Tame The Web

I am finally getting back into the swing after a few days of jetlag and some much needed downtime in Indiana for Easter Break. Right now I’m catching up on my students’ blogs and doing some grading but I can’t help think about three weeks on the other side of the world. Australia is the farthest I have ever traveled from home and the whole process of travel/making a journey fascinates me. I visited thriving cities, took in some sites and spent two sun-scorched days in the Red Center. Uluru amazed me.

I am honored to have made this trip to speak to Australian librarians.

I want to publicly thank all the good folks at CAVAL who invited me to speak in Australia and so carefully organized the whole tour (planes, hotels, taxis, etc), including Janette, Richard and Sonia, the folks who hosted me at each location: Sydney/Macquarie University, Melbourne/Thomastown Library/State Library of Victoria, Adelaide/State Library of South Australia, Perth/State Library of Western Australia and Brisbane/State Library of Queensland — AND all of the wonderful people I got to meet at each stop. We chatted at tea time and after each talk about their libraries, their situations and their successes (and failures). I learned so much from these folks.

I’d also like to give a shout out to Andrew Spencer, Andrew Finegan, Anne Beaumont, Warren Chetham, and Kathryn Greenhill for their role in making the trip so wonderful. And also the librarians who wined and dined with us!

The slides for The Hyperlinked Library: Australia are here.

My HUGE amount of Flickr sets are here.

The Hyperlinked Library at Queensland State Library

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Thanks all! What a great way to finish the speaking tour!

With Warren after the Talk

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

One of the highlights of the trip has been meeting Australian librarians who’ve emailed me or commented at TTW. One of the folks I met today in Brisbane was Warren Cheetham, who wrote to TTW back in 2005:

http://www.tametheweb.com/2005/02/24/ipod-as-listening-station/

Dinner with Michael Stephens

Originally uploaded by Constance Wiebrands

A big thank you to all the library folk in the Perth area who came out to an amazing dinner organized by Kathryn Greenhill.

Glad to meet you all!

Greetings from Uluru

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Riding Jack the camel at sunset, Uluru.

…are here:

http://tametheweb.com/the-hyperlinked-library/

Great Group at the State Library of South Australia, Adelaide

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Thanks All!

Greetings from Adelaide

Hello from South Australia. I am getting better - slowly, and I appreciate all the nice emails and Facebook notes. Yesterday was a gloriously sunny, warm day (sorry, folks at home ), and what better place to enjoy it than a Wildlife preserve.

I gave a second presentation on Thursday for the State Library of Vistoria. You may download the slides here:

http://www.tametheweb.com/aus08/BestPracticeWeb2.0.pdf

We also discussed creating policies for library blogs etc.

Policies for Social Software: http://www.web2learning.net/archives/1250 and http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=18650

Melbourne Visit

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Thanks to the folks at Thomastown Library for hosting my two sessions as well as all the great people at CAVAL and the State Library of Victoria.

Sydney Dinner with Michael Stephens

Originally uploaded by andrewandlisa2153

Thanks everyone for a great first day of presentations. I really enjoyed talking with the attendees in the morning session and the staff of Macquarie University Library in the afternoon.

I caught a nasty bug on the plane that has taken a bit of wind out of my sails, but I’m feeling better now.

Greetings from Sydney! | Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Photos: http://tinyurl.com/33mg3o

I think Peter Bromberg can read my mind, all the way from New Jersey. I’ve spent a lot of time the past few days updating and expanding my presentation (see above) for the impending trip to Australia. Peter blogs a wonderful clearinghouse of links for making effective presentations.

http://librarygarden.blogspot.com/2008/02/talk-good-giving-effective.html

My favorite:

http://presentationzen.blogs.com

And like Aaron, I broke up with Keynote’s standard gradient after a long love affair.

I can’t believe in just two weeks we leave for my speaking gigs in Australia. I’ve been prepping, reading up on places to visit, and getting a grip on the itinerary. If you are attending any of the talks, please say hello! Two more talks have been added: an afternoon with the Macquarie University library staff on February 26th and “Best Practices for Social Software in Libraries” in Melbourne, Thursday February 28th, 2008 in the afternoon. Thanks to CAVAL for inviting me and putting together such an incredible trip.

http://training.caval.edu.au/pdt/show_course.php?CID=285

Dates:

Sydney - Macquarie University Tuesday February 26th, 2008 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Sydney - Macquarie University Tuesday February 26th, 2008 2pm-5pm (Library Staff)
CAVAL Bundoora, Melbourne Thursday February 28th, 2008 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

State Library of Victoria, Melbourne Thursday February 28th, 2008 2pm - 3:30pm

Adelaide - Cliftons Seminar Monday March 3rd, 2008 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Perth - State Librarary of WA Wednesday March 5th, 2008 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Brisbane - Cliftons Seminar Thursday March 13th, 2008 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

I’m looking forward to meeting folks I know online, learning as much as I can about Australian libraries and librarians, and having a few days in each city to experience the culture and see the sights. I’ll be using Flickr, my new Flip Video and TTW to share the trip.

Sydney Harbor w/ bridge and opera house
Originally uploaded by jessamyn
I don’t have all the details yet, but I’m tickled to announce I just ironed out the details for a speaking trip around Australia in February and March 2008! I’m thrilled to no end to visit the land down under - where so many cool library things are happening.

As it stands now, we’ll start in Sydney and move roughly west (Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth), then back east through Alice Springs to finish in Brisbane. I just bought the tickets today. We’re also making a bit of a celebratory trip now that the doctorate is done.

I’ll post more when I have the schedule.

(Thanks to Jessamyn for the use of her Sydney pic!)