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Olean, NY
Two comments: 1. It has three syllables. 2. Sizzlin' Country double u pea eye gee.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Buffalo, finally
I'm in a Denny's across the street from the training location getting the first food into me since lunch yesterday. (Airline pretzels don't count.) Luckily I can do today's class in my sleep, since after only four hours of it last night that just might be what I end up doing today.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Just pick a gate, any gate
Came in at gate C12. Leaving out of C18. Get to C18 and they tell us we need to go to C4. (At the far end of the concourse.) We all get there and then they send us all to C14. We're here now but we've just been told that they need to swap out planes. That'll take another 20 minutes. I'm now landing in Rochester at 11:30. Then I get to drive to Buffalo. All this just days after telling someone how smooth flying is these days.
Labels: rochester
Saturday, March 27, 2004
I'm not making this up
The following was actually said to me in response to a statement I'd made referring to bed linnens:
"Do you realize how sexy it is to hear a man say 'thread count'?
I guess that three-month stint working at a Bed Bath & Beyond might actually be paying off.
Friday, March 26, 2004
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Ask michael why he's cranky
Laura asked me to send her a copy of my schedule for the next few weeks. Here's what I camw up with...
03.22 Drive to Salina, KS
03.23 Teach in Salina, drive to Hays
03.24 Teach in Hays, drive to Colby
03.25 Teach in Colby
03.26 Teach in Colby, drive home
03.27 Home
03.28 Fly to Rochester, drive to Buffalo
03.29 Teach in Buffalo, drive to St. Bonaventure
03.30 Teach in St. Bonaventure, drive to Buffalo
03.31 Teach in Buffalo, drive to Rochester
04.01 Fly home
04.02-04.10 Home
04.11 Drive to Manhattan, KS
04.12 Teach in Manhattan
04.13 Teach in Manhattan
04.14 Drive to Hutchinson, KS
04.15 Teach in Hutchinson
04.16 Teach in Hutchinson, drive home
04.17 Home
04.18 Home
04.19 Drive to Cheyenne, WY
04.20 Teach in Cheyenne
04.21 Teach in Cheyenne
04.22 Teach in Cheyenne
04.23 Teach in Cheyenne, drive home
04.24 Home
04.25 Drive to Dodge City, KS
04.26 Teach in Dodge City
04.27 Teach in Dodge City
04.28 Drive to Lawrence, KS
04.29 Teach in Lawrence, Drive to Kansas City
04.30 Teach in Kansas City
05.01 Drive home
Day four, town three
I'm in Colby, KS now. This time doing two days of classes at Colby Community College. Nice lab. (Picture up this evening.) Be sure to keep an eye on my photo blog for pictures of all the Kansas hot spots. (Keep an eye out for a librarian driving to work on her lawn mower. ;-)
Labels: kansas
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
It can only get better from here, right?
Well, first thing in the morning at the second location and I lock my keys in the car. 30 minutes later, AAA saves my butt once again. Classroom is small but there's wireless so I'm using my laptop to present.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
I remember you
I remember you, you're the one who made my dreams come true, a few kisses ago.
I remember you, you're the one who said I love you too, I do, didn't you know?
I remember too a distant bell, and stars that fell like rain out of the blue.
When my life is through and the angels ask me to recall the thrill of them all,
Then I shall tell them, I remember you.
Lyrics by: Johnny Mercer
How wrong can one day go?
In no particular order and placing no blame...
- Not enough computers
- Computers with wrong version of software
- Computers without any version of software
- Extra computers arrive, still not enough
- Extra computers with corrct version of software but different from rest of room
- Time for classes changed, I wasn't told
- More people than expected, not enough materials
- New town doesn't have Sprint service so Trēo becomes glorified page-a-day calendar
- Dial-up AOL has very flaky DNS servers.
Ahh, but there's always tomorrow...
Monday, March 22, 2004
You never know
I've been very good lately. I've not been going into every bookstore that I pass. I didn't even go into any while in DC despite there being several in the neighborhood. So, when I stopped for a break in Colby, KS this afternoon and saw a Hastings, I was tempted and succumbed. The great thing is that I found a copy of Titus Crow: In the Moons of Borea. Elysia: The Coming of Cthulhu by Brian Lumley which I'd been looking for in hardcover for a few years now. (I'd just not bothered to order a used copy online.) The even better part was that it was on their bargin rack for only $2.99 and wasn't bargain marked. This is not convincing me that skipping an opportunity to go into a bookstore is a good thing.
