The American Library Association (ALA) is not only the oldest but the largest library association in the world, dating back to 1876. So it stands to reason that attending the ALA’s annual conference is a must for those of us in the library industry because it brings every piece of what we do together in one location each year.
This year, Erin Kilkenny, OhioLINK’s cataloging assistant, attended her first ALA conference this past June in Orlando, Florida. The ALA’s annual conference brings together librarians, authors, publishers, subject matter experts, educators and students who are looking to be on the cutting edge of the library industry and in the know about recent book and library trends. The annual ALA conference provides various sessions of speakers, presentations and workshops on almost every aspect of the library world. All in all, this conference is a great experience whether you’ve been every year or you’re a library newcomer. After recently sitting down with Erin, she pinpointed her top five takeaways from this immersive conference.
1. Networking: Erin was able to discuss cataloging and metadata issues and best practices with catalogers from around the country. She also mentioned that the ALA hashtag #alaac16 on Twitter was something worth following and helped give insights into sessions she might want to attend or just funny anecdotes from each day.
2. The ALA Conference App: Erin found that the ALA conference app she used at the conference to be exceptionally helpful, especially during presentations. The app allows you to upload the slides being presented so you can keep up with the presentation even if your seat doesn’t exactly lend itself to a clear shot of the projector. The app also helped her manage her time, allowing her to make her own schedule of events that she wanted to hit before the conference was over.
3. Orlando Support: In light of the tragedy that befell Orlando at Pulse just 10 days before the conference, ALA made sure to unite attendees in support for the community. They provided a memorial event, an opportunity to donate blood to those still in hospital care, opportunities to volunteer at Orange County libraries and booths about the school supplies donation drive.
4. Fascinating FAST Presentation: The Faceted Subject Access Interest Group meeting included compelling presentations and a lively debate about FAST, or faceted application of subject terminology. Magda El-Sherbini, from OhioLINK member The Ohio State University, will be the incoming chair for the group.
5. Orlando’s weather: Erin’s trip to Orlando, while beautiful and sunny, was extremely hot and humid. She told us that she arrived to a “melty heat index of 115.” Yikes!
If you weren’t able to make it to the conference, you can find highlights by checking out Erin’s Twitter feed (@erinincolumbus). And for all the updates on OhioLINK, check us out on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. We’d love for you to follow us and interact today!
