Go to: http://pla.org.au/Conf2009/conference_papers.html

Please note that we don’t yet have all papers so it might be worth your while checking the site again in a week or so.

Also note that at sometime in the next month a new PLA website will be launched – this means that even though the web address will remain the same and the papers will still be available i.e. from www.pla.org.au – that the conference paper link above will no longer work.

This wraps up the work of this blog. Thanks for visiting, reading and commenting. We hope you found the information about Townsville and conference useful and interesting.

See you at a future PLA or QPLA conference! Happy travels

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Please note that Conference presentations / PowerPoint’s are in the process of being collected and will be put up on both the QPLA and PLA websites sometime in November 2009.

Access will be provided for Laptops and Phones sporting inbuilt wifi connectivity. The wireless connection will remain active during the length of the conference and will be available by connecting to the broadcast name “QPLA09”

Keep in mind this connection is shared between all the attendees and presenters so please be frugal with your use as downloading large files may slow the connection.

Riverway

This week in Townsville has been fine and sunny with maximum temperatures around 30 degrees C – perfect for swimming!

Depending on what part of Australia you are coming from, you need to remember to pack your bathers, costume, cozzie, swimmers, swimsuit, togs or trunks! (Thanks to the  Australian Word Map for the list of Australian regionalisms for “things you wear while swimming!”)

Place to take a dip include:

• Rockpool on the Strand (enclosed swimming area with circulating sea water)
• Tobruk Memorial Baths (also on the Strand, 50m outdoor pool)
• Riverway Lagoons (large swimming area covers an area in size of more than three Olympic swimming pools)

1. Can you please give us a taste or teaser of what you will be displaying / presenting at the conference exhibition? Do you have any new products or services you will be launching at the conference?
Bolinda will doing demonstrations of Bolinda digital at the conference. Bolinda digital is a solution being released by Bolinda that enables libraries to offer eAudiobooks to its library customers from its Library’s website. Bolinda will be demonstrating on their stand how easy it is to use MP3CD’s.

2. What is the most inspiring, exciting or challenging aspect of your industry at the moment?
Bolinda audio will be displaying all its new Simultaneous releases of audio books. Bolinda is Australia’s leading audio book publisher and we have a stellar line up of Bestselling authors and titles for the month of October. They include titles which we’re sure your library patrons will be waiting for! 

3. If you will be visiting Townsville for the first time, what are you looking forward to the most? If you live here or know Townsville, please share your favourite thing to do or place to visit in Townsville.
Brenton from Bolinda recommends running The Strand for fitness freaks. A visit to Magnetic Island via the ferry for those arriving earlier or staying longer. Brenton recommends The Watermark restaurant, walking castle hill and enjoying the best views of Townsville.

1. Can you please give us a taste of what you will be exhibiting at the conference?
We’re thrilled to be showcasing some of the most popular titles for tweens and teens like Naruto and Fruits Basket and to have the opportunity to explain more what manga is all about, why all the fuss and the programming opportunities around manga, comics and graphic novels. 

2. What is inspiring, exciting or challenging you at the moment?
What I love about manga is how dedicated the fans are. Usually teenagers are the first to pick up manga and they fall in love. They collect entire series no matter how long (some series are up to volumes in the 40’s and 50’s). They cos-play as their favourite characters, travel great distances to get to conventions and many start to research Japanese culture even taking Japanese language courses and planning trips to Japan.

The challenges in working with manga are in clearing up misconceptions adults have about the category. The “graphic” in graphic novels doesn’t mean explicit. Just as many girls read manga as boys. The majority of manga readers in Australia are not Asian.  Manga is a book, anime is a film or TV series. There is literary value in manga, it’s simply another way of telling a story. Allegory, irony, symbolism, foreshadowing and other literary devices are still abundant in graphic novels.  There is even an argument that graphic novels are more of a challenge to read as the reader has to reconcile the images with the words. 

3. If you will be visiting Townsville for the first time, what are you looking forward to the most? If you are a local or know Townsville, please share your favourite thing to do or place to visit in Townsville.
This will be my first trip not only to Townsville, but to Northern Queensland. I have only been in Australia for two years (originally from the US) so I’m always excited to see a new part of this country. I plan on taking a few days off after the conference to explore the area. I’ve heard the beaches are beautiful and I also plan on visiting the Great Barrier Reef while I’m in the neighbourhood.

