TRIMESTER - Rotunda Library Newsletter June 2013 | Page 2

2 Trimester Rotunda Library Newsletter Content Creators - The Digital Frontier The Academic and Special Libraries Annual Seminar 2013 T he Academic and Special Libraries section of the Library Association of Ireland held their annual seminar in the Radisson Blu Hotel on Golden Lane on the 1st of March. The day was once again a full programme of insightful and interesting talks which gave us the opportunity to gather with colleagues and discuss changing trends, new ideas and the significant trials libraries continually face. The seminar allows us every year to discover and conceive new ways of delivering a modern health library and information service. Content Creators - The Digital Frontier was the theme of this years seminar, which was an interesting and somewhat different take on the usual seminar programme. Our interest was peeked by the content of the talks which were all developed around the concept of maintaining a workable and usable digital archive. Digitisation of any body of work is a comprehensive and complex entity involving standards, codes, ethics and technological skills and practices. The internet has transformed communication norms and now allows us greater efficiency and a better way to communicate our collections. It was very interesting to see how other libraries across Ireland have utilised their resources to bring their specialised collections to the user without forcing the user to come to them. Julia Barrett from UCD Library shared how the UCD digital library was created allowing access to their historical and contemporary collections. Commdt. Pádraic Kennedy from the Military Archives shared how their online initiatives, large and small, were created and how they are now utilised. Niamh O’Sullivan from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, shared the wonderful and beautiful photograph archive collection of the IBTS. We were also shown how digitisation in a law firm is developed by Ailish Farragher of law firm, Eugene F. Collins. In addition to the digitisation collections, we were embedded with social media with talks from Karen Skelly of the Irish Cancer Society who informed us how social media is used within the society to provide cancer information. Also Michelle Dalton, University of Limerick, gave an invigorating talk entitled “What we talk about when we talk on Twitter.” Finally, not forgetting our keynote speaker, Simon Tanner from Kings College London, who gave an interesting talk on how to educate, enlighten and entertain, ultimately bringing our information to the users at their convenience. The seminar gave us an insight into why digitisation is becoming an essential staple in many special libraries. Commdt. Pádraic Kennedy Afternoon Panel Session Simon Tanner