I had the good fortune to meet Joe Hodnicki last week at the blogger meetup at AALL in Denver. Â I had the bad fortune to not get a chance to talk to him at all – rather I just summoned up some hubris, slid him my card and pointed at the door signifying that I had to race off to yet another event. Â Such is the way of conferences.
So, what did this noob think of AALL? Â Let me preface by noting that I am, as the British would say, a “mature student.” Â I’ve not been to this rodeo before, but I’ve been to analogous events in my prior career as a corporate communications professional. Â I am also not by nature a “joiner.” Â All of this means that I look at conferences with a somewhat jaded eye, but I have to say I was favorably impressed on my first outing. Â Here are a few thoughts:
- CONELL: if you are planning on going to AALL for the first time, do this. Â It makes the biggest difference in the world to have a cohort of people that you can get to know on that first day. Â It is so worth it: for the rest of the conference (and probably the rest of your career), you will be running into familiar, friendly faces. Â My “freshman class of 2010” is a group I am proud to have begun to know.
- Two excellent presentations I attended – “Library Videos: Getting Blockbuster Quality on an Indie Budget” and “Starting Off on the Right Track: Avoiding Mistakes Common to New (and Not-so-New) Instructors” were both fantastic. Â I generally feel if you get one decent presentation out of a conference you are ahead of the game (see above re: “jaded”). Â These two surpassed my expectations by miles.
- The keynote presentation by Dr. David Lankes of Syracuse was entertaining and thought provoking (note to AALL – couldn’t you have made this embeddable? Â You can get it at the link above – he starts about 15 minutes in). Â I especially liked his notion that our value is not in our collections but ourselves. Â We are the resources that should be valued, and that valuation needs to start in our own behaviors and attitudes.
- I demonstrated Zotero with Jennifer Duperon of Boston University. Â (The online handout we created is here). Â I don’t know how the entire “Cool Tools Cafe” event went: we were absolutely mobbed with people who were interested in learning about this fantastic citation manager and I barely had time to look around.
One thing that stood out for me that was categorically different from the other groups I have been a member of was borne out of a quality that I believe is inherent in most librarians. Â I am not sure what to call that quality, but I can illustrate it:* with most groups, there seems to be a sense that if I have something then it is something that must necessarily be taken away from someone else – or perhaps a group of someones. Â The competitive edge is strong in many professions, and seeing someone new creates a sense that there is now one less opportunity for the rest. Â But librarians just don’t strike me that way. Â It seems to be our nature. Â Where a law student might say to him or herself, “Oooh – I found the resource. Â I must hide it so I have the edge,” a librarian will excitedly say, “Hey – did you see this resource? Â It’s really cool – let me share it with you!” Â That collaborative, sharing spirit seems to extend to the entry of the profession as a whole. Â Our CONELL class was welcomed with open arms by the existing membership.
So, again – to all who are visiting for the first time from Law Librarian Blog, greetings to you and thank you for being such a great group of people. Â I am proud to be joining you.
*And I admit it is a variation on one of my pet themes.