SLA Information Technology Division Blog

Social media meetup at #sla2010

Join the Communications & Social Media section, as well as the Webmaster section on Monday, June 14th, around 5:30pm at Felipe's Taqueria in the French Quarter.
There is no reservation for the group - but I'm sure you'll be able to find us (we'll be the boisterous group talking about social media and libraryland).
Follow the SLA IT Twitter feed for updates.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author Night

If mystery books aren't your thing, or even if they are, stop by for our Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author Night on June 14 in the Sheraton's Armstrong Ballroom. 

The IT Division and the Sci-Tech Division will be bringing you a fun filled night of science and fantasy in the form of two local authors, Charles Gramlich and M F Korn. They will be heading up an evening of panel discussions, book signings, and book give aways.  Bring your questions and your wallets if you'd like to pick up something to read on your flight home and don't want to chance the fickle fate of the raffle.

Don't forget to bring your questions either.  If you don't have any now, take a gander at Skimming the Gumbo Nuclear or Cold in the Light and you may come up with a few.

Conference pictures

Pictures of the IT Division events and activities at the SLA Centennial conference are now up!

 

You can see them on this blog (down on the right) or on our Facebook Group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2426821730.

Thanks to IT Board members Nicole Engard, Alex Grigg, Jill Hurst-Wahl and Virginia Smith as well as IT members and friends Richard Hulser and Carolyne Sidey for the use of their pictures (as well as SLA-Photogroup). More conference pictures from different sources can be found on Flickr in the Centennial group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/sla100.

IT Division program at SLA 2009

All the IT program goodness for #sla2009 in one spot: http://units.sla.org/division/dite/2009/index.html.

Including the now-famous Tuesday night Dance Party! 

Twitter backchannel first at #sla2009 with the IT Division and Dialog/ProQuest

The IT Division and Dialog/ProQuest are proud to collaborate to give you the latest updates on IT Division programming during the 2009 conference!

During the Expo Hall, visit the Dialog/ProQuest booth (#620) and check out the big screen. You will be able to follow the IT Division Twitter backchannel live, as it happens!

The tweets will be provided by the Division members and conference attendees participating in the Division’s events. See what questions, comments and additional insights program attendees have in real time while they are attending sessions. It’s a different way of keeping abreast, keeping current and keeping engaged, perfect for any info pro!

The screen will also show the backchannels for the @sla2009 and @proquest profiles.

Twitting at the conference? Use the #slait hashtag for everything IT Division and the #sla2009 hashtag for everything conference-wide.

SLA Second Life Workgroup Invites you...

Dear SLA colleagues, I apologize for the duplicate posting.

The SLA Second Life Workgroup invites you to attend a virtual meeting in Second Life.

Topic: Economic Education and Virtual Worlds: A panel to discuss economic education, one of many important missions of the Federal Reserve, and virtual worlds.

1. Education and Outreach: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is implementing an economics-education lab in Second Life. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston are developing multimedia exhibits with Fed information in Second Life.

2. Economic Research: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is sponsoring the development of an on-line multi-player game (Greenland) in which to conduct economic experiments.

Speakers: Ms. Melita Podesta (SL: Oothoon Ogg), Project Coordinator/New England Economic Adventure, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Ms. Podesta is responsible for expanding the Economic Adventure's reach into the virtual world of Second Life.

Dr. David Altig (SL: Beena Albatros), Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Though Dr. Altig's research is primarily focused on monetary and fiscal policy issues, he's also exploring virtual worlds technology and how technology applies to economic education.

Time/Date: 8am (SLT), December 3, 2008, Wednesday Location: Meeting Hall, SLA space (SL), http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City%20II/59/100/22

Additional thanks to Sofie Sass, Marimar Berchot's support to the program, and Chantal Harvey's sponsorship to film the session. Please feel free to forward the announcement to other members who are also interested in the topic. Thank you.

Kan Kin
Research Librarian
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
101 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

SLA Meet the Candidates Call-In Forum

Both of the SLA president-elect candidates, Janice C. Anderson and Anne Caputo, will be available for a 30 minute virtual Q&A session moderated by 2008 President-elect Gloria Zamora. This forum will be your opportunity to ask each of the candidates questions about the profession, the industry, or any topic you choose to discuss.

Date:Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Time: 1:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -04:00)

SLA members will soon receive the instructions to join the forum by email via the August 28th issue of SLA Connections.

Click U Course of the Month: Managing the Virtual Office

The FREE course of the month is Managing the Virtual.  This course is available to SLA members until June 22.  Description:

Managing the Virtual Office. Technology is making it possible for employees to perform the same tasks from a remote location that they could if they were on site. In this course, you will explore how managers are moving toward the "virtual office" as a work option.

Topics covered include: Design a Virtual Office, Coach Employees on Set-Up, and Establish Office Requirements.

I've done several of the free Click U courses and each has been good.  They have short courses that I could easily be do during a lunch hour.  If you have not tried one, I hope you'll do one soon.  They are there for you!

Event: The Information Industry in China: What YOU Want and Need to Know

This event is on June 13, which is when many of us will be in Seattle.  However, you may know of someone who would be interested in it.

The Information Industry in China: What YOU Want and Need to Know

China cannot be ignored.  It is predicted that by the year 2050 it will have the world’s largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and could surpass the U.S. as early as 2039.  The percentage of Chinese-language articles and patents is already increasing while the percentage of similar English language documents is in decline. And the China online service, Baidu.com, Inc., has 5.2% of the worldwide search engine market - third only to Google and Yahoo!  What does this mean for you as an information or information technology provider or even as a librarian or information professional who has to provide access to the world’s key information?  This seminar will provide an interactive and intimate setting to learn about current trends in the Chinese Information Industry, the opportunities and challenges that it offers, and the requirements for success in that geographic arena.  The resources available for intellectual property protection and enforcement will also be presented and discussed with ample time for asking questions throughout the program.

More information...

Perfect Information Conference (PIC 2008)

An email from Janice Lachance contained the following.  This sounds like an interesting conference.  If anyone attends, I hope you'll let us know what you learned.

Janice wrote:

As part of SLA's ongoing commitment to introduce our members to other conferences and events in the industry, we are pleased to inform you that Perfect Information is offering SLA members a 10 percent discount off the standard registration rate at the Perfect Information Conference (PIC 2008). Perfect Information will hold its 5th conference at the Walton Hall and Hotel in Warwickshire, United Kingdom 13-15 May.

Utilizing months of research, interviews and its own findings, the PIC 2008 program was developed to reflect industry issues that face the information profession. The theme of this year's conference, The Information Professionals' Toolkit, is surely a must for SLA members. Take this opportunity to participate in a conference designed to provide you with practical advice and information that you can apply in your day-to-day work.

For more information on PIC 2008, please go here. When registering, please note that you are an SLA member by writing it in the payment section of the registration form seen here.