by Aisha Conner-Gaten Traveling While Broke: Library Conferences and Scholarships For librarians and information folks, conference attendance can provide essential opportunities for networking, professional development, and, of course, gainful employment. Unfortunately, those seeking new jobs or just better pay cannot often afford conference housing and air travel that accompany exorbitant registration fees. Some conferences totals…
Ask a Special Librarian – July Edition What to Do With That Stack of Business Cards: Tips for Post-Conference Networking Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant – University of Connecticut @joshualaporte & https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshuaLaPorte In this installment of “Ask a Special Librarian,”…
by Sara Dixon, former Head Editor, INALJ Kansas previously published 5/21/13 & 6/16/14 Making the Case to Attend ALA Annual Conference…to Yourself If you are like me, you have been weighing the pros and cons of attending the ALA Annual Conference. ALA says, “Expand your network. Build your knowledge. Improve your profession.” Why, yes, ALA, I would…
by Samantha Read, former Head Editor, INALJ New Brunswick previously published 6/10/14 Avoiding that “Conference Itch” Well, folks, we’re in full conference season now. A relative newbie to this scene (I just started in my position as Archives Advisor at CANB in February), I attended the CNSA conference the other week and will be at the APLA conference…
In order to better reflect how LIS folk currently feel I am removing all interviews that are more than 1 year old. This interview may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions, so it has been harvested to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine (see link below) and removed from INALJ. All…
by Emily Woodcock, Senior Assistant, INALJ Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island 8 must haves for going to a Library Conference In the near future, I am going to be attending my first library conference. I am going to the OLA Super Conference in Toronto, Ontario at the end of this month. I haven’t been to…
by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania previously published 2/21/14 Ten Conference Tips for a First Timer Last weekend, I went to my first big library conference, ALA Mid-Winter in Philadelphia, PA. I was very nervous and jittery going into this conference. It was my first conference, and I went by myself since my other librarian friends had…
by Stephanie Noell, Senior Assistant, INALJ Texas Testing the Regional Conference Waters Regional library conferences are a great way to get involved in professional organizations. You can present a paper, volunteer for the conference, organize a meet up for your listserv/ committee/gaming group (Call of Cthulhu anyone?), or just go to listen to great talks…
by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Arkansas Small Talk at Conferences: How to Survive It I have major social anxiety and therefore going to ALA conferences can be a huge chore for me. It’s not that I don’t love seeing all my fellow librarians and learning awesome new things, it’s that I have to face the dragon known…
by Jennifer Devine, Head Editor, INALJ Maryland Why you should and how you are able to partake in American Library Association Annual Conference when not attending If you’re like me and you’re not attending or able to attend the ALA Annual Conference this year you are still probably flooded with information from your e-mail, on Facebook, twitter, other…
by Holly Boyer, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia (originally published 6/6/14 & last updated 6/26/14) Your Unofficial Guide to Socializing at the ALA Annual Conference 2014 Going to Las Vegas for ALA’s Annual Conference this June? If you are, I bet you’ve been struggling to plan your schedule when there are so many amazing programs to attend (did…
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey Conference Session Proposals and Presentations: Less Complicated than You’d Think During the first week of June, I attended my third New Jersey Library Association annual conference. The first time I went, I was a student; the second time, I was a job seeker; and this time, I was a gainfully…
Angela J.A. Kent, Head Editor, INALJ-Virtual Work Paying your way through conference season Many information professionals and students, myself included, are currently gearing up to attend some of the industry’s largest annual library conferences. While there’s been no shortage of articles on conferences, there is one aspect that I thought was worth adding my two cents. Let’s talk…
By Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor, INALJ Washington, DC Do’s and Don’ts for your first ALA Annual conference The American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference is just a few weeks away. If you’re heading to sunny Las Vegas for your first (or 15th) conference, keep these tips in mind to reap the most from this great experience. Do: 1.…
Amanda Brooks, Head Editor, INALJ British Columbia A Primer For Conference Volunteers The INALJ community’s recent discussions about the ALA conference and Lisa Huntsha’s How Volunteering May Actually Be Hurting Your Job Hunt were added incentives to write my planned recommendation for volunteering for conferences. As Lisa pointed out, you should not volunteer in a role which replaces a…
by Katherine Kimball Adelberg, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan The Ins and Outs of Unconferences Have you ever attended an unconference? Neither had I, until I hosted one in March. It was an incredible experience; this was the first time I’ve ever seen participants in a training session stay late! I’m now an unconference convert. What is an unconference?…
Stephanie Sendaula, INALJ Associate Editor Non-Library Conferences for Librarians There are a lot of conference acronyms in our profession: ALA, SLA, SAA, ACRL, PLA, AASL, AALL, etc… But sometimes we’re not able to attend those conferences for a variety of reasons including funding restraints, time constraints, or even the specific location. (Haven’t we all wondered whether to…
by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina Attend Your Local Library Conferences! In mid March, I attended the North Carolina Serials Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I had heard of this conference, but had never attended until this year. As I sat through various sessions on serials assessment, I began to think about why I hadn’t…
by Naomi House, MLIS We Built a Community! Presenting at the 5th annual OCLC EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Regional Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa, Feb. 24, 2014 “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” –African proverb ***** It was my pleasure to present…
by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario Reflecting on my first Library Conference experience – #OLASC14 Tips for: networking, resumes, and cover letters My original conference plans that I talked about in my last post turned out to be overly ambitious on my part. After writing that post I ended up going in a completely different…
by Scottie Kapel, Head Editor, INALJ Oregon Conference Qualms I’m writing this from a table at the back of the exhibitors hall at the AASL 16th National Conference in Hartford, CT. This is my first conference, and so far the experience has been very rewarding, in terms of both stimulating sessions and generous swag. Thanks…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming Conference Tips: An Interview with Sarah Mailloux Emily: As a first-time library conference attendee, what were you expecting? Sarah: I think I was expecting more people. There were…
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas Local vs. National Conferences Last weekend, I attended the Kansas Library Association Annual Conference, my first conference as a gainfully employed public librarian. And. It. Was. Awesome. It was great to meet so many librarians in situations similar to mine. I found out that my “small” town library…
by Courtney Baron, Head Editor, INALJ Georgia 5 Tips for Attending your First Conference I just got back from my first library conference last week! It was a great learning experience and I’m excited to share my tips with other library students and first time attendees. I can’t stress enough how important it is to…
by Mychal R Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico Can’t Miss Conferences, Conventions, & Events For New Mexico LIS Workers Becoming an active member of one’s community, as well as continuing one’s adult education, represent two crucial parts of being an LIS professional. What then, are some must-see conferences, conventions, expositions, and events going on…