My how kansas has changed
Today was the first time I'd driven I-70 across Kansas since, I believe, 2002 so I was looking for things that had changed. I notice a few small items not worth mentioning but this one was just funny. On the Western edge of Russell, KS there is a big sign telling everyone how the town is the home of both Bob Dole and Arlen Spector. Right next to it was an even bigger sign advertising one of the several adult superstores along the highway. Ah, the free market.
Labels: kansas
Sunday, March 21, 2004
DC, again
In the past 12 days I've now been in three DC airports. First Regan National, flying in for CIL, then Baltimore leaving CIL, now Dullas on my way home from Rochester. I think I've entered the Twilight Zone.
Labels: rochester
Time to head home
It's snowing here in Rochester. Time to head back home. Of course, I leave for Colby, KS in about 24 hours...
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Quick trip home
I've been in Rochester, NY since yesterday for my brother's wedding. It was a simple yet lovely service. Lisa seemed like she might not get through the vows she was so nervous but everything came out just fine.
I also got a chance to meet up with my best friend Laura who lives in Phoenix. (Yes only the two of us would need to go across the country to see each other for the first time in four years.)
Photos of these events and involved individuals can be found on the photo blog.
P.S. Yes, I'm blogging on the Trēo.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Google local
Google has launched their local search which limits results to a localion you specify. In the first search box you enter your keywords and in the second you enter a full address, city/state, or just a zip code. My test search for 'pizza' in 'Greece, NY' quickly found the place I'm having dinner at tonight. If you're not someone who travel's a lot you have the option of Google remembering the entered location. I plan on using this to find bookstores in rural KS next week.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Texas Library Association
I want to speak at the TLA conference. As Jenny shows us, they "treat their speakers VERY well!"
Making decisions for others
Don't like the book your child has checked out of the library? "The Hartsells said they are keeping the book until they get assurances it won't be circulated." Yeah, that's the solution for these Wilmington, MD parents.
Fingerprinting the friends
I don't know about your Friends group but I'm the youngest member of my Friends board by about 30 years. It seems that San Diego requires that Friends workers my be fingerprinted for background checks.
More on why forms stink
My boss is currently moving her mother and went to the USPS Web site to fill out a change of address form. Turns out that once you've filled in the form you have two options. One, print out the form and mail it in. Two, submit the change of address online. Here's where the bafflement comes in. To submit the form online you're charged $1.00.
On first glance this does seem a tad ridiculous. It probalby costs the postal service more to accept the mail-in method than the electronic method so charging for electronic submission seems a little backward. Most of us thought that the charge for electric submission is a way to reduce the potential for fraud in the system; preventing someone from running a bot that would change thousands of addresses. However, there are other ways to do this such as showing a graphic with a word in it that must be typed in in response. (Computers can't do this.)
Still, the fact that you'll be charged for online submission should be stated up front, on the first page of the form, not after you've already filled in the form.
Why forms stink
If your library is going to put up an e-mail reference form, make sure you don't leave out the recipient's e-mail address. (Line 73 of this form.) I wonder if they're concerned about lack of use of this service? (Yes, I have notified them of the problem as I was attempting to ask them a reference question.)
Internet Librarian 04
I've sent in three proposals for this year's Internet Librarian conference. (Two workshops & one session.) Monterey, CA in November sounds like fun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Almost perfect weather
I so should have ridden my bike to work today. Got up to 66F with some wind. It should be that nice tomorrow too but I've going to an author signing right after work so I won't have enough time to bike and get to the event on time.
Spam fun
I got some spam today that was addressed to me and two other people that haven't worked at BCR for at least eight years. That's some e-mail list those guys are working off of.
Labels: bcr
Watch rumsfeld squirm
MoveOn.org has posted a clip of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld caught lying on Camera.
Documents of interest
Two very interesting documents from the W3C and one (of the last) from Webmonkey
A "good" filter?
Instead of buying a filter with a hidden database, the Kansas State Library has created their own.
Labels: kansas
Doh!
According to this AP report a library locks itself out of own Web site. Instead of fixing the filter, it changed it's domain name.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Ironic
Papers of Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the world's greatest fiction detective, found. Lost for more than 40 years.
