Convention week for librarians

No messages on the NewsLib group today since everyone's at the Special Librarians Association conference in Denver. For news of the meetings, InfoToday's Blog is again covering the convention from inside. The buzz from yesterday and today is mostly about Al Gore, who did a book signing and a keynote speech. Of course there's also an SLA blog by attending members, including, I hope, some News Division members.

Here's one SLA blogger's take on the Gore speech:

I truly appreciated hearing Al Gore speak. He understands libraries and the need for high quality information. As a board member for Google, he has an understanding of this industry. He related very well to everyone in the audience. None of the posts about his speech can tell you what you missed. If you've seen An Inconvenient Truth, then you have an idea. Most of the photos that people tried to take (on cameras or cell phones), I suspect did not come out well. And perhaps that is best. They would have been a snapshot of something that is more than just a picture -- there was also the information and the emotion. Indeed, for a moment, we were all on the same page with Al Gore (something a photo cannot tell you).

The News Division blog I started a few years ago for one of the SLA conventions is still available for posting from attendees, but no one has updated the blog in a long time. I've been tempted to at least add job postings there but since I'm not really a member any more (despite occasional contributions to the listserv), have hesitated to do it. If anyone attending the conference is reading this and wants to post to the blog, email me and I'll set you up.

The News Division, however, has a great program for the annual meeting. Hope everyone's having fun! (I would love to be a fly on the wall at this morning's Future of News Libraries seminar just to hear Mark Hannan, Jr, Reference Desk Director at USA Today. His father was my beloved boss, research director at the Washington Post, long ago.)