Dr Andrew Cox in South Africa

It is always exciting to be invited to speak at a conference, especially when it is on a continent you have never visited! This month I was fortunate enough to have the chance to talk at the Stellenbosch University 14th Annual Library Symposium in South Africa.

Stellenbosch is a very beautiful town in the hills above Cape Town, famous for its vineyards.

The programme of talks was amazingly good and stimulating. It was framed around OCLC’s report Shaping the academic library of the future: adapt, empower, partner, engage. You can see the programme and download slides here: http://conferences.sun.ac.za/index.php/sulis_symp14/index/pages/view/prog

This includes a recorded video link to a fascinating presentation by Lorcan Dempsey, from OCLC.

I was particularly impressed by the way that the first and last keynotes were drawn from beyond the library sector to discuss how we can respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Altogether, it was a very forward-looking event.

I presented a workshop on RDM before the symposium, as well as giving a presentation in the main programme. And of course I just managed to slot in a little sight seeing!

Written by Dr Andrew Cox.

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