LIBER 2020 Online: Annual Conference Survey Results

Posted: 20-11-2020 Topics: Annual Conference

The year 2020 was an exceptional year for our LIBER Annual Conference. For the first time ever, and as a result of COVID-19, we had to move our 49th conference online.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in this new virtual endeavour and for taking the time to provide us with your feedback on the conference.

The main findings of the survey are presented below. We’ll use your feedback to further improve our next conference, LIBER 2021, which will also be held online from 23-25 June 2021.

Please note that all presentations and recordings from this year’s LIBER 2020 annual conference can be found here.

Key findings

The survey was completed by 42% of the 1530 unique participants

  • They rated LIBER 2020 an 8/10 overall
  • 97% of respondents attended at least one session during the conference
  • 61% said they would definitely attend another LIBER ONLINE event
  • Over 85% of the respondents indicated that they very much valued LIBER bringing the conference online.

Your LIBER 2020 Highlights

For the majority of our respondents, LIBER 2020 met or exceeded their expectations. The respondents identified the following advantages of attending our online conference:

  • New insights
  • Inspiration
  • Professional development/ networking
  • Innovative ideas
  • Practices and insights on open science
  • Librarianship in times of COVID-19

What Aspects Should We Maintain for LIBER 2021?

We wanted to know what aspects of LIBER 2020 should be maintained for the upcoming LIBER conference and you said:

  • Online & Free Conference. “It was nice that it felt like we were a community even if we didn’t meet in person.
  • Well organised & professional online conference. “All sessions were delivered on time and the technology held-up brilliantly despite a high number of attendees.
  • The Informative & useful sessions with lively & enthusiastic presenters.
  • Opportunities for exchanging ideas and networking despite being online “Interaction between the audience and the presenters was incredibly good”
  • All recordings were made available after the conference. “I enjoyed most that I could watch the sessions at any time later on youtube.”
  • The authentic experience of a LIBER Conference. “I enjoyed how natural it felt – it was a pleasant surprise for me how natural and quickly and authentic the meeting felt despite being online.

Suggestions for Improvements

In our survey we also asked you which aspects you would like to change for LIBER 2021 and you said:

  • Provide a space for small group discussions online

“A suggestion for future online conferences (hopefully you offer this possibility in the future), small group discussions could increase the feeling of networking.

  • Diversity of Speakers & Inclusivity

Only person of colour was a representative from the publisher’s side, not a librarian. Nor was there are BLM statement from LIBER released. I think this is an area that LIBER can improve in.

  • Work more on innovative presentations & a cohesive conference programme

“No breakthrough ideas or proposals. Not much innovation on speakers’ side, in terms of how to present at a virtual conference.”

  • Work on optimising the online registration system

“The registration process was quite time consuming because you had to undergo the same registration procedure for every session.”

Have Further Feedback on LIBER 2020 Online?

We appreciate your feedback and will take it into consideration as we plan our next annual conference, LIBER 2021 Online.

If you would like to provide further feedback on the 2020 Conference, this survey, or LIBER in general, please email the LIBER Office.

Watch This Space!

We’ll be updating the LIBER Conference website shortly. So keep posted for new information on our next conference in the upcoming months.