2018 in review: a year of firsts
This ether between Christmas and New Year again seems as good a time as any to spew forth more words about my further adventures in Libraryland...
2018 has been a year of firsts for me in many ways, the highlight of which was undoubtedly IFLA’s World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Malaysia this August. I attended an IFLA WLIC for the first time thanks to a bursary from the John Campbell Trust and am extremely grateful for the opportunity. I've summarised what was a fantastic experience here on this very blog.
Posters from IFLA WLIC at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC)
I saw monkeys! Yup - at the famous Batu Caves a short way outside Kuala Lumpur - there they were...the first time I'd seen them in the wild, just merrily scurrying around doing their monkey things (eating bananas, mainly, as well as scratching themselves/each other and making general mischief amongst enthralled assembled tourists like myself):
Monkeys - tails endearingly entwined - at the Batu Caves outside Kuala Lumpur
Aside from the local wildlife spotting, I also had the chance to attend a pre-IFLA WLIC conference seminar from the Evidence for Global and Disaster Health (E4GDH) IFLA Special Interest Group which proved a good introduction to an area of health librarianship I previously knew very little about. Here's a blog post I put together about it for my work at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) - Librarianship in the eye of the storm.
This summer was also my first chance to attend the CILIP Conference (formerly known as Umbrella). I helped to run a stand on behalf of the CILIP International Library and Information Group along with EUROLIS who were kind enough to let us share with them. I hadn't experienced a conference from that side of things before and it was brilliant to meet so many information professionals from different sectors and all across the UK. The only sore point was one almighty kerfuffle involving some CILIP ILIG-branded mugs I'd ordered especially to giveaway as freebies - heck, I remain apoplectic - but I'll not dwell on that too much... Further thoughts on my experience of the CILIP Conference are here: https://bit.ly/2N5q75P
In November I travelled to Croatia, via Slovenia, for the IFLA-sponsored 'Let's Go Green!' Conference - the very first international conference on Green Libraries. It's something I'd only heard about a few weeks previously whilst at WLIC but as soon as I did I knew I had to attend.
The National and University Library of Croatia in Zagreb
It was very packed program with around 50 speakers crammed into just two days! Our mid-afternoon lunch break on day one included a tour of the impressive Croatian national library venue pictured above, highlighting some of its sustainable features such as displays for instance information displays about green energy and battery cycling containers. The conference concluded with a trip to the Brijuni National Park which I thoroughly enjoyed...even despite the 5.45am start. I put together a write-up of my experiences in Croatia for the CILIP London blog - here.
A trip to Brijuni National Park in the Adriatic Sea during the 'Let's Go Green!' event
I've also again had the chance to do a bit of travelling closer to home. In my role as the RCN Library and Archive Service's rep for the West Midlands I attended various university events, including a Freshers' Fair event at Coventry University where I met with new Nursing and Midwifery students. I was thoroughly impressed with the facilities there and even got to pop along to their Animals in the Library event where I met a huge rabbit and an owl (pictured below) along with other furries and critters...
I got to pet an owl for the first time at the Coventry University Freshers' Fair event!
I managed to publish three more issues of the CILIP ILIG Focus journal which I edit. I have also been working hard on making changes for next year which will involve Focus going fully Open Access for the first time in its history. Though this inevitably presents challenges, it is also an exciting opportunity to reach more library and information professionals around the globe. We'll continue to highlight the work people are doing to promote literacy and access to information worldwide.
2018 was also the first time I have been published in a book! It's called Your Passport to International Librarianship and is available from many a reputable book retailer (Amazon too...):
That's nearly me for the year but before you go please sign this important petition to support colleagues at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) if you haven't done so already: http://chng.it/BNPKxQC2. SOAS has one of the leading UK research libraries and the planned staffing cuts could also have a hugely negative impact on this unique collection.
Ooh - and I highly recommend having a look at the new Library Planet website too. It's effectively a crowdsourced online version of the Lonely Planet guide for library tourists everywhere. Anyone can write about their own favourite libraries - I've submitted a few, including this one about The Word in Newcastle: https://bit.ly/2CFDGq4
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and best of luck with all of your endeavors in 2019!
