 |
Thousands of
Disneyland vacationers and librarians converged in
Anaheim during the 2008 ALA Annual Conference. After
a few days, Goofy ears, Mickey Mouse hats, and Snow White costumes
seemed as normal as the 22,000 serious librarians bent on attending
conference sessions and walking the exhibit hall all day long.
What is the ALA Annual Conference? It’s
a fast-paced, jam-packed opportunity to attend any of the following:
- Over 300 educational programs covering a variety of topics
- Over 2000 committee meetings and events
- The exhibits hall, with over 1000 vendors showcasing their products
- The ALA President's Program
- The Opening General Session (Ron Reagan) and Closing
Session (Diahann Carroll)
- The Auditorium Speaker Series (numerous
authors and VIP’s)
There are also numerous award presentations,
pre-conferences, social activities, tours, and the Scholarship Bash held
throughout the conference as well. Other
noteworthy events included a WorkPlace Wellness Fair, a Gaming Pavilion,
a Library Volunteer Day, and a Virtual Library Day on the Hill.
LTLS staff members who attended
the conference have focused on specific sessions or areas of interest
in the following feature articles. Vanessa
Whippo, LTLS Cataloging Center Consultant, attended sessions on Cataloging
and Metadata. Joe Sciacca, Consultant, focused on the future of libraries,
Jan Ison, Executive Director, attended many of the keynote speeches,
and Michelle Ralston, Consultant, took part in the Gaming Pavilion
and related sessions on gaming in libraries.
To find out everything else about the ALA Conference, visit the Conference
wiki (http://wikis.ala.org/annual2008/index.php/Annual_2008). To
download presentations or listen to podcasts, visit the Conference
Materials archive (http://www.presentations.ala.org/index.php?title=Main_Page). There
are also links to blogs and twitter feeds that were done during the conference. And
the story is also told in 800 photos at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/annual2008/).
So look at these resources, read what the conference
is all about, and plan to attend the ALA Annual 2009 Conference in
Chicago, Illinois July 9-15, 2009.
| |
