National Library of Australia  - Gateways

ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 72 | December 2004


The ALIA Conference, 21-24 September 2004, Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland: Some Informal Notes

Chris Hardy, Charles Sturt University student from Queensland with National Library of Australia delegates Judy Newland and Di Ouyang at the First Timers’ Breakfast

Chris Hardy, Charles Sturt University student from
Queensland
with National Library of Australia delegates
Judy Newland and Di Ouyang at the First Timers’ Breakfast

[CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]
 

This year I was lucky enough to be included in the National Library contingent attending the ALIA conference held on the Gold Coast. The overall theme of the conference was challenging ideas, with each day addressing a different issue. The first day emphasised culture and tradition, the second day leadership and management and the final day concentrated on meeting the smart service challenge. Throughout the conference there was a strong emphasis on the value of professional library qualifications, lifelong learning and acting locally while thinking globally.

Of the many and varied papers presented at the conference it is difficult to decide which impressed me most, but perhaps the ones that made the biggest impact were those that discussed culture, tradition and the world of the information poor. In keynote addresses IFLA President, Kay Raseroka from Botswana, concentrated on the problems of managing and distributing even the most basic information in Third World countries, while Torres Strait Islander, Dr Martin Nakata, Director of Indigenous Academic Programs, University of Technology, Sydney, spoke about emerging indigenous knowledge issues and their implications for libraries, archives and information services.

Sandi Taylor from the State Library of Queensland’s Indigenous Library Services discussed the recent establishment of Indigenous Knowledge Centres to cater for local populations in the remote regions of Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands. Set up in partnership with Indigenous Community Councils, the Indigenous Knowledge Centres are more than just libraries. They aim to provide a knowledge centre to foster community learning; to have a museum focused on sharing cultural and historical information in a multimedia context; to provide information and record keeping for community governance; to provide a place for the safe keeping of sacred objects; and to provide training, research and literary facilities. Richard Gundhuwuy from Elcho Island describes the aims in a more heartfelt way as:

‘Indigenous Knowledge Centres are breathing spaces ... they keep our culture strong for our children ... look after our traditions, songs, language, stories and artwork ... bring back the things that guide us today for the future ... combining a meeting place for traditional business with modern library services ...’

The Indigenous Knowledge Centres are staffed by local Indigenous people who receive initial training and mentoring by staff from the State Library of Queensland, and by experienced librarians who have volunteered to spend one to six months living in an isolated community.

Grant Collins, also from the State Library of Queensland’s Indigenous Library Services, discussed the enormous archival storage problems remote tropical environments face when trying to preserve material housed in buildings with no insulation or air-conditioning which are subjected to hot, humid weather conditions and insect attack. Like most new schemes not all has gone smoothly, but the outlook is optimistic. With the emphases on community ownership, control and decision making, and government support, the scheme is making headway in addressing the information needs of remote communities.

On a more personal note, I found the conference not only fun, but genuinely inspiring and invigorating. It reminded me of the excitement I used to feel when I was a library student—how interesting some of the subjects were, how important information management and access is to a democracy, and how important it is in developing countries. These feelings were shared by other delegates I talked with at the conference. It is easy to get bogged down with everyday tasks, like keeping up statistics, and forget the important wider impact of our work. A new graduates presentation debating the current hot issues facing the library profession introduced the buzz words that neatly summed up the future of the library profession as needing librarians with their ‘lights on’ and not librarians with their ‘lights off’. In conclusion, apart from keeping your lights on full beam, I would highly recommend taking every opportunity to attend an ALIA conference.

For a more formal report the papers presented at the conference are available on the Internet at: <http://conference.alia.org.au/alia2004/>.
—Judy Newland, Librarian, Pictures Branch

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |


Gateways logo