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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 53| October 2001
Virtual Information: Brunei Conference
The small but oil-rich sultanate of Brunei Darussalam was the scene of a conference on new information technologies with the theme Virtual Information: The Dawn of a New Era in July 2001. Organised by the University of Brunei Darussalam, the conference attracted speakers from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
Two speakers from Australia participated in the conference. Janine Schmidt, University Librarian at the University of Queensland spoke on the topic of Unlocking Staff Potential: The Secret of Success. Peter Haddad from the National Library spoke on From Digitisation to Virtual Reality: Is Global Knowledge a Blessing or a Threat? Other speakers covered the topics of knowledge management, the impact of access to virtual information on library and information professionals, human resource development in the digital world, copyright, the marketing of libraries, the digital divide between rich and poor nations, and the preservation of world documentary heritage.
As well as the superbly organised conference, delegates were treated to
a number of visits to local libraries and tours of the sights around the
capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan. In 2003, CONSAL the Congress of
Southeast Asian Librarians will be held in Brunei.
Peter Haddad
Above left: Participants at the conference Virtual Information: The Dawn of a New Era in Brunei Darussalam
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au