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Internet Librarian, Day 4 – Wednesday, Oct 28 2009 – #IL2009

Friday, October 30th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education | Comments Off on Internet Librarian, Day 4 – Wednesday, Oct 28 2009 – #IL2009


image Day 4 of the conference started with another great keynote: a panel of two high school students and one college student talking about how they view technology, education, and their own research habits. Some of my favorite sessions happened on the last day. I loved some of the comments that the teen panel made, particularly when the guy from high school said that in the future technology will make our leaves easier [and better], but ONLY if we use it in the right way. I got to attend my first Pecha Kucha session, too, which was neat (20 slides per presenter, 6 minutes and 40 seconds to present).

  • Keynote: Growing and Grown-Up Digital: Net-Gen Speaks
    Facilitated by Stephen Abram, SirsiDynix
  • Mashups for Library Data
    Nicole Engard, Director of Open Source Solutions, ByWater Solutions
  • Technology: The Engine Driving Pop Culture-Savvy Libraries or Source of Overload?
    Elizabeth Burns, Pop Goes the Library ; Sarah Houghton-Jan, LibrarianInBlack.net
  • Pecha Kucha: Innovative Practices
    Amy Affelt, Nicole Hennig, Steve Harris, Matt Hamilton

Other IL posts: Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Full session notes available after the cut.

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Internet Librarian, Day 3 – Tuesday, Oct 27 2009 – #IL2009

Friday, October 30th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education | Comments Off on Internet Librarian, Day 3 – Tuesday, Oct 27 2009 – #IL2009


image Day three started off with a funny and interesting keynote with Paul Holdengraber (who had interviewed Vint Cerf the previous day), and continued in good form with some great sessions. Paul talked a lot about the Live from the NYPL series they do and as opposed to doing straight author readings. They record these sessions and they are available on the website, so you should check some of them out.

Sessions on Day 3 include:

  • Keynote: Libraries of the Future: Places of Desire
    Paul Holdengraber, Director of Public Programs, New York Public Library
  • Making Virtual Reference Multidimensional
    William Breitbach & Mike Demars, California State University @ Fullerton
    Linda Bedwell, Dalhousie University Libraries
  • Web 2.0 for Tough Times
    Jaye Lapachet, Camille Reynolds, Kendra K. Levine
  • Library Website Improvement Face-Off
    David Lee King, Frank Cervone, Amanda Etches-Johnson, Aaron Schmidt, Jeff Wisniewski

Other IL posts: Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Full session notes available after the cut.

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Internet Librarian, Day 2 – Monday, Oct 26 2009 – #IL2009

Friday, October 30th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education | Comments Off on Internet Librarian, Day 2 – Monday, Oct 26 2009 – #IL2009


image Vint Cerf started the day, and the beginning of the actual conference, with an amazing keynote. The interchange between Vint and Paul Holdengraber, his interview, was oftentimes hilarious as well as poignant. Vint talks some about the history of the internet, and taking off from there, where the internet may be heading. He touches on important topics like bit rot, privacy and user rights with e-materials, mobile technology, and the neutrality of the net. After the keynote, my day was pretty social networking heavy, but covers some interesting topics.

Sessions attended on Day 2 include:

  • Opening Keynote: Digital Publishing, Preservation, and Practices
    Vint Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangalist, Google
  • iGoogling with the Library: Customized Omnipresent Homepages
    Jason Clark and Timothy Donahue, Montana State University Libraries
  • Creating Connections and Social Reference in Libraries
    Margaret Smith, Physical Sciences Librarian, New York University
  • Cloud Computing in Practice: Creating Digital Services and Collections
    Laura Harris, Kendra Levine, Amy Buckland, Jason Clark
  • 2.0 Too: Web Services for Underfunded Libraries
    Sarah Houghton-Jan, LibrarianinBlack.net
  • Evaluating, Recommending, and Justifying 2.0 Tools
    Marydee Ojala, editor for Online Magazine, Information Today, Inc.

