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Speakers

 Keynote Speakers

Penny Carnaby

Penny is Chief Executive and National Librarian of the National Library of New Zealand, a position she has held since 2003. In this role Penny has led the Organisation's digital strategy focused in three key areas covering digital content, connection and preservation to deliver a New Generation National Library. Penny is also Deputy Chair of the ICT Steering Committee for Education, a member of the Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC), a member of National State Libraries of Australasia (NSLA), and Adjunct Professor in the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington. In August 2008 Penny was re-appointed to chair the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) internationally.

Prior to returning to New Zealand in 2003, Penny was University Librarian and Deputy Librarian at Macquarie University in Sydney. Previous to this she enjoyed a long career in the tertiary sector in several roles at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT), including leading integrated education delivery services in library and learning services, e-learning and staff development. In 1999-2000 she served as National President of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA), and was awarded a Fellowship of the Association in 2001.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma of Education from the University of New South Wales.

Penny's professional interest is in creating national frameworks and strategies to enhance the flow of information to all parts of society. She believes that New Zealand Aotearoa has the potential to become a leading information democracy.

Her personal interests include the environment and wildlife of Australia and New Zealand, and the management of a small farm on Banks Peninsula, growing native trees.

Jessica Dorr

Kindly supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jessica Dorr's work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began in 1997, as a technology trainer for West Seattle Learns, a community technology center.

For the Foundation's U.S. Library Program, Jessica installed computer and Internet networks throughout the country. She oversaw the Native American Access to Technology Program, which provided funding and resources specifically designed to meet the technology and information needs of Native communities.

She currently oversees grants to Mexico, Latvia, and Lithuania and supports the foundations' annual Access to Learning Award. Jessica has experience with both school and academic libraries and holds a BA from Georgetown University and an MLIS from the University of Washington.  

Claudia Lux

For the last two years Professor Claudia Lux, has held the position of Director General of the Foundation Central and Regional Library, Berlin, (the biggest Metropolitan Library in Germany).

By the time Professor Lux speaks at the LIANZA Conference 2009 in October she will be the outgoing IFLA President with current "president-elect" Ellen Tise filling the role. The Conference Programme Sub-committee is excited to present someone of Claudia's knowledge and international standing to participate in this year's conference.

During her presidency "Libraries on the agenda!" has been her motto. At the outset she stated that "the top priority will be to have the concerns and needs of libraries put on the agenda of governments and local policy makers". In addition to her recent IFLA role Professor Lux's library career has seen her as Director of the Library of the Berlin Senate and Academic Librarian at the Berlin State Library, East-Asia Collection.

Attendees at last years ALIA conference in Alice Springs enjoyed Claudia's warm style of presentation, her passion and vision for libraries in the 21s Century. Claudia has the ability to imaginatively inspire non library believers and take the naysayers on a journey with her. One key piece of advice from her was to make friends with your enemies and never let a networking opportunity pass you by. Along side a smashing cast of keynote speakers Claudia is going to add another strand of inspiration and connection to the greater library world.

For more information on IFLA and Prof. Claudia Lux check out the following -

Libraries on the agenda! - Claudia Lux's kick-off paper for the discussion of her presidential theme (pdf)
Equal Access to Information through Libraries and Some Ethical Dimensions - Lux's UNESCO paper (pdf)
IFLA Facebook and Twitter for social networkers

Sir Tipene O'Regan 

Sir Tipene O'Regan is Assistant-Vice-Chancellor Maori at the University of Canterbury, Chairman of Ngā Pae o Te Maramatanga, the Centre for Maori Research Excellence at the University of Auckland and Upoko of the Awarua Runanga of Ngai Tahu. He has published and lectured extensively over many years on Ngai Tahu traditional history, Polynesian migration, Treaty issues and the evolution of biculturalism and the wider politics of Māoridom.

In more recent years he has been a noted contributor to the debate on the forward development of the Māori economy and the modernising of tribal institutions. He holds three Honorary degrees ; a D.Litt from the University of Canterbury and Honorary doctorates of Commerce from both Lincoln University and Victoria University of Wellington.