1. What will you be displaying / presenting at the conference exhibition? Do you have any new products or services you will be launching at the conference?
In addition to the multimedia and shelf ready solutions we are known for, we will be showcasing Intrepica a new online literacy resource, developed in Queensland.

Intrepica will be launched in the presentation room, next to the exhibition pavilion at QPLA during the lunch break on Tuesday 13th October. Attendees will see a demonstration of this exciting resource, and can go into the draw to win a free subscription for their library. Please visit Digital Education Services at stand 12 for further details.

We are also looking forward to hearing your feedback on our innovative reluctant reader titles. These books use simple text and graphics supported by contemporary, age-appropriate themes to interest the young adult readers who may have a lower reading age.

2. Most inspiring, exciting or challenging aspect of our industry at the moment?
Just being part of the convergence of technologies makes every day exciting. Being part of these changes is even more thought provoking for the teachers and librarians working with us.

3. If you are a local or know Townsville, please share your favourite thing to do or place to visit in Townsville.
Visiting that part of the country is always fascinating and looking forward to taking some time to enjoy the colours and light that are so much a part of tropical north Queensland. Not to mention the weather…..

Paul Hagon

 Paul Hagon from the National Library of Australia will be presenting during concurrent session 2a on Monday afternoon, as well as taking part in a panel discussion on Monday morning. Some of Paul’s very interesting and exciting work can be at his Then & Now webpage.

2. What is inspiring, exciting or challenging you at the moment?
I’m really inspired by what is happening around the world of everyone opening up their data, from libraries and museums to government agencies.  There has been a big exciting shift over the past few years towards community generated information and differing forms of engaging with your users. The explosion of mobile devices is happening providing new outlets for engaging with content. It’s a fun time to be working on the web.

3. If you will be visiting Townsville for the first time, what are you looking forward to the most?
This will be my first time to Townsville (and far north Queensland), so everything will be new and an adventure.

While sipping a coffe at morning tea, or while stretching your legs after a delicious lunch, take a stroll through the exhibition area to visit Simon and Tricia from ALS Library Services.

1. Can you please give us a taste of what you will be exhibiting at the conference?
Our exhibit is a simple one – it’s all about the services we offer to our current and prospective clients, ranging from detailed profile ordering for tricky genres, through to placing that barcode in just the right spot for easy machine reading.

2.  What is inspiring, exciting or challenging you at the moment?
Our new enterprise system, we are gradually implementing modules and finding out just how powerful our new workflow software can be. Plus the changes we see happening in the book industry in Australia – grappling with digital formats and copyright challenges.

3. If you will be visiting Townsville for the first time, what are you looking forward to the most?
We haven’t been to Townsville for some years so am looking forward to walking the new waterfront, enjoying a quick trip to wonderful Magnetic Island and enjoying some of the food and restaurants I have seen reviewed.

1. Can you please give us a taste of what you will be speaking about at the conference?
My topic for the conference will be the journey involved in digitising the “Nambour Chronicle” newspaper – Australia’s first freely available, digitised and fully searchable on-line local newspaper. This talk will explore the process of achieving this result with limited resources, strong partnerships and a steep learning curve. Hopefully it will inspire other public libraries to consider digitising their local newspaper.

 2. What is inspiring, exciting or challenging you at the moment?
My current challenge?  I’ve actually been seconded to project manage the development of an Interpretive Centre at Council’s recently-opened Glass House Visitor & Interpretive Centre. It’s been an interesting challenge to step outside the familiar Library world. It’s also been quite an eye-opener to see just how well the multi-skilled, custom-focussed background of library work qualifies you for project management. The project is all about broad consultation, establishing deadlines, keeping schedules, attention to detail, ensuring all the different groups “get along”, and meeting a community I’ve not been involved with before & learning their story & the story of these iconic mountains. And learning the whole  process involved in calling for, creating & assessing a Tender has been a great bit of skills development.

3. If you will be visiting Townsville for the first time, what are you looking forward to the most?
I’ve heard so much about The Strand – I’m hoping to get the opportunity for an early morning or evening “stroll along The Strand”.