It really wouldn’t feel like winter in Boston if there wasn’t any snow, right? I walked outside after attending the PLA Emerging Issues meeting at the Park Plaza and was thrilled to see a flurry of snowflakes and a dusting of snow on the ground. Just enough to be pretty– and hopefully it will stay that way.

Anyway, the Emerging Issues discussion group was small (six or seven people– probably because it was a hike from the HCC and conflicted with the ALA President’s Program) but a few interesting topics were discussed. We started off with a short discussion on emerging technologies, including RIFD, with the group pretty evenly split for and against self-check-out systems and walk-through charging systems. While we all agree that it would be easier to not have to scan each book at the circulation desk, our two main concerns are:

• Would using RIFD make it too easy to track users and their reading choices?
• Would eliminating (or scaling down) the circulation desk remove a significant way that users interact with library staff?

Later in the meeting, the discussion shifted to database use (which I’ve written about when covering the Hot Topics in Reference meeting) and preservation of local newspapers in public library collections. The latter discussion revolved around three questions:

• What format should we preserve our print serials on?
• Who does digitization (or microfilming) for a single library collection?
• How can libraries fund these important, but expensive, digitization projects?

These topics (and others) will be further discussed at multiple Emerging Issues tables at the Chicago convention– all are invited to join in!