EMILY RIMLAND: June 2007 Archives

Having just been to ALA 2007 in D.C., here's my mini rant about conferences and the age in which we live.
Basically I feel that a lot of conference sessions are just behind the curve. I attend these things and I just find myself thinking "been there, done that" or "This is soooo yesterday." and usually leaving the session.

Because information moves so quickly, the majority of sessions and topics presented are old material. Even the more cutting-edge topics such as Social Networking or Second Life are still very introductory and stale...I've seen those things, I know what they are...show me something different...a new angle, some research, something new!

On the other hand, I know first-hand that because ALA requires divisions to schedule programming so far in advance that selecting a relevent topic means breaking out the ol' crystal ball. However, this is not true for all conferences, so I know ALA could do better.

So, I think something needs to change about the traditional conference model and I was so glad to learn that a lot of others are on board with this. Meet the Improve ALA Wiki! Woo!

Much as I'd like to have a crazy cool, groundbreaking blog I figure it's more important to just get started. With that in mind, my intentions here are nothing earthshattering...just my outlook on what's going on with all things libraries, but particularly in higher education and with web 2.0 stuff. Interesting tidbits, ideas, and memes with the occasional musing thrown in...