Conferences
AZLA Tucson, AZ November 2011
At last! A conference that took place right here at home in Tucson. Not that I mind all the travelling. In fact a job popping around the country would be great fun! But that's another subject.
AZLA, as usual, provided a very nice conference. The workshops were well timed with enough variety to meet the needs of librarians and archivists alike. I attended a workshop on photographic preservation by an Arizona Historical Society archivist and a great roundtable discussion on managing budget cutbacks (or plusses) by a group of Phoenix-area librarians. Budgets were a hot-topic! We were asked to select an area in our fictitious library (from a limited list) that we would let go or reassign if our budgets were cut by 25% which is not far from the current state of budgets for many libraries. We followed that by deciding what to add if we had an increase of 25% (we wanted to experience hope, too!). My non-workshop activities here included hosting the REFORMA-Tucson table in the exhibit hall. We hosted a local author and recruited for membership to support our goals of increasing resources and services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking population.
And last, but certainly not least, I presented a workshop with a panel of amazing colleagues on Digital Inclusion utilizing the NTIA Digital Nation report and the National Broadband map. For a detailed description of our workshop you can visit the AZLA 2011 page here and click on Program Descriptions. To learn more about how you can research broadband in your area visit the National Broadband plan webpage . And feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
REFORMA National Conference Denver, CO September 2011
This was a rare treat! REFORMA has been at work since 1971, with only four national conferences within that 30 year span. I was fortunate to attend the RNC IV with my fellow Tucson Chapter officers. I was also a workshop volunteer and a Title-Sponsor Scholarship recipient. This is one of the great library leadership groups that works diligently to make a difference every day in the community. Workshops and seminars included leadership skills, evaluating chapter practices, program development ideas and Spanish language materials resources. Can't beat it and I highly recommend you visit the REFORMA website and catch up on news!
SAA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL August 2011
I had an amazing experience at SAA! I hoped to connect with professionals in the field to build my knowledge and skills as well as network for career opportunities. I ended up with a whole lot more. The workshops and poster sessions offered such a wide array of experiences in photo preservation, developing digital archives and issues in cultural archives. Some of the best sessions were round table and committee meetings where we were able to sit in smaller groups to hold conversations and in some case resolve challenges.
Of course it helps that the conference was in Chicago and that I roomed with two great KRs! I look forward to SAA 2012 in San Diego. The programs look promising!
ALA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA June 2011
What can I say about ALA? This is the entertainment-park of librarians and an amazing group of li'brain'ians. I can't even begin to list the resources, workshops and events because I would have to leave so much out. But, I will say that for being the largest (I believe) library conference annually the org does an incredible job of keeping it professional and in order. I attended with several other alum of the SIRLS program and a few KRs. We attened workhops on ethical aspects of library science, mobile technologies for library patrons, increasing Spanish language literature in libraries and even a poetry/oral stories event! I also spent time with colleagues planning for our pre-conference workshop on Digital Inclusion at AZLA in November 2011
I stayed in the Marigny with friends and could walk through the French Quarter to get to the conference shuttle or just keep on walking and get a street-level view of NOLA all the way to the conference (which I did several times). It goes without saying that NOLA is a beautiful and amazing cultural experience. But, I will say it anyway, because there is so much worth visiting and appreciating in this city and the surrounding areas. If you haven't been, you should. I was exhausted every day because of the intensity of the conference and definitely due to the humidity of June in the South!
SALALM in Philadephia,PA May 2011
Another conference and they just keep getting better! In late May I attended SALALM LVI Conference “Preserving Memory: Documenting and Archiving Latin American Human Rights”. To describe the organization it is probably best to quote the website “The Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) held its first meeting in 1956 when about 30 librarians and professors and one international bookseller met at Chinsegut Hill, Florida.”
