Back to work...

Yup, it is just as I suspected......back at work and the chance to finish up blogging the conference just seems to disappear!

Well, I gave it a go, and had fun doing it. I don't think there will be too many more updates to this blog, until the next conference.

I'll try to post a quick summary of the rest of my conference experience here, and then may add a few observations and thoughts about NZ public libraries later on....

So, still on day two of the conference.

At lunch I sneaked into the EPIC meeting. If you work with online databases and are interested in collaborative / consortia subscriptions, you've probably heard of NZ's EPIC (Electronic Purchasing In Collaboration). If not, go check it out. From what I've heard it's been a very successful venture, and I hope that the Australian "National Licensing Proposal" project is as successful.

In the afternoon I went to a two hour session with Stephen Abram. He was able to go into a little more detail of his ideas which was good.

On the third (and last) day I enjoyed the keynote address by Professor Martin Nakata, a fellow Aussie. We were on the same flight back to Sydney the next morning, so I got to chat with him for about an hour (at 4.30am...!) at the Wellington airport.

The other session I attended on the final day was about the Upper Riccarton joint-use library (public and high school) in Christchurch. I managed to have a look through the library while on holiday before the conference, so it was good to hear some more details of how the idea of a joint-use library developed, and how it (successfully) operates.

So that's it! I flew home the next day, refreshed and inspired by New Zealand, by the amazing environment, food and wine, by the wonderful public libraries, and by the excitement and enthusiasm that NZ library professionals seem to have. Well done LIANZA, and well done New Zealand librarians, on a successful conference!