Reflections on ALIA Biennial Conference - dreaming 08

My Reflections on - dreaming 08:

Attending the Australian Library and Information Association Biennial Conference (ALIA) and the trip to the Northern Territory was an eye-opening, rewarding and unforgettable experience for me. It was much more than listening to the papers presented:

Local Indigenous Drumming Group

Kim, Julie and Andrea @ Conference Dinner

Eye-Opening

The conference made me aware of:

• Existing problems regarding indigenous collections. Professor Martin Nakata spoke about his research into the digitisation of indigenous collections. He highlighted some of the complex and sensitive issues, and emphasised the importance of making preservation of the heritage of Australia’s First People a priority.

• The Plenary session on IFLA 2010 Promotion presented many challenges for our profession that need to be addressed in order to dispel any doubts regarding its professional status. Emphasis was placed on the need for international advocacy initiatives.

Rewarding

• The ALIA Conference enabled me to establish many connections with librarians around Australia, particularly those in the Northern Territory:

Lunchtime @ Alice Springs Convention Centre

Ann Seidl & Cleve after Premier of Hollywood Librarian

• I took the opportunity to visit a number of libraries after the conference including: Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association Library (CAAMA) and radio studio, Catherine Public Library and Charles Darwin University Casuarina Campus Library:

Catherine Public Library and CDU Casuarina Campus


CDU Library Service Desk & Cleve with Joanne ( CDU staff)

Unforgettable

• This experience was dream come true for me! I now have a better understanding of some of the challenges facing indigenous people and I have forged some life-long friendships with both indigenous and non-indigenous people:

Local Friends from Alice Springs

Whilst in Alice Springs I was fortunate to be able to visit some aboriginal camps. By serendipity or providence, I met up with the brother of a young destitute indigenous man who sta

yed with me in Melbourne for a short time. In the camps, as an outsider looking in, I saw much despair and on one occasion had to fight back tears. Despite the sadness there was also a sense of camaraderie and a kindred spirit that reminded me of my own childhood in the Caribbean. I do hope to return to the Northern Territory - perhaps to live!

A visit to the Oltimers Indigenous Camp

Cleve & Darren

I travelled on the Ghan from Alice Springs to Darwin. The journey took approximately 24 hours with a 4 hour stop-over in Catherine. This was an amazing journey!

About to leave for Darwin

On the brief stope over in Catherine, I took the chartered bus into the town of Catherine and did a self-guided tour of the town and also visited Springvale Homestead on the way back to the train station. Some photos of the town of Catherine and of Springvale Homestead:

The Ghan arrived in Darwin around 7:30pm on Friday. The following 2 days (Sat. & Sun.) I attended the annual District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses, where I met several people I knew from Melbourne and some from Sydney as well. Here are some photos at the convention:

My return flight to Melbourne was on Tuesday afternoon, so I only had Monday to explore as much of Darwin as possible. Had I not miss the train to Darwin from Alice Springs the previous Monday, I would have had a total of four days to explore Darwin instead of doing this in one day! That taught me to be more conscious of time and to take careful note of my itinerary in the future. Anyway, the one day of exploration was full of excitement! The journey from Darwin to Litchfield took about an hour-and-a-half. I was aomng a group of locals and other friends from Melbourne who attended the convention. Litchfield National Park has diverse attractions including rugged sandstone escarpments, many streams, monsoon rainforest, magnetic termite mounds waterfalls and historic ruins. We swam in refreshing plunge pools and rockholes formed from the many cascading waterfalls in the area, where, I later learned is the home of fresh water crocodiles. The locals assured me that the "freshies" are afraid of humans, but the "salties" are the man eaters! They also assured me that the "salties" were not around at this time of the year. If I had any inkling that crocks harboured in those waters, I would not have ventured in that area of the park, let alone swim in the water! May be its was a good idea that I wan't told from the start, otherwise I would have missed a marvelous time! Here are some photos of our day at Litchfield National Park:

We ended the day with a barbeque until late in the night. On our return trip, we had to stop twice to give way to two pythons crossing the road. One of them stood its ground and refused to move despite our proddign and prompting. It was so defiant that it struck at us twice in our efforts to get it to saftey. We eventually had to drive around it. Stubborn little creature!!

I had a splendid time in the Northern Territories and I am eager to return!!