ALIA Sydney Committee 2013: Call for Expressions of Interest

Note: deadline for Expressions of Interest extended to 17 December!

ALIA Sydney presents a selection of formal and informal professional development events to encourage discussion and critical engagement and create networking opportunities across the library and information sector in Sydney and beyond. The ALIA Sydney committee is a group of vibrant and committed volunteers who make it all possible.

ALIA Sydney is currently looking for new committee members to join our team. Through these roles you will have the chance to develop skills in event and project management, and make vital professional connections through your contribution to our community of practice-- plus you can have a lot of fun along the way. 

Each of the below positions is voluntary in nature, and each role is for a 12-24 month period. These roles are to commence in the year 2013, which is a very exciting time, building on some great events held this year.

Expressions of Interest (EOIs) should be received by COB Monday 17 December 2012. EOIs should briefly introduce yourself and cover the criteria outlined for the position of interest. All EOIs and any questions should be directed to the ALIA Sydney Convenor, Crystal Choi and Convenor-Elect, Amy Croft at aliasydneyconvenor@gmail.com or call 0414 477 493.

Coordinator x 1

This role shares responsibility for coordinating the professional development events of ALIA Sydney in conjunction with our existing Coordinators.

Each Coordinator is expected to:

• Plan and organise 2 events each year in conjunction with the rest of the committee.
• Liaise with the ALIA Sydney Convenor for event ideas and ongoing support.
• Liaise with the ALIA Sydney Treasurer for event budget submissions.
• Submit updates for the ALIA Sydney blog at least monthly, including upcoming events (http://aliasydney.blogspot.com/)
• Post on/Update ALIA Sydney social networking pages regularly, featuring both ALIA Sydney event promotion and current awareness of library and information sector news and issues.
• Ensure a consistent and professional format for all ALIA Sydney communications in line with our communication strategy and templates.

Average Time Demand per month: 8 hours (prep plus actual events)

The interested person should:

• Be, or be willing to become, a current member of ALIA.
• Have an active interest in professional development with the Library & Information Sector.
• Maintain an active awareness of new issues and development within the L & I Sector.
• Have strong interpersonal and communication skills so they can be good at kick starting conversations and making introductions to put attendees at ease.
• Have a head full of ideas for ALIA Sydney events, promotions and online content (eg blog posts).
• A strong interest or expertise in technology, career development, emerging or other topics related to the L & I sector.

Event Officers x 3

This developmental role helps make events happen. On a rotating basis, the Event Officers will be teamed up with the Coordinators to help with event organisation and management.

Each Officer is expected to:

• Assist with the organisation of at least 2-3 events each year in conjunction with the Coordinator and Convenor.
• Post on/update ALIA Sydney social networking pages regularly, featuring both ALIA Sydney event promotion and current awareness of library and information sector news and issues.
• Submit updates for the ALIA Sydney blog at least monthly, including reports on ALIA Sydney events (http://aliasydney.blogspot.com/)
• Ensure a consistent and professional format for all ALIA Sydney communications in line with our communication strategy and templates.

Average Time Demand per month: 4 hours (2 hours prep plus actual events)

The interested person should:

• Be, or be willing to become, a current member of ALIA.
• Have an active interest in professional development with the Library & Information Sector.
• Maintain an active awareness of new issues and development within the L & I Sector.
• Have strong communication and collaboration skills. 

ALIA Sydney Committee: Call for Expressions of Interest

ALIA Sydney presents a selection of formal and information events to encourage discussion and critical engagement and create networking opportunities across the library and information section in Sydney and beyond. The ALIA Sydney committee is a group of vibrant and committed volunteers who make it all possible.

ALIA Sydney is currently looking for new committee members to join our team. Through these roles you will have the chance to develop skills in event and project management, and make vital professional connections through your contribution to our community of practice plus you can have a lot of fun along the way. 

Each of the below positions is voluntary in nature, and each role is for a 12-24 month period. These roles are to commence in the year 2012, which is a very exciting time with the development of the new expanded program for ALIA Sydney.

Expressions of Interest (EOIs) should be received by COB Wednesday 4th of January 2012. EOIs should briefly introduce yourself and cover the criteria outlined for the position of interest. All EOIs and any questions should be directed to the ALIA Sydney Convenor, Kate Byrne and Convenor-Elect, Crystal Choi at aliasydneygroup@gmail.com or call 0414 955 258.

Coordinators x 2

These roles share responsibility for coordinating the professional development events of ALIA Sydney in conjunction with our existing coordinators.

