The ILN is facilitated by four highly professional and forward thinking program coordinators who all work and live in Sydney. Congratulations to coordinators Clare McKenzie, Alyson Dalby, Kate Byrne and Amy Barker as it is a credit to them for their vision and how they have developed the ILN program from the pilot round to what it is now. Their strong strategic thinking holds it in good stead for the future. The program coordinators oversee the whole program, facilitate and support the partnerships, constantly monitor and evaluate participants feedback and participation as well as maintaining an active website, twitter and facebook presence.
Initially I was drawn to the ILN during the
pilot round in 2013. The idea of exchanging information with another
person from different country sounded very interesting and it
provided an opportunity for a different type of professional development.
It was very exciting to take part in this initial program to
meet an international colleague as well as assisting with the
feedback and evaluation required to move it onto the next stage. A
positive pilot and first round experience encouraged me to think of becoming a
Country Coordinator.
As the ILN reaches 78 countries across
the globe the Program Coordinators decided that a local contact person who
could publicise and promote would be best served by having a Country
Coordinator in each country if possible. I noticed by looking at
the ILN website that there was a vacancy for Country Coordinator in
Australia so I volunteered for this role and was very happy to be
accepted.
My ongoing role is to encourage
library workers and students to take part in the ILN and as round two was
about to start this was my initial focus, however I will continue to
promote it in further rounds. There were a range of
opportunities to publicise the ILN, either by communicating with
the various networks and professional organisations as well as promoting it
through social media. I also had the opportunity to write an article
in the ALIA journal INCITE which had a positive impact as it reaches a
wide number of people working and studying within the library industry.
It was pleasing to see over 700
participants across the world take part in round 2 of the program with a large
number coming from Australia. The program coordinators did an excellent
job in matching ILN participants and they continue to encourage discussion
and communication via discussion topics each month, as well as interesting and
informative website entries, facebook stories and twitter chats.
I also decided to take part in round 2 as a
participant and have had a fascinating exchange of information from the
Director of Public Libraries in Afghanistan. I anticipate that we
will continue to communicate after round 2 finishes. Many other
participants decide to continue their digital relationship due to it being
a positive learning experience. It is not overly onerous in time but you
do need to be committed to it and make the most out of it.
The Country Coordinators (CCs) also have the
opportunity to have catch up meetings using live meeting technology to
connect with each other. These have been wonderful
opportunities to exchange ideas of how to promote the ILN within your country
and also discuss the barriers and issues that make it challenging for CCs
to get the word out. This was an eye opener to me on how difficult it can
be when websites or social media platforms are not permitted in some
countries; we do tend to take this for granted sometimes.
In terms if widening your own knowledge and
creating your own global network I recommend people to consider taking
part in the round 3, expressions of interest are now being taken.
There is a great deal of information on the
ILN website or
people can contact me directly if they have any questions about the program. It will continue to grow
and be successful due to the individual participation. It is free to join
and you will be very well supported by the Program Coordinators.
-Jenny Mustey
Australia Country Coordinator , ILN
