Tag Archive for conferences

Traveling While Broke: Library Conferences and Scholarships

Aisha Conner-Gaten is standing wearing a blue shirt and against a white background. She is holding a round red sign that says the words Ask a Librarian, the text is white.

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…

Making the Case to Attend ALA Annual Conference…to Yourself

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…

Avoiding that “Conference Itch”

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…

Librarian Certification and Good Vibrations

Librarian Certification and Good Vibrations by Rose Noel, Senior Assistant, INALJ Kentucky I felt the vibrations as I entered the library. There was a new energy pulsing through the beautiful, but normally serene public library building. I wondered as I stuffed my purse into a spare employee locker whether I had forgotten a particularly grand…

How Does This Networking Thing Work?

by Kiersten Bryant, former Head Editor, INALJ California previously published 10/30/13 How Does This Networking Thing Work? I will be attending a library conference soon and have been looking for advice on how to network at these events. I currently work in the apparel industry in a position that is in no way related to…

Small Talk at Conferences: How to Survive It

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…

5 Tips for Conquering the Exhibits Hall

by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania 5 Tips for Conquering the Exhibits Hall Since its conference season and there are a lot of great conferences coming up such as ALA Annual, SLA’s conference and many others, I figured I would do another conference tips article since my last one Ten Conference Tips for a First Timer was…

Paying your way through conference season

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…

A Primer For Conference Volunteers

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…

Non-Library Conferences for Librarians

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…

So You Want to Do A Poster Session?

by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Arkansas So You Want to Do A Poster Session? Going to conferences is probably one of the most fun things that I get to do as an information professional. At no other time do I get to be in a room/city with thousands of people who are just like me! However, the…

Attend Your Local Library Conferences!

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…

Conference Qualms

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…

Conference Tips: An Interview with Sarah Mailloux

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…

5 Tips for Attending your First Conference

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…

Networking Nerves

by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Networking Nerves I know there have been a huge number of articles on the web (including on INALJ) that contain testimonials as to why it is, in fact, worthwhile to go to conferences and other continuing education type events. Spoiler alert: this is another one of those articles.…

10 Takeaways from #SLA2013

by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont 10 Takeaways from #SLA2013 With more than 200 programs and 2,800 attendees the Special Libraries Association recently finished up their annual conference.  The 2013 conference occurred in San Diego, CA and included an unofficial INALJ meet up!  If you are not yet involved in SLA, please consider it…

Should You Go to That (Non-Library) Conference?

by Kate Kosturski, Head Editor, INALJ New York State Should You Go to That (Non-Library) Conference? My fellow INALJ editor Sarah Dixon talked about attending the ALA conference in her latest blog post – and hers is not the first I have seen, so conference season is upon us. But, conferences are expensive, and a…

Tips For a Library Conference Newbie

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Tips For a Library Conference Newbie Raise your hand if you have never been to a library conference…… Me either. To tell you the truth, the idea of going to a conference is a little scary and intimidating.  So, I did what any good librarian would do.  I…

Career Management Tip: Plan to Attend a Conference

by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Career Management Tip:  Plan to Attend a Conference Library conference season is upon us!  Whether employed or not, attending a library conference offers many opportunities for career management, from meeting senior hiring managers in other spheres through gathering information about targeted organizations to expanding your own personal network.  …