Saturday was fun but didn’t really start that way. The first program, I attended a forgetable program about collection data assessment. It focused on mostly academic resources but was not entirely innovative in any respect.
There was a small protest going on in front of the convention center. I visited the exhibit floor, it was a bit daunting but I loved the Spin the Wheel of ALA acronyms and got to see my grad school’s booth and saw Rhonda the recruiter.
The Ultimate Debate, Do Librarians Innovate? was very heated, but much of it was just heated venting, with Joe Janes, Karen Schneider and Stephen Abram, moderated by Andrew Pace. Karen made the distinction between invention and innovation, while Stephen Abram defined innovation as change leadership.
They talked about the library in Maricopa County getting rid of Dewey, going to an entirely browsing collection in one library and the uproar by librarians on the PubLib listserv. The outcry is an example of the fear of trying something new. Predictably, there were no complaints from the customers. I think libraries should keep dewey for workers, but use tag clouds added by library customers to the online catalog records displayed on LCDs on the shelf ends to show them what’s where. Joe argued that libraries don’t innovate, individuals do.
Other topics that were brought up were library schools role in teaching and promoting innovation, the slender margin of success librarians are allowed, a culture of playing the victim, and unrealistic expectations for librarians.
I wrapped the day with a visit to the LITA Open House followed by the LITA Happy Hour at the Capital City Grill.
Check out the rest of the photos from day 2 on flickr
