Our Liberty library management system users in Australia look forward to our annual User Group Conference and Masterclass. As do the Softlink IC staff.

The COVID-19 crisis was no more of an excuse to cancel the Australian Liberty Conference than it was for our New Zealand one. So, again, we just moved it online!

Of course, everyone is anticipating the day when we can all meet face-to-face again.  For now, aren’t we lucky that technology allows us all to be inventive and keep connected?

The Liberty conference was a fun and information filled afternoon. It included training and information presentations, games, networking, and virtual drinks.

Jumping at the chance to change things up a bit during what is a challenging time is a given. But we prefer to think that wasn’t the only reason. We know how to put on a great conference face-to-face and now we do it online!

The number of Liberty customers who attended is a testament to that. We were thrilled at the number of you who attended. It was also lovely to see the enthusiastic Papua New Guinea Liberty users gathered in their training room to join in with us all.

COO Sarah Thompson kicked off the afternoon with an hour-long masterclass. It included tips on advanced OPAC customization, advanced cataloguing, and all the latest features in the Liberty Link mobile app.

Activities and Games

Following a short break, Aaron Rose, one of our Support Specialists presented an in-depth overview of recently added new features and enhancements. Lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” for many of them. We believe the latest Liberty 5 version is a cracker, so it was nice to get that kind of feedback!

During Aaron’s presentation, a game of bingo was played. Everyone had to mark their cards whenever Aaron mentioned a word or term that appeared on their card. Needless to say, everyone paid close attention. The game went off with a bang and it was so close, three people were deemed winners!

Aaron then handed over to Emily, one of our brilliant developers, who demonstrated the new Smart Serials feature. Everyone who attended, like those at the New Zealand UGM, loved the enhancements we’ve made. If there were a prize for the best-received feature of the day, Smart Serials would be the winner hands-down again.

The day ended with a game of trivia. It included questions on Liberty, libraries, and general knowledge. The competition was intense, and the scores were very close. Congratulations to the winners. Your prizes will be on their way soon. To everyone, well played!

Wonderful Feedback

It was lovely to receive such positive feedback after the conference. Elizabeth Gathercole, Manager, Information, Reference, and Research at the State Department of Growth in Tasmania, summed up the sentiment of our lovely Liberty users,

“Thank you for running the Liberty user meeting and master class. I found it very useful and informative.

I am intending to follow up on some of the things I have learned and was very pleased to know that the development team are responding to areas which can be improved. It was also pleasing that we were encouraged to ask any questions in areas we do not fully understand as we put what we have learned into practice.”

Thank you to Elizabeth, and all our customers who attended the 2020 Australian Liberty Conference, for such great feedback. We look forward to catching up with you all in the future, be it online or face-to-face.