It works! (and on the first try too)
Turns out that through a small program names PDANet I can turn my Trēo into a wireless modem for my laptop. So, if I even need to be online, don't have a WiFi connection, and the Trēo just isn't enough, I can hook it up to my laptop and I'm connected in seconds. (Assuming I have Sprint service. I'm just wondering about my next trip to Savonburg, KS.)
CIL photos
Michael Stephens has posted his photos from the conference. (Including one of your truely.)
Tempted to swear about this one...
H. R. 3920 :: To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court.
Ban dhmo
I'm sure that I'm not the only one who will post this story today but I just felt the need to since I use the mentioned site in my Using the Internet as a Referene Tool class.
SoCal city falls victim to Internet hoax, considers banning items made with water.
The site they're talking about is the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division which seems to be collapsing under the weight of the story as I couldn't get in while writing this entry.
Monday, March 15, 2004
Trēo mail update
Well, I can get both mail accounts via POP3 in one program (Eudora for Palm) but I can't send mail via the BCR account. (Darn that non-relaying server security.) So, I'm guess I'm stuck with two mail programs.Labels: bcr
Here comes the mail again
I've successfully set up my Trēo to both send and receive mail for both my BCR and Webpan accounts. Of course, I've had to sue two different programs to do that but that's o.k. (One is POP and one is IMAP.)
I'm having trouble with the browser accepting cookies, and therefore can't get into my bloglines account, but I've found an update on the Handspring site that might solve the problem.
Labels: bcr
Important blog updates
I've renamed my mobile blog to Travelin' Librarian. Somehow in the process the URL changed.
Deciding that the name of this blog was just a tad too bitter for my personality any more, I've also changed this blog to match. In this case not only was there a rename but a change of URL. I think I've got everything switched over. (You'll need to changes pointers to the RSS feed too.) If you notice any problems just let me know.
Labels: rss
Trēo-licious
For those of you that were wondering, yes, within hours of arriving home from the conference on Saturday I did go out and purchase a Trēo 600 Smartphone. I've got a few issues with it but all of them have to do with the difference between PalmOS and PocketPC (the PDA's I've been using for the past two years.) I'll list those things in a future post.
In a related note, I no longer need my extra cradle for the old iPaq. I'm selling it off cheap on Amazon.com.
Conference horn tooting
O.k. during that late night pow-wow Greg Schwartz and I set up an RSS feed for the conference's chair. I wasn't going to mention it but since he has...
Labels: rss
ILL shouldn't be this dificult
I asked an area library to ILL and article for me and send it to my local branch. The article arrives but stays at the Central branch. Why? Because, they send microfilm and the only branch with mf readers is the central branch. Do I have the ability to get there before I leave town Friday morning for two weeks? Of course not.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
New author photo
Just got back from a 400+ person book signing by Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon. A photo can be found on my author photos page.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Michael's blog goes mobile
Here's something else you can blame Jenny for, or just figure it was something I picked up at the darn conference from no one in particular. I've now got a photo blog. Check it out at http://travelibra.textamerica.com/.
CIL photos
Since I didn't bring a USB cable with me to the conference I had to wait 'till I got home to post these. They're not much but they're worth a chuckly or two.
Web design book update
I wrote half of the metadata chapter on the flight from Baltimore to Atlanta. (Yes, Baltimore to Denver via Atlanta.) I would have tried to finish it on the Atlanta to Denver flight but I just finally zonked out while waiting to take off and didn't wake up for most of the flight. (Some of you know what it takes to get me to sleep on a plane.)
I also got an e-mail late Friday from my editor wanting a date for a first complete draft. He suggested April 1st and I'm tempted to shoot for that. I'll have a better idea if that's reasonable on Monday. (At least two more complete chapters will help appease him ;-)
I've also figured out that I need to rewrite some small bits form chapter's I've already turned in. He's cool with that as he not really going to start the editing process 'till all the chapters are turned in.
Labels: metadata
Things that bug me #7
People who sit behind me in airplanes and can't seem to manage to get either in or out of thier seat without using the back of my seat for leverage. (I'm not just talking about large people here. I'm big and I can manage to do it. People much more in shape than I am just can't in most cases for some reason.)