The conference took place in Philadelphia, PA and was an amazing experience. I met some of the most interesting, inviting and dedicated people in library services. The sessions were dynamic and involved the participants in active dialogue. I’ll be brief here by providing an overview of my personal conference schedule and you can explore the conference at SALALM Conference or at the SALALM website. My Saturday and first day at the conference was packed end to end! In fact, each day was packed! I made sure to attend the New Member Orientation which was a great way to meet the hosts and other newbies as well as committee members. I then made it over to the Bibliographic Instruction Committee Meeting followed by the CALAFIA Committee meeting. I attended these to learn more about the work of the committees and how I might become involved.
Lunch was no-host, so I wandered to a local Sushi shop in downtown Philadelphia a few blocks from the conference hotel. I fortuitously ran into two librarians and had a great time learning about SALALM. I spent the afternoon getting settled into the apartment I rented for the stay. I highly recommend going this route for new cities! It’s a great way to get to know a city and see it at street level.
Highlights from the conference: ENLACE / New Members Reception where I met a fellow REFORMista from California as well as two of the HAPI staff members that I shared a late dinner with at Argan a local Moroccan restaurant. Sessions I attended included: "Para no olvidar de que estamos hechos" a presentation on preserving Latin American films; “Constructing the Digital Memory” an overview; a reception and tour of Penn State Library; a reception and fundraiser at Temple University.
I’ll spare the gory details of the entire conference, but suffice to say that I was pleased with the conference offerings and even more pleased with the people I met. This includes the Public Librarian who was incognito as an academic librarian. She will remain unnamed but should know that I had a great time! And as for Philly – what a great city. I had some time to explore historical sites, but also spent time in two local neighborhoods and met some great people. I would go back for a more casual visit without hesitation.
Ft. MCDOWELL - November 2010
Well, I did it. AZLA Conference at Ft. McDowell, Scottsdale, AZ.
Good times. Great workshops. Fun with colleagues. Good friends. Late nights. Early mornings. I will spare all the gory details, but here's a brief synopsis...
Some of the workshops I attended:
Knowledge River Scholars: Where are they now? It was great to hear about all of the exciting projects past KRs have been involved in and are now moving forward with.
Women Who Live in Coffee Shops Author Stella Pope Duarte. She is an inspiring writer and speaker that works to portray real American lives from generally silenced voices.
Think Globally, Write Locally: The Power of Regional Fiction Author Margaret Erhart. "That's Erhart, like Amelia," says the author. A writer and a river guide in Northern Arizona. Great discussion followed regarding the role of libraries and librarians as the invitation to knowledge. Also embarked on a brief discusson into publishing, the role of the author, e-books, browsing and the, soon, diminshing role of publishers. Too bad we ran out of discussion time!
Thanks to Shawna I was able to attend the Author Awards Luncheon. It was quick, but I met a KR Alum from Coolidge and her co-worker and shared their table- fun! Also got to hear Alan Katz speak; he was quite entertaining.
OKLAHOMA - September 2010
Most recently I visited Oklahoma City, OK for the AASLH Conference. Oh so many great moments: Gerard Baker, retired Park Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial was a great guest speaker at AASLH; he addressed the importance of making choices for advancing the knowledge of Native American history and increaasing the Native American presence in our parks, museums and memorials. Susan Stamberg, of NPR, was a keynote speaker and addressed the importance and impact of museums on our culture and human experience.
Workshops at the conference included a discussion of how to address the history and retelling of the true nature of the black slave culture in the North, preserving digital files, a comparison of Native American Cultural Centers to traditional museum models, and a review of successful Native American Cultural Centers presented by the directors and curators of those centers.
I volunteered at the registration booth during the preconference sessions. This was a great way to get an overview of those attending the conference. I met some of the awesome staff of the AASLH that were full of energy despite working almost 24/7 leading up to the conference. I also met many historians and curators during the sessions as well as after hours!
Next on my list is the AZLA Conference which will take place at Ft. McDowell, Scottsdale, AZ.
At last! A conference that took place right here at home in Tucson. Not that I mind all the travelling. In fact a job popping around the country would be great fun! But that's another subject.
