Ok not really. At least I don’t think so. Based on how many people I talked with at MidWinter who didn’t know about the election process or what Executive Board does it might be. Several people contacted me and asked me to elaborate on the Executive Board process and experience I mentioned in my MidWinter reflections post. It does seem odd to me that there isn’t more information out there about the process, especially from past candidates. No one said I couldn’t talk about it and since I have been very transparent over the years about most, if not all, of my professional endeavors I thought I would share what I know and reflect on the experience. And use this as an opportunity to encourage you to become (more) involved! What executive board (and ALA and Council) does and why it matters or Why You Should Pay Dues and VOTE! First some background on Executive Board and where it fits in ALA: The ALA president is the “chief administrative officer and legal head of the organization.” While many of the roles of an administrative leader are delegated or shared in policy (and practice) to the ALA executive director, some key roles have clearly and consistently
Blog Archives
How Useful Are the Top Ten Link Posts?
This year has brought many changes, one of them is less blogging. It is hard to believe there was a point when I blogged everyday, now I spend my 5am-6am time studying. At the beginning of 2010 I decide to try something new and each week pick the top ten, the best of the best of the links I’d shared on Twitter that week. I still share a lot on Twitter (though not as much) and I still think that those links are important, so I’m torn about the Top Ten Links posts. I think there is still value in them, though I guess the more important question is – Do you? If I do continue posting them I’m left with a dilemma, if I don’t post anything else for a month that is all people will see when they visit the blog. While I do the links are valuable I would like to think that the meat and potatoes of the blog is my actual writing, so I need to figure out a way, be it a plug-in or a theme change to keep my “real” writing front and center. Thoughts? Suggestions? How valuable do you find the Top Ten
Why Are You Here? Reflections on ALA MidWinter #alamw12
This Midwinter was different for me. It is the first one I have attended since returning to school full-time. It means I paid my own way, every penny of it, and I was on my own time. It also means I chose to have my badge just say my name and city and state. This is not my first conference since returning to school, I was at Internet Librarian in October, but MidWinter was markedly different. The first question you are often asked when you meet new people is where you work or what type of library you work in. My response was usually that I wasn’t currently working full-time in a library, that I do consulting work with libraries and I am working full-time on my masters in public policy. If people wanted to know more about my masters and how it relates to libraries I happily told them, if not they had enough information and we could move on and I’d talk about Council or OITP or my other ALA involvement. Once or twice this introduction led to the very direct question – Why are you here? Despite getting this question multiple times I don’t think I ever really answered it
Sign Up For Library Day in the Life Round 8! #libday8
I can’t believe it but it’s almost time for Round 8 of Library Day in the Life Project! It will run January 30th through February 5th. What is the Library Day in the Life Project? It’s a chance to share your day, or week, with other librarians and hopefully the public at large. It started when I come discovered someone had searched “What’s a librarian’s day like” to find my blog so I wrote a blog post suggesting that other librarians and library workers blog what we do all day at work. Then we (and maybe patrons) could see what we do all day. A second objective is to escape the library echo chamber where we’re talking to each other and reach others outside of libraries. People participate by sharing a day or week by writing blog posts, tweeting, creating videos and taking pictures. Last round there were just under 250 people signed up on the wiki. There were over 800 people participating via Twitter. It has grown to be an international project with participants from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, France, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan and Singapore. Participants are from academic, public, college, special, school libraries, professional organizations and library vendors. How do you
My Interview on Circulating Ideas
Last month I (finally) had the opportunity to speak to Steve Thomas of Circulating Ideas. We had been trying to get together since April when I first met him at a meeting of the North Georgia Library Association. I’ve been a big supporter of Steve and Circulating Ideas since it was a twinkle in his eye so of course I was thrilled to finally be on the show. Visit the site to listen to the Podcast or subscribe via iTunes. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Buzz it up Share on netvibes share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Buzz it up Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Tell a friend
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