As Chairman of the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board he led the Board through the hearings of the Ngai Tahu Claim before the Waitangi Tribunal and the subsequent negotiations with the Crown culminating in the Ngai Tahu Treaty Settlement of 1998. He was a major architect and negotiator of the Treaty fisheries settlements of 1989 and 1992 and the founding Chairman of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission.

He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Directors and an independent director of a number of companies in both New Zealand and Australia He was the founding chair of the Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation, Sealord Group Ltd and Te Tapuae o Rehua Ltd. He is a former Deputy Chairman of Transit New Zealand, and former Director of Meridan Energy Ltd and Television New Zealand Ltd. He is currently Chairman of Clifford Bay Marine Farms and Australian Bight Abalone Ltd (Aust) and a director of Whale Watch Kaikoura Ltd and Clean Seas Tuna Ltd (Aust). He also holds a number of advisory and consultancy positions. He was created a Knight Bachelor in 1994.

Hana O'Regan 

Hana O'Regan was raised in Wellington in a family immersed in Māori Treaty and identity politics. She received her secondary schooling at Queen Victoria Māori Girls Boarding School in Auckland before becoming an American Field Scholar in Thailand for one year. Hana returned to pursue an undergraduate degree with a double major in Māori Studies and Political Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington.

Upon graduating, Hana took up a lecturing position at University of Otago where she lectured for four years in the areas of Māori language, creative writing and the Treaty. During this time Hana undertook post-graduate study and graduated with her Master of Arts in 1997. The topic of her thesis, Māori tribal identity development, became the basis of her book, Ko Tahu Ko Au - Kāi Tahu Tribal Identity which was published in 2000.

Hana left Otago in 1997 to take up a position at CPIT (Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology) where she headed the Māori language programme before taking up the position of Head of School in 2000. After four years at CPIT Hana took up the position of Manager of the Māori Language Unit of the Ngāi Tahu tribal organisation where she helped develop and lead the tribal language strategy for a further four years. She returned to CPIT as Dean of Te Puna Wānaka, the new Faculty of Māori Studies, in 2006.

Hana has been a member of The Māori Language Commission - Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori - since 2003. The bulk of Hana's recent publications has been centred on Kāi Tahu tribal stories and histories for rakatahi, and most recently published an anthology of Māori poetry, Kupu with co-author Charisma Rangipunga.

She is the proud mum of two beautiful children.

Tim Spalding  

Kindly sponsored by CATSig

Tim Spalding is the founder and president of LibraryThing, the social cataloguing and social networking website.

Tim started LibraryThing in 2005 as a pet project to catalogue his books. Since then over 700,000 members have catalogued over 40 million books on LibraryThing, and whole new form of book life has been created.

Before LibraryThing, Tim was a graduate student in Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan, and worked for a Boston publisher. He lives in Portland, Maine.

Tim has suggested that there are some good photos and biographic information about himself and LibraryThing if you are interested - http://www.librarything.com/press/

You may also like to check LibraryThing on Facebook too

Richard Stallman

Kindly sponsored by School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington

Twenty-five years ago he launched the GNU operating system.  GNU is free software: everyone has the freedom to copy it and redistribute it, as well as to make changes either large or small. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU operating system with Linux added, is used on tens of millions of computers today.

Since the mid-1990s, Stallman has spent most of his time in political advocacy for free software, and spreading the ethical ideas of the movement, as well as campaigning against both software patents and the extension of copyright laws. Before that, Stallman developed a number of widely used software components of the GNU system, including the original Emacs, the GNU Compiler Collection, the GNU symbolic debugger (gdb), GNU Emacs, and various other programs for the GNU operating system.

Stallman pioneered the concept of copyleft, and is the main author of the GNU General Public License, the most widely used free software license.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of, and philosophy behind, free software, Mr Stephen Fry provides a lovely summary in this video, which was posted as a happy birthday to GNU. It's a rather good watch and we are hoping that Mr Stallman's ideas about freedom of knowledge and information will find a receptive audience amongst library professionals.