Big disappointment in mass
Catching up with the news.. You do realize that anyone who supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is admitting that such discrimination is unconstitutional? What they're doing is changing the only laws They can to Mah such discrimination legal.
Cranky
Ok. I'll admit that maybe I'm a bit cranky from lack of sleep but I've got some observations from the flight home that I'd like to share.
- Why do AirTran planes have rows 1-3 and then Ship to row l0? What happened to rows 4-9?
- Why is it that my tiny little screwdriver got confiscated yet the woman sitting next to me at the gate in Atlanta was allowed to bring knitting needles as thick as my wrist? (I'll admit that I'm exaggerating a little but not much.)
- Lastly, there was this in the in-flight magazine:
I've got to say that this is all something I'd appreciate just as much as any woman but I Can think of several women I know that would scream quite loudly if something similar was offered only to male guests. What's up with that?"Located Just abs loch from Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, the Hotel Palomar is offering special pr ogr am sand packages designed to make the woman business traveler feel more at home, while keeping in touch with family and friends. The "Stay in Touch" package includes a $25 phone credit, Bulgari spa basket, complimentary glass of Wine and continental breakfast at the Fifth Floor restaurant, and Complimentary DSL service. Complimentary weekday car service to the financial district is also available. Secluded five floors above street level, the hotel bills itself as a convenient and safe retreat for women on the roado"
Computers in libraries 04: some final thoughts
I may be jumping the gun here but I'm on the way home and I've got a connection so I figured I'd take this opportunity to look back at the conference that was CIL04. What has also prompted this was my best friend's comment last night of my postings this week. "I didn't understand much of it but you seem to have had fun." Needless to say she's neither a techie nor a librarian. So, for her, and for my family, here's my reflections on the conference, simplified.
- Entropy happens, things fall apart.
- Geeks, geeks, and more geeks.
- If you blog, they will come.
- Networking oppontunities abound. Grab them when you can.
- Willpower when it comes to new toys is lacking for many of us.
O.k. on a more serious note I've got to say that this was the single best conference I've ever been to from both a personal and professional perspective. Not only did I make many new contacts but I renewed a few old ones. I learned about new technology and was given some additional perspective on what the librarians I train don't know and want to know. I've was forced to consider what we talk about amongst ourselves as library techies versus what our patrons want and/or need. (Which is not always, almost rarely, the same.) I've learned that if you get to the sessions early you can sang the single power outlet and that you should ask when you check in where the free WiFi connection is. I've convinced myself that networking opportunites are more important than sleep, but not for more than three days in a row. Lastly, I learned that I must do this again next year.
A final word on this issue. The conference would not have been such a success for me if it had not been for the following people. (I'm working from memory here so if I've got your name wrong I aplolgize. I'm also too tired to insert links here though I believe that I've linked to all of you in previous posts.)
Greg Notess, Ran Hock, Gary Price, Mary Lee Kennedy, Darlene Fitcher, Jane Dysart, Roy Tennant, Greg Schwartz, Frank Cervone, Stephen Abram, Michael Stevens, Chris Zammarelli, Jenny Lavine, and Andrea.
Discount anyone?
Maybe it's just me but I think that if you check in and out of a hotel in less than six hours there should be a significant discount. Really, I only used 25% of the time I paid for.
The reason for this is that since I'm working for a non-profit I get to do it all for as cheaply as possible. In this case that meant leaving the $179/night hotel in DC for a $89/night hotel in Baltimore since that was where I'm flying out of. (A different airport and airline from where/how I flew in.) I got to the Baltimore hotel at 10pm and checked out at 3:45am for a 4am shuttle to BWI for a 6:45 flight out to Atlanta. (Yep, Baltimore to Denver via Atlanta. Ah, the joys of AirTran.) Now if the Starbucks would just open...
Luggage update:
My little screwdriver has finally bit the dust. The one that's been in my bag ever since I started this job 6.5 years ago and has survived countless automatic and hand secutiry screenings. This time it was a manual search that pulled it out. I blame the new bag since the old backpack stored it in a much more covered way. (To be perfectly clear, I was not concealing this item. It's just been there in my bag in plain sight. I've just be wondering how long it would take someone to find this little computer screwdriver.)
On a lark I just tried to get a connection here in BWI and I'm in. Turns out they're using the same "Airpath" service as Des Moines so I'm in and live for the next hour. That should keep me awake until Starbucks opens.
