American Library Association Conference 2005

Citation

Ashcroft, L. (2006), "American Library Association Conference 2005", New Library World, Vol. 107 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2006.072107cac.001

American Library Association Conference 2005

The American Library Association conference took place in Chicago. As usual, more than 25,000 librarians, educators, writers, publishers, friends of libraries, trustees and special guests attended. Many delegates took advantage of the shuttle bus service, sponsored by Gale, that ran between the hotels and the McCormick Place Convention Centre. The conference got off to a good start with the keynote opening address from Senator Barack Obama, who is only the third black senator since Reconstruction and who spoke for librarians and many others concerned about provisions of the USA Patriot Act when he said: “We don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries … ”

The conference offered more than 2,300 programmes, meetings and social events. However, the comprehensive conference programme was designed to help delegates get the most from the conference. The programme was broken down into ten tracks, most of which were broken down into subtracks. This was supplemented by a daily publication of Cognotes, the official conference newspaper, giving news on events, special features, additions and any changes. Clearly there was plenty to choose from, and again it was hard to choose which conference sessions to attend – even if following a track, constantly there were interesting sessions running at the same time. For those international delegates new to ALA, there was a session right at the beginning of the conference “International Librarians’ Orientation”. This provided information about the ALA, its annual conference and about Chicago. This was a mix of how to get the most from the conference and exhibition, and also some tourist-type information about Chicago.

When it came to which sessions to attend, I was spoilt for choice with so many sessions running at the same time. Rather than follow one particular track, I dipped into various tracks, as some topics arose in many tracks, for example “Best Practices”, “Current Issues” and “Hot Topics”.

The following gives an indication only of the very different types of sessions throughout the conference.

In “Extreme makeover: redesigning your library to promote usage, circulation”, a starting question was “what does Barnes & Noble have that your library does not?” Speaker Joan Bernstein advocates showcasing something visitors would not expect a library to have in the main entrance – rather than showcasing new books. She also pointed out that it is not just what you feature, but how. A great way to get people into the stacks is to insert slatted stack ends so that books can be displayed, much like they are in Barnes & Noble. This is a great way to feature displays such as Black History Month, banned books and “a great way to merchandise the collection”. She also added not to be afraid to hang a neon Movies sign above your DVD collection. The Queens Library Community in New York has gone through recent renovations. Architect, Peter Magnani, said that the library strives to create “a strong sense of place and an inviting environment”. This has been done by implementing green design principles that incorporate natural light (the wall along Main Street in the Flushing branch is completely glassed). They have eliminated choke points by installing self check-out stations, express check-out (two items or less) and senior citizens check-out lines – and Magnani said “90 per cent of out customers use the self check-out system”.

“Your library’s community starts at home: four steps to really connecting with everyone on your staff” was a panel discussion where four experts in library outreach shared their proven tactics for success. Suggestions focused on changing one’s own behaviour as a supervisor to set a positive example that will enhance the library from inside out. Three consultants and a librarian engaged the large audience with exercises that ranged from writing with one’s non-dominant hand to imitating an angry 12-year-old. Suggestions included viewing our co-workers and staff members as peers and using assessment techniques typically used for outreach to be applied to inhouse performance measures. Discussion moved into the realm of recruitment from within the community – never miss the opportunity to put the right person into the right job at the right time. Also, it is not enough to know your community, it is also important to be known by your community, so people know who they can come and talk to. Ideas were brought together with a discussion of how body language can either reinforce or negate the things one says, for example, everything that one says can be contradicted with as little as an insincere smile.

The session “E-reference services: what are our users telling us?” provided different answers depending on who you ask. Sara Wiessman said “People are tired of technology. For many technology is more annoying than fulfilling”. She also pointed out a fear factor with parents not allowing their children onto the net for fear of paedophiles and stalkers. One statistical problem that arises both in person and in cyberspace is what qualifies a question as a reference question. Obtaining accurate user perspectives about digital reference is difficult because of the difficulties in assessing quality, usefulness and impact of the librarian’s role. Also, most libraries that are operating large scale electronic reference services are being funded with LSTA funds, and the future of such funding is debateable. Interestingly, in Colorado, the top users of e-reference are teenagers, 71 per cent of whom ask questions for homework or other school related projects and 29 per cent ask questions related to hobbies or personal interests.

“Riding the electronic rooster: equal access anytime, anywhere in your language” had speakers talking about the use of online chat reference service to reach users of different backgrounds with different language needs, specifically in Chinese and Spanish. Speakers provided a picture on current trends, staff training, user education, system/technical supports, and the marketing of such a service.

