LIANZA Otago/Southland Weekend School, Dunedin, 15-17 November 2013

I recently attended the Otago/Southland LIANZA Weekend School and thought I would record my thoughts on a valuable weekend. These are the points that stood out to me the most.

• Be proud of NZ and LIANZA-we are important on the international stage-take advantage of that
• Don't feel like you are working in isolation-there are always ways to connect
• Use of libraries is strongly connected with academic success ( but we already knew that!) 
• Freedom of access to information is vitally important. Librarians should be sharing knowledge whenever possible
• Libraries ARE a core service. Communicate this clearly to people and be strong in the language you use. 

Laurinda Thomas ( LIANZA President) mentioned the IFLA Trend Report which I found fascinating. The top 5 trends are:

1. New technology will both expand and limit who has access to information
2. Online education will transform and disrupt tradtional learning
3. Boundaries of data protection and privacy will be redefined
4. Hyper connected societies will listen to and empower new groups
5. Global information economy will be transformed by new technologies. 

Overall, it was a great weekend and I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people and catch up with others.  Here's a Storify of the weekend that Sarah Gallagher @SarahLibrarina put together:

Weekly inspiration ~ 13 - 24 May

I didn't post last week because I was sick with the flu :( So, this post will combine this week as well as last week. I feel like I say this every time, but, another busy week/s has just flown by! Here's what I've been up to & the things that have been inspiring me :)

Demystifying technologies: LIANZA event with Fiona ( @ukulelefi). We attended this event in Dunedin last Wednesday and I found the section on RFID very interesting. I'm all for it after seeing it in action and the awesome sorting machine one library has! You can see a clip of it here.

Google alerts: Why have I not discovered these earlier?! I'm finding them really useful for finding news about libraries and making sure I haven't missed any mention of Waitaki District Libraries or Oamaru on the internets.

Target plans to make over 25 school libraries: I thought this was really cool. The upgrade includes iPads, interactive white boards and 2,000 new books for each in-need school. The students also get to take home seven new books each! Props to Target for starting this great programme.

What has been inspiring you this week? I'd love for you to share you ideas or inspirations by either leaving a comment here on the blog or send me a tweet @JuliadeRuiter

Twenty-thirteen

Happy New Year everyone!
I'm so excited for 2013- I have a good feeling :)

To welcome in the new year I thought I'd share some of the goals I've made for myself at work this year. ( I left out the ones that only apply to our library). I think a sense of direction is what I need this year, so the list is stuck prominently on the wall right next to my computer.

1:Stay positive
2: Be flexible
3: Work hard on my final two papers for study
4: Get on top of my time management skills/become an organisation queen!
5: Be creative and authentic
6: Apply for the LIANZA 2013 conference scholarship
7: Finish Diploma and Certificate!
8: Publish one blog post a week
9: Read more of what I love

What are your goals/resolutions for the year ahead? You can comment here on the blog or tweet me @JuliadeRuiter

Bring on 2013!!

Julia