Two weeks after the live SLA 2009 conference in mid-June, several of us gathered in the virtual world of Second
Life (SL) for a very substantive follow-up chat on June 26. Cindy Hill, Chair of the SLA Virtual Worlds Council (a.k.a. "Sydney Delphin" in SL) moderated the event; SLA CEO Janice Lachance (a.k.a. “Harper
Aldrin”) and SLA President Gloria Zamora (a.k.a. “Roberta Zsun”) teleported
to the virtual SLA conference space in SL’s Cybrary City for a lively
discussion and new revelations. They are pictured here, courtesy of the SLA in Second Life Blog.
Both Gloria and Janice shared ideas about SLA's Alignment Project. To date, the
Alignment Project undertaken by Fleishman-Hillard
has provided hard research and valuable data into terminology, ideas and
concepts to help promote and sell the value of information professionals. There’s
also lots of good verbiage to enhance resumes at the Alignment Project!
A major research outcome
indicates that the SLA's current name and terminology implies a brick-and-mortar
place or building where we traditionally work (a “library”), which neither registers
positively with any stakeholders, nor represents the value, knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience
that we provide to our respective organizations as information professionals.
Please take time to skim over the Alignment Project information. I will
work to bring you a unified message regarding the whole process very soon!
At the virtual unconference in Second Life, I heard for
the first time from Gloria that there may be an election coming up later this
year for an Association name change. I didn’t think it would happen so quickly!
I also learned from Janice about the
opportunity to become an “Alignment Ambassador.” I volunteered immediately!
If you have misgivings about the Alignment Project or any questions I can help with - just shoot me an email!
Seán Henry, SLA Maryland President-Elect and Program Chair - shenry@frostburg.edu
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