[Hum-DIS] ALIA 2008 conference - Dreaming 08 - Alice Springs, NT

[Kerry Smith]

Dear all

Paul Genoni and I were lucky to be able to attend the above conference.
Paul has typed a "few words" about it. We would like all of you to think
seriously about attending conferences such as this one.

The ALIA Biennial Conference produces highlights for even the most
seasoned of conference going veterans, and 2008 (Dreaming '08) was no
exception. The venue, the excellent and spectacularly situated Alice
Springs Convention Centre, was a pleasant and welcome change from the
usual capital cities. This is the first time that ALIA had held the
conference in a regional city since Albury-Wodonga in 1992, and although
this impacted slightly on attendance the Conference still managed to
attract nearly 600 delegates, including a large number of
representatives of the 'trade' who put on a substantial display of their
latest product offerings. 

A special word for the social side of the conference. The dinner was
held 'under the stars' at the Ooraminna Homestead, a forty minute bus
ride from Alice Springs. Quite a departure from the hotel ballrooms that
are the usual venue for such events, and delegates seemed more than
happy to 'suffer' the forty minute bus ride across roads that apparently
hadn't seen a grader in some years. This was particularly so as it is
not often that city slickers get to see the milky way and millions of
stars in the evening since city lights mar this spectacular show.

Another highlight was he first Australian viewing of the US movie 'The
Hollywood Librarian'. It seems this might be doing the rounds of other
venues in the months ahead so if you have an opportunity please go and
see it. Entertaining and thought provoking, it will give you a
fascinating insight into the plight be faced by many public libraries in
the 'information age' - plus remind you of all those libraries and
librarians that have featured on the big screen over the years.

Needless to say there were also many memorable moments amongst the
conference papers. It would be unfair to single out particular
presenters or papers, so I suggest you go and read your way through them
at: http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2008/
The Alice Springs venue and the conference theme of 'dreaming' resulted
in a number of papers dealing with issues around library and information
services for indigenous users, and several of these are well worth
reading. 

The conference was also used to 'launch' the next Biennial conference,
which will be held in Brisbane in August 2010 as part of the IFLA
(International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions)
Annual Congress. This event will attract several thousand delegates from
around the world, and we encourage you to start planning now. It will be
a significant and memorable occasion for Australian librarianship and
for the international library community.

And there is not much more to add to Paul's "few words" - it was a great
conference!

Paul (and Kerry)