The only work I’m allowed to do on sabbatical

G’day all!

I’m popping in to share some news – I’ll be presenting at the CILIP Conference in July!

….and this is the only work I’m allowed to do on sabbatical. (though just now I’ve found another conference in the UK I’d really, really like to attend but the dates fall on my first wedding anniversary. Probably not the best idea. But I REALLY want to go!)

At the CILIP Conference, I’ll be wearing my ‘NGAC hat’ and present on a topic that interests me over all my ‘hats’ – as a research assistant, as Coordinator of Evidence Based Practice at my workplace, and as NGAC chair. I’ll speak about the importance of, and issues relating to engaging new and early career information professionals in conversation and contribution, in order to continue to advance the profession and our body of knowledge. Here’s the abstract submission:

Our new library and information science (LIS) professionals are the future of the profession. The LIS profession will stagnate unless our body of professional knowledge continues to grow and develop. Much of the literature about engaging new LIS professionals focuses on individual career success and professional development. However, by taking a whole-of-profession perspective, the purpose of this presentation is to highlight the importance of engaging new LIS professionals in conversation to continue building our body of professional knowledge, as well as identify potential issues associated with new LIS professional involvement.

A reflective approach is taken to explore the ways in which new LIS professionals are engaged in professional conversation appear to be changing. This includes sharing the presenter’s experiences and observations from being actively involved in the profession, from presenting and publishing to contributing to conference organising committees and Australian Library and Information Association’s (ALIA) new LIS professionals groups; a look at the literature to identify issues with new LIS professionals’ participation, and a description of opportunities currently provided to new and early career LIS professionals in Australia.

This reflection prompts a need to further explore whether new LIS professionals are participating in, contributing to, or actively involved in the professional community, and the ways in which they wish to do so. New LIS professionals are a passionate bunch, but a collaborative approach between professional associations, employers and educators, that also have a role to play, is needed to continue to identify and develop opportunities to encourage new LIS professionals to engage in conversation and contribute to our body of professional knowledge.

I’m super excited (and nervous) to deliver this presentation, especially as a few of my NGAC colleagues will have just attended and presented at NLS8. 2017 is becoming another big year for us. Go team! I hope to strike up as many conversations as I can with our UK peers and bring them home.

If you wish to follow along, the hashtag is #CILIPConf17

So how does this work while on sabbatical?

Well, I’ll be popping in here and on Twitter for the duration of my stay in Manchester (about 4 days) and then go back into sabbatical hiding (up to the Scottish highlands. Seriously).

When I was planning our 6 month travel route, I searched for conferences in the UK and Europe. If I was going all the way over there and had an opportunity, it’d be almost silly not to attend one. My husband is very understanding of this as we recognise our professions are quite different (he’s a finance manager in the corporate world) and that the LIS profession and community spans internationally. I also used the conference as a ‘pillar’ in our travel route, meaning that it would mark the end of one leg and the beginning of another.

I’ve been working on my presentation in small bursts along the way. A morning here, an afternoon there, and usually when we’ve stayed in one place for more than a few days.

I hope all is well with everyone back home. I look forward to sharing snippets from the CILIP Conference with you.

Cheers!

P.S The photo of me was taken in Bolivia, on our Salt Flats tour. It was very, very cold but the scenery was absolutely incredible….with flamingoes!