Day 1 of the 7th Rizal Library International Conference

As I write this post, participants of the 7th Rizal Library International Conference (RLIC) are out in the garden at the back of the Social Science complex having their morning break. I am in Leong Hall blogging away.

Reina Reyes' presentation on Big Data X Information Science has just ended. More on her talk next blog post.

Now, for Day 1 of the RLIC, here are some reflections I wish to share.

- Big data is the name of the game and librarians are in a good position to mine, curate, analyze and develop a body of knowledge that impacts communities.

- There has been an expressed need for training and continuous professional development on data mining and analysis. Me thinks: begin with information literacy.

- Librarians conserve and preserve information, knowledge and media. They create them too.

- Media and technology are thinking tools which librarians can use in creating, communicating and conserving information. There are limitations in technology and media access and availability, but through partnerships and collaboration objectives can be met. An example is the Community Archiving Workshop and Valerie Clarke's oral history, preservation project in Barbados

- Opportunities to imagine and create abound in our libraries and the communities where we belong and serve patrons. You only need to look closely to make things happen and to solve problems.

Next post is Day 2 of the RLIC!