Patrick's conference report!

It's time for another Friday treat: A conference report from one of my fellow librarians, Patrick Oberholtzer!

Patrick joined our director, Sarah Hamrick (see her report here), in New Orleans a few weeks ago to attend the American Library Association's massive annual conference, learn new things, and just have fun.

As you'll see, he managed to accomplish all three!

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Once a year, librarians from across the country gather together for the American Library Association’s Annual Conference. This year, fellow Gallaudet librarian Sarah Hamrick and I travelled to a city known as “the Big Easy” -- New Orleans.

The conference of some 20,000 librarians offers something for just about every interest, from technology to library architecture. With so many librarians attending, you need a pretty big place for the conference, and that’s why I found myself in the massive Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The building seems to go forever (from the front door to one of their rooms was over a mile!). There are programs with expert speakers on just about every facet of librarianship; committees that discuss everything from emerging technologies to social media and public services. There is also a very large exhibit hall where you can give the latest gadgets a whirl, talk to authors and publishers, test out the latest library furniture, and enter drawings for iPads that are won by a lucky few. I spoke with the very interesting author of a book about Nazis in Hollywood in the 1930s, Hollywood Agent Provocateur. I didn’t know about that!

As you make your way around the very crowded conference center, with rivers of people going every which way, it is very easy to get lost or at least feel like you are up a creek without a paddle. After carefully studying conference center maps and signs, I made my way to one room and mercifully ran into two old friends. I asked them what programs they were attending. In fact, I ask everyone that question, because I always seem to learn about a good event that I missed. The sheer size and scope of the three-day convention produces a lot of energy, enthusiasm and, of course, new ideas.

At Gallaudet University, the librarians do a variety of work and wear many hats. One of those hats is instruction and thus, we are teachers, too. One thing I have noticed over many years is that teachers love to give out handouts, lots of them. Let’s face it: handouts can be as dull as dishwater and often are not read. At one of the instruction programs I attended, librarians were demonstrating and discussing a much more visual way to do handouts, using Comic Life2. Comic Life permits you to create a graphic story – like a comic book -- using pictures, drawings, cam shots, and photos. You can add captions or speech balloons as needed. The result is a beautiful handout that is more visually driven than plain text.

We hear a lot about Web 2.0 and libraries are using many of these technologies to market our services. The Gallaudet Library already makes good use of everything from video logs and blogs to instant messaging and e-mail. Still, we feel there is more we can do and that is why “the marketing unprogram” got my attention. In that presentation, I heard about one public library director who told his staff to increase library card registration 50% in one year “or else.” One solution the staff came up with was to ride the city buses all day distributing handouts. Sure enough, registration and library use statistics jumped immediately. I sure wouldn’t have thought of that!

Libraries have traditionally used e-mail to advertise various library functions. The rub is: how do you know if anyone reads those e-mails? Well, a public library in Connecticut came up with a solution: a software program called Constant Contact. You collect e-mail addresses, write the copy for your event or program, and send it to Constant Contact which, as if by magic, creates a nifty professional notice and emails it to everyone on your list. Here’s the crackerjack part: You can find out how many of the e-mails were opened!

New Orleans is a fun city and a pretty good place for a conference. The French Quarter is a lively place of shops, bars, restaurants and lots and lots of music. It is chock full of history, complete with haunted houses and hotels. If you find yourself in the French Quarter, take a hike and check it out. It really does look like parts of Paris.
Patrick