ALA National ConferenceJune 25-30, 2004. Orlando, FL SponsorshipThe Spectrum Leadership Institute was scheduled to end just as the ALA National Conference started to give us the opportunity to continue on to the national conference. As I mentioned elsewhere, I have used remaining funds from my PLA travel grant to pay for my hotel and meal costs while attending this conference. JournalFriday, June 25The Spectrum Institute organizers arranged for a bus to take us from the UCF campus to the Convention Center. It was about a half hour ride. Got our registration materials then went off our separate ways. Saidah and I located the shuttle bus to our hotel (Radisson Barcelo). Amy came with us as it was easier for her friend to pick her up from the hotel than from the sprawling convention center. International Drive hits you immediately as a tourist strip, not quite the Las Vegas kind, but still the artery of a city that is presented to visitors. The conference program was thick with sessions, events, exhibits, and so on and I tried to carve out a "substantial" schedule to make the most of the conference. Or so I thought. One soon learns from a conference the size of the ALA National that you can only spread out your body and fill your mind too far and then you start hating conferences. I started my string of sessions and events this Friday evening by going to a reception hosted by OCLC's WebJunction at the Rosen Plaza while Saidah trudged off to an internet cafe to submit an assignment for a summer class (neither of us brought our laptops to Orlando and the conference internet cafes were not open yet). I wanted to connect with someone about internships with WebJunction but I soon learned not to go to ALA conference receptions by myself, especially as a student. You introduce yourself as a student and you get a knowing look which I call the Starving Student look! I did see Rachel Carreon at the reception but she was with her group from UT at Austin. Saturday, June 26Got up early to catch an 8:30 a.m session on Content Management Systems for Library Web Sites held at the Renaissance which was two shuttle bus rides away from the Radisson. The shuttle buses, provided by the Thomson Gale company for many consecutive ALA conferences now (bless their generous corporate souls), run every 10-15 minutes or so between hotels and the convention center. It was a challenge to shuttle from one session to another held in different hotels or even from one hall to another of the huge Orange County Convention Center. Saturday turned out to be a looong day, actually ending at 1 a.m the following day. After the morning session on content management systems, I spent the noontime hours strolling through The Stacks - the ALA Conference exhibit hall, volunteered to man the Spectrum table at the Diversity Fair, attended the late afternoon Opening Session, then hit the rides at Universal Studios which was opened exclusively for the Scholarship Bash. The Opening Session speaker was Dick Clarke, the former national coordinator for anti-terrorism and author of the book, "Against All Enemies." I made a note to check out the video "Battle of Algiers." In the same session, some people were given honorary awards, and I was very much pleased to see Sandy Berman given the ALA honorary award. We debated his views on ethnic access in Allyson Carlyle's 530 class and it was something to see this guy honored in person. People like him strengthens our sense of conviction about equal access in ways that are substantial to the profession (subject access) which go beyond the cultural dressings that are so often used to raise awareness about diversity. I think Berman belongs to the same category of people that Michael Moore belongs to: people who have the courage to speak for us who, at best, can only squeak our protests against what we see are wrong but never really fully commit ourselves to the truth. We let them do the truth-telling for us because we are so comfortably ensconced in our neutrality. BTW, Moore's film, Fahrenheit 9/11 was given special showing at the conference. Yeah, the ALA, one soon learns, is high up there on the moral horses of equal access, justice, and multi-lateralism (my term for diversity). But reluctant truth-tellers that we are seek escape in places like Universal Studios... Ok, ok, I'm getting off my mumbling moral horse to say that the Scholarship Bash at Universal Studios was a blast especially with the other Spectrum Scholars. We tried to revive the horror of Jaws through a boat ride in a shark-infested river and tried to go through the devastation of a San Francisco earthquake but the simulation felt lame. The Mummy ride was what finally gave me that shrieking high as we plunged in and out of the darkness of tombs or whatever that was. We walked in the rain, danced to the beat of music on the street, had potato and leek soup at an Irish restaurant, witnessed the Blues Brothers zoom in in a black Mercedes (?), do a jig in front of a crowd of library people, and then zoom away. I will not argue against simulation and entertainment as giving us the best of life sometimes. The Scholarship Bash was a fun way to raise funds for ALA scholarships. The only glitch was the miscalculation of the last bus ride back to the hotels. The last bus ride was supposed to be at 11:30 p.m. but the organizers hadn't anticipated that the majority of the bash attendees would try to literally catch that last ride. So, long lines of people patiently waited for up to an hour as more buses were dispatched to transport people back to their hotels. Content Management Systems for Library Web Sites The session featured two libraries which have taken two different approaches to manage content on their websites. The system developed at the Indiana University Bloomington Libraries consists of a unified Content Manager administrative interface that content providers (the library staff) use to create and edit content. Content is stored in or retrieved from a database system that is connected to the public website and intranet interfaces. Users see and interact with content that is presented in a consistent manner on these interfaces. The system developed at the SUNY Albany Libraries centers around an in-house quality control system called ScratchPad. It has three components: Mockweb, WebReview, and Production Site. Content providers upload content to the MockWeb which is placed on a separate server from the production site. Content pass through the WebReview component before they are sent to the production site. It was interesting to note that one of the biggest problems encountered in the development of these two