Shifting the Library Paradigm: The Role of Cultural Intelligence on Tomorrow

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Published: Apr 27, 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31046/anztla.vi11.261

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David Turnbull
David Wescombe-Down
Oksana Feklistova
Katrina Dal Lago

Abstract

This paper explores the role of cultural intelligence within libraries. Presentations were given by David Turnbull and David Wescombe-Down. David Turnbull defined culture and cultural change and discussed the importance of cultural intelligence for theological librarians. David Wescombe-Down continued the discussion and focused on the importance of coping with change and the need for effective communication to manage change correctly within an organization. To gain an understanding of cultural intelligence within a library setting, Oksana Feklistova and Katrina Dal Lago, facilitated a discussion with conference participants using case studies relating to generational and technological change and consumer culture. The participants discussed the case studies in small groups and answers were shared amongst all participants. The two following papers explore the ethnic perspective of multiculturalism, Gavin Glenn from Camden Theological Library in New South Wales, and Judith Bright from John Kinder Theological Library in New Zealand. Gavin and Judith discussed their experiences within the context of their libraries.

Article Details

Issue
No. 11 (2013)
Section
Articles

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Author Biographies

David Turnbull

David Turnbull is the Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Studies at Tabor Adelaide. He has a passion to see God’s people engage the nations in Australia and beyond for the good news of Christ. His journey in the field stems from a third-culture upbringing in Papua New Guinea and from further ministry experience in Papua New Guinea and theological education in Nigeria. He began teaching missiology at Bible College SA in 1999 before moving to Tabor Adelaide in 2004. In this period David has become one of the leading proponents in Adelaide for cross-cultural ministry and is involved nationally with several groups, including Missions Interlink and the Australian Committee for the Lausanne Movement. He is currently working on his PhD through the School of Theology, Flinders University, exploring clergy and cultural intelligence.

David Wescombe-Down

Dr David Wescombe-Down  is a self-employed international educational consultant and author (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of South Africa, United States, United Arab Emirates) specialising in Middle Schooling (Years 5-10) and Educational Psychology. He commenced teaching in 1963 and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor, Mathematics and Science, with Curtin University, and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Education at The University of Adelaide. Author of 15 texts and over 120 journal and conference papers, he is an advocate for providing Total Quality Service by way of continuous improvement and consistently exceeding client expectations.

Oksana Feklistova

Oksana Feklistova is the Library Manager at Tabor Adelaide. Prior to joining Tabor she managed the library and resource centre at the Centre for English Language at the University of South Australia. She has over twenty years of experience working in government, corporate sector and university libraries, as well as having taught information literacy and computing to students from diverse cultural backgrounds. She contributed chapters to Wescombe-Down’s books, Teachers as Classroom Researchers and Applied Educational Psychology. Her professional interests include emerging technologies, information seeking, e-learning and the utilization and development of space in the library and information commons.

Katrina Dal Lago

Katrina Dal Lago is a new library graduate, having completed her studies in 2009. She studied at the University of South Australia, undertaking first a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Management and then a Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Management. Katrina has always wanted to work in libraries because she loves the basic philosophy which underpins the library: “To me, it is a place which is committed to creating a sense of community, while also encouraging access to knowledge through a wide variety of resources.” Her first library position was as a customer service officer at Campbelltown Public Library in Adelaide, a place where she really “got to understand the role of the public library within the community”. Now, she is working at Tabor Adelaide, gaining an understanding of what it means to work within an academic theological library.