Hail or storm, the research we have always wanted, will be

Or, What happened in the LARK workshop Research you have always wanted, but never had

By Suzana Sukovic

Torrential rain and gusty winds, described as the worst weather in Sydney in five years, didn’t prevent 13 committed people from gathering for a LARK workshop yesterday. The facade of the UTS Gehry building didn’t attract much attention on approach as we were struggling with wild umbrellas, but it all got better from the foyer. After a warm welcome by UTS own Bhuva Narayan and Edward Luca, a walk around the building and some refreshments, we were ready to think about research. As always, there were some familiar and new faces, and a good mix of library and information professionals of different sorts, academics and teachers.

Three capable team leaders, Helen Chan, Ashley England and Janet Chelliah, all from UTS Library, worked with me on workshop preparation but, at the last moment, we decided to have two groups. Janet graciously let her younger colleagues lead us through unpredictable waters of serious play. Helen and Ashley brought a copious amount of physical materials, including even a piece of fishing line to help us bring our grand ideas to surface.

I will abruptly stop here, curious reader. Our grand research plans will be revealed in due time, but we’ll need your co-operation first. Could you guess one or more of the following research-related questions?

What is the connection between elephant and research?

 What does the picture below represent? 

Why do we need a drone in the Research Fab Lab?  

(See the first picture above for clues)

Please use the comments field as your sandpit.

In the end, suffice to say, that our trip to the dinner destination was adventurous, taking a path littered by broken umbrellas. But, our efforts were well-rewarded.