Invited Speakers

Chris Brickell

Dr Chris Brickell is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, Gender & Sociology at Otago University. He has taught Gender Studies at Otago since 2001, and has enjoyed many years researching aspects of New Zealand society in libraries and archives across the country. Chris' first book, Mates & Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand, was the product of several years' work. Published by Random House in 2008, the book is a Finalist in the Montana Book Awards. Chris' other work covers a range of topics: sociological theories of gender and sexuality, sex education, the politics of consumer culture, clothing history, visual history and army education, among other things. He is beginning a new project on the history of young people in New Zealand since the nineteenth century, and this will involve lots of happy ferreting among manuscripts, newspapers and photographs. Where, Chris wants to ask, did the ‘bodgie' and the ‘widgie' come from? 

Denis Dutton

Denis Dutton works in aesthetics and the philosophy of art. His recent research is focussed on Darwinian applications in aesthetics: the manner in which human interests, pleasures, and tastes are shaped by the evolution of the human species. 

John McIntyre

John McIntyre is regarded as one of the leading voices in children's literature in New Zealand. He is the owner, with his wife Ruth, of the Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington, a business they started in 1992. He has twice been judge of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, in 1998 and as the Convener in 1999, has been the children's book reviewer on Nine to Noon on Radio New Zealand since 2003, and has been a Board Director of Booksellers N.Z. for 6 years. In 2003 The Children's Bookshop was named Independent Bookshop of the Year, the only time the award has been made to a specialist bookseller, and was runner-up to Unity Books Wellington for the same award in 2008.

Bill Nagelkerke

Bill Nagelkerke was a member of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards Jury in 2006 and 2008. He worked as a children's librarian for twenty-fi ve years, twenty of those at Christchurch City Libraries, before leaving to pursue his own interest in writing, including translation. In October, Wellington's Gecko Press will publish Sheep with Boots, a short novel for young
readers which Bill has translated from Dutch. 

Nat Torkington

Nathan Torkington ran the first web server in New Zealand, chaired the O'Reilly Open Source Convention and other O'Reilly conferences for over a decade. He co-wrote the best-selling Perl Cookbook, is on the HISAC and LIAC committees, runs Kiwi Foo Camp, and lives in Leigh where he consults in the Asia-Pacific region on web and open source technology.
He teaches programming to 7 year olds and isn't afraid to admit it.
 

Ursula Cheer

Ursula Cheer graduated with Honours from Canterbury Law School in 1 982 and practised as a lawyer for six years. She then moved to Wellington as a speech writer to the Minister of Justice and later became legal advisor to the Prime Minister.

In 98 9, Ursula moved to the United Kingdom and spent a year completing her Masters degree at Cambridge University, in which her thesis was on Censorship. Appointment in the UK civil service followed, as a Senior Legal Advisor to the Lord Chancellor, in the UK Law Commission.

In 994 , fed up with the English weather and the long queues, Ursula returned to New Zealand, where she took up appointment as a Lecturer in Law at Canterbury Law School.

Ursula is currently an Associate Professor, specialising in Media Law and is co-author, together with Emeritus Professor John Burrows, QC, of Media Law in New Zealand (5th ed). She has a regular slot on National Radio talking about media law issues. 

Amiria Reriti (MC)

Amiria is a manager within the Auckland Regional Public Health Service and has been the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Te Kura Kaupapa Māori a Rohe o Mangere, ATAK the National Māori Smokefree Coalition and currently the Black Pearl National Trust. She was a foundation trustee for the Māori Music Industry Coalition and is also a Director of a company, The Associates.

Amiria performs regularly for public and corporate audiences both locally and internationally, having toured most of Europe every year since 2002 with the group "Moana and the Tribe" and as a Justice of the Peace and Marriage and Civil Union Celebrant she is often in front of different audiences.

Although she loves living in Tamaki, she is vehement about her Ngai Tahu roots and more particularly her hapū Ngai Tuahuriri.