I’m sure I will have many things to write about NLS2006 over the coming days but to start: thank you to everyone who was involved - to the co-convenors Alyson and Adrianne, fellow committee members, Liz Baker for assisting with programme, venue staff, ALIA national office, all the sponsors, Kate Sinclair, all the speakers, and the delegates!
From a programme perspective, I don’t think things could have run any better than they did. Everyone kept to time, speakers were engaging, and there were lots of questions from delegates throughout the two days.
When you organise a programme, you are in some ways taking a leap of faith. You take a leap in hoping that speakers will perform, that the topics will suit each other, and that the event’s theme will be carried through to pull everything together. All of the speakers, especially the first-timers, did a wonderful job and I hope it will encourage them to continue to contribute to the profession by writing and presenting.
Two very strong themes in addition to the stated theme (pathways and possibilities) emerged - that of the importance to make a contribution and develop as a leader, and to always keep in mind the needs of the users, not ourselves, when we design our libraries and services. It is this dual focus that will continue to challenge and reward you throughout your career.
NLS2006 is not over for me yet, I will be working on adding all the papers and presentations to the ALIA e-Prints repository and creating podcasts of all the sessions which were held in Leighton Hall. Photos are also being added to our Flickr group by committee members and delegates.
Yes I fully agree. NLS2006 was truly amazing and thank you Fi for doing such a great job with the programme. The sessions were fascinating and very informative.
Cameron
I’m really kicking myself for not going. Especially since next year I don’t know if I would be considered a “New Librarian” anymore…
Congratulations, Fiona, on a terrific program, and a fine piece of organising! I’ll be extending congratulations to all of the NLS 2006 Committee, too, of course. Those of us who have retired and left full time work in the library and information world know the future is in good hands when we work with people like you. ALIA, esp ALIA in NSW, will benefit from your continued involvement, and I hope you’ll stay involved now that NLS 2006 is over (though you definitely deserve some recovery time first!).
Thanks Niki and Cameron!
CW - my secret is that I’m not such a new librarian either, I’ve been graduated 7 years now (it took me a while to get involved with anything).
But the newgrads are such a wonderful group that I plan to continue to be involved with them as long as they’ll have me, and I definitely plan to attend NLS4 in 2008.
I’m still so psyched… it was just awesome and the programme was just fantastically planned. Woohoo!
I am the same - not so much of a New Librarian anymore but these conferences have the most relevant content for me. I think a lot of not-so-new Librarians would get just as much out of it.
You did a magnificent job with the programme, Fiona. It was amazing to see how those two themes developed - it wasn’t obvious back in April that it would work out like that. I feel more inspired about being a librarian and doing my bit than I have in a long long time.
Thanks Morgan, and I’m so glad that you and Jenelle enjoyed it and felt inspired.
NLS was great! As a new librarian, it’s been so encouraging to discover such a vibrant professional community, especially for those of us who are still on the “lower rungs” of the profession, and it’s been inspirational hearing everybody’s stories on how we can keep pushing to succeed in the industry.
Rock on, Andrew!
I reckon unless you’re a BOF, chances are NLS is the place to be, particularly if you’re wearing a red hat as well. I kept saying to folk that Fiona was the dynamo of NLS2006, driving the programme, lining up speakers, and so on. Way impressive. NLS2006 was a blast that finished with a killer DJ.