It really is the conference season. I just came across links to two academic library conference sites – these are regional conferences – that contain some worthwhile content. No one can get to all the conferences he or she would ideally like to attend, but with sites like these it is getting easier to find out what topics presenters are covering at these programs.
The CIC Library Conference was held on March 19 and March 20. The conference organizers have created a conference blog that contains posts about different presentations. There are some links, photos, and videos, but I didn’t see recordings from the presentations. Still, there is plenty there to give those who couldn’t attend at pretty good idea of the topics of discussion.
At Princeton University they held a one-day academic library symposium on March 15 focusing on “Technology and Library Services: Meeting Today’s Users’ Needs“. Speakers there talked about social networking, using Google Analytics, the technological continuum gap in academic libraries, and Web 2.0 practices. Audio recordings of the presentations are available on this page.
If your library or regional organization has recently sponsored or is planning to have a conference that would be of interest to academic librarians, and there is a web site where information is shared, please let us know about it.
I hope that readers of this blog will consider attending the 2007 LACUNY Institute. Steven Bell will be the keynote speaker for this conference which promises to be an innovative and informative event. Early bird registration is now open: http://lacuny.cuny.edu/institute/2007/registration.htm . Program information is also available on the website. Following the event, we hope to make the presentations/recordings available on the website.
The Ohio Digital Commons for Education Conference was at the beginning March. You can link to the blog, wiki, and keynote (George Siemens) presentation from the ODCE site. Presentations from the 2006 Academic Library Association of Ohio are on the ALAO web site.
And if we’re serious about collaborating with faculty for critical information literacy across the curriculum, we should be fanning out and going to conferences that aren’t just librarians talking to librarians. Liz Losh over at Sivacracy says “Librarians are an important cohort in the teaching of writing, and they still weren’t adequately represented at 4Cs. She’s talking about the Conference on College Composition and Communication and she’s absolutely right. (In fact, a few years back 4Cs and ACRL were in Denver at the same time and we didn’t even know it!!!)
Read her post. It’s a good ‘un.
Barbara – I think I’ve written a number of posts that both suggest we need to be present at non-library conferences, active in non-library associations, and on the boards of non-library publications. Doing so keeps these non-library group aware that we have something to contribute, and that we want to seek out their participation in our world. A considerable challenge (assuming these groups do more to notify us of their conferences) is that librarians often get barely enough support for the one or two library conferences they need to attend, especially if they are on a committee. Most would have a very difficult choosing to miss an essential library conference in order to attend a non-library conference. What I’ve found helpful is tapping into local, state or regional teaching and learning conferences as a way of finding out what the faculty are concerned about, and whenever possible presenting on library related issues. But thanks for reminding us that we need to move beyond our the boundaries of our own profession.
This blogger over at digital digs also went to the 4C’s, but rather than suggesting that more librarians are needed, he thinks the whole thing should be dispensed with. He points out the conference is mostly an excuse for networking, so why not just end the charade. Put up all the presentations online before the conference, then just have Q&A type discussions at the meeting – no paper presentations. This way attendees are always meeting and talking with colleagues. Sound like an idea worth considering…But with more virtual conferences taking place in higher education this is another opportunity for us to get our work out to our non-library colleagues. I’ve presented at a few of them and it’s a fairly low threshold way to get connected with non-librarians.
I totally dig what digital dig is saying – only I usually feel that way about library conferences! The traditional conference seems a very expensive and inefficient way to develop the profession.
Amen to the fact that we can’t afford to hit too many conferences in a given year. But how many online communities can we belong to? It’s only limited by time.
Which reminds me, I have a ton of work to do…