PLA Blog

As you’ve seen from our recent buzz, the drafts of the new and improved PLA Results Service Responses are now available.  True to the first round of the process, we are opening up each new Service Response for discussion here on the blog.

The original set of service responses numbered 13, and last time around we were asked to post them all at the same time.  This proved to be a burden especially with our feed subscribers, so I’m going to avoid that this time around.

With a new set of 17 service responses total, we’ll be posting 5 today and 4 each subsequent day of this week, so that discussion can get started before the session at Midwinter in a few weeks.  While that’s still a lot of posts per day, I promise the posts will be significantly shorter!  Especially since we’ve already established a PLA Service Responses Index page to explain the project and document the progress.
The idea here is the same as before: read the new draft, and post your comments.  I’ll be posting links to the individual discussion posts on the PLA Service Responses Index page as the posts go up.  I’m sure you all have a great amount to contribute a second time around!

Calling all public librarians attending any of the following Midwinter Institutes Friday, January 19, 2007:

• Reading & The School Library Media Specialist Institute (AASL)
• Managing the Changing Research Models in the Humanities Institute (ACRL)
• Creating the One-Shot Library Workshop Step-By-Step Institute (ALCTS)
• The Complex Edifice: Analyzing Your Dream Library Institute Days 1 and/or 2 (LAMA)
• Behind The Genealogy Reference Desk: Want Land, Will Travel Institute (RUSA)
• Definitely Digital: An Exploration of the Future of Knowledge on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Assocation for Library Collections & Technical Services Institute (ALCTS)
• Podcast vs. Libraries Podcasting and the New Culture of Personal Broadcasting on Campus Institute (LITA)
• Building Teen Communities Online (YALSA)
• Business Librarianship 101: Core Competencies for Business Librarianship Institute (RUSA)
• Advocacy Institute (ALA PIO)
• Assessment of Academic Library Effectiveness: Using ACRL Standards for Continuous Evaluation Institute (ACRL)

As you know, we’re running an open call for bloggers for the ALA Midwinter 2007 meeting, and we’d love to have public librarians who happen to be registered for these Midwinter Institutes share their thoughts and what they’ve learned here on the PLA Blog.

Even if you don’t want to blog the rest of the conference, we’d love to have your contributions for these sessions, especially since there is so much that public librarians can gain from other parts of librarianship.  And, well, you’ll probably need to write up notes for when you get back to your libraries to fulfill a professional development requirement, so why not share them here, as well? 

Interested?  Send us an email with your name, title, library, and email address, as well as the Midwinter Institute you will be attending, and we’ll get you all set up and oriented for posting your content here on the blog.

Are you going to ALA Midwinter in Seattle this January?  Want to try your hand at blogging a conference?  The PLA Blog is looking for people to share their experiences through blog posts, photos, and even podcasts.

If you’re interested, please drop us an email with your name, your title, your library’s name, the URL of your blog (if you have one, it’s not a requirement), and your email address, and we’ll get you set up.  No experience required!

We’ve got a crew of 6 conference bloggers who have volunteered report on PLA Boot Camp in Nashville, TN this week from November 13 - 17.

• Marsha Barker, Amarillo Public Library
• Linda Mielke, Indianapolis Marion County Public Library
• Anne Masters, Pioneer Library System
• Kim Kietzman, Southeast Library Services
• Rose Frost, Utah State Library Division
• Mindy Kittay, Marmot Library Network

Keep an eye on the blog as our conference bloggers keep us posted on the conference sessions and happenings!

Will you be attending the Seattle ALA Midwinter Meeting in January 2007?  Want to take a stab at conference blogging?  Send us email with your name, your title, your library’s name, your email address, and your blog URL (if you have one) and let us know.  No experience required!