As Deakin Library readied to reopen after Lockdown 1.0, we needed to balance government and business directives to ensure we were managing capacity limits within our spaces and supporting contract tracing efforts, as well as meeting our responsibility to provide safe and connected study areas for both metropolitan and regional-based students who were entirely reliant on library study spaces and technology to continue with their studies. This paper steps through the processes undertaken at short notice to ensure a Book a Desk service was available for the beginning of Trimester Two 2020, and the project outcomes and lessons learned along the way.
Biography
Rachael is passionate about great content and digital experiences in her role as the Digital Experience Librarian at Deakin University Library. She leads a small team specialising in user experience and digital content management and strategy, as part of the larger Library DX (Digital Experience) team. In her role, Rachael collaborates with stakeholders across Deakin Library and beyond, striving to deliver great digital experiences across a range of online platforms, including their website presence, Deakin Genie (an intelligent assistant app) and Springshare suite.
The Data Concierge Project investigated the data management practices of 232 researchers and graduate research students at Monash University in 2020, and uncovered a need to more deeply and personally engage with researchers. The Data Management Reviews Project followed in 2021 and applied the newly acquired knowledge to provide one-on-one assistance to researchers. Feedback from researchers confirmed the value of the reviews and the need for closer engagement. An evidence-based practice model is used to assess how well researchers are being supported, and the paper concludes with ten core researcher engagement principles.
Biography
As a project manager in data management Patrick Splawa-Neyman has a proven track record of deeply engaging with researchers, raising the profile of open scholarship and open data, and successfully working collaboratively across institutions. His unique blend of skills from pharmaceutical sales, and sales and marketing for an open data vendor has led to the practical application of research data management support. He is motivated to support researchers and support staff to make informed, data-driven decisions.
In 2020, the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) commenced a project to replace its existing cataloguing system with Koha, an open-source library management system. Catalyst was appointed to undertake the installation, data migration and integration with SCIS’s existing systems, as well as providing training and ongoing support. This paper describes the project-management process and how it was adapted to accommodate COVID-19 lockdowns. It outlines customisations and additional developments undertaken to support SCIS’s specific needs and workflows, and further work and on-going support arrangements in the post-launch phase.
Biography
Dr Ben Chadwick is Director, Research and Information Services at Education Services Australia where he oversees the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) and the Australian Education Vocabularies (IEV), including the linked data Schools Online Thesaurus (ScOT). Ben grew up on Turrbal/Jagera country but now lives on Wurundjeri land, in Brunswick East, with his partner, two daughters and a greyhound.
Chris Cormack is of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha descent. He has 24 years’ experience working in the ICT sector, with 21 of those being in the Library ICT sector. He was one of the original developers of the Koha library management system, started in Horowhenua and now used by over 15,000 libraries worldwide. Chris started his professional career working for Te Pūtahi a Toi at Massey University after completing his studies for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Māori Studies and Mathematics. He programmed the backend of the Toi te Kupu system (a catalogue of resources in te reo Māori and for the teaching of te reo Māori) Chris is now Kaihuawaere Matihiko at Catalyst IT.
Aleisha Amohia (Te Ātihaunui-a-Papārangi) (she/her) is a Koha Developer at Catalyst IT in Wellington, New Zealand. She has been working on Koha since 2014. Aleisha recently graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Management and Information Systems).
Amy Walduck is a librarian, an extrovert, a creative and has embraced a colourful career across state, academic, special, and public libraries. As a creative problem-solver, she thrives in busy, collaborative environments working with passionate people. At State Library of Queensland, Amy is currently working on digital, open data and collections as data initiatives such as the Digital Collections Catalyst and Making Meaning: Collections as Data Symposium.
Library and information services are well positioned to become high-performing, productive learning organisations, building on their commitment to innovation and continuous service improvement. Innovating to overcome barriers to services and meet community expectations is crucial in the current pandemic environment. GLAM sector organisations require individuals and teams who can develop new skills quickly and flexibly adapt work practices. Beyond the pandemic, creating a working environment that encourages real transformative professional development at work will foster a generation of information professionals who are curious, confident, connected and collaborative.
Biography
Clare Thorpe is an award-winning library leader, evidence-based research-practitioner, and board director. She has worked in academic and state libraries since 2001. Clare is the Director, Library Services at Southern Cross University and currently serves as a Director of the Australian Library and Information Association Board.
In 2020, James Cook University Library Special Collections undertook an extremely ambitious project, which included the digitisation of 50 treasures from our collections and the production of a professional exhibition. We describe the various components of the project, their complexity and the problems encountered as we dealt with the ramifications of the pandemic. We detail how we responded to the challenges, changed our ways of working and found the unexpected benefits of working in extraordinary times.
Biography
Bronwyn McBurnie’s role is to plan, manage, preserve, and conserve unique and rare materials of cultural and historical significance to north Qld and the tropics. She is very proactive and successful in working with donors, volunteers, state and local community organisations, professional associations and independent, local and JCU researchers to raise the visibility and profile of special collections in support of JCU’s research, tropical focus and community engagement. She collaborates with other Library and Information Services (LIS) staff to deliver and facilitate learning, teaching, and research by focusing on the use of special collections. She provides specialist consultation services to JCU researchers and students, external researchers and organisations, and the public. In her rare spare time Bronwyn is an established artist who recently exhibited her work as part of a Group Exhibition, Mudpickers, at Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts in Townsville.