Labels: starbucks
Computers in libraries, day 3
The two entries were written in the afternoon of day three. Presented here your your edification.
Fun at lunch
1:15pm
A bunch of us ended up going to an Asian place down the street for lunch. Andrea was successful in teaching me how to use chopsticks. I don't know if the lesson will stick but at least I've learned the basics.
I got some more answers about the Trio 600 and I'm that much closer to getting one. At this point it all comes down to figuring out what sort of deal I can get out of Best Buy tomorrow.
Political speech
03.12 4pm
The afternoon session titled "Marion Goes to Washington" was interesting including information on a PAC from a database vendor that gives money to representatives that are supporting the bill to privatize database content. I could have gone without the semi-sterotying title but the session was worth attending.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Searching triumverate
The (R)evolution of Search Engines program ended up being a pannel of three of the biggest names in the Search Engines world (at least from the librari perspective.) Hearing Greg Notess (Search Engine Showdown), Ran Hock (The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook), and Gary Price (Resource Shelf & co-author of The Invisible Web) speak on this topic is something that I recommend to anyone who gets the chance.
However, I have to admit that my brain is starting to melt...
A new record
I've just auctioned off a to-be-signed book for $225! Considering it was a $25 starting bid and there were only two bidders I was very surprised when I checked the auction just now.
Push or Pull?
I remember the early days of the push technologies on the Internet. It was only a few years ago but looking back I viewed them as one of those great ideas that failed due to poor marketing and implementation.
The biggest one I can think of was Microsoft's Active Desktop concept. You would put "objects" on your desktop and they would automatically receive updated information whenever the sources pushed information out to the subscribers. I'm not sure why this didn't ultimately work, but I always through that the concept of items automatically being sent to me was a great idea. Why it didn't catch on in the long run I'm still not quite sure.
Today we have RSS and aggregators. This XML language and its associated client software allow you to "subscribe" to a feed and then receive the updates whenever they occur. Almost every presentation that mentioned RSS at this year's Computer's in Libraries conference (and there were many of them that did,) described this as a 'push' technology. I beg to differ on this description. It may seem like push but is it really?
In a true push environment, beyond the actual setting up of the subscription, there is noting more to be done on the part of the client, whether you consider the client to be software or a human. But this is not how RSS aggregators work. With these programs you need to set up the subscription and tell the aggregator how often to recheck the subscription. Every time the aggregator rechecks and finds a change, it transfers the information from the server to the client. It 'pulls' the information.
Granted, RSS may seem like a push technology since there is minimal human involvement in retrieving this information, but it is being retrieved, i.e. pull, not being received, i.e. pushed.
Now, some of you may argue that I'm splitting hairs. I'll admit that I say that when I click on a Web link I "go" to a page when I know deep down that I'm not "going" anywhere. (I'm actually sending a request for a page which is then sent back to me.) But, I'm sure, in at least one of my classes, to point this out to my students, to make sure that they at least understand the concept even if they're going to go back to the way of talking about it like everyone else does.
Here's my question. When teaching people about RSS and aggregators, should we be describing it as a push technology when it really isn't?
(Yes Jenny, I'm expecting a comment from you on this.)
High end, low end
One of this morning's keynote speakers was Mary Lee Kennedy. One of the things she's done was to work with Microsoft to develop SharePoint 2003. CA serious software package for sharing information for online meetings.) One of the was she illustrated her points about "getting personal" was the use of IM programs to provide reference service. As Michael Stephens said the other night, "What I'd like to see is a library dump $20,000 virtual reference software and just get an AOL screen name."
Stop in and say hi
This conference has made me realize that many, many more people than I ever thought actually read this blog. If you're reading this please take a moment to use this entry's comment link to let me know who you are. Thanks!
Web design book update
In all the excitement of yesterday I forgot to mention that I finished chapter 18: CSS & Forms. I'll be sending it in to my editor when I get home on Saturday.
An even more interesting night
I'd just about finished writing my last blog entry when I get a tap on my shoulder and hear "Don't be antisocial Michael. Come join us." It's Darlene Fitcher asking me to join her and a few others at another table. There were a few comings and goings but over the next two and a half hours I ended up talking and joking with Jane Dysart (Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian Conference Program Chair), Roy Tennant (California Digital Library), Greg Schwartz (Louisville Free Public Library), Frank Cervone (Northwestern University), and Stephen Abram (President Elect of the Canadian Librarian Association.) Now there's a crowd you want to be hanging out with in the library technology world. (I was most freaked out when Roy Tennant introduced himself and in response to my introduction replied "From BCR, right?")
