In preparation for the Conference Debriefing meeting on November 7, I compiled a list of all 16 programs that the Computer and Information Technology SIG sponsored or co-sponsored at the 2008 Missouri Library Association Conference. The times are as they appeared in the Conference Program (I know at least one was changed to a different timeslot during the conference). I thought this list might be useful to more people than just me, so on the blog it goes.

I put in the attendance numbers that I know of (if anyone attended the sessions without attendance numbers and has a rough estimate, let me know). I'm not sure how much weight to give attendance. I was at the session with the smallest attendance. It probably captured everyone at the conference who deals with the nuts and bolts and keys of computers and was likely very valuable to those 10 people. If nothing else, they had the opportunity to meet the other 9 people at the conference who work with the guts of computers. We were in a small room and didn't take up much space, so I think it was probably an important service of the CIT SIG to offer that program.

Wednesday, October 1

• 8:15 – 11:45 Get Your Game On! (preconference) -- Beth Gallaway (cosponsored by YASIG and YSD). Attendance = 14
• 2:45 – 3:30 Collaborating in the Cloud -- Robin Hastings. Attendance = 60
• 3:45 – 4:30 Beyond Library Learning 2.0 – Library Learning 2.1 – Bobbi Newman. Attendance = 50
• 3:45 – 4:30 Securing Public Access Computers – Sheila Dennehy. Attendance = 10
  

Thursday, October 2

• 7:30 – 8:15 Home is Where One Starts: Designing a New Web Home for Saint Louis University Libraries – Mikael Kriz. Attendance = 13.
• 8:15 – 9:00 Three Low-Cost Usability Evaluation Methods for Library Website Redesign – Kim M. Thompson, Hsin-Liang Chen, and Sanda Erdelez. Attendance=20.
• 8:15 – 9:00 Wireless Service for the Public: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Randy Raw (MOREnet)
• 9:15 – 10:00 Missouri Digital Heritage: A New Portal to Missouri’s History – Carl Wingo. Attendance = 30
• 11:15 – 12:00 Meeting without Meeting – Tom Peters. Attendance = 40.
• 11:15 – 12:00 Research 2.0: How Zotero Can Save Your Day or at Least Your Research – Joshua Lambert (cosponsored with MACRL)
• 1:45 – 2:30 Digital Television is Coming! – Jack Galmiche (President of KETC Channel 9). Attendance = 14

Friday, October 3

• 9:15 – 10:00 Information Literacy: Using Technology to Reach and Teach Students – Erin Lanham and Theresa Flett (cosponsored with MACRL). Attendance = 50
• 9:15 – 10:00 The Virtual Book Scene – Joy Weese Moll (cosponsored with RISSIG). Attendance = 60
• 10:15 – 11:00 Introduction to Learning Objects: Use in the Classroom and Consequences for the Library – Marcus Richter (cosponsored with RISSIG and MACRL)
• 1:30 – 2:15 Free and Open Source Software – Steven Pryor. Attendance = 20
• 1:30 – 2:15 Reaching Your Patrons in the Brave New World of the Social Web – Bobbi Newman. Attendance = 20

2008-10-19

Many hands make light work

Note to future SIG Chairs: divide up the session evaluation forms among all the officers to tally and summarize. Four or five sessions is about as many as one person can analyze without the job getting tedious.     #    (0) comments

2008-10-14

NaNoWriMo and Research

Since NaNoWriMo is a contest to see if you can write a 50,000 word novel in a month, one of the primary rules is that you can't start writing your novel until 12AM on November 1. There are actually midnight writing parties! I won't be attending one of those. In fact, I may not start writing on November 1 at all because I have a community obligation in the morning and a family one in the afternoon and evening.

So, what are the some 30,000 people who have already committed to NaNoWriMo in 2008 doing now with all of that anticipatory energy that can not be applied to writing? Well, besides posting on the forums, they are plotting, world building, creating characters, and researching. A library that wants to coordinate a full marketing campaign with NaNoWriMo would want to start putting the pieces in place by the end of September, because lots of NaNoWriMo-ers spend some part of October researching for their novel.

The common wisdom is that a writer should not stop the flow of words in November for pesky little things like spelling, grammar, or research. It's perfectly acceptable to put a note to the author in the manuscript: more research needed here. Although, I imagine that there are a lot of writers who struggle with getting stuck on a research point. At that moment, they might use a research tool that they discovered was quick and easy during their October research -- perhaps the ask-a-librarian page of the website or an online database or encyclopedia provided by the library.

Would you like some practice answering the questions of budding novelists? Check out the Character & Plot Realism Q&A forum.     #    (0) comments

2008-10-12

NaNoWriMo

I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every year in November, thousands of people write a complete novel of at least 50,000 words. Accomplishing that task is considered a "win." Many people, of course, try and fail. Since this is my first time, I could easily end up in that second group.

This is the third year I've seriously considered it but the first year that I've reached mid-October with the plan still in place. Apparently, it helps if I don't think about it too long. In 2006 and 2007, I was coming up with story ideas in August. This year, I was too busy with Missouri Library Association Conference planning activities to contemplate the notion until this past week.

I've always thought that libraries and librarians could be doing more with NaNoWriMo, starting with offering space for local participants to meet in person and with advertising NaNoWriMo and the reference desk with signs that say something like "The Library Loves NaNoWriMo!"

I'm going to blog some of my NaNoWriMo activities in the hope that other library / NaNoWriMo ideas will crop up either in my mind or yours. I also created a special Twitter account for NaNoWriMo, WriterJoy, -- I didn't want to inundate all my librarian Twitter followers with NaNoWriMo updates unless they wanted them.

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2008-10-09

Working, again

Oh yeah, and the reason I can't do all the items on my MLA to do list tomorrow is because I'm working again. I have been for a month or so, actually, I just didn't get around to blogging it.

I'm at the Missouri Botanical Garden in the Archives. The photographer whose work appeared in 25 years of Missouri Botanical Garden calendars retired last year. He turned his slides over to the Archives, so my project is to catalog them. We think there's about 2500. Then, we'll choose a couple of hundred to scan for the web site.

The timing is fortuitous. Next year is the 150th Anniversary of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Okay, if you live in Boston or England, say, that might not sound that old, but in St. Louis, we all say "wow!" when we hear that one of our institutions is turning 150! So, the Illustrated History website (which is already pretty impressive) will get a nice addition of more recent color photos just in time for the anniversary.

It's a pretty good gig. Basically, I get to look at pretty pictures of flowers all day! I'm working about 10-12 hours a week, 2 short days, and we think I'll be done this month or early next month. Oh, and I get to walk across the Garden each morning, lunch, and evening that I work.     #    (0) comments

MLA debriefed

The Missouri Library Association Conference last week was the most fun I've ever had at a conference. Get involved, folks! It makes all the difference. It's even worth the pre-conference stress and hassles.

This week and month is the time to wrap up and debrief. The quickly-needed items for a SIG chair are to thank the speakers and session hosts and solicit feedback. That's done.

Since I ended up more-or-less in charge of the session evaluation forms, I need to mail the ones that didn't get picked up at the conference. That will probably happen Saturday. I also need to figure out how to summarize the things and share that information with the other SIG and Division Chairs. Maybe Saturday or Monday?

There's an item due for the newsletter next week. A few other things. Feels like a small but steady stream of to-do items this month.     #    (0) comments

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