Category: hi

Hi. I’ll be tossing a lot of links up here over the rest of today and I’ll try to include some information on what went down at ALA over the past four or five days. The conference was tiring but really informative. The book signing was fun [and McFarland says we’ve sold more than 800 books already!], and the travelling wasn’t as rough as I thought it would be. Thanks to all the new folks who took the time to say hi or introduce themselves.

Hi. Wrapping up the last Council meeting. I’ll return to freezing Vermont tomorrow and update you all on what has been happening. Serving on Council is, while not always super exciting, very fulfilling in terms of understanding how the association operates and getting to play a part in that operation. More tomorrow, thanks for tuning in.

Hi. Three notes from the keynote speak. Omar from BlackPlanet gave the talk before the “Life Post CIPA” panel discussion. He had several very good points that I wanted to write down before I forgot them. His basic premise [which will be online sometime in the next three weeks according to Carla Hayden] is that CIPA’s legacy is less relevant than librarians working to reduce NOT the digital divide, but what he sees as the literacy divide — people using the Internet as passive consumers rather than as creators. This creation of content was not as possible with TV for example, as it is for the Internet. Or, as he put it, people who are failing to use the Internet because of dispossession, not disposition. The line that I took away from it was “The future of libraries is helping everyone think like a librarian” that is, being critical thinkers and appraisers of information. I’m not sure I totally agree — he did dodge the “what do we do NOW” issue — since I see many more hurdles to this sort of access, but it’s an appealing perspective.

Hi. I’m at ALA in San Diego. Boy it is weird, but sort of normal-weird, like a conference. Many more people than Toronto. If you’re in San Diego, come to my booksigning at the McFarland booth tomorrow from 12-2. Also be sure to read the letter to the editor of American Libraries [no direct link, sorry, you know the ALA website] discussing my lack of props to the Web Advisory Committee in my last letter to the editor. I’m guilty as charged, though my impression was that my letter was about something entirely different. In any case, mad props to the committee, they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with, which is, to be fair, not terribly much.

Hi. I’m on my way to San Diego in a few hours. It is currently below zero outside with promises to be way below zero when I have to leave and catch my flight. I’ll be staying with friends in San Diego but please swing by a Council Meeting if you’d like to get together during the conference.