Limassol: LIBER Conference 2024
by Andy Corrigan
1) Cambridge -> Limassol
A photo taken in 1879 that shows a group of Cypriot villagers seated in a paved courtyard, in a village near Paphos, to welcome strangers to the village. By photographer John Thomson (1837-1921).
2) Lie of the land (Walk 1) (02/07/24)
It was late and dark by the time I got to the apartment yesterday, so didn’t wander far, just to find a meal and get some supplies. After getting up and feeling a bit more relaxed, I thought I’d go for my first wander to see the sea and stroll along the promenade a while. My phone seemed to be confused about where I was, thinking I was in Beirut international airport for some reason.
A Screenshot from the Strava App showing my location as being Beirut Airport:
3) The conference - Session 3 (I’m up!) (03/07/24)
- My Talk! - Encountering digital collections: Understanding and developing innovative interactions.
- RKD Research, the digital hub for art historical research
- Unlocking Cultural Heritage: How the Onassis Library Embraces Technology to Connect with Society
A sketch, made around 1878 by the artist Samuel Pasfield Oliver, of the British fleet at anchor off Larnaca, Cyprus.
4) Archaeology & a Show
5) The conference - Session 7 (04/07/24)
- Exploring the Opportunity Space for a Collection Wall
- S(h)elf reflection: How we brought the print book back into the library space
- Developing state-of-the-art 18th century and 21st century libraries at Trinity College Dublin
A page from the Book of Kells, in Trinity College Dublin’s Digital Collections (IE TCD MS 58, https://doi.org/10.48495/hm50tr726).
6) (Walk 2)
Just the 305 miles in 37min 36sec today… So it turns out that apparently Israel are intermittently scrambling the gps signals to make it difficult for anyone to target them?! The rest of the librarians were all equally confused, but someone had a connection who knew what was going on.
Later that evening lots of the attendees from the UK group together in solidarity, anxious about the general election back home, and try to stay awake until the exit polls published.
7) The conference - Session 12 (05/07/24)
- An Open Access Toolkit for faculties: an ongoing case study from Utrecht University Library
- A guide for research libraries to engage youth in research
- Revitalizing spaces: redefining the role of the library and librarians at the University of Debrecen
An illuminated Acts and Epistles book, produced in the later 12th or earlier 13th century that is typical of manuscripts from Cyprus and the Levant.
8) (Walk 3)
The conference over, I thought I’d try and squeeze in some culture and went for a wander to the castle. Not with much hope, I set my Strava app off recording again. Third time lucky! The castle was a good opportunity to think about how architecture develops in phases, making do with what exists (an older medieval church/castle under the current ottoman building structure). Lots of areas expose what existed before. Reminded me how when digital architecture changes, there is often some relic of its past structure lurking… The museum makes use of the buildings structure from its time as prison -> treasures now locked in their cells. View out from top, expansive, can see all the way to the mountains. Didn’t realise at the reception yesterday how close we were to castle in the carob museum, or how extensive it was(!) Funny to think it was full of Librarians dancing the Macarena and doing the conga… The Yellow/White whirly flowers on a tree (Plumeria/frangipani), are really beautiful. Their spiral form draws you in. I was then drawn into a big tourist tat shop to pick up a fine selection of tat to take home.
9) (Walk 4) (06/07/24)
I had a bit of time before having to set off, so I wanted to head a bit further down the waterfront to the small area of sandy beach. Whilst on the beach, I took the opportunity to create a cyanotype reflecting on my time in Limassol. Whilst the sun worked its magic walking up and down in the shorline was lovely, it felt wonderful on my feet after a couple of days wandering around in my sandals, they were tired and achey.
10)The journey home
Passing Aphrodite’s Rock on the bus from Limassol to Paphos.
11) A Re-reading
A recording of my conference paper created after the event. I find, when presenting, that my mind is so in the moment that the memory of what was said easily fades. A copy of the presentation can also be found here: 10.5281/zenodo.12704347 (Along along with others from the conference in the LIBER 2024’s Zenodo community - https://zenodo.org/communities/liber2024).
This post has been funded by the AHRC-RLUK Professional Practice Fellowship Scheme for research and academic libraries.