Other IL posts: Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Full session notes after the cut.

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Internet Librarian, Day 1 – Sunday, Oct 25 2009 – #IL2009

Friday, October 30th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education | Comments Off on Internet Librarian, Day 1 – Sunday, Oct 25 2009 – #IL2009


image Technically a pre-conference, Sunday was well-spent attending the Searcher’s Academy. A number of speakers covered a number of topics, all relating to searching, and many of them very useful. Tons of useful resources are mentioned (and noted below), so read carefully!

Speakers and topics covered include:

  • Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, SearchEngineLand.com
  • Mary Ellen Bates, Owner, Bates Information Service
    “Digging into the Deep Web”
  • Mary Ellen Bates
    “Searching the Collaborative Web”
  • Marcy Phelps, Principal, Phelps Research
    “Cost-Effective Searching: Online Strategies for Tough Times”
  • Mary Ellen Bates
    “Hidden Tools and Features of the Major Search Engines”
  • Marcy Phelps
    “Business 2.0”
  • Doris Small Helfer (writes for Searcher magazine)
    “Sensational Science Sites”
  • Marcy Phelps
    “U.S. Government Sources”
  • Gary Price, Publisher, ResourceShelf.com
    “Legal Resources”
  • Gary Price
    “Ready Reference”

Other IL posts: Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Complete note for Searcher’s Academy available after the cut.

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Notes from Internet Librarian 2009 – #IL2009

Friday, October 30th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education | Comments Off on Notes from Internet Librarian 2009 – #IL2009


image I just returned from the Internet Librarian Conference (and sunny Monterey, CA) yesterday, and my brain is definitely still trying to absorb new ideas, concepts, and nifty web tools. All the same, it’s safe to say that it was the best conference I’ve attended so far in my young library career. Luckily for those who couldn’t attend this year, there are numerous options for viewing content online (and my own extensive notes will follow after the cut).

First off, a lot of the slides are available on the Information Today site. Use IL2009 to get in.

Elise Brown, who I got to meet and chat with at the Searcher’s Academy pre-conference, was the official vlogger covering IL2009, and she took some cool video that you can check out via YouTube.

Some of the best moments of the conference were also covered live via UStream (and now available to watch at your convenience). Check out the keynote speakers, for sure. Vint Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, was amazing (as was his interviewer, Paul Holdengraber). On day two, Paul Holdengraber (Director of Public Programs at the NYPL) had the tables turned on him and was in turn interviewed. My notes from both sessions are included below. One of my other favorite events was the Battle Decks, in which librarians have to try and create a cohesive presentation within a tough time limit and with slides they’ve never seen before. Some of the slides were crazy, but all the Battle Deck contestants did a great job, and many were hilarious!

For a more text-based approach, check out the bloggers who planned to write about their experiences via the Infotoday Blog. I know the Librarian In Black did quite a bit of blogging, many of which are excellent synopses of the sessions she attended.

Finally, for some pictures of the event, check out photos on Flickr tagged IL2009 (there are lots of them).

Some highlights and favorite ideas / quotes from throughout the conference:

The long wow: customer satisfaction is good, but what you really want is customer loyalty.

Use events networks like Eventful, Upcoming.org, Going.com, and Craigslist to create awareness of library events.

Let your users comment on any and every part of your site it is possible to comment on, even the director’s bio!

Put chat windows on your website where you know your patrons get frustrated.

Pandia Powersearch, an up-to-date directory of specialized search tools.

OneRiot: real-time social search engine, returns the websites people link to, not the individuals tweets, Diggs, etc.

“Even people who don’t use the web have figured out Facebook.” – Mary Ellen Bates

“Our culture is tending towards abstraction and brevity.” – Vint Cerf

Other IL posts: Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Complete session notes are available in their own posts, separated by day. Days and sessions are indexed after the cut.

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