Hong Kong Library Education and Career Forum

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Hong Kong Library Education and Career Forum

• Steve OConnor
• University Librarian
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• and
• Editor Library Management ,
• Library Management China

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Library and Information Science is ..

• A good career
• A varied career
• A career at the edge of informational change
• A career with good prospects for a small-ish
  profession
• A career suited for people who like working with
  people
• A career requiring courage, commitment and
  progressive thinking!!

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A Profession in change

• The traditional library model is dead!
• No more bookworms, hair in buns, silence in the
  Library!!
• New model is evolving! Be part of it!
• Service is much push focused
• Librarians Out-Reach to customers
• Library has a schizophrenic existence

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What skills are required?

• Strong expertise in a chosen discipline
• Ability to work and draw down ideas from
  different disciplines
• To construct an operational framework but to be
  always able to think outside of it.

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In Hong Kong?

• There are over 1,000 professional positions in
  Hong Kong
• Prospects are always good for working overseas
• There are allied careers in publishing, research,
  internet, information management, archival
  management and records management
• So, prospects are pretty good

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Do you qualify and then rest?

• An emphatic NO !!!!
• You will undergo many changes in a career
  lifetime
• You will need to study, read widely, attend
  conferences and think
• You will need to contribute openly and
  thoughtfully in your working environment you are
  a Professional

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What have I done?

• I fell into this career
• I have had such fun
• I have been privileged to try and lead my sector
  of the profession
• Through Leading the professional association in
  parts of Australia and Leading an ALIA conference
• Being a University Librarian in two Universities
  and a CEO of a company
• Being an Editor of Library Management
• Creating Library Management China

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What have I done 2

• I have now worked in two countries
• I have travelled all over the world with a very
  wide network of wonderful colleagues
• I am welcomed, as you will be also, into any
  library in the world

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• Collaboration will be the
• mode of work into the future
• so get to know your colleagues
• in similar libraries you can
• and should work together

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What not to do

• Never go to a conference without coming away
  having met 5 new colleagues
• Never come away from a professional meeting
  without a short list of things you could apply in
  your own Library
• Never fail to engage with your profession! It
  has a long and treasured history and you can
  contribute to its future directions.

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