2008

Gracelyn Cassell-2008 LITA Forum Travel Grant Winner

Gracelyn Cassell, Librarian, Montserrat, West Indies 2008 Errol Hill LITA Forum Travel Grant Winner LITA NATIONAL FORUM 2008 REPORT I was indeed fortunate to have been the Librarian from the Caribbean who received the 2008 Errol Hill Travel Grant to attend the LITA National Forum that was held in Cincinnati October 15 to 20, 2008. The process of preparing this report on my attendance at the Forum had me spending quite some time reflecting on the journey that led to the LITA National Forum in Cincinnati where I attended three general sessions and six of the concurrent sessions. It all started back in 1979 with my undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica when students there were still using punch cards. On graduation in 1982, I started my library career in the Montserrat Public Library which became the local hub for regional initiatives in the…

2007

Annette Smith – 2007 LITA Forum Travel Grant Winner

Ms. Annette Smith from Barbados, West Indies, was the winner of the 2007 LITA-IRC Travel Grant to the 2007 LITA Forum. Ms. Smith is the Director of the National Library Service, Bridgetown, Barbados, WI. In her candidate’s report, she gives her impressions of the 2007 LITA Forum in Denver, Colorado. ————————————————————————— 2007 LITA Forum Phew! The flight was touching down in Denver, I had made it. I hadn’t dared to say this before; it wasn’t unheard of to have an aircraft turn back for one reason or other. I arrived in Denver on October 5 late at night, too late even to buy a toothbrush. I didn’t care; I had made it. I was the lucky recipient of the 2007 LITA Travel Grant and I had made it to the main conference of the National Forum. I had registered in August to catch the “early bird special.” My plan was…

General information

Travel Grant: 2008 LITA Forum

Grant Available to Attend Library Information Technology Association National Forum October 2008 USA Sponsor: Mrs. Grace Hope Hill in Memory of Professor Errol Gaston Hill Conference Theme: Technology and Community: Building the Techno Community Library October 16-19, 2008, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA The Library and Information Technology Association, a division of the American Library Association, announces a grant to support and promote international participation at the 2008 LITA National Forum. The grant provides up to $2,500.00 US for a librarian currently living and working in the Caribbean, with preference given to a librarian from the Windward Islands (especially Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines and Grenada) to attend the 2008 LITA National Forum in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 15-16, 2008. The grant covers only airfare, hotel, registration, and currency conversion fees up to the grant total. The grantee is responsible for meals and other expenses not covered by the $2,500 grant….

2007

LITA International Relations Committee Meeting

LITA-IRC Meeting, Monday, June 25, 2007 10:30am -12pm Renaissance Hotel – Room 17 The focus of LITA’s International Relations Committee meeting was on the selection of the International Visitor Travel Grant candidate to the 2007 LITA Forum, arrangement for the grant recipient’s visit to the United States, report of the 2006 Travel Grant winner and preparation for the announcement of the next International Visitor Travel Grant to the 2008 LITA Forum. 2007 Travel Grant Winner The 2007 grant, sponsored by a private donation, was for a librarian currently living and working in the Caribbean. Annette Smith from Barbados, West Indies, one of 12 applicants, is the winner of the 2007 Travel Grant. Ms. Smith, Director of the National Library Service, holds a Masters in Public Administration, University of Manitoba, Canada, a Postgraduate Diploma in Library Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona, and a BA with Honors from the University…

2007

LITA Happy Hour: Stout Ale Chili and More…

A great crowd met on Saturday night at the Capital City Brewing Company for LITA’s Happy Hour. This was the place to be…to catch up with colleagues, sample the wide selection of cool ales and a bit of the hot cuisine! Those popular, glowing blue LITA necklaces, handed out by Mary Taylor, LITA Executive Director, identified members in the packed locale. Catherine Jannick from Georgia Tech in Atlanta and on the 2007 LITA Forum Planning Committee, reminded members that registration was now open for the Forum. Karen Schneider approved of the site stating it’s “crowded but wonderful.” John S. [I promised not to write his last name], a Cataloger and Systems Support Librarian, University of Maryland, agreed. He confessed to me that he really likes LITA people and loved coming to Happy Hour, adding shamelessly “even though my membership had expired.” Well, join again John! Kansas librarians Martin Courtois, Leslie…

2006

International Vistor to the 2006 LITA Forum

From October 26 -29, 2006, a fairly large group of librarians and information technology professionals from various institutions across the United States descended upon Nashville Tennessee to attend the LITA Forum. The 2006 Forum had as its theme ‘Web Services as Library Services. I was fortunate to be there as I had been selected by LITA-IRC to be the recipient of the International Visitor Grant in memory of the late Professor Errol Hill. My children, living in London, could not picture their father in Nashville, home to the Grand Ole Opry and the legends of country music. I come from Trinidad and Tobago, the land of calypso and steel pan music. In Nashville nonetheless, is where I was, and I found the city and the LITA Forum a wonderful experience. For me, it was an honour and a privilege to have been selected for the award, particularly as it was…

2007

Travel Grant: 2007 LITA Forum

Announcement: Grant Available to Attend Library Information Technology Association National Forum October 2007 USA Sponsor: Mrs. Grace Hope Hill, in Memory of Professor Errol Gaston Hill Conference Theme: Technology with Altitude: 10 Years of the LITA National Forum October 4-7, 2007, Denver Marriott City Center, Denver, Colorado, USA Details: The Library and Information Technology Association, a division of the American Library Association, announces a grant to support and promote international participation at the 2007 LITA National Forum. The grant provides up to $2,500.00 US for a librarian currently living and working in the Caribbean, with preference given to a librarian from the Leeward Islands (especially from Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts) to attend the 2007 LITA National Forum in Denver, Colorado, October 4-7, 2007. The grant covers only airfare, hotel, registration, and currency conversion fees up to the grant total. The grantee is responsible for meals and other expenses…

2007

Connecting View..at 6 Arms Brew Pub

LITA’s Happy Hour at 6 Arms on 300 E. Pike Friday night was great! About 35 members showed up to network and discuss LITA activities and meetings here in Seattle. The brew pub is a cozy place with a wide selection of frothy, bubbly and hot stuff. And the place was hopping! In conversation with Clara Ruttenberg, Systems Librarian in D.C., she said that Happy Hour was where she could quickly see her colleagues before the conference was underway. Though not on a LITA committee yet, she planned to volunteer for one soon. Mike Sainsbury from Greater Victoria Public Library and an enthusiastic participant on the LITA Membership Committee has lots of ideas for increasing LITA membership including looking into drafting IT support staff in libraries to join LITA. Speaking of membership, Diane Bison, who is running for LITA VP told me that she feels that “there are many librarians…