VALA2020 Proceedings

Session recordings are available through a single link on VALAView. Visit https://webcast.gigtv.com.au/Mediasite/Showcase/vala2020 

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The 20th Biennial Conference and Exhibition, VALA2020, was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia from 11 – 13 February 2020.

The following papers were presented at VALA2020. See also the VALA2020 Program.  Peer-reviewed and lnvited Papers will be available to access individually for each session.

The full set of conference proceedings from VALA2020 is available as a single pdf download. This registered publication contains all 40 concurrent sessions and 7 vendor papers, and is a simple, one-click resource for academics, students and the wider VALA network. (Click on the image to the right to view and download.)

Creative Commons License All works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License unless specifically stated.

VALA2020 Session 16 Graham

Can librarians help researchers to form more impactful research teams using co-authorship network analysis?

VALA2020 CONCURRENT SESSION 16
Thursday 13 February 2020, 2:20 – 2:50

Phillippa Bourke
  • Academic Liaison Librarian
  • University of Sydney Library
Sarah Graham
  • Manager Academic Services: Science and Engineering
  • University of Sydney Library

Please tag your comments, tweets, and blog posts about this session: #vala2020 #s39

Read the paper, view the video of the presentation on the VALAView channel and view the presentation slides here:

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VALA2020 Session 16 Graham Paper 438KB
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VALA2020 Session 16 Graham Video 0.00 KB
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VALA2020 Session 16 Graham Slides 9MB
Abstract

The University of Sydney Library has undertaken a project to visualise co-authorship networks to enable faculties and researchers to review the impact and effectiveness of research team structures. Co-authorship networks are useful for indicating the presence or absence of collaboration across disciplines and can be visualised using open source software (Gephi). This paper explores co-authorship analysis as a potential future academic library service that enables partnership with faculties looking for evidence for decision-making about how to group researchers. It also outlines the staff development benefits of library staff undertaking projects that explore open source tools and reuse of datasets.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

VALA2020 Session 16 Danaee

Finding new ways to illustrate the library story: data visualisation as a way of demonstrating impact

VALA2020 CONCURRENT SESSION 16
Thursday 13 February 2020, 2:55 – 3:25

Kathleen Smeaton
  • Associate Director, Digital Scholars Hub
  • The University of Queensland
Dana Danaee
  • Media Designer, Digital Scholars Hub
  • The University of Queensland

Please tag your comments, tweets, and blog posts about this session: #vala2020 #s40

Read the paper, view the video of the presentation on the VALAView channel and view the presentation slides here:

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VALA2020 Session 16 Danaee Paper 440KB
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VALA2020 Session 16 Danaee Video 0.00 KB
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VALA2020 Session 16 Danaee Slides 26MB
Abstract

Libraries collect vast amounts of data; from statistics about user interactions with resources and hits on webpages, to repositories that store research outputs. While libraries have started to facilitate different ways of interacting with their collections, such as real time visualisation of catalogue searching, ways of presenting the data libraries collect are largely unexplored. Demonstrating impact is a critical issue for academic libraries, as the ways these libraries influence our users’ learning, teaching and research are often difficult to measure. This paper explores how visualising the Library’s data in new ways can be a starting point for conversations about what the Library does and the impact that it has on users.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

VALA2020 Plenary 6 Walker

Be the Goose: On Barriers, Roadblocks and Finding Your Way in Library and Information Science

VALA2020 PLENARY SESSION 6
Thursday 13 February 2020, 4:00 – 5:10

Cecily Walker
  • Librarian
  • Social justice advocate

Please tag your comments, tweets, and blog posts about this session: #vala2020 #p6

View the video of the presentation and view the presentation slides here:

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VALA2020 Plenary 6 Walker Slides 119MB
Abstract

People who live at the intersection of many different identities can sometimes experience barriers to success while working in libraries. While much of the literature acknowledges the existence of the physical, systemic, and personal barriers that can cause a marginalized person to believe that they are a poor fit for their organization, the demographic makeup of the profession ensures that marginalized people will find it difficult to find allies, mentors or advocates who share or are sympathetic to their unique challenges.

What’s a person to do when all she sees around her are people who don’t look like her or who don’t experience life the way she does? Cecily Walker will discuss some of the barriers she and other multiply marginalized librarians have experienced as they move through the profession, and she will share how she found an unlikely role model thanks to a video game about a little white goose.

Biography

Cecily Walker is a passionate librarian with 15 years experience in the profession. Currently based in Vancouver, her unique professional journey spans user experience, community digital projects, digital collections, and the intersection of social justice, technology and public librarianship. It was her frustration with the way that software was designed to meet the needs of highly technical users rather than the general public that led her to user experience, but it was her love of information, intellectual freedom, and commitment to social justice that led her back to librarianship. VALA represents Cecily’s first trip to Australia, but she hopes it won’t be her last.

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.