Tag Archives: Conference

General, Public

Free Small Libraries Online Conference: Feb. 26

LibraryBig Talk From Small Libraries Online Conference

Registration for Big Talk From Small Libraries 2016 is now open! This free one-day online conference on February 26 is aimed at librarians from small libraries; the smaller the better. The day features 12 presentations from professionals serving populations from 1,400 to 23,647 around the United States and Canada. Topics range from technology to programming to partnering with your community. Everyone is welcome to register and attend, regardless of how big or small your library is.

This conference is organized and hosted by the Nebraska Library Commission and is co-sponsored by the Association for Rural & Small Libraries.

Information in this post was furnished by the OCLC WebJunction Crossroads Newsletter, Feb. 3, 2016.

 

Petersburg, Nebraska, Public Library. From the Nebraska Library Commission's Flickr account: https://flic.kr/p/Bh6qd
School Media Specialist

Need financial help with the TIES Conference?

photo-1431036101494-66a36de47defAre you tasked with providing leadership or support for educational technology in your work setting?

Over 3,100 teachers, technology coordinators, school and district administrators, technology experts, and exhibitors are expected to attend the upcoming  TIES Education Technology Conference on December 12-15 in Minneapolis. Register today to collaboratively learn, teach, share and network.

Need more general information? Interested in keynotes and featured speakers?

Don’t forget the possibility of attending via Virtual Conference. For $160, access both keynote presentations and ten breakout sessions! Includes live and archived access too.

Short of financial support? If you work in a library or school media center in Central MN, CMLE will support your learning with financial assistance up to $200. The application is easy and we are more than happy to help!

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Aaron Wilson), licensed under CC0 1.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Why Go to a Library Conference?

Apple BasketThe Information and Technology Educators of MN (ITEM) conference is thundering down the calendar toward us beginning the first week in October. Then, during the second week in October, the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) Conference crops up! Are you registered?

Ideally, you are able to attend  a library conference of some form at least once a year. If you have a job that counts on you staying up-to-date, a conference is a great way to sharpen your skill set. I understand that professional development dollars are tight, but think beyond the dollars for a moment. Faced with incredibly big jobs, high work expectations beyond what we thought possible, and a world of fast-paced change, why go to a MN library conference?

Here are  my Top 10 Reasons to Register for the ITEM or MLA Fall Conferences Now….

  1. You have an excuse to buy a cool outfit, a new pair of shoes, or gasp…a new bag (even though you have hundreds)
  2. Informal conversations: Whether it be at a lunch table, in the commons area between sessions, or over cocktails at happy hour, a conference is an excellent place to figure out what your peers are worried about, working on, and thinking about. Be brave, strike up a conversation! You can save yourself a ton of time and work by talking to others who will share.
  3. Bags: While in the exhibit area, you have the opportunity to collect yet more bags for your collection of hundreds; some that include cat portraits!
  4. Free books: many companies are handing out free advanced copies of books!
  5. Do you hate talking on the phone with sales people, but need some new products, pricing, or information? Bribe a colleague to go with you (for the free candy) to the exhibit areas, and plan ahead of time how you will exit any sales talk that has gone far enough. Tag teams rule!
  6. Authors: Library conferences always include author talks, and we do love anything an author has to say!
  7. Eyeglasses: Have I mentioned that librarians also love to show off their hip eyewear, and why is it that most of us are almost blind?
  8. Keynotes: Conference planners think long and hard to bring in big names and popular folk that have appeal, and it is rare to be thoroughly disappointed, very rare!
  9. Breakout sessions: There are usually so many to pick from, that you often have a hard time. Me, I intentionally look for the rooms bursting at the seams with people. I want to know what everyone is so geeked up about! If it is something I know very little about, I really should be there! Am hoping for a session on Cosplay.
  10. The evening social event: You will have a blast and get to know the playful side of people. The multitype library systems (CMLE is one of them) offer fun events like trivia or literary games. Prizes and bragging rights come with the territory too! Did I mention free food? Can it get better?

What have I missed? What do you love most about conferences? Add it in the comments! Ready to register now?

Go to our handy events table, and click on the appropriate event link to register! Easy…

No Money? A  CMLE scholarship  of up to $200 is yours to use for registration, hotel, mileage, meals, or to subsidize the cost of your employer hiring a substitute worker so you can be away. If you approach your boss to say you have found a way to contribute  $200, they will know you are invested and have taken initiative. The application process is easy, CMLE would love to exhaust its scholarship budget this year on these two conferences alone, so go for it!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/o4jqtd7, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Registration is open for the 2015 ITEM Fall Conference!

ITEM 2015Bright and early, registration is now open for the 2015 ITEM Fall Conference!  The conference will be held October 1st through the 3rd in St. Cloud.  Early bird registration pricing applies through July 31st.  ITEM says, “we’re planning to have keynote speakers Brad Gustafson and Jennifer LaGarde, also known as Library Girl.”  For further details on the conference, check out their announcement.  Already know you want to go?  Register here.

For other library events, check out our Events/Initiatives page.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

What I Learned at the Library Technology Conference

time_alone2_hiresLots of people wanted to go to this year’s conference, but registration closed crazy fast when the 450 seats were full within 30 hours! Macalester College is the conference site, and as is typical, the crowd at this conference is a mix of library types; maybe a bit more of the academics. However, this year I saw an increase in the number of K-12 school media/tech integration people too, which was great!

I could bore you with reporting on sessions I attended, but rather, I include some themes and observations.

Makerspaces

  • One common theme I saw, was that no matter what kind of librarian, maker spaces and 3D printing were far and away most prominent.  However, one thing remained clear in the breakout sessions. While it was acknowledged across library type how much library users enjoy maker spaces, presenters were admittedly a little short on data to support how maker spaces were tied to, or supportive of, curriculum. Everyone was in agreement that more work is needed on that issue. In the K-12 setting, leaps in self confidence were cited as good enough for now, with hopes of deeper integration with curriculum in the future.

Short on space? You don’t necessarily need dedicated space for makerspace activities. What you do need is space for tubs of materials to pull out when it is makerspace time! Seems obvious now!

New Maker Space resources I learned about include:

Theme Two: Social Media and Librarians

For the first time this year, there was no printed conference schedule, but rather the entire conference was on the mobile app, Sched. As attendees had their morning coffee, they created their schedule for the day and mixed it up with  Facebook and Twitter friends at the conference too.

Both in sessions, in hallway conversations, and even  at dinner, I am reminded of how social media has put a fresh new face on how librarians network and stay up to date.  A number of people I talked to said they had never used Twitter until they came to this conference and decided to give it a whirl. Now, they have no idea how they ever “kept up” professionally before Twitter. The people they follow online keep them up to date and sometimes, when they are excited about new discoveries, they share those discoveries too! This is called collaboration.

Breakout session materials are located here and are being added every day as presenters make them available. Videos of all keynote presentations will also be added to this repository site shortly. Please check back often to see what’s new on the site.

Patricia-

 Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/qzmpeb2