Saturday, June 28, 2008

SLA Conference Presentations


So I had good intentions to post my notes from the sessions I attended at the SLA Annual Conference in Seattle as well as notes from all the committee/board meetings where I participated. I've been back in Kentucky for over a week and the notes still linger on a table in my office, piled with other conference mementos that I can't bring myself to put away just yet. I did post some photos to Facebook and have caught up on some committee work behind the scenes, but I've had time for little else SLA conference-related.

I was fortunate to speak in three different conference sessions at SLA:

Applying the Information Commons Concept
I was the only speaker at this session and was absolutely thrilled to see such a large, lively, and engaged crowd. The session was 75 minutes, and I managed to stop talking after about 60 minutes (thanks to my moderator, the lovely Catherine Lavallée-Welch, for keeping me on track) . We had a terrific discussion in the question and answer portion, and I met a number of Info Commons colleagues post-session.

If you've just started reading this blog after attending the session, welcome! You might be interested in reading some past posts--I've collected all of my Information Commons posts to date. Over the next couple of months, I do plan to write up some of the new projects I mentioned. I also plan to post my session slides, though I'm thinking about adding some context since my slides are almost entirely images.

Perspectives of New Info Pros: Conversation in the Round
I was delighted to be asked to speak with Daniel Lee and Christina de Castell, two major movers and shakers in SLA. The session was literally a conversation among the three of us, moderated by Ulla de Stricker. I was impressed with the questions from the audience which really shaped our discussion. It was fun to participate in a session like this--you're not really sure where the conversation will go so you've really got to think on your feet. I know the format was interesting and challenging to me as a speaker, and I hope the attendees felt the same way. If you want to know more about the session, take a look at the wiki where we started our discussion before the conference.

Technical Support Roundtable
This is the third year in a row I led this session, and unfortunately it was the year I was least prepared. Since I moved away from a purely IT position to a more hybrid role (the information commons), I found myself with fewer questions on my conversation starter list for this session. It is a fun session--think of it as an in-person discussion list or a bar conversation without the beer--okay, maybe that doesn't sound like very much fun...Well, Ruth did a much better job of summing it up than I could, and I am delighted she will be taking over for the fourth iteration of this session at the SLA Centennial Conference in D.C.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Update from the SLA Conference in Seattle

Several exciting new initiatives in SLA have been announced in the Leadership Development Institute this morning:

SLA Innovation Laboratory

SLA members will have access to thousands of applications, including licensed software like the Adobe Creative Suite. To me, that alone is worth the price of SLA membership ($160). Also included in the "laboratory" are a number of training tools and video tutorials available to members to build on their technology expertise.

SLA's 23 Things

I've mentioned that UK Libraries and now a larger group on the UK campus have participated in a "23 Things"-style Learning 2.0 program (we called ours Blue 2.0). Now SLA members will have the opportunity to participate in a similar program.

SLA in Second Life
I actually gave the update for this project. We are an enthusiastic and active group building an in-world presence for SLA in Second Life as well as developing training opportunities and educational resources on Second Life. Check out our wiki for more information. For those in Seattle, look for a special Second Life introduction to the opening general session this evening.

Update: Slides from the short SL presentation I gave in LDI. Thanks, Jill!

Thursday, June 05, 2008

SLA Conference News and Updates

I'll be attending the SLA Annual Conference in Seattle next week. This year there will be even more ways to follow the conference online:

Blogs
SLA attendees have been blogging the conference for several years now. Follow the conference at these blogs:
And there are many other SLA chapter and division blogs. You could subscribe to all of them via this mega-feed.

Facebook
I created the Facebook group for SLA members two years ago--before Facebook was even open outside higher education. Can we reach 1000 group members before conference? Also, check out the Facebook Annual Conference event for more conference-related stuff.

Flickr
The official tag for the SLA Conference is SLA2008. I suspect there will be many dance party and other photos up there tagged as such.

Twitter
This year SLA will be twittering. I still don't really get it, though I appreciate it. Join in the fun by following Daniel's instructions.

Wiki
Local arrangements and travel information can be found at the SLA Conference wiki.


I'm going to follow as much of this as I can this year though I have a particularly busy conference schedule. I'll try to post at least a few things on this blog.