Destination Calgary, Destination RSR

Citation

Mitchell, E. and Barbara Watstein, S. (2010), "Destination Calgary, Destination RSR", Reference Services Review, Vol. 38 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr.2010.24038daa.001

Destination Calgary, Destination RSR

Article Type: Editorial From: Reference Services Review, Volume 38, Issue 4

Connecting to the world of information literacy has never been easier. Social media (perhaps through the blogs now proliferating, or through the tweets of conference attendees) provide a great pipeline, lively and immediate. Certainly, scholarly work in the area continues to flourish, has garnered numerous accolades, and enjoys wide readership in and outside the profession. Conference attendance provides exposure to best practices, new perspectives and opportunities for collaboration, and offers a good way to renew acquaintances, meet new people, and engage with practitioners. The North American conference circuit in library/information competence instruction has witnessed rapid growth since the early 1970s. Think LOEX1, WILU2, and LOEX-of-the-West[3,4].

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  LOEX 2011: LOEX 2010 was in Dearborn, MI, April 29-May 1 LOEX 2011: Destination: Fort Worth, TX, May 5-7, 2011.

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  WILU 2010: Hamilton, Ontario, May 12-14, 2010 WILU 2011: Destination: Regina, Saskatchewan, June 1-3, 2011.

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  LOEX-of-the-West 2010 was in Calgary, Alberta, June 1-12, 2010 LOEX-of-the-West 2012: Destination: Burbank, CA.

For many in these times, institutional support for professional travel has significantly diminished. Too, personal budgets are strained. Conference attendance at the national and regional levels has become less an entitlement and more an option – often a matter of one’s personal choice and financial responsibility. Professional development in these times requires being strategic, selective, resourceful, and creative.

RSR is thus particularly delighted to bring select LOEX-of-the-West conference papers to its readers. In this issue and the next, Volume 39, Number 1, readers will have the opportunity to engage with LOEX-of-the-West presenters by way of their manuscripts – without spending a penny on travel.

In this issue you will have an opportunity to read conference organizers Margy MacMillan and Meagan Bowler’s reflections on the value of the conference. You will encounter librarians with innovative takes on information literacy service design, delivery, and assessment. You will spend time with professionals who are thinking critically about user attitudes and behaviors. And, you will be exposed to scholars grappling with shifting paradigms and changing spaces.

We are certain that the richly varied LOEX-of-the-West articles you encounter in this issue, and the next, will prompt your own creative ideas, perhaps leading to conference presentations and/or publishing your work in these pages. Be forewarned, however, that attendance at this conference, which is focused in theme and intimate in scale, provides a uniquely energizing and engaging opportunity which cannot be completely captured or replicated on a page or a screen!

The issue closes with “Library Instruction and Information Literacy 2009”, the annual annotated bibliography which collects and describes the year’s publications in this field. The authors of this feature (always among the most highly downloaded in the journal) note some trends this year: an increase in publications representing a more global perspective; many more articles on collaboration; an uptick in pieces about online tutorials; and, for the first time, the inclusion of a blog entry in the bibliography. We are confident that the annual bibliography will continue to enhance our professional awareness and practice.

Spend time with this issue of RSR and the next and you’ll no doubt agree – the strength of our INSTRUCTION=the strength of our LIBRARIES.

Notes

LOEX is a self-supporting, non-profit educational clearinghouse for library instruction and information literacy information. For information about LOEX see www.emich.edu/public/loex/about.html (accessed 8 August 2010). For information about past conferences and links to past webpages and conference presentation slides see www.loexconference.org/pastfutureconferences.html (accessed 8 August 2010).

The Workshop for Instruction in Library Use, commonly known as WILU, is an annual Canadian conference where delegates meet to discuss timely topics related to information literacy. For information about WILU past conferences, see http://wilu2010.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca/past-conferences (accessed 8 August 2010).

LOEX-of-the-West is one of only two regular U.S. conferences focusing on library/information competence instruction. LOEX-of-the-West is not officially associated with the LOEX Clearinghouse for Library Instruction at the Eastern Michigan University Library. LOEX-of-the-West is today distinguished by its rapid growth as a significant regional conference drawing attendees from both sides of the border. For a short history of the conference see http://library.mtroyal.ca/lotw/?page_id=51 (accessed 8 August 2010).

For a brief historical overview of the library instruction scene in the United States and Canada, an analysis of library instruction conference themes, and the identification of perceptions of librarians attending the LOEX, WILU, and LOEX of the West conferences in 2000 and 2001 see Patricia Willingham, Linda Carter and Christopher Millson-Martula’s January 2006 Journal of Academic Librarianship article, “Does a Border Make a Difference? Library Instruction in the United States and Canada” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W50-4J4HKBB-6&_user=628635&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F2006&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1424173239&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000033119&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=628635&md5=0b450c68c8c3b67f69e56212081f6cda (accessed 8 August 2010).

Eleanor Mitchell, Sarah Barbara Watstein