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ACRL NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Sailing into the future—Charting our destiny: The 13th National Conference wrap up

C&RL News, June 2007
Vol. 68, No. 6

by Liz Mengel

The ACRL 13th National Conference, “Sailing into the Future: Charting our Destiny,” was held in Baltimore, March 29–April 1, 2007. Conference attendees were greeted with beautiful mid-Atlantic spring weather as they met with colleagues and vendors, renewed old acquaintances, explored uncharted territory, challenged assumptions, and shared research results. The Baltimore conference chair, Mary Reichel (university librarian, Appalachian State University), and the conference committee members produced a conference filled with interesting keynote and invited speakers, papers, panels, poster sessions, workshops, roundtable discussions, preconference workshops, cyber zed presentations, and much, much more. The conference was educational, entertaining, and, yes, even provocative.

^{ACRL Executive Director Mary Ellen Davis,
ACRL President Pamela Snelson, and ACRL National
Conference Chair Mary Reichel kick off the
13th National Conference in Baltimore.}

The committee’s efforts were appreciated by the more than 3,000 conference participants, which included 1,028 first-time attendees and 85 scholarship recipients. The conference drew a total of 4,784 attendees (including paid registrants, exhibitors, staff, and guests), a record-breaking number and 21 percent increase from the previous attendance record. Attendees came from all 50 states and from 27 countries.

Keynotes
The opening keynote on March 29, was presented by Michael Eric Dyson (Avalon Foundation professor in the humanities and professor of religious studies and Africana studies, University of Pennsylvania). Dyson started the conference with a passionate, perhaps controversial, address about the value of diversity, dissent, and self-expression. He commented on the importance of librarians, who he described as the “arbiters of enlightenment for the future of American civilization.” A gifted orator, he demonstrated the beauty of multiple forms of literacy by blending passages by Tennyson with hip-hop lyrics, and he spoke without notes and hardly a pause. Dyson scorned the Bush administration for its anti-intellectualism. He also denigrated Bill Cosby for his criticism of the dress and speech of young African Americans, which Dyson considers a part of their quest for self-determination. Dyson compared himself to a Trojan horse; he has entry to elite circles because of his education and appearance, but he uses this access to voice his radical views.

^{Opening keynote speaker Michael Eric Dyson
talked about diversity, dissent, and self-expression.}

He called for librarians to also be like Trojan horses in their mission to provide access to knowledge, a forum for ideas, and the opportunity for the young to become “addicted to learning,” and thus become all they can be. Dyson was equally eloquent in the question-and-answer follow-up. When asked about his religious beliefs, he responded that, for him, God is present wherever there is compassion and people working together to help one another, and that God was really all about love, a concluding response that brought an enthusiastic standing ovation.

Friday’s lunch keynote was Baltimore’s own John Waters. Waters, an actor, writer, director, and producer is best known for his boundary-pushing films, such as Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Cecil B. DeMented, and Hairspray. He did not disappoint the audience with a hilarious and uncensored hour of anecdotes from his more than 40 years of filmmaking. He even offered advice to librarians on how to make libraries “cool again.” While many of the suggestions will probably not be implemented­—one never knows—someday you may walk into a library to see naked librarians helping throngs of patrons! One can only wonder if Waters was channeling Ranganathan when he said, “There’s a book for everyone.” Then added a twist by saying, “You have to remember that it is impossible to commit a crime while reading a book.” While some attendees may have been wondering what the connection was between Waters and libraries, ACRL President Paula Snelson remarked afterward, “It’s all about freedom of speech. We have to walk the walk.” Waters has been a long-time proponent of freedom of expression.

^{John Waters entertained conference-goers with his
keynote talk during Friday’s luncheon. Later, he
graciously participated in an interview with
ACRL President Pamela Snelson, ACRL Conference Program
Committee member Carlos Melian, ACRL member David Free,
and ACRL Content Strategist Kathryn Deiss.
Listen to the recording at blogs.ala.org/acrlpodcast.php.}

The closing keynote address was from long-time National Public Radio correspondent Nina Totenberg. She provided an overview of some of the legal issues that she has covered in her 30-plus years covering the Supreme Court and the role of the press in society. She provided amusing stories of notes passed between Chief Justice Warren Berger and fellow judges. Totenberg emphasized the value of the free press in a democratic society and emphasized how important it is for journalists to protect their sources. In various administrations there have been attempts to limit access to information through classifying documents. Usually this classification is to avoid political embarrassment rather than protect national security, and she gave the example of the Pentagon Papers.

