The ALIA National Library and Information Technicians’ Online Symposium 2021 theme is “Connections”.
2020 brought challenges and changes to the world and libraries were at the forefront on ensuring people remained connected.
The 2021 Virtual LibTech Symposium will highlight how we as library technicians and library professionals rose to the challenge!
Keynote
“Until further notice”: Library responses to the pandemic, then and now.
Bonnie Wildie, Library cultural heritage sector
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Bonnie Wildie is a reference archivist with extensive experience in the cultural heritage sector. She has a keen interest in the history of Australian libraries, and is an advocate for library workers engaging with this past as a way of understanding our present. She is also a library and information science educator, and worked for several years teaching the Diploma of Library and Information Services.
Future proofing your job in Covid times
Michella McIntosh, Library Technician, The Pittwater House Schools
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“During high school, my job was shelving books at the local library. I realised what an amazing community resource a library was, and I wanted to value add back to my community by working within one. After working in Local Government library's for over 8 years, I decided to accept a job working in a school, where the students ranged from Early Learning up to year 12. It is a unique opportunity to work across such a broad range of ages and different levels of schooling.”
Cataloguing connections - sources of metadata
Renate Beilharz, Cataloguing Team Leader, Schools Catalogue Information Service, Education Services Australia
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Renate Beilharz has been making information discoverable through effective metadata, is a thread that permeated Renate Beilharz’s librarianship career as teacher-librarian in secondary schools, as cataloguing educator in the tertiary sector, and as the current cataloguing team leader at SCIS. Renate loves cataloguing because it facilitates connections between people and relevant resources.
A Day in the Life of an Audiobook Narrator and How They Become Considerably Longer in Lockdown!
Caz Prescott, Voice Over Artist
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Caz Prescott is one of Australia’s most prominent and versatile voice over artists who you’ve been listening to for well over a decade.
Signed with top Sydney VO agency EM Voices, Caz is the voice of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, navigating all ABC TV programming, with extensive promo experience previously with the Nat Geo Channel, Foxtel.
Caz voices a plethora of global advertising campaigns for tv, radio, online and corporate and is the proud International voice of Breville. Caz’s treasured regular clients also include Telstra, Facebook, Toyota, Commonwealth Bank, Aldi and Nivea.
Caz makes her animation debut this year, voicing multiple characters in Alice Miranda; A Royal Christmas Ball, screening nationally on Channel 9 and Stan. She has voiced many popular audiobooks and never being one to rest on her larynx laurels, Caz continues to grow and diversify her vocal kit bag through extensive character and accent training.
When not locked in a padded room talking to herself, Caz escapes on holidays down the coast with the family, yoga, theatre, rock gigs and the odd craft beer.
Keynote - What will the future hold? Skills for the new library world?
Roxanne Missingham, University Librarian, Australian National University
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Roxanne Missingham is a University Librarian, Australian National University Roxanne is University Librarian at ANU leading a portfolio that includes libraries, archives, press, privacy, copyright and digital scholarship. She is passionate about the value that libraries contribute to their organisations and opportunities to extend the benefit of libraries across the globe.
COVID Shut Down and Stars and Stripes
Michele Oldfield, Senior Library Technician, Gold Coast Health Library Service
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Michele Oldfield a Senior Library Technician with Gold Coast Health Library Service. Initially, Michele’s Qld Health career of 27 years commenced with the then Corporate Office Library.
Prior to this Michele’s experience includes working for a Brisbane Law firm, News Ltd – the Sun Newspapers and TAFE Qld. With an overseas stint in Doha, Qatar for a new start up Medical School – Weill Cornell Medical College from New York.
Our Health Service having been the first to have a COVID patient in Australia, along with high profile international celebrities quarantined with us.
During this time Michele has been a committee member with the Library Technicians Section of ALIA, Co-Ordinator for the 1988 LT’s Conference on the Gold Coast. Plus, in past years Michele has been an active member of the State and National Gratisnet Committees.
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COVID-19 made us worked together nationally
Hayley Hillson, Library Technician, Torrens University Australia
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Hayley Hillson holds the position of Library Technician at Torrens University Australia based in the Adelaide campus. Her background is in VET and higher education libraries. She is part of the ALIA SA Committee and the SALIN (South Australian Library Information Network) Committee. She loves to provide relevant and tangible help to students and staff.
Lifelong Learning, Learning Cities and Libraries
Lara Pugh, Lifelong Learning, Learning Cities and Libraries
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Lara Pugh is the Project Leader Learning City at Wollongong City Libraries. With over twenty years in education behind her, Lara will collaborate with lifelong learning stakeholders across Council and the Wollongong Local Government Area to establish Wollongong as a UNESCO-accredited Learning City by 2024.
Pandemic partnerships: How challenging times became an opportunity for a teaching and leading and partnership with TAFE
Sharon Beccaria, Senior Library Officer, Special Collections
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Sharon Beccaria is a graduate of North Metropolitan TAFE, with over 30 years experience in the library industry.
Sharon is currently the Senior Library Officer, Special Collections at Murdoch University. A wide ranging GLAMR role within the academic library, which she enjoys very much.
Helen Balfour, University Copyright Coordinator
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Helen Balfour has worked in university, corporate and public libraries since 2009 and currently works as the University Copyright Coordinator at Murdoch University.
The Times They are for Upskilling: Design thinking as a framework for service improvement initiatives
Sally Chik, Site Services Advisor, University of Sydney Library
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Sally Chik is an Assistant Manager, Student Experience at the University of Sydney Library. She has been published in Real KM as well as numerous poetry publications. She has a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Hons) and Master of Information Studies.
Jeffery Cruz, Associate Director of Site Services, University of Sydney Library
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Jeffery Cruz has worked in academic, public and special libraries in the United States, Spain and Australia. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hispanic Language and Literatures), Masters in Spanish and Masters in Information Resources and Library Science. He became an Associate Director at the University of Sydney Library in 2016.
Key note Unstacked - Curated by the People
Elisa Lee, Creative Director and Business Owner of Unstacked
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Elisa Lee, Creative Director and Business Owner of Unstacked, is a Sydney-based interaction designer and visual communicator passionate about storytelling and inspiring conversation by creating new ways of generating and experiencing data. Also keen on fostering emerging design talent, Elisa is a lecturer in Visual Communication at UTS where, among other projects, she initiated a subject with Google, Sydney, now in its 12th year. Elisa has recently spoken about visualising data through her projects at Digital Directions, ALIA Information Online, NSW ALIA Leadership and Innovation Forum, State Library of NSW, Data Science Symposium, OzViz, RezBaz, Sydney Design and Vivid Ideas.
View the event speakers and their biographies here