Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, March 26, 2012,
In February this year, I was fortunate to be able to attend VALA2012 in Melbourne. This was my second VALA conference, having also attended VALA2010. And just like last time, I found VALA to be an amazing experience in terms of content, presenters and attendees.
My attendance was funded by my employer, Charles Darwin University (CDU) Library, this time around (I paid my own way in 2010), so after the conference I put together a summary of some of the major themes of the conference as they ap...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 23, 2011,
Do you ever forget how good you are at your job?
I do. But today I had a nice little reminder.
A researcher needed help to locate a health questionnaire that had been published in a journal. She'd made some headway, but was stumped when it came to finding the full-text. I took her through a few steps about finding out which database holds a particular journal in full-text, how to navigate through a journal's archive to find an article, using the reference list in an article to locate source doc... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 21, 2011,
Today I attended a forum called "Finding Solutions: Assistive Technology in Education, Training & Employment for People with Disability or Learning Difficulties", organised by the National Disability Coordination Office Program and held at Charles Darwin University.
Accessibility is an area that I've long held an interest in and felt strongly about, so I was really glad to have the opportunity to attend this forum and learn more about what is being done in education, and what *can* be done - e... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 16, 2011,
I really like the Library Minute videos produced by Arizona State University Libraries, featuring librarian Anali Perry. They have a wonderfully light touch, are visually interesting and professional looking, and manage to impart plenty of information (but not too much!) in the space of a single minute.
Have you seen them? If not, do be sure to check out their YouTube channel. Here's one of my favourites:
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 14, 2011,
I consider myself fortunate to work in a small but energetic team of liaison librarians at Charles Darwin University (CDU), and I love that new ideas for providing innovative and relevant services to our clients are encouraged here. This year we created a fun activity that incorporated library orientation, mobile technologies, learning about our on-campus and online students, promotion, and activity-based learning.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 9, 2011,
On May 26, the ALIA Top End group held its annual Library & Information Week dinner, which was combined with the presentation of the 2011 ALIA NT Recognition Award. A great night was had by all :)
This was the second year that the ALIA NT Recognition Award was, well, awarded. A'Mhara Russell from the NT Department of Health Library was named as the winner, for her innovative use and promotion of Web 2.0 technologies in the library.
I was really impressed by the achievements of all of the nomine... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 1, 2011,
Glutton for punishment that I am, I have decided to participate once again in the challenge to blog every day of June.
My blog's been pretty quiet this year due to a multitude of reasons. But I have been jotting down my thoughts and activities every now and then, and my drafts folder has been growing and growing. So although I certainly won't have an excess of spare time on my hands in June, I figured this was a good push to get some of those drafts out there - and then you all might have a bi... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, March 9, 2011,
I really need to write the sequel to my last post about the tropical low that became Tropical Cyclone Carlos on 15-17 February, but I felt like writing this post today instead.
It's kind of a gratitude post I guess, but really I just wanted to write about some of the things that were good about today. It hasn't been a perfect day by any means. I started the day dog-tired, I'm finishing it dog-tired, and it was crazy-busy in between. But it was good too.
For those who haven't visited my blog before, I work as a Liaison Librarian (Health Sciences) at a regional University in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. We're in the middle of our summer break, so there aren't many students ab... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, October 26, 2010,
My second attempt at digital storytelling for #Octshowntell was made using Storybird. Storybird is a website where you can use high quality (and gorgeous!) illustrations to create stories, and publish them in a visually appealing digital storybook format. I encourage you to give it a go, the site is a real pleasure to use.
I wrote a simple little story about a helpful librarian (in the guise of a green fairy) answering questions about finding books and information. The artwork is by the very t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, July 16, 2010,
Whee! We're off to Darwin!
We've been looking forward to this day for some time :) We had to postpone our plans a couple of times due to finances and family circumstances, but now the time is right and everything is falling into place!
I've landed a liaison librarian position at the university in Darwin - starting in about 2 weeks(!). I'm looking forward to it so much! :) And I'm getting some good vibes about my new employer too, everyone's been really helpful and friendly so far.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 29, 2010,
I'm generally reluctant to state opinions on my blog. I really enjoy discussing hot topics with friends and colleagues, but part of my enjoyment of it comes from the fact that the exchange of ideas goes both ways. Although we may agree to disagree, more often than not I'll learn something from the discussion and consider issues from different viewpoints. But blogging isn't really like that. If I put something out there, it feels like I'm publishing a "statement". So I'm going out on a bit of ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 28, 2010,
This post was actually inspired quite early on in the #blogeverydayofjune challenge by @geomancer's gratitude post, in which she lists her eyesight as something she's very thankful for. This immediately touched a cord in me, as I also feel very fortunate to have my - heavily corrected by optometrists - eyesight.
I started wearing glasses as a teenager. Most of the time it's easy for me to take this vision correction for granted, but now and then I wonder what life would have been like for me...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 1, 2010,
An absolute flurry of tweets erupted today, with many of my library friends and colleagues from Australia and New Zealand committing to blogging every day in June. Thanks to @stephmcg and @flexnib for starting the ball rolling! :)
I've "signed up" to the challenge, partly to enjoy and participate in the community spirit of it, and partly to re-energise my blog. I found the experience of blogging every day of the Advent calendar in December to be both challenging (thinking of things to write ab... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, December 8, 2009,
Woohoo! I spent a good-sized chunk of the last few months working on my e-portfolio for a Uni subject, and today I received my marks - a High Distinction! The lecturer's feedback was great too: "Excellent portfolio, well done, the best by far". Squee!
Alright, I'll stop showing off about it now ;). But it was great to hear that the work that I put into the e-portfolio paid off. Unlike most other Uni assignments, the e-portfolio involved a great deal of self-reflection about my past and present... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 25, 2009,
Tim and I are now planning to move to Darwin early next year (probably February) rather than late this year. The reason is a mixture of finances, renovations required to rent out our house, and an aversion to moving to the tropics in the middle of the build up.
At the end of July I'll finish work at the beautiful library where I'm currently employed. Rather than do temp work until the move, I decided that this seems like a pretty great opportunity to re-enrol in my Masters in Library and Info...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, April 30, 2009,
Righto, I'll start with some information about myself...
I currently live in Melbourne (Victoria), Australia. I've lived there for most of my life, with the exception of four years spent in sunny Canberra (Australian Capital Territory). Later this year, my partner, Tim, and I will be moving to tropical Darwin (Northern Territory) - a place we've always loved.
I work as a librarian, and think it's a terrific profession to be a part of. I really enjoy helping others find information and resourc...
