FreePint asked its readers about the sessions it should cover at the Annual Conference, then covered them! The June 28 issue includes articles and sessions summaries written by FreePint editors as well as fellow SLA-ers.
Some of the papers also will be published in a special August issue of Information Outlook.
Articles about the conference will be published in the July Information Outlook, which will go to press a little later than other issues just to accommodate timely conference coverage.
I'm back to my office and looking at my conference notes and the stack of business cards I picked up. I've already reviewed (and put away) the literature I picked up from the Info Expo. Likely tomorrow I'll "mark up" the business cards, send messages to those that I should follow-up with, and file them in my Rolodex. Mark them up? I'll put "SLA2007" on the front of each card so I'll know where I got it. Not only is this a clue to jog my memory, but in a year or so -- when I'm weeding through my Rolodex (actually two of them) -- I'll be able to look at the date and decide if the card is worth keeping. Often we keep cards thinking that we will be in contact with the person, but that does not always turn out to be the case. If I've had a card for two years and can't remember why I have it, it's time to weed it from the collection!
As for my notes, there are sessions yet to write about...
Monday afternoon there was a session entitled "The Future of the Past" with Victoria McGargar and Peter Johnson. Sponsored by the News Division, they talked about creating institutional repositories. Some institutions are realizing that long-term preservation is tough.
Tuesday morning, more than 50 people started their day early (and without coffee) at the Leadership & Management Division session entitled "Leading Meetings: Getting Things Done and Having Fun." It was led by Shelly Edwards. Edwards did not use PowerPoint, which allows us to focus on what we were discussing and not on a screen. (She did have two people take notes on flip charts.) Her presentation is suppose to go up on the LMD web site, so look for it there. Highlights:
Note to LMD -- maybe you'll do this session again in Seattle? Please!
I attended the Policy Update and have already written about it. However, I want to note that SLA is actively involved in policy discussions both in the U.S. and in other countries. You can find information on SLA's Public Policy efforts here. And SLA does publish a periodic electronic newsletter on policy issues. Back issues are on the Policy web site. To sign-up to receive future issues, e-mail SLA's Chief Policy Officer, Doug Newcomb.
Wednesday, Sophia Guevara, Ken Okaya and myself spoke in the "Information Standards—Featuring Web 2.0" session. This session was co-sponsored by the Engineering Division and the Technical Standards Committee. Our presentations are going to be on one of those two web sites. (Mine is already online here.)
I want to clarify something I said. Most Web 2.0 tools reside on the Internet, thus moving the power of the computer to the network. If you want to use these tools -- e.g., Blogger, Bloglines, Twitter, Ning, Facebook -- you only need to go to the proper web site and sign-up. (And keep in mind that many of the tools are free.) However, it can be helpful to explore these tools with someone else. For example, Twitter is interesting, but it makes much more sense if you try it out with someone else -- even if that other person is someplace else in the world and not literally sitting beside you. I began to really understand Twitter when I literally saw others using it and could talk to them about it. The social networking tools are meant to be learned AND used socially (not by ourselves).
In some cases, you may need/want to download and install some program that will help you use the tool more effectively. These programs reside on your PC. Again, they are easy to install and use, but sometimes you may want to chat with someone else in order to understand them better. Using Twitter as my example again, there is a program that allows you to communicate with Twitter from your web browser (in a side panel). I couldn't get it to work and so "talked" to someone who I knew was using it. After a few instant messages, we had me "fixed" and ready to twit!
So keep in mind that these tools reside and are used on the Internet. Yes, you may want to download something that will help you use a specific tool better. And remember that these tools are meant to be learned and used socially.
The last thing I want to say about the session is that Margie Hlava, who facilitated it, has evidently been attending SLA conferences for at least 30 years! (She told me this before the session started.) Wow! Looking at her membership record, she joined in June 1976, when many of us weren't yet dreaming of professional librarianship. Way to go Margie!
