Web 2.You 2009 was a terrific success!

Whew, I can’t believe it’s all over! After months of planning, negotiating, reserving, and worrying, Web 2.You finally happened on Friday, and I couldn’t be happier with the way everything went. I can’t write a long post today because all the schoolwork I ignored last week is calling my name, but I wanted to say that the event went off without a hitch. It turns out that Michael is just as kind, helpful, and inspiring in person as he has been by email over the past few months, and Stephen and Amy captivated the audience as usual. Our student volunteers really went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly, and the student presenters did a great job as well. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved with such a great group of people – my sincere thanks to all the presenters, volunteers, attendees, and my incredible co-organizer, Amanda.

Sadly, Amy had to return to the reference desk right after her presentation, so she missed the group photo, but here I am with Amanda, Stephen, and Michael, and there’s Amy giving her talk about social networks below.

Amanda, Stephen, Graham, and Michael at Web 2.You 2009

Amy presents at Web 2.You 2009

Things are looking good for Web 2.You

Registration for Web 2.You is now closed, and the response has been great! 56 people are registered (not including speakers and volunteers), which is perfect because we were planning to cap it at 60 – in other words, we’ve filled the room without having to turn anyone away. Amanda and I have been working hard, but it looks like it’s all going to pay off.

I’m super excited to meet Michael Stephens, and I’m also looking forward to hearing Stephen Abram and Amy Buckland, who I know from experience are both fantastic speakers. The three McGill student presentations look promising as well, two of which will broaden our LIS scope by touching on the use of Web 2.0 in knowledge management.

To everyone who’s registered – see you on Friday!

2nd Annual Web 2.You Conference – February 13, 2009

Attention all library folk who will be in the Montreal area (or able to get here) next month: McGill’s School of Information Studies (SIS) will be hosting the 2nd Annual Web 2.You Conference on February 13, 2009. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to organize the follow-up to the event that first inspired me to start blogging. This full-day event will feature presentations about Web 2.0 in libraries and the LIS field from a few of my favourite people:

Michael Stephens

The Hyperlinked Library

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois

http://tametheweb.com/

Stephen Abram

Shift Happens 2.0: What on earth is happening and how will it affect libraryland?

Vice President of Innovation, SirsiDynix, Toronto, Ontario

http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/

Amy Buckland

Joining the discussion: Using social networks for professional development (or developing into a professional)

Liaison Librarian, Howard Ross Library of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

http://informingthoughts.com

There will also be presentations from some of the best and brightest students SIS has to offer.

I would absolutely love to meet some ILSS readers, so be sure to drop me a line if you’re able to come. I’ve put a lot of work into organizing this event (along with my co-organizer, Amanda Halfpenny), and it’s shaping up to be a great day.

Registration is very affordable and now open – for more info, check out the Web 2.You wiki.

See you there!

Excited for IFLA

I still haven’t picked out all the sessions I’ll be attending (except for Amy’s), but I’ve made up some business cards (on moo.com), and I’m really looking forward to the IFLA conference in Quebec City. I just wanted to make a quick post to ask whether there’s anyone who’ll be attending and wants to meet up. I’ll be there the whole week, so let me know!

IFLA conference in August

Especially for anyone interested in research, a great way to experience the exciting side of the LIS field is to attend a conference. If you’ve already done some interesting research, then submitting a paper is the way to go, but even those of us (the majority in non-thesis based programs) with nothing to present should attend when the opportunity arises.

One of the biggest and most respected library conferences is put on annually by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and this year it will be held in Quebec City, which is good news for anyone who will be in the area in August. The theme of the conference is Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding, and although the registration fee is rather expensive (even at the student rate), anyone who volunteers will be entitled to attend some portion of the event for free (from what I’ve heard, volunteers will be able to attend one day of the conference for each day they volunteer).

If you’ll be able to travel to Quebec City in August, I highly recommend that you register as a volunteer. The conference runs from August 10th-14th, but volunteers are needed each day from the 6th-16th. The ILSS will be there (the blogger, not the blog), so drop me a line if you’ll be attending. And don’t delay – the deadline for volunteering is March 1st.

Note: The volunteer registration form indicates that you must be able to speak French to volunteer, but even if you don’t know any French, you might as well fill out the form anyway, and they can decide whether or not they want to take you. Just be honest when they ask about your level of language proficiency.