The unconference participants and our Library Knowledge Specialists (captioned)
Earlier this month our Library Knowledge Specialist team (LKSs) held an ‘unconference’ event with over 40 librarians attending from ITPs and universities nationwide. The focus topic was ‘Best practices in Information Literacy and Subject Librarianship’ – important concepts to explore with colleagues from across the sector who all play a part in contributing to student success.
The unconference model has been around for a while and is participant driven from start to finish. It follows an unconventional format; no keynote speakers and no pre-set formal agenda or keynote speaker programme. And, as it turned out for the organisers, our Library Knowledge Specialists, the lack of a pre-event agenda provides a productive way to open as this is the participant’s first task, creating an opportunity to immediately engage as they hear from each other what they would like to discuss and share.
Within half an hour the agenda content had been gathered, everyone voted and with the priority discussion points confirmed they were underway. LKSs said the format worked well even though it did make them feel initially a little anxious – the only prep they had to do was book the room, send out the invites and let everyone know they had to ‘self-cater’!
The event proved to be a great forum for sharing and discovering practices librarians around the country use to support student success, including discussions around tools and software, managing services including staffing of information desks and the effectiveness of chat services, reporting outcomes and success rates, as well Information Literacy frameworks.
The LKS team used the event to present their Information Literacy Framework and Rubric – a tool they have created for our programmes and our students, which is used to establish student information literacy requirements, ideally in consultation with the course lecturer. They discovered they were one of only two organisations who had created such a tool for their own institution and they received very positive feedback from participants about the work they had done.
The unconference closed with a resounding commitment to an annual event and the creation of a collaborative platform that will allow for on-going sharing of best practice, new resources and recommendations and initiatives to support student success.
Kua pai te mahi
It sounds as if the Unconference was a very positive day that met the needs of your professional colleagues around New Zealand. I guess I’m not the first person to feel kind of excited, but also kind of weighed down, by having to read my way through a conference programme. Setting the agenda on the day seems like a great way to get people engaged and energised.
Kia ora Caroline,
Thanks for your kind comments, the Unconference format really did get people energised; we learned a lot, both on the day and through the orgainising process.It’s the type of hui that allows for connecting on issues that are front of mind.