systems was the perceived loss of individual creativity by content providers who previously were allowed to design and develop their web pages as they pleased. Classic tension between centralization and decentralization. I think the SUNY system found a compromise with Scratchpad where individual content providers still have control over the design of their web pages but all content must go through a centralized quality control system. The Indiana U system however makes it easier for library staff with no HTML or other programming skills to contribute content to the public website and intranet. I see CMS as solving presentational problems of information resources but the problems of the underlying organization of information still have to be borne out by longstanding problems in classification, cataloging, and indexing. Sunday, June 27My first session today was a big disappointment. It was supposed to be an Interview with Arthur C. Clarke via satellite from Sri Lanka but the organizers never got to get the phone lines to work. But we sat in that big hall listening to the wisdom of a panel of science fiction writers/scientists and librarians/technologists discuss topics around the classic conflict between technology and humanity, hoping, hoping, to hear and see at any moment the one who went beyond this simplistic dichotomy to show us that the universe is probably the ultimate antagonist, that the present is merely a springboard to the future. I never actually read any of Arthur C. Clarke's books though my oldest son soaked them up while we were living in Sri Lanka. We often saw the old man relaxing at the Otter's Aquatic Club. I don't know why it was only when we were leaving Sri Lanka that we approached his table and asked for his autograph. Special today was the luncheon with ALA President Carla Hayden who so graciously and generously hosted it at her presidential suite. The suite was packed with supporters of the ALA's programs for diversity and we had a very fine buffet lunch with a top view of the Convention Center Complex. It was an honor indeed to have had lunch with Dr. Hayden. She exudes so much passion for librarianship and equal access with such dignity and intelligence that Saidah said she wants to be like her. From the luncheon, we had to run to another hotel to attend a session especially organized by Spectrum Scholars. It's called Bridges to a Better You. Three Spectrum Scholars shared how they are making the most of their profession as librarians. Toni Olivas shared her experiences as the first Latina library resident at Auburn University's two-year residency program to recruit and retain minority librarians into academic librarianship. Toni also shared her experiences as a Knowledge River student at the University of Arizona and her goals of recruiting other Knowledge River students into academic librarianship. Elisia L. Johnson is a librarian at the Carson Correctional Facility in Carson City, Michigan. She is the only African American female librarian in a correctional system where the majority of inmates are African American males. I especially liked her efforts to connect the inmates to the outside world by partnering with other organizations to display artwork done by inmates. I was impressed with her confidence, assertiveness, and strength to be able to stand up for herself and still serve such a special population with dedication and caring. Maria Carpenter is Asian and she is a librarian and Advancement Program Manager at Northeastern University in Boston. On the side, she is the TV hostess and producer of a local television show called The Bonafide Librarian. She showed us a sample of the kinds of programming that the show provides - local art exhibits and artists, book clubs, local writers, etc. There was an interview with a buff female librarian who's also a personal trainer and you get the feeling librarians are just so cool. It was inspiring to learn that she started and still runs the show on a shoestring budget and mostly with the help of friends and it also shows how librarians can use broadcast media to share their expertise as information professionals. In general, this session showed me that the Spectrum scholarship is producing librarians who are assets to the profession and to their communities. It is also worth noting that the session was attended by a group from Russia who were attending the conference through a library program sponsored by the Library of Congress. I hope that ALA's goals for diversity will also try to represent the growing Russian immigrant population in many communities in the United States. Anyhow, time to run to another session as several Spectrum scholars, including my Radisson roommate Saidah and UCF roommate Amy, have to fly back to their hometowns. Equity: Are We There Yet? (ALA President's Program) Dropped by the reception for UW alumni and anyone with any association with the iSchool at the Cafe Tu Tu Tango (love that name). Said hi to Joe Janes and Allison Carlyle, had a drink, listened to Janes give out prizes, and drum up some cheers and support for the iSchool. Monday, June 28OCLC E-learning and Libraries: An Update It's A Small World After All (LITA President's Program) Tuesday, June 29It really feels pathetic to still be around at the conference when the only sessions left are all sorts of committee meetings, many of which are open to all ALA members but which I know I will not be comfortable attending by myself. I attended the early morning closing session where E.L Doctorow was the speaker. His speech was short, I don't remember much of it, only the feeling that the conference has winded down and I should have paid for the price of getting home early. The Spectrum scholars booked the cheapest flights with an ALA-designated travel agency back in February or March. The details of the conference were not up then but I planned on staying for the whole length of the conference thinking that my family can join me in Orlando. By the time I got around to changing my return flight, it was already too late. It would have been more expensive to go back to Portland two, three days earlier than staying two or three extra nights at a cheap rate in this hotel. I always thought reading and writing makes no wasted time but now I could understand what my husband feels when he stays in hotels during his frequent travels. I don't know what to do with myself. Thought of going out on a tour of Orlando public libraries by myself but I'm not feeling motivated to do anything. There is SupERTuesday however, touted as the first-ever e r> Wednesday, June 30 |
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