chicago.

As the relentless leaflets and committee-spam filling my work inboxes keep reminding me, ALA Annual is most definitely “upon us.” After a much-needed Texas vacation next week, I’ll be speaking/facilitating at the RUSA Reinvented Reference Preconference:

Reinvented Reference V: Using Our Collective Wisdom

Friday, July 10, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sponsored by RUSA Reference Services Section (RSS) and RUSA Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS)

Technology, staffing, collaboration, and assessment pose big challenges to most libraries. Wish you could get answers to real world library problems? Tired of hearing “how we did it” stories that don’t mention overcoming hurdles? Wish that sessions were more interactive and less “sage on the stage”? Come to Reinvented Reference V! Reference librarians and managers of reference services interested in discovering solutions to the challenges of staffing models, technology, collaboration, or assessment in an interactive format will reap huge rewards from Reinvented Reference V. Go home with practical, concrete ideas from our expert panel—and your colleagues—that you can implement at your library. Lunch is included.

Speakers: Bill Pardue, virtual services librarian at Arlington Heights Memorial Library; Char Booth, e-learning librarian at UC Berkeley; Lisa Ennis, systems librarian and assistant professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Brian Matthews, user experience librarian, Georgia Tech Libraries [note: Brian is now an Assistant University Librarian at UC Santa Barbara].

Advance Registration (until May 22): RUSA member, $195; ALA member, $240; Non-member, $315; Student, $90
Regular Registration (after May 22): RUSA member, $220; ALA member, $265; Non-member, $340; Student, $115

I’m looking forward to  presenting on something as nebulous as collaboration, and it’s honestly a huge relief for once to be lifted of the perennial responsibility of addressing “technology.” The workshop is following a model that attempts to use case studies as a means of extracting practical strategies from participant experiences – the speakers will do our thing during the morning block, and in the afternoon we divide up with different tables of participants who have identified areas of particular interest from among the four themes, working with them to identify cases to analyze and share. My RUSA Committee (Research and Statistics) is also holding its annual forum:

Don’t miss the 15^th Annual RUSA/RSS Reference Research Forum

The Research Forum is one of the most popular programs at ALA Annual, where attendees can learn about notable research projects in reference service areas such as user behavior, electronic services, and reference effectiveness.

Sunday, July 12, 1:30-3 p.m.

Hilton Chicago (720 South Michigan Avenue), Waldorf

This year’s presentations include:

What WOREP Results Say About Reference Service, Patron Satisfaction and Success

Recipient of RUSA’s 15th Anniversary Reference Research Grant Julie Gedeon and Carolyn Radcliff (Kent State University)

“Teachable Instants” in Instant Message Reference: Taking the Opportunity or Taking a Pass?

Megan Oakleaf (School of Information Studies, Syracuse University) and Amy VanScoy (North Carolina State University Libraries)

Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Tutorials: A Pragmatic Approach

Cindy Craig (Wichita State University Libraries) and Curt Friehs (Kansas City Public Library)

Reference Research Forum Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115014166367

See all RUSA/RSS Events on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=93192679322

As for the rest of the conference, I tend to go where the wind blows in terms of programs, etc., although I’ll be hanging around Emerging Leaders events when I can –  I was recently asked by the indefatigable Peter Bromberg to join the team that organizes EL. My own experience with the program was quite positive, and I hope to help create more practical impact and less general fraughtness from EL than some believe has existed in the past (see In the Library with the Lead Pipe for excellent  background on this statement).