In “Print or electronic? How to decide”, three speakers tackled the question whether to choose a print or electronic format type for library sources. The speakers, representing both academic and public libraries, said that important factors must be considered when libraries make these choices, especially in the climate of limited budgets. The positive aspects of having an electronic format is that it allows for simultaneous users, the lack of spatial or temporal constraints, system-wide ownership, and most patrons prefer online resources. Barriers to using an electronic format include the speed and accessibility of the Internet and the cost of maintaining print and electronic if both are needed. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has moved to an almost completely electronic journal environment. At first faculty were not interested in electronic journals, but after consultation had accepted them. Since changing to mostly electronic journals, their reshelving statistics show that the use of the print volumes has dropped drastically, as has the head count on entering the library. Furthermore the use of electronic journals is so much greater that this level of use could not be supported by print journals.

Much was on offer at the exhibition area, which seemed constantly busy. This annual conference exhibition was the largest to date – over 156,000 net square feet (up 15 per cent from last year) and 904 exhibiting companies (up 14 per cent from last year). As usual, there were many author signings continuing throughout the duration of the conference. There was a mix of large and small exhibits, with plenty of demonstrations. Whilst there seemed to be less freebies up for grabs, there were still some novelties, for example Elvis came back to life again and ProQuest again had a wonderful free coffee shop in the air, providing views of the exhibition area. Again, this year there was an “Exhibits Closing Reception” sponsored by ERT. Fun foods and beverages were on offer together with various prizes for various raffles including three laptop computers. This culminated in a Grand prize drawing for a cheque for $5,000.

The ALA/Proquest Scholarship Bash this year was held at the Museum of Science and Industry. Delegates could see Body Worlds, one of the most highly attended touring exhibitions in the world, showcasing transparent body parts preserved through the process of “plastination”, see an Omnimax movie, enjoy appetizers and an exciting blues band – all while helping to provide scholarships for library students.

As usual many vendors offered receptions. At the start of the conference, Emerald Group Publishing held a cocktail reception at the Sheraton Hotel. Ex Libris has always been known for rolling out the red carpet to their customers with lavish cocktail parties during ALA. This year things went from red to gold beginning with the bright summer sun that illuminated the gourmet breakfast buffet being served in The Gold Coast Room in Chicago’s Drake Hotel and ending with a presentation on the golden years of Ex Libris. During the meal, an image of some mysterious golden architecture loomed from the oversize screen at the front of the ballroom. This image was soon explained when Heidi Trockman, Ex Libris’ marketing manager for the US, took the stage to welcome everyone. For the next five minutes, she deftly weaved an art history lesson on The Golden Door from The Chicago World Fair of 1893 into a theme that set the stage for a photo essay of Ex Libris’ own spectacular history. After juxtaposing the world fair’s unprecedented global patronage and celebration of scientific and artistic achievements with Ex Libris’ own international profile and trailblazing achievements, Ms Trockman passed the microphone to Susan Pastore, Vice-President of Sales, who took the audience on a visual tour of the history of Ex Libris. Cleverly inserting famous monuments such as The Dome of The Rock and Sydney’s Opera House along with photos of elegant library buildings such as Notre Dame, Boston College, and The British Library, who also happen to be Ex Libris customers, Ms Pastore succeeded in recasting Ex Libris from a humble, albeit successful, software vendor into a savvy, cosmopolitan presence that is worthy of its leadership position in the industry. The final slides briefly touched on the company’s vision for the future and those present couldn’t help but conclude that Ex Libris’ future is indeed bright and, well, as good as gold. Sirsi provided an invitation to join them “in Chicago for food, fun and discovery”. They provided trolleys to ferry attendees to and from their reception at Chicago Field Museum. The food was sumptuous “tastes from around the world” and discovery was two-fold – having free run of the museum and seeing a new Sirsi Enterprise Portal Solution with a draw for $3,000 in books for your library. As usual, OCLC’s “President’s luncheon” was a well attended event. These are just a flavour of the many vendors’ receptions throughout the conference.

The reception for International Visitors was held at the famous Harold Washington Public Library Winter Garden Room, an interesting venue which had a real buzz. As well as hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, it was a friendly occasion and a wonderful opportunity to network with information professionals from around the world.

Henry Winkler was the keynote speaker for the closing session, instantly recognisable by audiences of all ages for his role as the Fonz in the long running series Happy Days. As well as his acting career, he is an award-winning producer and director of family and children’s programming. He has completed nine novels in a series of ten published by Penguin Young Readers Group. He is also deeply committed to children’s welfare, works with numerous children’s groups and is a founding member of the Children’s Action Network.

It cannot be denied that the ALA annual conference was a valuable opportunity to meet colleagues and exchange ideas. ALA President, Michael Gorman, has announced that the 2006 annual conference will be held in New Orleans as originally planned. ALA has been monitoring the situation since the hurricane damage in line with their primary concern of the health and safety of members and a delegation travelled to New Orleans to assess the situation. Details are on the ALA web site, available at: www.ala.org

Linda Ashcroft