CRIG / PDIG Joint Forum 2021

Our future: Diversified or diluted?

Tuesday 25 May, 1.30 – 3.00pm AEST, Adapting to changing employment opportunities in the age of COVID

Join us when we further the discussion started by the launch of ALIA Professional Pathways in late 2020. Together with Trish Hepworth, ALIA, Philip Kent, The University of Sydney, and Kristy Newton, University of Wollongong, we delve into the future of library professionals and what it means to be a librarian in the 2020s.

Fiona Russell, Manager, Faculty of Health Library Services, Deakin University, will facilitate a Q&A after the presentations. We will use Slido for this Q&A, so please submit your questions to the speakers on the day via the Slido event link or by visiting Slido and using the event code #691673.

Trish Hepworth, Director of Policy and Education, Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)



Trish is the Director of Policy and Education at ALIA. She is currently leading the Professional Pathways Initiative to ensure a diverse, skilled, valued, and supported LIS workforce delivering quality library and information services that anticipate and meet the needs of the community. Trish has previously worked across corporate, government, and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and overseas, leading teams in policy development, research, and advocacy.

Philip Kent, University Librarian, The University of Sydney



Philip Kent joined The University of Sydney as University Librarian in May 2020. Over the last 15 years he has held UL roles at Victoria University, The University of Melbourne, and University of Bristol, UK. He is a former Director of CAVAL and Chaired its Products and Services Committee (PSC). He has also Chaired CAUL’s procurement committee and the Group of Eight (Go8) Librarians. Philip was a member of the judging panel for the SCONUL Library Design Awards (UK) in 2019. He currently serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association (JALIA), the IFLA Library Buildings and Equipment Section, and the arXiv Members Advisory Board at Cornell University.

Kristy Newton, Digital Literacies Coordinator, University of Wollongong



Kristy is the Digital Literacies Coordinator at University of Wollongong (UOW) Library, and has a passion for supporting people to be autonomous, confident, and discerning in digital spaces. She works collaboratively with staff across the institution in the development of digital literacy support resources and services, as well as supporting UOW Library staff through a well-regarded Library Digital Dexterity program. Recently, Kristy was part of a team that developed a set of Future-Ready Capabilities aligned to the Library’s Digital-First strategy, which will inform the professional development of the UOW Library staff over the next four years.

Thursday 27 May, 2.00 – 3.00pm AEST, Our future: Diversified or diluted?

We will continue the conversation started at the webinar on 25 May with a debate. Two teams, each consisting of an early-career, a mid-career, and a senior library professional, will debate on the topic of: Our future: Diversified or diluted? One team will present the argument for a professional library qualification being the most important aspect of being a library professional, while the other team will argue for professional experience being the most crucial aspect.

Craig Patterson, Manager, Faculty of Arts and Education Library Services, Deakin University, will facilitate the debate as well as lead the Q&A after the debate itself. Slido will be used for the Q&A, so please submit your questions to the speakers on the day via the Slido event link or by visiting Slido and using the event code #691674.

The debaters are:

• Carl Smith, Frontline Library Services Supervisor, Ballarat & Wimmera Campuses, Federation University
• Constance Wiebrands, University Librarian, Edith Cowan University and Board Member, the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL)
• Karen E. Brown, BA, MLIS, Collection Librarian, Monash University
• Olivia Larobina, Library Cadet, Deakin University
• Simon Huggard, Deputy Director, Library Services, Swinburne University of Technology
• Dr Vanessa Crosby, Associate Director, Scholarly Communications and Repositories, University of New South Wales

Carl Smith, Frontline Library Services Supervisor, Ballarat & Wimmera Campuses, Federation University
@TheLibOnTheHill

Carl is an early career librarian, working as a Frontline Library Services Supervisor at Federation University where he supports frontline staff provide library services and general support information to the university’s students and academics.

Prior to working in libraries, Carl experienced many other areas of the GLAMR sector, both working and volunteering at organisations such as Sovereign Hill, Museums Victoria, and the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Carl graduated in 2017 with a Graduate Diploma in Information Management from RMIT University and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University. Having lived entirely in rural South Australia and Victoria, Carl has a particular interest in promoting further education opportunities among regional Australians.

Constance Wiebrands, University Librarian, Edith Cowan University and Board Member, the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL)

Con has been University Librarian at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, since 2014. As University Librarian, she is responsible for library and information management services as well as the University’s archive facility. She is a member of the CAUL Board, is currently Chair of OCLC’s Asia Pacific Regional Council, and has been a mentor in ALIA’s mentoring scheme since 2019.

Karen E. Brown, BA, MLIS, Collection Librarian, Monash University

Karen is currently the Collection Librarian for Monash University, specialising in online resource and content acquisitions with a focus on negotiations and license agreements to ensure optimal outcomes for the Library and University. She received her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Hawaii in 2010 and is Monash University's Council of Australian University Librarians' (CAUL) Content Coordinator, where she actively contributes toward the betterment of collective bargaining power for resources.

Olivia Larobina, Library Cadet, Deakin University

Olivia Larobina is a Library Cadet at Deakin University. She works across a variety of teams in the library, including advisory services and interlibrary loans. Olivia enjoys connecting with students directly, whether she’s providing research support via library chat or posting content on the library’s social media.

Simon Huggard, Deputy Director Library Services (University Librarian), Swinburne University of Technology

Simon Huggard is Deputy Director Library Services (University Librarian) at Swinburne University of Technology. Simon is responsible for all library support functions including Discovery and Library Systems, Research and Academic support and Acquisitions, licensing and copyright. Simon has been with Swinburne since April 2020 having previously worked at La Trobe University, the State Library of Victoria and Monash University.

Dr Vanessa Crosby, Associate Director, Scholarly Communications and Repositories, University of New South Wales

Vanessa Crosby is Associate Director, Scholarly Communications and Repositories at UNSW Sydney, where she manages the Library’s services and infrastructure to support scholarly communications and open access, repository infrastructure, publication management and research reporting. She completed a PhD in Religious Studies and Art History at Northwestern University in 2016. Her research background in medieval archival and special collections materials continues to inform her interest in developing services and infrastructure for non-traditional research outputs in the creative arts and digital humanities.