By the way, it turns out that it was Darlene that searched for CIL blog entries and brought up this blog. I bet she's starting to think I'm virtually stalking her. (At least I've finally got her name right. I'm sure she'll correct me if I'm wrong. ;-)
Labels: bcr
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Score!
Two full days into the conference and I'm finally told that there's free wireless in the lounge. Guess where I am now...
It was a great afternoon and a better evening. The sessions went well and we quite interesting. (o.k. I think most anything blog-related at this point is interesting.) I also had a short meeting with the Editor-in-Chief of Information Today about my next book idea. He likes it and he's passed around the proposal along to five big wigs in the library world for their input. (Sorry, can't remember any names but I recoginzed four out of the five he mentioned.) He promised to send me their responses back in the next week or two.
Dinner was an absolute blast. 14 library bloggers including The Shifted Librarian, and Chris of L.A.C.K. were there. Jenny decided to show off her Treo 600 and I think she's convinced me to get on this weekend when I inally get rid of my finally. I asked her if 'that picture' she had taken of me was going to appear on her blog. She said of course. I meant the one she took of me and my tablet. She meant the one she had taken of me just minutes earlier on her Treo. (Hey, when I'm at sea level I'm allowed on drink.)
Durring the conversation one person mentioned that during a presentation I didn't attend today someone asked if anyone was blogging this conference. The presenter did a quick search and they found this blog, specifically the entry relating to The West Wing comment from D. Scott Brandt posted last night. Man I'm gettng more press by just being here than I did four years ago when I presented. I'm starting to get a little freaked out.
A bunch of us ended up getting ice cream (yes, in DC in March) from a little shop down the street. Turns out we were being served by the 'scoop freaked.' (His term not ours.) It started out by one of our group asking "hey, is that more ice cream" pointing at another selection around the corner. His response, "no, that just looks like ice cream." The conversation, though funny, went down hill from there.
Well, some others just arrived and want me to join them. Later...
Putting a face to a...
The era of meeting someone and "finally putting a face with the name" is still alive and well but I've now started "putting a face to the blog." Two stories:
Just ran into to Darlene Fitcher (University of Saskatchewan) who mentioned my library card collection in her presentation last night. Turns out she does the Web site for Neal-Schuman, one of my publishers, so she knew of me when she stumbled over the collection while prepping her presentation, (Turns out she didn't find it through Google afterall.) Anyway, she said she was glad to be putting a face to the name. She also told me she read the after all last night and enjoyed my posts from the conference.
The person giving the next presentation, Jenny Levine, is the person who first asked my about my laptop yesterday. Turns out she's The Shifted Librarian one of the blogs that I ready regularly. So now I'm finally putting a face to a blog. As I mentioned earlier I'll be meeting Chris of L.A.C.K. tonight at dinner so I'll be doing it again in a few hours.
CIL, day 2
The morning's Keynote from one of the big wigs at Northern Light was actually quite interesting. His point: all the search engines are interested in is increaing advertising revenue. This shouldn't have been suprising to anyone in the audience but even I was taken aback by some of his evidence.
Unfortunately, that presentation was the highlight of the morning as the rest was down hill from there. I went to the "collaboration" presentation in the "Working and Learning Electronically" track and that turned out to be about the libraries and IT departments at universities collaborating. Should have read the full description I guess as that was not what I was expecting at all. I was hoping for something on learner collaboration in an online environment.
The next session I attended was on "Supporting KM with Weblogs." This sounded very interesting especially since I'm teaching the KM Technologies class at DU again this summer. Unfortunately, the talk was very high end focusing around software that was most appropriate to libraries in corporate environments. I got a few good quotes out of it but I'm not sure how I can apply it to the class except in a very general way. This wasn't the presenter's fault. I think if the presenter was given double the time and was able to slow down a bit it would have been much better. It is as it is in conference presentation land.