AZLA, as usual, provided a very nice conference. The workshops were well timed with enough variety to meet the needs of librarians and archivists alike. I attended a workshop on photographic preservation by an Arizona Historical Society archivist and a great roundtable discussion on managing budget cutbacks (or plusses) by a group of Phoenix-area librarians. Budgets were a hot-topic! We were asked to select an area in our fictitious library (from a limited list) that we would let go or reassign if our budgets were cut by 25% which is not far from the current state of budgets for many libraries. We followed that by deciding what to add if we had an increase of 25% (we wanted to experience hope, too!). My non-workshop activities here included hosting the REFORMA-Tucson table in the exhibit hall. We hosted a local author and recruited for membership to support our goals of increasing resources and services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking population.
And last, but certainly not least, I presented a workshop with a panel of amazing colleagues on Digital Inclusion utilizing the NTIA Digital Nation report and the National Broadband map. For a detailed description of our workshop you can visit the AZLA 2011 page here and click on Program Descriptions. To learn more about how you can research broadband in your area visit the National Broadband plan webpage . And feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
REFORMA National Conference Denver, CO September 2011
This was a rare treat! REFORMA has been at work since 1971, with only four national conferences within that 30 year span. I was fortunate to attend the RNC IV with my fellow Tucson Chapter officers. I was also a workshop volunteer and a Title-Sponsor Scholarship recipient. This is one of the great library leadership groups that works diligently to make a difference every day in the community. Workshops and seminars included leadership skills, evaluating chapter practices, program development ideas and Spanish language materials resources. Can't beat it and I highly recommend you visit the REFORMA website and catch up on news!
SAA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL August 2011
I had an amazing experience at SAA! I hoped to connect with professionals in the field to build my knowledge and skills as well as network for career opportunities. I ended up with a whole lot more. The workshops and poster sessions offered such a wide array of experiences in photo preservation, developing digital archives and issues in cultural archives. Some of the best sessions were round table and committee meetings where we were able to sit in smaller groups to hold conversations and in some case resolve challenges.
Of course it helps that the conference was in Chicago and that I roomed with two great KRs! I look forward to SAA 2012 in San Diego. The programs look promising!
ALA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA June 2011
What can I say about ALA? This is the entertainment-park of librarians and an amazing group of li'brain'ians. I can't even begin to list the resources, workshops and events because I would have to leave so much out. But, I will say that for being the largest (I believe) library conference annually the org does an incredible job of keeping it professional and in order. I attended with several other alum of the SIRLS program and a few KRs. We attened workhops on ethical aspects of library science, mobile technologies for library patrons, increasing Spanish language literature in libraries and even a poetry/oral stories event! I also spent time with colleagues planning for our pre-conference workshop on Digital Inclusion at AZLA in November 2011
I stayed in the Marigny with friends and could walk through the French Quarter to get to the conference shuttle or just keep on walking and get a street-level view of NOLA all the way to the conference (which I did several times). It goes without saying that NOLA is a beautiful and amazing cultural experience. But, I will say it anyway, because there is so much worth visiting and appreciating in this city and the surrounding areas. If you haven't been, you should. I was exhausted every day because of the intensity of the conference and definitely due to the humidity of June in the South!
SALALM in Philadephia,PA May 2011
Another conference and they just keep getting better! In late May I attended SALALM LVI Conference “Preserving Memory: Documenting and Archiving Latin American Human Rights”. To describe the organization it is probably best to quote the website “The Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) held its first meeting in 1956 when about 30 librarians and professors and one international bookseller met at Chinsegut Hill, Florida.”
