Going to conferences is difficult for students and new grads who live outside of cities (too far), or have work commitments or caring responsibilities (too busy). Student rates for conferences are usually reasonable, but travel + accommodation adds up (too much).
Thanks to my supportive family, I’m very fortunate to have attended three conferences in the past year (including two in Perth where I live).
Three things I love about conferences
- Meeting new people and strengthening existing connections
- Finding out about new ideas and new ways of doing things
- Seeing the library and information world from different perspectives
We can’t do the first one due to no physical conferences during COVID-19 restrictions, but we can seek out new ideas and different perspectives.
Experience an Australian conference
Here are some recent Australian library and information sector conferences – thank you to the organisers for making the talks available freely online:
- New Librarians Symposium 2019 (NLS9) – watch or read from the archived website
- ALIA Information Online 2019 – click here for a full list of conference talks, then copy and paste any of the links in the Relation field into your browser to read the talk notes
- ALIA National Library and Information Technicians’ Symposium 2019 – click here for a full list of conference talks, then copy and paste any of the links in the Relation field into your browser to read the talk notes
- Asia-Pacific Library and Information Conference 2018 – click here for a full list of conference talks, then copy and paste any of the links in the Relation field into your browser to read the talk notes
- Watch a selection of keynotes from different ALIA conferences on the ALIANational YouTube channel
- VALA 2020 – watch or read
My top two picks
- Nikki Andersen at NLS9 – ‘Deviating with diversity, innovating with inclusion: a call for radical activism within libraries’
- Alissa McCulloch at NLS9 – ‘We need to talk about cataloguing’
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts for library and information students and new grads. Even though we can’t meet in person due to the impact of COVID-19, there are lots of ways to feel connected, keep learning and figure out what you’re interested in. The blog posts are:
Feel connected #1 – Join Twitter
Feel connected #2 – Join a Twitter chat
Learn something #1 – Do a free online course
Learn something #2 – Keep up to date
Learn something #3 – Experience a conference (this post)
Take regular breaks from being online during intense news cycles (like now) – see here for lots of mental health support resources.
Photo of the Southern Ocean, taken near Tookulup Lookout in Western Australia
Niamh Quigley 