IFLA Conference - Day 3

We stayed on the Ewha campus for some IFLA satellite sessions today. Dr. Sam Oh talked about topic mapping again, which I really enjoyed. The presenters right before him discussed the creation and maintanence of an institutional repository; actually, their plan is to create a global repository for many teaching disciplines, including library information science. Interesting ideas, especially when you consider that combining the two; information repositories and topic mapping. A new way of teaching emerges that would allow anyone to view course material for a particular degree path that guides the student through all areas of that discipline. Anyway, I'm still not really clear on all the concepts yet, but it was still interesting.

Later that evening we attended a cultural show at Sejong Center for all the IFLA attendees. It was one of the most impressive live shows that I have ever seen. The program was comprised of 10 traditional music and dancing vignettes that concluded with a drumming presentation of nearly 50 men and women. This last "episode" went on for about 20 minutes and was performed in the most beautufully fluid and graceful way; the rhythms were so complex. It was so inspiring to watch that I didn't want it to end. It also shamed me into becoming more disciplined regarding my own efforts toward creating something. I hope I can look back at this evening and say that this was the moment when it all began for me.