Category: 2006

Actually, these are generally pretty tame affairs. I just thought I’d jazz it up a little. Sadly, I won’t be attending LITA Board II: Electric Boogaloo. Anybody can come to these, you know. And they put the agenda up in advance. To some extent, I would have just come out of habit — walk without thinking on the Saturday morning of an ALA conference, and here I am — six years’ habit dies hard. But I also knew they would be having a Board discussion, this time on LITA’s education function. And I knew they would have refreshments. What’s not to like? By the way, the topic for discussion at Annual Conference Board I (June 24) will be membership. So you can’t complain now that you didn’t have enough advance notice. One of the items on the agenda was LITA’s views on the proposed RFID Guidelines. The Executive Committee are…

I was under the impression that wifi was not free at the Gonzales Convention Center, but I am happily connected at this moment… for free. Those of you needing to check email, live blog, or surf during those not so riveting sessions now have an outlet. Enjoy.

A one page take on the education forum called by Michael Gorman. (My first blog so be forgiving)

These aren’t really notes from the Saturday LITA Board meeting (my third meeting today so far). This is just my observation, as an ALA politico, that LITA is a breath of fresh air in ALA. I was just at the ALA Orientation for new ALA Councilors. I was talking with a councilor who is on another division board, and he pointed out that he arrives at ALA with a thick stack of pre-work–as we in LITA governance do–while ALA Councilors arrive at the conference with at most three pieces of paper. This is because LITA gets it: our responsibilities flow reasonably smoothly from our digital to analog workspaces, so the work at our four meetings every year is not at the “what is this” stage but at the much more advanced level of “what needs to happen now with this proposal/resolution/issue.” Yes, face-to-face is invaluable (it’s no fun drinking alone),…

I’m baaaccckkk!!! I haven’t been to any conferences in about a year and a half, and that was sufficient to actually make me look forward to attending an ALA Midwinter. I even managed to make it to the 8am Committee/IG Chairs Meeting by 8:05. Hey, I had to get my Diet Coke, okay? And I paid $3.50 for it in the Convention Center, so it deserved my due attention. This meeting is, obviously, aimed at committee/interest group chairs, but anybody can come really — anybody who can make it to an 8am meeting, anyway — and it’s a good way to get updated on LITA news at the beginning of the conference. Various tidbits: Someone asked about the online communities pilot that ALA did about 6 months ago — what was the upshot of that? The online community option is available now; just contact Mary Taylor about getting one set…

LITA Happy Hour trice Originally uploaded by pix4lita. The best kept secret about LITA is the people. We come back year after year to this organization because the people are so nice, wonderful, and supportive. As a new librarian, this was the first group that welcomed me with open arms so I have stayed and made them my home in ALA. It was great to see everyone last night. –MBoule