I did finally meet up with Rachel Singer Gordon and introduced myself. I've also realized that our dinner is tomorrow evening not tonight. Tonight is the bloggers dine-around. This should be interesting since bloggers tend to be chatty by nature. Also, they've closed off the attendance for this dinner at something around 20 people and several of them are from the Library Underground list including Chris from L.A.C.K. This is going to be fun.
One other note. This year instead of tapes of the presentations they're offering CD-ROMs with MP3 files of all the presentations and all the PowerPoints too. The price at the conference is $79 for a complete set and after the conference the price goes up to $289. I broke down and ordered one. This'll be nice since tomorrow there's several interesting presentations going on at the same times which I'll have to miss. This wasy I'll get to hear them and be able to steal/borrow slides form the presentations. If anyone is interested in hearing the "Dead and Emerging Technologies" session just drop me a line.
Now on to the next two sessions, "Beyond way 101: Applying Reference Skills to Weblogs" and "Unleashing the Power of RSS" then on to a meeting witht the editor-in-chief of Information Today about my next book proposal. This afternoon should be much more interesting than the morning was.
Labels: rss
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
A funny from the conference
I just rembered one of the funnier lines from the "Dead & Emerging Technologies" pannel. D. Scott Brandt said "We need to end this thing on time because many of you want to get back in time to watch West Wing. The show where actors pretned to run the White House. Unlike the real world where a pretneder acts like he runs the White House."
A response
The conservative librarian has posted a response to my request for him (not a her, sorry my mistake) to clarify what we should have "learned" from 9/11. He has no links directly to posts so you need to go to his site and then scroll down to March 9th, 5:21pm.
Notes from the road
This entry is a long one. Since this date and time is the first I've been online since leaving for the conference I just decided to put up all the posts I've written so far all up at once. So, everything that follows for today includes posts for yesterday and today in chronological order. They are dated and time stamped individually for your convienence.
A piece of crap
03.09 10:13am
Last weekend I finally broke down and purchased a rolling computer case. (Maybe I've already mentioned that here but it's key to this story.) Yesterday I took it for a test run to the office and back and decided that I really liked it. Not exactly the right pockets in some places but I was able to quickly adjust. So today I took it with me on my trip to DC. I'm sitting at my gate and I'm now carrying my rolling computer case. I got through security, put all my stuff back into my pockets, put the laptop back into the case, set it on the floor, pulled out the telescoping handle, and one of the two bars, came apart. It looks like I have all the pieces but they do not snap back together. $135 for this damn thing (Eddie Bauer, so it's supposed to be a good bag,) and I've now got to carry it for the next four days. (Unless there just happens to be a store I can exchange it at near my hotel in downtown DC. Yeah, that'll happen.) Luckily I have the shoulder strap but I loaded this thing for bear since I didn't have to carry it. I hope that the rest of this trip goes better than how it's started.
And so it begins...
03.10 7:36am
Well, the high-speed connection in the room Is $9.95/day so but the time I settled in my room last night at 8pm I decided it wasn't worth the cost. I would have been happy to dial in to the BCR AOL account but it seems that I left my phone cord in the old laptop bag. Scratch that idea. So, no connection at the moment I figures I can write all the entries and then upload them this evening.
Flying into DC for the first time since 9.11 was a little bit interesting. It seems that no one is allowed to get up out of their seats for the last 30 minutes of the flight. Now I understand why this rule exists but why treat the capital any different from anywhere else. Yes, I understand that DC is "special" but why just not institute that rule for all flights?
I landed on time at 5pm and had a dinner scheduled for 5:30. These "dine-arounds" were put together by different hosts around a multitude of topics each night at different local restaurants. Since I got into town so late I was considering not going to this one but I figured I had to eat anyway so I got into the hotel, dumped my stuff in my room and hoofed it the mile to the restaurant, getting there at 6.30, only an our late. Turns out that only one other person showed up and after an our waiting for anyone else to show up had finally ordered. The two of us had a great Indian dinner and wonderful conversation. The big surprise was that this dinner's host, who also happened to be the organizer of the conference, never showed. I'm hoping to corner him at some point during the conference to ask what happened.
Anyway, I'm registered and waiting for the morning keynote at 9. I've left the power cord for the laptop in my room so let's see how long this battery actually lasts. (Of course, I don't want to just leave the machine on so the biggest drain on the battery will be turning it on and off whenever I need it.)
Hmmm... Maybe I should take t