Finally, I attended a session sponsored by the Information Technology Division called "Podcasting the Librarian Way." Information and sample podcasts from this session will be available on the IT Division web site. The two presenters were Deborah MacLeod and Tammy Allgood. Catherine Lavallée-Welch moderated the session and obtained the sample podcasts that were shared with the audience.
Allgood gave the following work-plan for creating a podcast:
Allgood said that she learned Audacity in 30 minutes! She also said that she tried to keep her podcasts to under 20 minutes each.
Finally, someone said that the more conferences you attend, the more the networking outweighs the conference sessions themselves. This year, that seemed particularly true. I attended excellent sessions, but also had very worthwhile conversations with colleagues over breakfast, lunch, and hors d'oeuvre. Although networking online is increasingly important, have "face time" is important. (And you get to put a face with the e-mail ID!)
With that, I hope to see you Seattle, if not before.
Technorati tag: 
sla2007
Thanks again to everyone who came to my session Tuesday afternoon - the web version of the talk is now available. It's not quite the same as being there :-) but hopefully the audio file (pending) will help a bit when it arrives. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy!
The Baseball Caucus headed to a Rockies game on Wednesday night. The wind howled and temperatures dropped, but that did not stop this group of baseball lovers. And as cold as it was, many people stayed until the end of the game, especially after things got "interesting" in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Wednesday afternoon the Baseball Caucus session had two speakers: Jim Evans, former Major League Umpire, and Paul Parker, who is associated with the Colorado Rockies. From what I heard, Evans and Parker were a hit and Evans hit a few "home runs"!
Now the Baseball Caucus will look forward to Seattle and begin wondering if the Seattle Mariners will be in town for the conference. Hopefully our dreams of seeing a baseball game in Seattle will come true!
More photos from the game are here.
Technorati tag: sla2007
SLA gets wild and funky on the dance floor at the IT/PAM Gold Digger's Ball!
Although I have more to blog (once back in Syracuse) about the conference this year, I want to alert you that next year the annual conference will be in Seattle, WA from June 15 - 18, 2008. The SLA annual conference was held in Seattle in 1997. In 1997, we found the city very welcoming and with lots to do. The city not only as a lot of coffee places, but also a tremendous amount of public art. Like last time -- being close to Vancouver Island (and Victoria) and the city of Vancouver, as well as scenic locations in Washington State -- people may want to extend their stays and take some vacation.
We already know that the closing speaker will be Seth Godin who has written Small is the Next Big, Purple Cow, Unleashing the Ideavirus and several more. Unleashing the Ideavirus was promoted virally on the Internet and available for free. Godin used his own techniques to successfully promote that book and get people to read it. He is also a blogger and people may want to subscribe to it in order to get a feel for what he is talking about now.
Conference planning is well underway, so be sure to talk with your division(s) about what they have planned. Undoubtedly, they are planning sessions and continuing education (CE) courses that you will not want to miss.
So shall we see you in Seattle?
I stayed an extra day in Denver to explore the city and unwind from the conference. Now I'm trying to write some of the blog posts that I didn't get a chance to write during the conference.
The Rocky Mountain Chapter did a phenomenal job welcoming us to Denver, and thanks to their tips I had a great day today. First I went to the zoo, then to Rockmount Ranch Wear, Zen Dog, and REI.
I've been blogging about my reactions to individual sessions over at DIY Librarian; the Personal Information Trainer and Global Librarianship are up already.
Anna Burke, Boston Chapter President-Elect, was seen wearing this shirt on Tuesday night and had many a librarian ask her where they could purchase one. For all of you who were too shy to ask or too tired to write it down, the answer is Questionable Content.
Even though there were still a number of sessions and meetings planned for Wednesday, cartoonist Scott Adams keynoted the Closing General Session. He showed and told the stories behind several of his stirps (which copyright restrictions prohibit us from reproducing here), then answered audience questions.
Download Adams interview from May Information Outlook (354.3K).
