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American Library Association 2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition
report
for Fullerton College
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/14129762752/in/pool-alaac14 |
Transforming Our
Libraries, Ourselves
The 2014 ALA (American Library
Association) Annual Conference and Exhibition took place in the Las Vegas
Convention Center, June 26-July 1, hosting over 13,000 librarians, library
workers, and other attendees. This reduction in attendees --- more than 7K
fewer, as compared to the annual conference in Chicago 2013 --- could be, in
part, due to the daytime temperatures topping 110°F, and the
pricey cabs rides to and from presentations/events/lectures. Deterrents such as
the aforementioned high temps and even higher prices are rumored to be among the
reasons that Sin City hasn’t hosted an ALA conference since the early ‘70s.
The
theme of the conference, “Transforming Our Libraries, Ourselves,” paired well
with the presentations by speakers who focused on encouraging change,
implementing new technologies, and reaching out to all library users. The
opening session speaker was Jane McGonigal, a game designer who first came to
my attention with her 2012 Ted Talk discussion of how gaming reversed her (very
serious) health issues. McGonigal addressed a crowd of booklovers, many of whom
may be a bit doubtful of the benefits of video gaming, a pastime which is,
arguably, characterized by uncontrolled/habitual overuse (in particular by men
and boys). The game designer asserts that video games can be tapped to provide
unique solutions to global problems, including the crowd-sourcing of community
planning and scientific modeling. McGonigal would like to see a videogame
enthusiast accepting a Nobel Prize at some point in the future.
Slate Magazine Photo Shoot
Though the wait was long, I
greatly enjoyed participating in the Kyle Cassidy photo shoot for an upcoming Slate Magazine piece, “Alexandria Still
Burns: Librarians & the Fight for Knowledge.”
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Librarian posing for Slate
Magazine
photo shoot.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shifted/14426445849/in/pool-alaac14
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Subjects were asked:
“If
I could put you in front of 50,000 people, what would you want to tell them
about libraries and librarians?” E.g.,
1)
What
are the greatest challenges facing libraries today?
2) What are the most important services that
libraries provide?
3) What inspired you to do this?
4) What do libraries do that people might not know
about?
5) What would happen in your community if all the
libraries shut down tomorrow?
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/14213865977/in/pool-alaac14 | |
Summer Cold-Ridden Acquisitions Librarian Develops
Vendor Relationships in Desert over Dessert
I was glad to have this
opportunity to meet with current and potential vendors with whom I had previously
only had contact via email and/or telephone conversation, including: 1) At Las
Vegas Hotel, WT Cox, a vendor of print serial subscriptions whose services are
currently contracted by the County of Los Angeles Public Library; 2) Springer
at Mon Ami Gabi; and 3) Several others in the exhibit hall. There were over 800
company offerings in the exhibit hall, which keeps an acquisitions librarian
running!
Fun
times on the exhibition floor included snagging signatures from award-winning
authors and illustrators, including Avi and Bad
Kitty‘s Nick Bruel. Bruel doodled in the book that I purchased (Bad Kitty vs Uncle Murray).
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/14129368661/in/pool-alaac14/
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LITA Instructional Technologies Interest Group
Coalescing during the morning of
Saturday, June 28th, was LITA’s Instructional Technologies Interest
Group, which covered the most
popular instructional tech tools, platforms (and toys) for libraries. Panelists
included: 1) Moderator and NYU Head of User Experience for Bobst Library Nadaleen
F. Tempelman-Kluit; 2) University of Tennessee Faculty Librarian Jason Griffey;
3) Michigan State University e-Resources Librarian Ranti Junus; 4) University
of Maryland Associate Director for Library Applications and Knowledge Systems Bohyun
Kim; 5) Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Digital Services Director David
Lee King; 6) Ithaka S+R Program Director for Libraries, Users, and Scholarly
Practices Roger Schonfeld; 7) University of Michigan Library Web Systems
Librarian Ken Varnum; and 8) University of Windsor User Experience Librarian Mita
Williams.
Trends
discussed include: open hardware (Griffey); data and digital
assets management (Janus); the DIYbio and bio-hackerspace movement (Kim);
philosophy of mobile first (King); anticipatory discovery for awareness of new
publications (Schonfeld); personally-tuned discovery system (Varnum); and
one-click install server software (Williams).
Additional Ideas Presented
1) Maker Spaces: Offering
library computers with editing software helps creators. Circulating library
laptops and iPads is useful to consumers.
2) Design: Place
chairs and tables near outlets. Offer reliable Wi-Fi.
3) Marketing: Advertise
Wi-Fi and outreach services.
4) New in Search:
Anticipatory search is a concept that resembles targeted marketing.
5) Publishing: Student
journals represent an opportunity for library outreach through publication of
student work, as demonstrated by SUNY and Columbia University.
6) On-Campus Partnerships: Utilize
syllabi/faculty reading lists to inform library suggestion services for students.
7) Off-Campus Outreach: How
can libraries grow their service offerings during difficult financial times?
One option is that libraries may choose to collaborate with civically-engaged
technology organizations, such as Hackerspaces.
8) One-Click Server Installs:
These cheaper, easier installs will lower the barriers to the installation of
both software and servers for individuals and libraries. For example, Minecraft
Realms permits subscribers to access Mojang-hosted Minecraft servers. These private
servers cost less than fifteen dollars per month for up to twenty users. This
allows for safe, collaborative building for young people and their friends.
9) ISP Logs: Libraries
should continue to rethink privacy, as ISPs keep activity logs for varying lengths
of time. Librarians should be aware of the privacy implications of ISP activity
logs.
10) Net Neutrality: ALA supports net neutrality. The ALA asked
the FCC to maintain non-discriminatory language.
11) 
Mobile: Make
infrastructure and processes mobile-compatible. Embracing a Mobile First Philosophy ensures a
consistent experience for users --- regardless of device, including phones,
tablets, PCs, Macs, etc. Globally, one in five people possess their own mobile
device, and 90% of those people sleep
with their device within reach. King mentioned that over ninety percent of
Americans have smart phones. There was discussion of work bleeding beyond the
lines of the standard workday.
Monique’s entry for #WorkCanWait
Notes from Other Sessions
1.
CMS: Many
schools are using course management systems (CMS), such as Blackboard, Moodle,
and Sakai. The online courses link to related library resources, e.g., embedded
chat widgets and LibGuides. The University of Southern Florida embeds LibGuides,
and (when possible), the librarians of USF make the LibGuides course-specific.
2.
Equal Accessibility: When checking out eBooks on devices (e.g., iPads),
choose fully-accessible devices, such as iOS devices. All users should be able
to use all devices without the assistance of another person. Staff should be
trained in the use of accessibility features for devices that the library
circulates. Libraries should also follow WCAG (Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines) 2.0 for online materials.
