Online Conference; Facilitating the Use of Technology;

News January 18, 2008 (mp3 file: 5.3 MB, 5:33 min.)
Online Conference; Facilitating the Use of Technology;
We had an exciting day on Wednesday--the first Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference. I hope that many of you were able to attend at least part of the conference. More than 100 librarians and trustees registered. In spite of the snowy weather--after all, everyone could just attend from their computer desktop--the turnout was terrific for our first online conference. Eighty-four attended Michael Stephens' presentation on "The Hyperlinked Library," and seventy-three attended Pat Wagner's "Improving Library Co-Worker Relationships--Getting Along with Nice People in Stressful Times." Concurrent sessions included "Cool Tools, Gadgets and Widgets," "WebJunction," "The Buddy System: Collaborating with Colleagues Online," and The Interactive Library: Promoting Library Services Online." Over the lunch hour there was a conversation lounge where colleagues could do some talking and informal networking, and a game room, where librarians and trustees learned about games in the library. And all day long there were vendors in the Virtual Exhibit Hall. In the evening trustees (and librarians) gathered in a Wimba classroom to learn about Trustee 2.0--where trustees fit into all this Web and Library 2.0 world.

We're still absorbing and processing as we think about the next online conference because, yes, we think we surely must do more! I hope, if you attended the conference, that you'll take some time to write down what you learned, maybe make a little list of things that you want to do after the conference--try a new tool, try one of Pat's tips for getting along with each other just a bit better, explore some new services or communication methods, and talk to your board (or trustees--be talking with the Director) about what you learned. What did I learn? Well, I learned many things in the excellent concurrent sessions--thanks to all the great presenters--but I learned some other important things, too; or rather some things were just reinforced for me. Most of all, it was clear that you want to have online learning available to you--not that you don't still want face-to-face workshops and meetings and conferences--but how great is it to be able to ALSO have the opportunity to stay at home (especially during the winter in Iowa!) and expand your knowledge and experience.

The conference team met this morning to "debrief," we're looking at the evaluations and suggestions, and we've already started to talk about next year's conference, so stay tuned! And, of course, send us your comments and suggestions. In fact, you can share your experiences and ideas as comments on this SWILSA News & Views blog. Thanks to the planning team, who did an extraordinary job of planning and implementing the conference; thanks to the presenters for their willingness to embrace this new conference format, and thanks to all of you who attended. Those of you who didn't have a chance to attend, we hope to see you next year--and in the meantime, don't forget to check out other online opportunities in the CE catalog. --Karen

Links from today's podcast:

• Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference
• Google Search Guide
• Google Scholar
• Metacrawler
• National Geographic Maps