The conference took place in Philadelphia, PA and was an amazing experience. I met some of the most interesting, inviting and dedicated people in library services. The sessions were dynamic and involved the participants in active dialogue. I’ll be brief here by providing an overview of my personal conference schedule and you can explore the conference at SALALM Conference or at the SALALM website. My Saturday and first day at the conference was packed end to end! In fact, each day was packed! I made sure to attend the New Member Orientation which was a great way to meet the hosts and other newbies as well as committee members. I then made it over to the Bibliographic Instruction Committee Meeting followed by the CALAFIA Committee meeting. I attended these to learn more about the work of the committees and how I might become involved.
Lunch was no-host, so I wandered to a local Sushi shop in downtown Philadelphia a few blocks from the conference hotel. I fortuitously ran into two librarians and had a great time learning about SALALM. I spent the afternoon getting settled into the apartment I rented for the stay. I highly recommend going this route for new cities! It’s a great way to get to know a city and see it at street level.
Highlights from the conference: ENLACE / New Members Reception where I met a fellow REFORMista from California as well as two of the HAPI staff members that I shared a late dinner with at Argan a local Moroccan restaurant. Sessions I attended included: "Para no olvidar de que estamos hechos" a presentation on preserving Latin American films; “Constructing the Digital Memory” an overview; a reception and tour of Penn State Library; a reception and fundraiser at Temple University.
I’ll spare the gory details of the entire conference, but suffice to say that I was pleased with the conference offerings and even more pleased with the people I met. This includes the Public Librarian who was incognito as an academic librarian. She will remain unnamed but should know that I had a great time! And as for Philly – what a great city. I had some time to explore historical sites, but also spent time in two local neighborhoods and met some great people. I would go back for a more casual visit without hesitation.
Ft. MCDOWELL - November 2010
Well, I did it. AZLA Conference at Ft. McDowell, Scottsdale, AZ.
Good times. Great workshops. Fun with colleagues. Good friends. Late nights. Early mornings. I will spare all the gory details, but here's a brief synopsis...
Some of the workshops I attended:
Knowledge River Scholars: Where are they now? It was great to hear about all of the exciting projects past KRs have been involved in and are now moving forward with.
Women Who Live in Coffee Shops Author Stella Pope Duarte. She is an inspiring writer and speaker that works to portray real American lives from generally silenced voices.
Think Globally, Write Locally: The Power of Regional Fiction Author Margaret Erhart. "That's Erhart, like Amelia," says the author. A writer and a river guide in Northern Arizona. Great discussion followed regarding the role of libraries and librarians as the invitation to knowledge. Also embarked on a brief discusson into publishing, the role of the author, e-books, browsing and the, soon, diminshing role of publishers. Too bad we ran out of discussion time!
Thanks to Shawna I was able to attend the Author Awards Luncheon. It was quick, but I met a KR Alum from Coolidge and her co-worker and shared their table- fun! Also got to hear Alan Katz speak; he was quite entertaining.
OKLAHOMA - September 2010
Most recently I visited Oklahoma City, OK for the AASLH Conference. Oh so many great moments: Gerard Baker, retired Park Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial was a great guest speaker at AASLH; he addressed the importance of making choices for advancing the knowledge of Native American history and increaasing the Native American presence in our parks, museums and memorials. Susan Stamberg, of NPR, was a keynote speaker and addressed the importance and impact of museums on our culture and human experience.
Workshops at the conference included a discussion of how to address the history and retelling of the true nature of the black slave culture in the North, preserving digital files, a comparison of Native American Cultural Centers to traditional museum models, and a review of successful Native American Cultural Centers presented by the directors and curators of those centers.
I volunteered at the registration booth during the preconference sessions. This was a great way to get an overview of those attending the conference. I met some of the awesome staff of the AASLH that were full of energy despite working almost 24/7 leading up to the conference. I also met many historians and curators during the sessions as well as after hours!
Next on my list is the AZLA Conference which will take place at Ft. McDowell, Scottsdale, AZ.
Travel
Oh the places you will go...as Dr. Seuss once wrote. If I was more dedicated to writing this space would be full of my musings and observations over the years of road trips, conferences, strange encounters and even stranger strangers who became my memories.
