Melbourne Study Visit Personal Reflection

The 5 day, face-to-face, study tour was a highly anticipated event. As a rural teacher librarian in a small school library, not only was I eagerly awaiting the chance to explore the vibrant city of Melbourne (and all of its inherent cultural and culinary delights), but I was also keen to observe what libraries with more resourcing, more expansive collections, and situated in more diverse communities might look like- and might offer me in terms of ideas to take back home. What I had completely failed to foresee was the breadth of roles that libraries, and information agencies can require. My limited experience with school and community libraries was centred around services and information literacy, however sites such as Melbourne Museum, CAVAL, PROV, ACER and the SLV had a strong dedication to provenance of information as well as a commitment to preserving this information, both digitally and physically. My second epiphany was the complexity of such large organisations, and the collaboration and flexibility required in various roles. In my current TL role, I often work in solitude, craving a more cooperative environment. In the information agencies I visited, I witnessed the collective planning, organisation and collaboration required to manage information behind the scenes as well as face to face with patrons. Finally, I think that I have also taken for granted the way that the information landscape has so rapidly changed and how quickly information professionals have had to adapt. While have always been grateful for having digitally information so readily available, I had never taken the time to learn about the digitisation process or the ways in which shared digital catalogues, interlibrary loans or web-based collection tools are formed and maintained. The study tour has made me more aspirational, more informed and more excited about the work that I do currently and for what I might do in the future.