The University of Adelaide Library is committed to creating and fostering a diverse and culturally safe environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous students and staff. It has purposefully delved deeply and authentically to understand and articulate what it means to position the Library as a place of cultural safety and this becomes most impactful when it becomes a truly shared responsibility. This paper shares the iterative approach taken to engage in a considered and respectful way as we commenced our exploration of what cultural safety might look like in our context.
In this paper, authors from both CAVAL and Skilltype summarise threats to professional development that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic and how the sudden shift to a fully online environment exacerbated them. Two categories of challenges emerged: technological and economic. While the economic constraints were mostly out of each organisation’s control, the authors investigated the role technology could play in helping libraries and library staff gain access to the expertise they need at the right time. The authors will share how the pandemic provided a lens into what libraries and library workers should expect as the new normal this decade.
Biography
Tony Zanders is an award-winning software entrepreneur and library technology executive. He currently serves as the founder and CEO of Skilltype — a software platform for information professionals and their teams to analyze, develop, and share expertise. He also serves as the inaugural entrepreneur in residence at the Boston University Libraries. In this role, Zanders provides executive counsel to the University Librarian during the academic strategic planning process while designing and implementing new approaches to recruitment, retention, and training that produce elite performance for the University and its Libraries. Zanders is the first EIR in the Libraries’ history. Zanders has a proven track record of helping research libraries develop innovative solutions to leverage technology within the research workflow. Zanders bought libraries from Camelback Ventures, where he served as Entrepreneur In Residence, working with black and brown founders on company strategy. Before Camelback, Zanders was Vice President of Global Customer Development at EBSCO, where he advised libraries on software integrations across more than 30 countries. While at EBSCO, Zanders played an instrumental role in the company’s participation in the FOLIO community consulting over a dozen of the community’s early partners on service models. Zanders also has served as Director of Customer Development at Ex Libris, a ProQuest company. While there, he was the liaison to the Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) and was responsible for community engagement with the Ex Libris Alma development partners and early adopter community.
Sara Davidsson’s current role as Member Services Coordinator at CAVAL Ltd., gives her the opportunity to advocate within areas that are close to her heart. Professional development for staff, the importance of learning, education and literacy in the academic and wider community, as well as facilitating a welcoming environment for new industry professionals are some examples of what drives Sara. After a couple of career changes, Sara believes that she has found her true match in the library and information industry. She is currently serving as Secretary on the ALIA Community of Resource Description (ACORD) Advisory Committee. This provides a chance for her to continue to nerd out on all things resource description, as this is where she kick-started her library career. Previous studies and volunteer roles also highlight Sara’s interest in languages, history, the environment and animal welfare.
This paper will explain the issues inherent in our current digital collections, created and curated from a Eurocentric perspective. We will introduce our pilot program to decolonise digital collections, using multiple strategies including: 1) connecting and engaging with Communities, 2) rethinking language and descriptive metadata around collections, 3) exploring the application of Traditional Knowledge Labels, 4) respectfully building up content from Indigenous perspectives. The primary objective of decolonising our collections is to make resources more culturally appropriate, findable and accessible for First Nations people. This enables a reclaiming of culture and ownership of knowledge essential to cultural identity, and contributing to cultural and spiritual healing, well-being, and self-determination.
Biography
Kua Swan is a proud Gomeroi (Moree) & the Wiradjuri (Cowra) man, but was born on Anaiwan land (Armidale). Kua lives and works on Awabakal country. Kua has been fortunate to experience Language from an extensive number of Aboriginal Language groups from across Australia and has been able to identify words from his travels. Kua began his journey at the University of Newcastle working within the Wollotuka Institute as a Project Officer with a focus on the Indigenous Language program, which has since given him an in depth understanding and appreciation of Language history. Kua’s work has allowed him to research into Language with the help from collections, which led him to the university library.
Paige Wright is the Special Collections Librarian at the University of Newcastle Library, where she has worked for eight years. She coordinates the Living Histories repository and is an advocate for equity and diversity within collections. Her topics of interest include rare books, promoting special collections, community engagement, digital humanities, Wikipedia and digital collections. Paige currently volunteers on the committees for ALIA Rare Books and Wikimedia Australia. Twitter: @WrightPaige.
Despite wide use, studies of link resolvers over the past fifteen years found that OpenURL link resolvers can fail up to 30% of the time and do not meet user expectations. For researchers, the negative consequences of link resolvers mean wasted time, incomplete or delayed access to information, and a general dissatisfaction with library services; for libraries, it means a constant stream of technical support and other issues requiring ongoing staff attention. This presentation discusses how new technologies using artificial intelligence avoid many of the problems of traditional link resolvers and better meet user expectations.
Biography
Kendall Bartsch is the Co-founder and CEO of the library technology company Third Iron. Kendall’s career working with libraries spans more than twenty years, starting at Cambridge Scientific Abstracts in the late 1990s.
