Executive Connections

Voting: It's Future Ready

 The 2011 SLA Board of Directors election will begin on September 8 and run through September 29. I trust you will take the time to review the candidate's views, get educated on their goals, and then cast your ballot. It will only take about five minutes to mark the ballot. Of course, voting is not required in a legal sense—but hopefully you feel it’s your civic duty as an active SLA member. In my travels, I met members that assured me they had voted in the last ten elections without a miss. How’s your streak? When was the last time you voted? 

Don’t know enough about the candidates to vote?  We all understand the value of information, and we know that an informed voter will cast an informed vote. Here’s where you can find information about the candidates:

Meet the Candidates 

2010 Candidates Corner

SLA-TV Candidates Videos

Traditionally, 25% of the membership votes in most volunteer organizations. Our association is slightly higher than the average, but I challenge our members to set a record this year. I’ve heard how vocal you can be when you feel passionately about an issue. I want to channel that energy into a clear mandate for our new leaders. 

Still not convinced? When 75% of the membership is quiet, your voice has a greater influence. You are voting for yourself and three other silent members. This is your chance to engage in a relatively easy activity with a big impact. It’s your chance to have a say in the direction of the association.

Now, go vote! 

Cindy Romaine, SLA President-Elect

SLA at IFLA

Greetings from Gothenburg, Sweden, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) annual congress.  IFLA is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users and is the global voice of the library and information profession.  The theme of this year’s congress is “Open access to knowledge--promoting sustainable progress.”

 SLA members are very visible here, promoting the world's libraries and information centers through their commitment to IFLA, and a number hold important leadership positions.  I am proud to serve as Chair of the Management of Library Associations Section.  That gives me a seat on IFLA's 20-member Governing Board, where I join no fewer than four other SLA leaders: Judy Field, Jesus Lau, Donna Scheeder, and Steve Witt.

This is a particularly valuable meeting where I have the opportunity to speak with SLA members from around the world and exchange experiences and ideas with library association executives from all over. It is astonishing to find how much we have in common, from shared challenges brought on by the uncertain economy to the opportunities presented by the ever-emerging technologies that seem to re-revolutionize the information profession every year.

SLA’s presence and recognition as a global organization continues to grow, expanding the network of every SLA member.

Global Professionals Share Similar Concerns

I was recently honored to deliver a paper at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT) Library Roundtable in Japan.  The KIT Roundtable has its roots in the aftermath of WWII, when the Library of Congress helped to rebuild the Japan’s National Diet Library. The Japanese were so grateful they decided to endow an annual exchange of ideas between librarians from Japan and the United States.

 
This conference was structured like no other I have ever attended. It was a two-day event, and all of five speakers presented their papers on the first day.  (I was asked to speak about The Role of Special Librarians in Organizational e-Learning.)  The second day was devoted entirely to questions the members of the audience submitted at the end of the first day. We received 95 questions! The moderators divided them into subject areas, and you won’t be surprised to hear that a number of the questions could have come from information professionals anywhere in the world.

 
Like many of you, Japanese information professionals are working hard to demonstrate value and remain relevant to their employers. They are actively seeking additional ways – beyond the traditional duties of a special librarian – to align themselves with their organization’s mission and goals.

 
They asked many questions about how they could expand their role into capturing knowledge for their organization, how they could implement e-learning strategies to upgrade the skills of their co-workers, and how they could help their colleagues throughout their organizations become information literate.

 
There was lots of discussion about the benefits of distance learning versus face-to-face learning, with an understanding that both are necessary and beneficial.

 
The underlying values the attendees articulated throughout the conference were a reflection of SLA’s Alignment Project – position yourself at the center of your organization’s goals and mission and know your customer.

 
By the way, they love SLA’s Competencies for Information Professionals of the 21st Century document; many said that they have used it to map their careers and continuing education. Take another look at it if you haven’t in a while.

 

SLA Conferences: Who Did You Connect With?

I received the nicest message (reprinted below) from one of our Illinois members about a valuable connection she made at this year’s annual conference.  I have heard similar stories of lifelong friendships, new jobs, professional connections and even romance that have taken place at SLA conferences.

So what is your favorite conference connection?  Did you meet someone who turned out to be important in your personal or professional life?  Did you run into a long-lost friend?  Please add your story to the Comments below. And thanks to Elissa for getting the ball rolling.

Hello from Elissa Cochran,

I would like to share an interesting story as a result of my attendance at the 2010 Annual Conference in New Orleans.

 I attended the Monday session: Information Services in Transition: a Global Debate.

There was to be a panelist from the Australian/New Zealand Chapter but unfortunately they were unable to attend.  Since I will be traveling to both countries this July/August, one of my conference goals was to meet librarians from that region and schedule library visits.

The moderator gave me a few contacts, and upon my return, I emailed a librarian at the University of Auckland who in turn forwarded my name to Marleene Boyd, President SLA CANZ.  Marleene invited me to be the guest speaker at their Chapter dinner meeting.  She would like me to share my U.S. experience of being a solo, medical librarian and former academic business librarian, as well as report back on memorable sessions from the Annual Conference. Through strong networking within the CANZ Chapter, their members have scheduled visits to university libraries, a maritime museum library, and medical libraries within both countries.

I am very excited to visit with my international counterparts and also to share how SLA has nurtured my career. I’m amazed at the opportunities that are available at the Annual Conference. It’s really what SLA is all about:  willingness to share knowledge and network, globally. 