Citing a case against two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Totenberg concluded that now there is an attempt to charge those who gain access to classified documents, even unwittingly, not just those who provide such information.

^{Nina Totenberg wrapped up the conference
with an informative and anecdote-filled
closing keynote address.}

^{The first-time attendee orientation session provided
an opportunity to learn more about ACRL
and get tips on the conference.}

Invited papers
Four invited papers were featured on Friday and Saturday. Luz Mangurian (professor emerita, Towson University) presented  “Learning, Emotion and their Application for Teaching.” Her discussion topics included an overview of neurosciences and pedagogical research on learning and the importance of emotion in facilitating learning.

David Silver (assistant professor, media studies and director, Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies, University of San Francisco) discussed “Digital Media, Learning, and Libraries: Web2.0, Learning 2.0, and Libraries 2.0.” His talk centered on how social software and new forms of social interaction are encouraging users to contribute in new ways, such as social tagging in the library catalog.

Sanford Ungar (president, Goucher College) spoke about “Education Without Boundaries: The Goucher Experiment.” Conference attendees learned about the Goucher plan, which requires all undergraduates to study abroad in order to graduate. He also discussed the new Athenaeum at the heart of the campus that includes a new state-of-the-art library.

Tracy Mitrano (director of IT Policy and of Computer Policy and Law Program, Cornell University) presented “From Soup to Nuts: Copyright, Electronic Surveillance and Social Networking Technologies.” Her presentation touched on a little bit of everything of interest to librarians in terms of digital copyright, social networking, and electronic surveillance since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Tracks
The conference program was divided into six main tracks: Attracting and Thriving; Collaborations, Content, Collections, and Access; The Environment for Libraries; Libraries and the Imagination; and Teaching and Learning. In addition to these tracks the programs also addressed the seven specific conference themes of Deep Waters (challenges), Getting Your Sea Legs (early career issues), Hoisting the Sails (leadership), Lifelines (values), Passport to Success (effective practices), Squalls (controversies), and Rocking the Boat (innovation).

Highlights from the Attracting and Thriving track included the session “Work Behavior Type and Myers Briggs Personality Type Preferences of Academic Librarians: Change over Time?” Carol Ritzen Kem (University of Florida) presented her research on the changing Myers Briggs Type Indicators of academic librarians between 2003 and 2006. How to deal with resolving conflicts in diverse cultural backgrounds was the topic of Matthew Johnson and Henry Bourgeois’ (Stirfry Seminars) session. The presenters discussed different methods attendees can use to create a sense of community between diverse groups and individuals. Remaining relevant in a world of “Amazoogle” was the theme of the forum presented by Richard Dougherty, (Dougherty and Associates), Gary Pitkin, (University of Northern Colorado), Steven Bell (Temple University), Wendy Lougee, (University of Minnesota), and Michelle Jabcobs (University of California-Merced). They discussed how disruptive technologies, academic priorities, research methods, publishing, and user expectations and preferences hit librarians as one single, powerful wave of change.

In the Collaborations track Michael Levin-Clark (University of Denver) discussed how the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries built a consortial monographic purchase plan. Susan Ware and Courtney Young, (both from Pennsylvania State University) presented the paper “Virtual Teams: Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Across Time and Distance,” which examined how multicampus staffing of their virtual reference desk has introduced innovative organization changes at Pennsylvania State University. Andrew Jewell, Brian Pytlik Zillig, and Katherine Walter (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) presented the panel session “Networking Across the Campus: Collaborative Partnerships through Humanities Computing.” The session focused on how collaboration built a successful Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska.

The Content, Collections, and Access track was expressed in a number of papers. The paper presented by James Neal (Columbia University) on faculty attitudes toward scholarly publishing drew a large crowd that wanted to hear about trends and issues unearthed through faculty focus groups at Columbia. A number of sessions on electronic books were available at the conference, including Bonnie Tijerina, Tammy Sugarman, and Heather Jeffcoat King’s panel on the e-book evolution and how these new resources affect libraries collections.

The Libraries and the Imagination track produced sessions such as Judi Briden, Ann Marshall, and Vicki Burns’ session on the two-year ethnographic study of how undergraduates do their work at the University of Rochester. Also in this track was the contributed paper “Academic Success: How Library Services Make a Difference” from Ying Zhong and Johanna Alexander (University of California-Bakersfield). Laurie Allen (University of Pennsylvania) did an excellent follow up to the Cyber Zed Shed presentation on PennTags. Her contributed paper, “PennTags: Creating and Using an Academic Social Bookmarking Tool,” illustrated how the tool has allowed them to expand their services and how it supports the use of their resources.

