I was fortunate enough to attend ALA’s 2007 Annual Conference in Washington D.C. last week as a student volunteer. If you have never been to an ALA conference, as future librarians, you should definitely consider joining ALA and attend at least one conference in your career. It is a great way to stay current, learn about new trends, and connect with other librarians.  The best way to describe the conference is overwhelming.

When you register you are given two catalogues. One is a 222 page program guide that provides an overview of the conference, tips on getting around the host city as well as a detailed listing of all of the information sections on a day by day basis. The second book is a 136 page exhibit guide which provides a listing of all the authors speaking at the conference, a section on new library related products being demonstrated at the show and a map and a detailed exhibitor listing. 

These are not the only items in the conference bag you receive when you register. Also included are a ton of flyers and a few smaller guides that summarize the larger catalog;   including one titled “Into the Stacks: the Official Easy-to-Use Guide to the Exhibits”, that was published by ALA and co-sponsored by American Libraries Magazine. This book should not be confused with the other exhibit guide, which I assume is un-official, given that they were being handed-out on the street outside of the convention center. Both are very similar in size and content, however, this guide is published by Library Journal magazine a Reed Elsevier company publication.  

While at the conference I was able to attend several programs on a variety of different topics. There are programs on just about every area of librarianship and virtually ever library related topic you can think of. Given the focus of out class I was particularly interested in the use of technology in libraries.  One of my key take aways from the conference is that librarians a keenly interested in learning how integrate technologies into their libraries. 

Social networking technologies are HOT, and a major topic of discussion at this years conference. This point was driven home when I attended a program sponsored by YALSA titled “Using Technology to Market to Young Adults” the key speaker was our very own Michael Stephens. The program began at 8:30am on Sunday morning and was standing room only, counting the chairs and doing a little math I would estimate that there were over 400 people in the audience.  At the same time as this section was another program underway titled “10 Cool Technologies that Can Impact the Public Relations Plan @ Your Library”. This program featured Steven Abram and he talked about library 2.0 technologies.  I would highly recommend taking a look at his programs notes which are available at http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/prforum/prforum.htm.

A program titled “Harnessing the Hive: Social Networks in Libraries” that discussed the rapidly growing phenomenon of social networking technologies. See http://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/2007/06/24/ala-2007-harnessing-the-hive-social-networks-libraries/  for a summary of the program. I was also able to attend a portion of the program titled “To iPods & Beyond” where I learned about Pandora  and MOG  for more info see: the Yalsa blog for more information: http://blogs.ala.org/yalsa.php?title=toipodsandbeyond_1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

These are just a few of the very interesting and informative programs that were offered at the conference.  There were also programs on Tagging, blogging, Video Games as a Service, and the Top Technology Trends (a podcast is available on the LITA blog:  http://litablog.org/category/top-technology-trends/.

Technology is here to stay. As one speaker at the conference pointed out there are more libraries in the USA then there are McDonald. Although there are some great examples of social software technologies be used in libraries across the country it would seem to me that there is a tremendous opportunities for more libraries to adopt and integrate these technologies as a way to better market their services and better serve their patrons.  I would encourage all librarians to learn more about these technologies and not be afraid to bring innovation into your library, you patrons will appreciate it.

I have always thought of myself as an early adopter of technology and have had an MP3 player since 2004; however, I have to admit that prior to this posting I had little more then a cursory understanding of podcasting.  This posting taught me that I am not the techno geek I thought I was!

To better understand all of the various components that comprise the “Library 2.0” concept I have been reading more all of it various applications.  One of the things that surprised me is the speed at which this relatively new technology has been adopted. I was also impressed by the number libraries that have added RSS feeds and podcasts to their listings of resources that they offer and by the number of libraries using podcasting as a means to disseminate news and share information both locally and globally.

While research podcasting one article that I found particularly interest was “2.0: Beyond the Concept Practical Ways to Implement RSS, Podcasts and Wikis” http://www.cybersailors.com/docs/edlibsummer2006.pdf (see page 11 of pdf),

by Karen Huffman of the National Geographic Society. In the article Huffman describes how the National Geographic Society’s Libraries & Information Services has implemented RSS feeds, podcasts and wikis into their service offerings to provide users with additional means to access their research and informational products. The article also suggests a number of practical applications for implementing some of these technologies into academic libraries.

 Digging a little deeper I also visited the “Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki” website. http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Podcasting. (If you have not visited the site you should check it out, it has a tremendous wealth of information on a wide variety of library related subjects). The podcast section also includes a list of libraries and organizations that currently offer podcasting as well as links a number of sited to help users to create your own podcasts.  

While searching the internet I was amazed at the incredible number of podcasting resources that are available. I have always been a fan of talk radio and audio books, (especially on long car trips), however, I had no idea that podcasting was so popular. While visiting the website http://www.podcast.net  I discovered that you can download a podcast on just about any subject, and if by chance you cannot fine a podcast on a particular subject then it is pretty easy to make your own podcast.  I also found the site: http://www.podcasting-tools.com/ to be quite helpful.

In my research I also learned that you don’t need an iPod to listed to a podcast, and that they can also be listed via a computer.  While reading the USA Weekend Magazine of the Sunday paper a few weeks ago I came across and article titled, “Don’t leave home without it: iPods for tourists.” http://www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070610/070610travelsmart.html. The article described how over 100 million MP3 players have been sold since 2001 and how downloadable phrase books and walking tours are reinventing iPods as handy travel tools.  Articles such as this serve to raise public awareness as to the value of podcasts and generate public interest and arouse curiosity.

Although not all libraries offer podcasting, it would seem to me that libraries are well positioned to take on a leadership role to help educate patrons about the features and benefits of podcasting and to provide then with instructional information of how to use the technology. Podcasts are also a great way for libraries to further market their services to a broader audience and to provide patrons with access to local or library specific content.