VALA Tech Camp 2021

News Update

April 2021

Registrations for this event are CLOSED.

31 March 2021

Last days to register for Tech Camp 2021 Workshops A and B, which will run from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 April. Registrations must close 3 days prior to each Workshop. Some sessions are fully booked and waitlisted. Don’t delay and register today.

Registrations for Workshops C and D (Monday 19 to Thursday 22 April) will be open for a further week. Registrations must close 3 days prior to each Workshop. Places are still available in most sessions, but are strictly limited. Register now to avoid disappointment.

TechEx Sessions kick off on Friday 9 April. This first of 4 in the series, “First Nations”, has generated enormous interest, and we encourage anyone intending to register to do so now.

All VALA Tech Camp 2021 events are made possible with the generous support of our Tech Partner, AARNet, who have brought their expertise and their platform to our Tech Camp party. We can’t thank them enough.

18 February 2021

Registrations are OPEN for all Tech Camp 2021 sessions, including Contact Workshops, Virtual Workshops and TechEx Talks.

Register today to ensure your place in your preferred sessions.

December 2020 – Campsite Update

Tech Camp 2021 is COMING TO YOU in these locations:

  • Melbourne, Victoria – State Library Victoria
  • Geelong, Victoria – Geelong Regional Libraries
  • Sydney, New South Wales – University of Technology Sydney
  • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory – Australian National University
  • Brisbane, Queensland – Supreme Court Library Queensland
  • Adelaide, South Australia – Flinders University
  • Perth, Western Australia – Edith Cowan University
  • Darwin, Northern Territory – Charles Darwin University
  • Hobart, Tasmania – University of Tasmania
  • Auckland, New Zealand – Auckland University of Technology

All campsites will provide accessible and Covid-safe training spaces, with care and respect for local conditions.

A huge shout out from VALA to each of our host Campsites. Thank you for coming on this adventure with us, and for making Tech Camp 2021 available to your local library IT communities.

25 November 2020 – Seeking Presenters for our “TechEx” Talks

Thank you to all those who recently contributed to the VALA Tech Camp 2021 Poll for Workshops – we had an amazing response, heard your voices and are now seeking the outstanding trainers who will do justice to the topics you chose.

Now you can help to shape the Tech Camp 2021 program further by telling us about the things you want to hear and learn in TechEx sessions. TechEx Talks focus on practical, inspiring and enabling content relevant to those who code for libraries and collections institutions.

TechEx Talks will be live, online and totally free to attend.

This is your opportunity to tell us the skills you would like to improve, the knowledge you would like to gain, the technologies you would like to understand or just what you would like to get better at.

Send us your ideas by completing the Call for TechEx Talks form by Monday 18 January 2021, and we’ll do the rest.

18 November 2020 – VALA TC21 Workshops Have Your Say

The VALA network is invited to shape the TC21 Workshops program by voting for their favourite 4. Topics on offer are:

  • OpenRefine 101 – Learn how to clean, enhance and transform data using OpenRefine, a powerful open source tool.
  • Data-driven design: creating dashboards – Take the brain pain out of analytics by creating interactive, innovative dashboards. You’ll learn how to identify suitable raw data, create a suite of visualisation tools, and present them in a single interface for better tracking, analsyis, and display of key data points.
  • Text mining and data analytics – Find out how to identify patterns in data, uncover knowledge, and improve reasoning with text mining. This workshop covers the basics of text mining and analysis that can enchance research and support decision-making in GLAMR.
  • “Can you hear us?” – deliver engaging videostreams – As we’ve learned in 2020, delivering online meetings, workshops and talks is not as easy as it sounds! Learn how to create an effective online experience for staff and communities.
  • Building APIs using the GLAMR workbench – APIs are clever devices that can improve how data sources work together. Jupyter notebooks are powerful tools that let you combine code with text. Combine the two to create amazing reports and enhance collections data.
  • Tidy Data in Excel – Keep your data neat and tidy and ready for analysis. Wrangle dates like a pro and use data validation to control data entry errors.
  • GLAMR programming – Knowing how to program lets you automate boring and repetitive tasks. Give yourself more free time by getting a computer to do the work you shouldn’t have to do. This workshop will cover the Python programming language.
  • Introduction to Linked Data – What is linked data, and why is everyone (still) talking about it? Learn how to create linked data and apply it to collections.

 

VOTE NOW and help shape the TC21 Program

Voting Closes COB 30 November 2020

 

 

VALA Tech Camp is COMING TO YOU in April 2021!

Accessible, Inclusive, Exciting

VALA Tech Camp 2021 is an intensive, active, hands-on learning and sharing experience run for and by the people who code, build, teach and maintain technology for libraries and collections.

Drawing on the resounding success of VALA Tech Camp 2017 and 2019, the Tech Camp 2021 program offers unprecedented local access to hands-on and virtual learning and sharing that will have practical take- aways for all participants.

VALA’s 3rd biennial gathering of technologists who work for and with libraries, galleries, archives and museums will be a distributed event, featuring:

  • Contact Workshops (face to face) at Campsites in major cities across Australia and New Zealand
  • Virtual Workshops for colleagues who cannot safely access a Campsite
  • Tech Ex Talks – a weekly series of fully online and free to attend events throughout April 2021

When:  Various Dates throughout April 2021

Where:  Online AND at Venues across Australia and New Zealand

TC21 Program

Contact Workshops
  • 4 x 4-hr Contact Workshops (face to face) across 4 days
  • Contact Workshops will run concurrently in multiple Campsites
  • Subject matter will be delivered online by expert trainers
  • On site support by skilled Camp Counsellors
  • Each location will be limited to 10 campers, creating an exceptional hands-on learning and sharing experience
  • Each Contact Workshop will be separately ticketed and campers can opt to attend one or many
Virtual Workshops
  • 4 x 4-hr Virtual Workshops will offer a modified online event for colleagues who are unable to attend a Campsite
  • Subject matter will be delivered online by expert trainers
  • Each Virtual Workshop will be limited to 15 campers, to ensure an exceptional learning experience
  • Each Virtual Workshop will be separately ticketed and virtual campers can opt to attend one or many
TechEx Talks
  • 4 x 90-minute Tech Ex Talks will feature expert panellists and 30 minutes of live Q&A.
  • Tech Ex Talks will be scheduled to suit the timezones of participating panellists
  • Tech Ex Talks will be recorded and available for VOD
  • Tech Ex Talks will feature expert local and international panellists
  • Tech Ex Talks will be separately ticketed, online and free to attend.

Registrations

Tech Camp 2021 Registrations will open in January 2021. Please check in regularly on this page for all the latest news.

This event sold out in 2017 and 2019, so those wishing to attend are encouraged to register early. (Please note there is no early bird period.)