Getting Ready For Canberra
Jan 10th, 2007 Print this
If our kids tell you that they’ve been fed nothing but baked beans for too many dinners in the next few months…I’m afraid they’ll be telling the truth.
Their parents are preoccupied with the serious business of Getting Ready For Canberra.
The Co-Pilot flies over at Easter because his Fremantle-based choir, Voicemale, will be performing at the National Folk Festival. Their set is around the theme “A New Agenda”. They are thinking of their all-male blokey group singing “Sisters are Doing it for Themselves“. As I write this, there is the “thump, thump,thump” of someone keeping time upstairs as he arranges “Brass in Pocket“. So lots of singing and practice and co-ordination for him until April.
Me..well, I’m busy making movies and taking snapshots in Second Life. I’ll be in Canberra for something else in early February. To calm my nerves and kill some time, I emailed Matthew Stuckings at the National Library to ask whether I could meet someone to chat about what we’ve been doing with the Australian Libraries Building in Second Life.
Well…they were interested, and now I’ll be giving a public talk about Second Life as part of their “Digital Culture” series, on Wednesday February 14th 12:30pm - 1:30pm in the Library Theatre.
If it was on any other topic, I’d be really daunted. I was daunted..but I decided to do it partly because it’s a really invigorating topic for me…and I know enough about it to talk for an hour (half an hour plus questions!)..and I’d love to see people’s faces as they experience SL for the first time. And… an hour after it was suggested to me, I read Ivan Chew’s post about “chickening out” of being on blogTV.SG.
In my talk, I’ll be pointing out that Second Life provides new chances to collaborate. It’s been illustrated by the four or five generous Second Life Librarians who have shared with me their power point slides they used for live presentations. If anyone reading this has any ideas of what I should include or what they think people would want to know, feel free to contact me.
I’m doing a practice run at MPOW on February 9th for WA academic librarians. I hope to do a live demo for both talks, but am getting together lots of movies and snapshots as backup for both. (Hence my new toy).
The talk is titled “Flying Librarians of Oz: What’s all the fuss about Second Life and what’s it got to do with libraries?“. More info on the NLA Events page. (Now, if I’ve used Cite Bite properly, that link should go to the page, then magically jump down to a yellow highlighted heading, “Digital Culture Talk.)
TODAY’S HIPPIE CARD: Content
Hello Kathryn,
Thanks for the little plug!
You might be interested to know that the National Library has strong partnerships with the National Folk Festival as well - we always have a stand in the Budawang Pavilion (and offered free wireless access in the pavilion for the first time last year), and we sponsor a National Folk Festival Fellowship for a folk expert to come and research in our collections every year.
Fancy your husband being involved with the NFF this year too. But that’s Canberra for you!
Cheers,
Matthew
And thanks for the Digg, Matthew.
I bet everyone in the library jostles to staff the stall.
Apparently there is a side theme of “Western Australia” this year. I believe that all West Australians camp for free.
I think folkie stuff permeates everywhere. Many’s the time I’ve sat watching someone playing with utter mastery the dobro or oud or something equally obscure, then later seen them somewhere like behind the counter of my local pharmacy or at Uni or read their name associated with some policy unit in State Govt. Maybe that’s just Fremantle ?
You’ll be fine, I’m sure. Glad my “chickened-out” post helped!
Yep, particularly since we get a free pass for the whole festival in return.
Ivan..I THINK I’m glad. Once it’s done and other librarians know a bit more about SL and can make up their own minds about it, then I’ll KNOW whether I’m glad.
Matthew..A free pass ! Wow. And I would have offered to do the shift even without the incentive. I’ll make sure my Co-Pilot takes a photo of “librarians in action” while he’s there…
Hi there
What a switched on librarian-you are really on the ball, I feel so old just bobbing about on the ocean. We are in Sydney until Feb/March and then sailing up to Brisbane. Great to hear all is on the up for you, would love an email. Lovely to hear to fire in your belly again.
Tracy!! Heelllloooo! I would hope you’d feel relaxed and without a care bobbing on the ocean. Last time I saw you, I think I had a baby in my belly. He’s 4 now and entering kindy this year :).
SAE has taken my welfare in hand and took me clothes shopping last night to try and find something to make me look “less scruffy” for Canberra. “What’s wrong with tie dye and crocs?”, I ask.
Will email you in the next couple of days. Lovely!