Computers in libraries 04: some final thoughts
I may be jumping the gun here but I’m on the way home and I’ve got a connection so I figured I’d take this opportunity to look back at the conference that was CIL04. What has also prompted this was my best friend’s comment last night of my postings this week. “I didn’t understand much of it but you seem to have had fun.” Needless to say she’s neither a techie nor a librarian. So, for her, and for my family, here’s my reflections on the conference, simplified.
- Entropy happens, things fall apart.
- Geeks, geeks, and more geeks.
- If you blog, they will come.
- Networking oppontunities abound. Grab them when you can.
- Willpower when it comes to new toys is lacking for many of us.
O.k. on a more serious note I’ve got to say that this was the single best conference I’ve ever been to from both a personal and professional perspective. Not only did I make many new contacts but I renewed a few old ones. I learned about new technology and was given some additional perspective on what the librarians I train don’t know and want to know. I’ve was forced to consider what we talk about amongst ourselves as library techies versus what our patrons want and/or need. (Which is not always, almost rarely, the same.) I’ve learned that if you get to the sessions early you can sang the single power outlet and that you should ask when you check in where the free WiFi connection is. I’ve convinced myself that networking opportunites are more important than sleep, but not for more than three days in a row. Lastly, I learned that I must do this again next year.
A final word on this issue. The conference would not have been such a success for me if it had not been for the following people. (I’m working from memory here so if I’ve got your name wrong I aplolgize. I’m also too tired to insert links here though I believe that I’ve linked to all of you in previous posts.)
Greg Notess, Ran Hock, Gary Price, Mary Lee Kennedy, Darlene Fitcher, Jane Dysart, Roy Tennant, Greg Schwartz, Frank Cervone, Stephen Abram, Michael Stevens, Chris Zammarelli, Jenny Lavine, and Andrea.
