I’m amazed! I started a group on Facebook yesterday morning for Computers in Libraries 2008, April 7-9, Crystal City Hyatt whose theme is Innovative Change: Integrating High Tech with High Touch. The group is for anyone on Facebook who:
* uses technolgy in libraries or information services
* loves to create innovative products & services for information discovery, or who wants to see what’s happening in this space & track trends
* has attended or wants to attend a Computers in Libraries conference
* has spoken at or wants to speak at a Computers in Libraries conference
I invited some people to join the group and by last evening there were 53 people (58 now) in the group — in one day! It remined me of the Computers in Libraries 2006 wiki which Meredith Farkas started before the conference — it grew so quickly, so organically. Amazing. And so is Facebook! I also started a discussion in the group about topics of interest for the conference, and a number of people have already chimed in with ideas. I love Facebook.
The theme for Computers in Libraries 2008 is Innovative Change: Integrating High Tech with High Touch . Information Today’s CIL conference will be held April 7-9, with workshops on April 6th & 10th, at the Crystal City Hyatt in Arlington VA, a stone’s throw from Regan National Airport. The call for speakers is now available online and the proposal submission form is easy to fill in so please create an innovative program, send it along, and help us make the 23rd annual CIL the best one yet!
An interesting post describing an ALA session discussing what will happen when digital natives, those who have grown up immersed in technology, go to the university library and recommending that the librarians play more video games. We’ve been talking about gaming and libraries for a few years at Information Today conferences. And this year at Internet Librarian 2007, we have a whole day focussed on Virtual Worlds & Libraries, not to mention several sessions on gaming & learning, gaming & libraries, and more. See you there.
Congratulations to
Caroline Werle, a long-time friend & colleague, for receiving ARMA’s Canadian Region Recognition Award for Leadership to the records & information profession. Caroline works tirelessly advancing the competencies, strengths & services of the information profession. She mentors numerous librarians & records managers, is a progressive memeber of both SLA & ARMA, teaches at University of Toronto, Faculty of Information Studies
PLC where she received the Outstanding Teaching Award, & is a member of the Advisory Board, & her company,
RIM works with clients all over the world to manage their information & recruit professional staff. You deserve this Caroline!!!
Interesting YouTube video of Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google at the Paley Center for Media’s World Economic Forum which was hosted at the Google facilities. Thanks to Steve Rubel, SVP, Edelman and his twitter feed for this video.
Patricia Martin, President of Litlamp Communications is a wonderful speaker, writer and advocate for libraries. I have heard her speak at Internet Librarian about making deals and partnerships between libraries and clients, funders, and colleagues. Her book at the time was Made Possible By: Succeeding with Sponsorships – lots of tips! She has a new book, RenGen: Renaissance Generation, about the rise of the cultural consumer and what it means to your business (or community, or organization). It will be published in August of this year. Patricia talked about her research and the concepts in the book. She talked about how civilizations have cycles and that we are poised for a second renaissance. I loved her analogy of the internet as a facilitating medium just as the Roman roads once were. Check out her book for more!
Articulate, funny, and compelling!
Al Gore was a great opening keynote at SLA this year. Having worked closely with SLA CEO Janice LaChance, Al was quite aware of the role of information and information professionals and played to the audience with his support of their activities. He talked about the information gathering skills learned as an investigative reporter and how ‘information’ helped him as a member of Congress. He talked passionately about sharing information on the climate crisis through his book, film, and slides shows. He has trained more than 1300 people to give his slide show in the US, Australia, England and other countries. This project is very exciting.
And he talked about information and information flows through our world and ecosystem in the context of his new book, Assault on Reason. Here’s an interesting review of the book.
Some interesting quotes:
“I’d love to be President, but this [the climate crisis] is burning in me.”
“The rule of reason is enlightenment. Knowledge is a source of influence and power. We need a free information strategy …. and to apply the rule of reason to political will — it is a renewable resource.”