 Elissa Cochran, DBIO; DBF; Illinois Chapter

SLA 2010: What a Conference!

If you could not join us in New Orleans for SLA 2010, you missed something special.  Attendees told me repeatedly how impressed they were with the learning opportunities in important areas such as mobile technology, new media, global information issues, search technologies and taxonomy.  This was truly a content-rich conference with lots of learning to take back to the workplace.   

If you did attend—physically or virtually (more about that below)—I encourage you to report on what you learned to your management, even if it is not required.  Doing so will encourage management support for your association activities.  It will also serve as a reminder of just how critical continuous professional development is to you and all information and knowledge professionals so that you can stay ahead of the learning curve in a constantly evolving field.   

This is the first year that SLA offered a Virtual Conference Component, and we have received nothing but positive comments from participants.  They were especially pleased that so many of the questions our keynote speakers answered were from virtual participants, making them feel very much a part of events.  I know that many more followed events on the very active Twitter feed (#sla2010), and I thank those attendees who shared their experiences over Twitter.  In fact, I just checked, and people are still tweeting! 

Shortly before I left for New Orleans, I was saddened at the news that the Louisiana State University School of Library and Information Science is being threatened with closure.  Our host chapter president, Beth Paskoff, is dean. I sincerely hope that the visibility our conference generated in Louisiana helps Beth call attention to the fact that LSU has the only library school in Louisiana, and one of the few in the Southeastern U.S.   

As much as we all learned, I assure you that there was plenty of fun, too.  We were, after all, in New Orleans, home to some of the greatest food, music and cultural attractions anywhere.  Louisiana is still recovering from the 2005 hurricanes and is now coping with the tragic Gulf of Mexico oil spill, so I was very happy to know that the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that SLA 2010 contributed about $5 million desperately needed dollars to the local economy.

 The highlight of the conference was the opportunity to catch up with so many SLA members and meet many first-timers.  We have an exceptionally collegial membership!  I look forward to getting together with even more of you next year, when the SLA 2011 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO will take place in Philadelphia.

Pardon the Interruption.

Guest Post by Cindy Romaine, 2010 SLA President-elect 

Can you relate to this? The Internet, with all its interconnectivity, instant gratification, and obscure but fascinating information at your fingertips, is actually doing us a huge disservice. As we tap into all the hyperlinks in that great new Wired article we are reading [Oops! Just a sec, I just got an e-mail that I need to reply to] we are losing our ability to concentrate. [Be right back, I have an incoming text message.] 

Nicolas Carr’s new book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains [Hey, look! I got a Facebook update] talks about this trend. Carr’s premise is that the way we ingest information over the Internet is fundamentally different than other methods. With all the links and ads demanding our attention, our thinking isn’t getting deeper, it’s getting shallower. In his NPR interview, Carr states that deep, critical thinking – the kind we get from books – is important. 

Carr is onto something here. [I think I’ll tweet that.] As it turns out—lucky us—Nicolas Carr will be speaking on just this topic at the closing session of the SLA Conference in New Orleans. The conference opens on Sunday 13 June and runs through Wednesday 16 June, Carr will also do a book signing following his keynote during the closing reception. Tweet me and we can hook up!

Southern California Chapter to "Send" Eight Members to Conference, Virtually

SLA's always-innovative Southern California Chapter is offering eight of its members a chance to participate in the Virtual Conference Component, to be held in real time with the 2010 SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO 13-16 June, free.  In return, the members must agree to write an article for the chapter blog about their experience.

Will they write about the keynote addresses--which they will view in real time--from political pundits James Carville and Mary Matalin and controversial author Nicholas Carr?  Will they use the instant chat/VOIP feature to question the speakers? Which of the ten exciting Spotlight Sessions will they find most inspiring and informative? I can't wait to find out!

I would love to hear from other units that are offering this opportunity to their members.

Register Now and Save $50 on Virtual Conference Registration

Here is the secret promotional code I promised to share with you earlier this week: SLA10V

Register for SLA's Virtual Annual Conferenece & INFO-EXPO between today and June 4 using this promotional code and save $50 on the $200 registration rate. Register here.

Top Secret Savings Alert

There is still time to register for SLA 2010 in New Orleans, and I hope you will.  But I know that some of you just can't come.  That is why this year, we are offering a Virtual Conference Component that will allow you to not only see but also participate in the two General Sessions and a generous helping of Spotlight Sessions-in real time! 

But don't sign up today!  Beginning Friday, and for a limited time, you will have the opportunity to save $50 on the already low $200 Virtual Conference Component registration by using a special code I will post right here in the Executive Connection. 

 So check back Friday, sign up and save!

Guest Video Message from SLA President Anne Caputo

Anne Caputo invites you to join us in June for the SLA 2010 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO in New Orleans, and why this is the one conference you can't afford to miss!

And there's still time to save. Register for the conference by 7 May and you'll not only receive a $100 discount off the full conference rate...you'll also have an opportunity to win one of the great New Orleans prizes we have available like:

• A $150 gift certificate to Morton's The Steakhouse New Orleans 
• Two tickets to a Save Our Cemeteries tour. 
• A $50 gift certificate to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. New Orleans

We're giving away two prizes a day for registrations received between now and 7 May. Go here to see the other prizes you can win just by registering for the conference! Check the SLA 2010 Conference Facebook Fan Page every weekday to see if you are a winner!