Notes from session on librarians researching & presenting

Here are some raw notes from the session focused on librarians doing research and presenting at conferences (especially for the first time). I had to leave before the end of the session so didn't capture the last five minutes or so.

Sam

Research and publishing

• Deakin has a mentoring program, with librarians mentored by researchers from the faculties at the uni as well as other library staff.
• UniMelb has a reading and research and writing group, as each of these different activities is important. Their goal is to get staff presenting and publishing. The hardest part is getting staff to treat it as part of their work as a professional and not as an 'added extra'.
• It is good for librarians in subject librarian roles to have more experience of the research process as it gives them more credibility.
• We need to do more research as what applies in other countries cannot be neatly applied here. If the gap needs to be filled, who else will fill it?
• Make sure that research and gaps are fed back to the library schools (not just lecturers, also course coordinators).
• Blogging can be an alternative publication route. Often it can take too long to get results out there and the work involved in producing a formal publication can be substantial. Blogging also enables you to get early feedback on your ideas, which can make a later publication stronger. 
• Audiovisual presentations can also be an alternative, e.g. YouTube videos.

Advice for newbies about conference presentations

• Collaborate - work with other people to make your paper better and share the load on presenting. Many of the VALA papers this year were co-presented.
• Start at smaller scale - preparing a poster, or giving a talk at a departmental seminar.
• Toastmasters can help with gaining speaking experience and building confidence.
• Focus on what the audience needs to know, not about what you are trying to get out of it.