The five-day 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly in Milan, Italy, began for most delegates on Saturday, August 23, with a caucus. These dozen annual one-hour pep rallies, bewildering to beginners who don't know quite what to expect from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, are designed to update attendees on issues specific … Continue reading Americans Kick Off IFLA in Milan with Caucus
The ALA Washington Office released its final push today to remind librarians that August 14 is the deadline for the first-round of Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grants. It will hold the third in a series of webinars Wednesday, which will focus on the fundamentals of the application process. Libraries serve as broadband access anchor institutions across the country … Continue reading Deadline Looms for Broadband Grant Applications
Our grand overview of the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, including sights and sounds from the ALSC Charlemae Rollins President’s Program, Laurie Halse Anderson, the Bookcart Drill Team World Championships, the Exhibit Hall, the ALA Presidential Inauguration, Cokie Roberts, and more. More ALA videos available at alfocus.ala.org.
A photo essay from the Bookcart Drill Team World Championships, held at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, set to “Ride of the Valkyries,” the winning team’s music (available under public domain Creative Commons license via http://www.archive.org/details/EDIS-SRP-0197-06). More ALA videos available at alfocus.ala.org.
Just wanted to offer an alert that this year's crop of videos from Annual Conference—twelve of them in total—are now posted on AL Focus. Of course, you're here, and the videos can easily be put here as well, so… 2009 ALA Annual Conference OverviewChristie Hefner InterviewCokie Roberts InterviewWanda Urbanska InterviewWanda Urbanska at the 2009 ALA … Continue reading Annual Videopalooza
AL Focus visited ALTAFF Spokesperson Paula Poundstone July 9 before a taping of National Public Radio’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! attended by 500 librarians. The conversation covered Poundstone’s role as ALTAFF spokesperson, her kids’ reading habits, The Three Stooges, the dreaded acronym game, and the horrors of math. Transcript to come.
Before her Opening General Session speech at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference, American Libraries spoke with former Playboy Enterprises CEO Christie Hefner about her message to librarians, her memories of Judith Krug and the important First Amendment battles they fought, and what helped her to succeed in what some would call a man’s job. Transcript … Continue reading Christie Hefner Interview
AL Focus catches up with author Tracy Kidder before his Auditorium Speaker Series presentation at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference. Kidder discusses his new book, Strength in What Remains, as well as his ideal vision for libraries–and you will want to hear what he calls libraries and librarians. Transcript to come
Before her PLA President’s Program speech at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference, journalist Cokie Roberts spoke with AL Focus about the new revised and expanded edition of her book We Are Our Mother’s Daughters, as well as the state of libraries and the future of journalism. Transcript to come.
A little over a year ago, I received an e-mail from Cantaloupe Music announcing the release of a new live recording of Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, available solely as a download-only digital file through iTunes and the label’s website (Cantaloupe CA21045). At Northwestern University we typically buy most CDs released by Cantaloupe, so I … Continue reading The Download Dilemma
We expect to close the revenue/expense gap in ’09,” said James Neal, chair of ALA’s Budget Analysis and Review Committee, “but the conference revenue picture will be critical.” The Annual Conference saw an attendance bump-up in Chicago, he noted today at the final meeting of the ALA Executive Board, but the final numbers will tell. … Continue reading Chicago Crowd a Record
Before her PLA President’s Program speech at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference, journalist Cokie Roberts spoke with AL Focus about the new revised and expanded edition of her book We Are Our Mother’s Daughters, as well as the state of libraries and the future of journalism. More ALA videos at alfocus.ala.org.
