I’m not going to ALA/NO so I’m hoping those who are will blog it. Two events I’m especially interested in:
On Sunday, June 25:
Catalog Transformed: From Traditional to Emerging Models of Use
This program, co-sponsored by the MARS User Access to Services Committee and RUSA’s Reference Services Section (RSS, formerly MOUSS), deals with changes in library catalogs in response to the increasing Googlization of electronic resources. Speakers include: Cindy Levine (Reference Librarian for the Humanities, North Carolina State University), Jill Newby (English Language Literature and Writing Librarian, University of Arizona), Andrew K. Pace (Head of Systems, North Carolina State University), Jina Wakimoto (Librarian, Head of Cataloging, University of Colorado at Boulder), and John Blyberg (Network Administrator and Lead Developer, Ann Arbor District Library).
And an ACRL debate on Monday, June 26:
The Emperor Has No Clothes: Be It Resolved That Information Literacy is a Fad and Waste of Librarian Time and Talent.
Moderated by James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, Columbia University, two teams composed of Stanley Wilder, Associate Dean in the Library, University of Rochester, Jeff Rutenbeck, Associate Professor and Director Digital Media Studies, University of Denver, Julie B. Todaro, Dean, Library Services, Austin Community College, and Gary P. Radford, Professor of Communication Studies, Fairleigh Dickinson University, will debate the relevance of information literacy as we know it. Is information literacy a concept created by academic librarians to make themselves more relevant to the curriculum or is it one of our most important roles? Is information literacy critical thinking in disguise or is there a real body of knowledge to be communicated? Does civil society’s dependence on life-long learners require the acquisition of information literacy skills? Can libraries justify the expenditures they’ve made on teaching information literacy or do the data suggest otherwise? This debate will test our assumptions and beliefs about a core element of the academic librarians’ role in the educational process.
I’m also sad to be missing the Blogger Bash, but happy to see this blogger-friendly side come out. So please, blog this stuff.