The Teaching and Learning track found papers such as Liz Cooper, Anna Van Scoyoc, and Chris Palazzolo’s “Reaching the Faculty of the Future Now: Marketing Instructional Services to Graduate Students.” This team from Emory University discussed how they are partnering with the graduate school’s teacher training program to provide instructional services to their graduate students. Also in this track was the panel session “Library as Laboratory: Special Collections in Undergraduate Education.” This panel demonstrated how libraries can actively engage undergraduates and faculty in the transformative experience of original, primary-source research using special collections. The contributed paper “Build It and What? Measuring the Implementation and Outcomes of an Information Commons,” presented by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis’ Rachel Applegate, described how to use a multifaceted, data-driven approach to information commons design and how to evaluate patron behaviors, desires, and outcomes.

In the Environment for Libraries track there were several sessions on advocacy- across the campus. The ACRL University Libraries Section-sponsored workshop “Campus Advocacy: Involving All Staff in Influencing Campus Dynamics” explored the campus organization, its evolving nature and its trends, and illustrated ways individuals can develop strategies and action plans for their campuses. The panel session “Inside the Academic Administrator’s Mind: What They Really Think About Library Value and Support” posed the question: Do you know what information administrators want in order to make informed library funding decisions?

The conference also presented numerous poster sessions and roundtables. Poster sessions spanned various topics, including wikis, research tools, the Google phenomenon, recreational reading, usability testing, blogs, databases, and more. Roundtable presenters facilitated discussions on topics such as plagiarism, branch libraries, electronic reference collections, empowering department heads, and federated searching.

Top ten assumptions
The ACRL Research Committee unveiled its top ten assumptions for the future of academic libraries at the conference. The committee developed the list from an extensive literature review and environmental scans. The panel of Jim Mullins (Purdue University), Doug Lederman (Inside Higher Ed), Sherrie Schmidt (Arizona State University), Pam Snelson (Franklin & Marshall College), and Julie Todaro (Austin Community College) presented the list and addressed questions from the audience. The assumptions are:

1. There will be an increased emphasis on digitizing collections, preserving digital archives, and improving methods of data storage and retrieval.

2. The skill set for librarians will continue to evolve in response to the needs and expectations of the changing populations (student and faculty) that they serve.

3. Students and faculty will increasingly demand faster and greater access to services.

4. Debates about intellectual property will become increasingly common in higher education.

5. The demand for technology-related services will grow and require additional funding.

6. Higher education will increasingly view the institution as a business.

7. Students will increasingly view themselves as customers and consumers, expecting high-quality facilities and services.

8. Distance learning will be an increasingly common option in higher education, and will coexist but not threaten brick-and-mortar models.

9. Free public access to information stemming from publicly funded research will continue to grow.

10. Privacy will continue to be an important issue to librarianship.

New in 2007
A new addition to the conference this year was the Cyber Zed Shed, which provided 20-minute presentations on how librarians are using new technology in innovative ways. Topics included wikis, blogs, smart phones, social tagging, video IM, Squidoo, and more.

Also new this year was a conference wiki. The wiki was available for all attendees to exchange information about conference programs, events, exhibits, the City of Baltimore, and more. Planning, discussions, networking, and post-conference recapping are encouraged. The wiki is still available at wikis.ala.org/acrlbaltimore/index.php/Main_Page.

There is also the official ACRL National Conference blog at www.learningtimes.net/acrlblog/, where you can check out what your fellows attendees are talking about.

Virtual conference
All conference attendees enjoy the added benefit of being able to participate in the virtual conference online community for free. Individuals who could not make it to Baltimore had the opportunity to register for the virtual conference. The virtual conference, held completely online, offers an on-demand recording of Michael Eric Dyson’s opening keynote presentation, an interview with John Waters, 17 Webcasts, text of contributed and invited papers, exhibitor poster sessions, discussion boards, speaker handouts, and more. The virtual conference online community will remain available to both virtual and face-to-face conference attendees through April 2008. Log in to access the archived Webcasts or to join the conversation; discussion threads include:

• Textbooks on reserve—legal and ethical issues

• Perceptions of Campus-Level Advocacy and Influence Strategies among Senior Administrators

• Moving Libraries to the Network Level

• Designing a Library Environment that Promotes Learning

Liz Mengel is head of collection management at Johns Hopkins University, e-mail: emengel@jhu.edu

© 2007 Liz Mengel