Each Coordinator is expected to:

• Plan and Organise 2 events each year in conjunction with the rest of the committee.
• Liaise with the ALIA Sydney Convener for event ideas and ongoing support.
• Liaise with the ALIA Sydney Treasurer for event budget submissions.
• Submit updates for the ALIA Sydney blog at least monthly, including upcoming events (http://aliasydney.blogspot.com/)
• Post on/Update ALIA Sydney social networking pages regularly, featuring both ALIA Sydney event promotion and current awareness of library and information sector news and issues.
• Ensure a consistent and professional format for all ALIA Sydney communications in line with our communication strategy and templates.

Average Time Demand per month:  8 hours (prep plus actual events)

The interested person should:

• Be, or be willing to become, a current member of ALIA.
• Have an active interest in professional development with the Library & Information Sector.
• Maintain an active awareness of new issues and development within the L & I Sector.
• Have strong interpersonal and communication skills so they can be good at kick starting conversations and making introductions to put attendees at ease.
• Have a head full of ideas for ALIA Sydney events, promotions and online content (eg blog posts)
• A strong interest or expertise in technology, career development, emerging or other topics related to the L & I sector

Event Officer x 1

This developmental role helps make events happen. On a rotating basis, the Event Officers will be teamed up with the Coordinators to help with event organisation and management.

Each Officer is expected to:

• Assist with the organisation of at least 2-3 events each year in conjunction with the coordinator and convener.
• Post on/Update ALIA Sydney social networking pages regularly, featuring both ALIA Sydney event promotion and current awareness of library and information sector news and issues.
• Submit updates for the ALIA Sydney blog at least monthly, including reports on ALIA Sydney events (http://aliasydney.blogspot.com/)
• Ensure a consistent and professional format for all ALIA Sydney communications in line with our communication strategy and templates.

Average Time Demand per month:  4 hours (2 hours prep plus actual events)

The interested person should:

• Be, or be willing to become, a current member of ALIA.
• Have an active interest in professional development with the Library & Information Sector.
• Maintain an active awareness of new issues and development within the L & I Sector.
• Have strong communication and collaboration skills. 

ALIA Sydney Presents: From Little Things Big Things Grow: preparing to present and write a paper

It's conference season with the ALIA New Librarians Symposium and Library Technicians Conference both happening this month and the ALIA Biennial have already released their call for abstracts for next year's conference in Sydney. 


Have you thought you would like to present a paper at a conference? 


But don't know where to start? 


Or maybe you've done it before but would like to brush up your skills and get some insiders tips? 


Well, the latest ALIA Sydney event is here to help you get your hands dirty and start to grow your little ideas into big ones. 


This half day workshop is to help you develop confidence and learn some tips and tricks about how to put together a conference paper covering everything from pitching the idea to your manager, submitting an abstract, working with colleagues and brushing up your presentations skills. The workshop will also explore writing a small piece for a professional publication such as inCite as this can be great way to hone sharing your ideas. 


Featuring guest presenters: 


Janet Fletcher (Director, Information Services Department, UNSW and Co-Convenor for the ALIA 2012 Biennial) 


Alyson Dalby (InSync Surveys and former Co-Convenor ALIA New Librarians Symposium) 

Room 209, UNSW Library, University of New South Wales

1 - 5pm Saturday 15th October 2011  

ALIA Members $15 and Non-Members $20

RSVPs are essential so please email your details to aliasydneygroup@gmail.com 

ALIA Biennial Call for Abstracts Now Open

With a little whisper the team from the ALIA Biennial have released their call for abstracts. You can see all the details over at http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2012/program.html 


If you aren't sure how to get started: stay tuned... help is on the way! 

ALIA Sydney Presents: Think Outside the Green

A sustainable library in Villanueva, Columbia as spotlighted at:http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/stunning-library-in-tropical-columbia-has-permeable-rock-and-wood-walls.php

Do you hear the words climate change and wonder what you and your workplace can really do to help? Sustainability is about so much more than just recycling and turning off the lights! Join us for a lively night of discussion about what sustainability means for us, our libraries and our communities. Special guest speakers (to be announced) will share their experiences and help brainstorm practical things we can do now to make sure we create a sustainable future.

Numbers are limited so please RSVP to aliasydneygroup@gmail.com to ensure you don’t miss out.

