginal artists, traditional owners and researchers across Australia. Damien’s current role is Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch at the State Library of New South Wales, where he works with a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff to implement new ways of bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices to library collections. Damien has a passion for decolonising archives and library collections and has extensive experience working with researchers to understand the legacies of white explorers from an Aboriginal context and return authority over heritage materials to Traditional Owners and Aboriginal families.