ACRL Conference Preview 2007: Setting Sail
Academic librarians to chart new course at the 13th national ACRL conference in Baltimore
By Andrew Richard Albanese -- Library Journal, 3/1/2007
More than 3000 academic librarians and staff, as well as leaders in higher education and guests, are expected to gather at the Baltimore Convention Center, March 29–April 1, 2007, for the 13th Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) national conference. A jam-packed schedule, themed “Sailing into the Future, Charting Our Destiny,” will offer more than 250 peer-reviewed programs on the top trends and issues facing students, faculty, and campus libraries nationwide. You’ll also find over 200 vendors and an impressive slate of speakers.
The action kicks off with a full day of preconference activities on Thursday, March 29, topped by the Opening Keynote Session, featuring cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson, and by the Exhibits Opening Reception. Over the next three days, library leaders will discuss a range of ever-expanding issues facing academic libraries and the higher education community, from social networking technology and reference, online searching, scholarly communication, and open access to research and recruitment and professional development.
Programs include a full range of panels and contributed papers as well as poster sessions, workshops, forums, and round table discussions. In addition, ACRL will expand its virtual presence this year, with more webcasts, blogs, and polls, along with an “Online SessionBuilder” to help attendees customize and save their conference calendar and a National Conference Wiki (wikis.ala.org/acrlbaltimore).
For the full conference slate, visit www.acrl.org/baltimore. Can’t do it all? LJ’s picks follow (please consult the conference program for locations).
THURSDAY, MARCH 29
4–5:45 p.m.
University of Pennsylvania’s Dyson will discuss the impact of “generational disputes and differences on higher education, including the way students learn, the way faculties teach, and the development and application of new technologies.”
FRIDAY, MARCH 30
8:30–9:30 a.m.
Hear about the forces driving change and fueling strategic decisions librarians make.
8:30–9:45 a.m.
Faculty and Student Perceptions of Using E-Books in a Small Academic Institution and Faculty Attitudes About Scholarly Communication Trends and Issues: Tribal Differences at Columbia University
This pair of contributed papers will juxtapose Southwest Baptist University’s ebook experience and the results of focus group discussions regarding scholarly communication with faculty in 35 departments in the School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia.
11 a.m.–noon
Library as Laboratory: Special Collections in Undergraduate Education
This program explores how librarians can engage undergraduates and faculty with primary-source research using the library’s special collections.
12:15–2:15 p.m.
John WatersDon’t miss the Baltimore native and auteur discussing his life and work.
2:30–3:30 p.m.
E-book Evolution: The New Chapter of Electronic Resources
Panelists discuss aspects of the ebook environment, from current incarnations to user perceptions, access, costs, and how libraries can develop their collections.
2:30–3:45 p.m.
Designing a Library Environment That Promotes Learning and Build It and What? Measuring the Implementation and Outcomes of an Information Commons
This pair of contributed papers looks at the relationship between library space design and user behavior, followed by a “data-driven” examination of information commons design and evaluation incorporating patron behaviors and desires.
4:30–5:30 p.m.
Digital Media, Learning, and Libraries: Web 2.0, Learning 2.0, and Libraries 2.0
Behind the marketing-driven “2.0” label, new and evolving social software coupled with new social interactions are creating exciting developments in student learning and the work of academic libraries.
Working from the Grass Roots: Best Practices in Campus Scholarly Communication Programs
A look at best practices in planning and implementing campus scholarly communication programs from participants in the ACRL/Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Institute for Scholarly Communication.
SATURDAY, MARCH 31
8–9 a.m.
Technology Innovation in Academic Libraries: Rocking the Boat or Unfurling the Sails?
Start your day with a bracing examination of the benefits and disadvantages of introducing innovative “disruptive” technologies in libraries.
8 a.m.–noon
Special Collections, Special Challenges: Advanced Copyright Issues
Peggy Hoon, scholarly communication librarian at North Carolina State, and Cheryl Davis, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, examine copyright issues, including orphan works, faced by special collections libraries and their users.
8:15–9:30 a.m.
Federated Searching: Do Undergraduates Prefer It and Does It Add Value? and Out-Googling Google: Federated Searching and the Single Search Box
A report on research conducted among undergrads to determine whether federated searching helps them better locate resources, followed by a look at an innovative “single search box” approach at Marist College.
9 a.m.–noon
Keeping Libraries in the Flow: Being Relevant in the World of Amazoogle
This sure-to-be-lively forum will focus on how converging technologies affect everything from academic priorities to research methods, publishing, user expectations, and how librarians are perceived and supported on campus. Note: This forum is limited to 100 participants!
10:30–11:30 a.m.
Reinventing Library Services for Undergraduates: Strategies for Reaching Millennial Students
A timely discussion of strategies for reconfiguring physical and virtual spaces to accommodate the habits and expectations of Millennials.
Who Do You Trust? Wikipedia and the Authority of Anonymous Strangers
This panel will feature videotaped interviews with students and faculty as well as integrated audience exercises to explore beliefs about Wikipedia, critical thinking, and the authority of resources.
10:30–11:45 a.m.
Collaborating with Campus IT and Faculty To Build the Institutional Repository of Tomorrow and Building the European Digital Library—An Insider’s Point of View
This exploration of the Georgia Tech Library’s collaborations to design a repository-centered, digital infrastructure will be followed by an insider’s view of the European digital project, developed in reaction to Google Book Search, presented by Olaf D. Janssen, of the European Library/National Library of the Net.
2–3 p.m.
Moving Beyond the Library: Three Perspectives Unite for Distance Education
A writing instructor, an instructional librarian, and a distance education librarian discuss how they moved a traditional writing and research course online.
4:30–5:30 p.m.
From Soup to Nuts: Copyright, Electronic Surveillance and Social Networking Technologies?
Tracy Mitrano, director of IT Policy and of the Computer Policy and Law Program at Cornell, surveys current issues of interest to academic and research librarians, including digital copyright, social networking technologies, and the USA PATRIOT Act.
SUNDAY, APRIL 1
9–10 a.m.
From Option to Opportunity: Concrete Ways To Attract the Next Generation of Academic Librarians
A discussion of how best to attract LIS students to specialize in academic librarianship through varied methods, e.g., dedicated courses, library assistantships, and ACRL student chapters.
9–10:15 a.m.
PennTags: Creating and Using an Academic Social Bookmarking Tool and Analog v. Google in the CMS: RSS Feeds to the Rescue!
Librarians at the Penn Library report on a “social bookmarking tool” that allows faculty, students, and librarians to tag, create, and share content, followed by a look at how in-house RSS feeds can help librarians on a budget compete with Google by maintaining “a concrete library presence” in the course management system.
10:30 a.m.–noon
Nina Totenberg
In her closing address, National Public Radio’s award-winning correspondent will tap an array of national policy issues.
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