Monday 19^th  of September  2011 6:30-8:00pm (arrive from 6pm)

UTS Library, Level 4, Room 4G. Cnr Ultimo Rd and Quay St, Ultimo, 2007

Cost: $5 for ALIA Members / $7 for Non-ALIA Members (Pay at the Door)

PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES OUT OF OUR CONTROL WE HAVE HAD TO POSTPONE THIS EVENT. WE ARE RESCHEDULING AND WILL CONFIRM THE NEW DATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 

An afternoon behind the scenes at the Powerhouse Museum

We're so excited about our peek into the inner workings of the Powerhouse Museum.  Whilst numbers were strictly limited so many of our community had to miss out, our lovely committee member Amy Barker will be documenting the day so we will be sharing some of the fun. So to get everyone in the mood, I wanted to share the exciting program our kind hosts have put together for us. 

Firstly, we will be taken by curators Erika Taylor and Geoff Barker on a tour of the basement of the museum and I am curious to see what gems they choose to show us. The Powerhouse does offer public basement tours from time to time but usually with a focus on a particular collection, I love the mystery element of this tour.  

Then they are taking us upstairs to the have a look at the latest Powerhouse exhibition Love Lace, which only opened 5 days ago, to have a look at the App they developed especially for this collection, to enable visitors to connect to more information through QR codes. "This App works as a companion exhibition catalogue in your pocket." They've asked those of us with iphones to download the app before we come so they can show us what it can do. 

We will then be delivered to the Powerhouse Research Library where the librarians will be discussing and demonstrating their new Koha open source library catalogue. 

Finally, we will be having rest and a chat with Seb Chan, head of Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies, and his team. For those of you unfamiliar with their fabulous work, have a look at their blog Fresh + New(er) but their team does a lot of different things including building their fabulous apps and spearheading their data and digitisation efforts.  They are making huge strides towards digitising their vast collections and as a thank you ALIA Sydney will be donating a portion of our ticket price to the their digitisation project. If you think they are doing great work have a think about making a tax deductible donation as well. 

So I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

20x20 Working Together, Learning Together

The inaugural ALIA Sydney 20x20 Working Together event was held on Tuesday 3rd May in the Victoria Park Room at the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney Library.

It was with great excitement (and a dash of nervousness) that I coordinated and chaired this event.

The theme was 'Working Together, as a celebration of all of the wonderful collaborative projects that libraries and other organisations are working on. The presenters included a host of librarians, academics, writers, researchers, a historian and even a philosopher!
I've included a list of the presenters who presented on the night:

1. Ellen Forsyth- Read It 2011
Website: http://readit2011.wordpress.com/

2. Louise Prichard- Library Hack
Website: http://libraryhack.org/

3. Dr Lisa Murray- Dictionary of Sydney
Website: http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/

4. Kirsten Thorpe- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA)
Website: http://www.atsida.edu.au/

5. Dr Gillian Fuller- Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO)
Website: http://www.daao.org.au/

6. Helen Chan- Read@UTS
Website: http://read.lib.uts.edu.au/

7. Oriana Acevedo- My Language
Website: http://www.mylanguage.gov.au/

8. Dr Tim Fuller- Coalition of the Willing
Website: http://cotw.cc/wiki/Coalition_of_the_Willing

People in the audience commented on the evening, how excited they were to hear such varied and diverse presentations. (We were SO pleased to have such a fabulous diversity in presenters also!)

Despite the fact that people used slightly different jargon from each other, because of this diversity, a common theme emerged on the night- the idea of trust. This involves building trust with key stakeholders by having conversations with the people or groups involved, so you all have a good understanding of what you are doing in your project. This may sound obvious in a collaborative project, but the ensuing discussion on the night focused on the building of trust that starts well before you even start on the actual project. It involves building a good relationship as a foundation. Once you've built this good relationship, it allows you to have conversations about new projects.

What also became apparent was that not only were we focusing on the theme of working together, we were also learning together on the evening. The 20x20 format of the evening meant that the presenters had a set number of slides (20) with a set number of seconds (20) to talk to each slide, hence the name 20x20. This gave them 6 minutes and 40 seconds in total, to present.

Not many of us in the room had experience working with this format before, so it was a great learning curve for us all. One of my favourite moments of the evening was seeing Ellen Forsyth, celebrated Mover and Shaker of 2011, as nominated by the Library Journal, dash from the back of the room to start her presentation, in case she missed some of her 20 seconds on the first slide! That was entirely my fault- I don't think I made it quite clear that the 20 seconds started after the initial title slide... But it was with grace and humour, that Ellen was our first successful presenter for the evening.









To see the rest of the photos from this evening, check out the ALIA Sydney Flickr stream here.

So what does everyone think of the 20x20 style format of presenting? Love it? Hate it? Ambivalent? Please share your thoughts by commenting below.

- Crystal