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ACURIL2008 lessons learned

Cliff June 10th, 2008

Rather than boring everyone to death with a play-by-play of the conference, here are the things that I learned from my trip.  Videos are here, photos are here.  Check out the ACURIL website, the conference page and the conference blog.  I really enjoyed ACURIL; if you get the chance, go!

Things I learned about librarianship:

  • Librarians are the same everywhere. We all face the same problems, and all have our own quirks. And we generally like meeting other librarians.
  • US libraries/librarians and ALA are pretty much like a clique on a very large playground. They ignore (and are pretty much ignored) by the rest of the kids on the playground, who are all hanging out with each other. The only ones losing out are the US; no one is looking to us for inspiration. It is I who have been inspired.
  • A master’s degree isn’t necessary to be a librarian.  Librarianship is a skill that is learned through practice, regardless of the degree in your hands.

Things I learned about Jamaica/the Carribbean:

  • Everything starts about 15-20 minutes late…”Jamaica time.”  I felt right at home.
  • Walk on the left.  Since people drive on the left, they walk on the left.  If you walk on the right, you stop traffic.  I finally got this down by the end of the week.
  • Lots of camera, few laptops.  I realized very quickly that I was among librarians when there were more people recording the cultural events with their cameras than there were folks just watching; after all, we’re in the business of preserving history & culture!  Hey folks who took pictures, share them on the ACURIL2008 Flickr group!
  • People are cold and unfriendly at first, but they’re quick to warm up once they realize you’re not a self-inflated tourist or American jerk.
  • It’s “yeah, man” not “yeah, mon”
  • It’s “persons” not “people”
  • Don’t believe everything you read.  The poverty, crime, etc. won’t eclipse the amazing people you’ll meet.  Positive news stories don’t sell papers.

Things I learned about traveling:

  • It’ll take some time to adjust to the accent.  Be prepared to ask people to repeat themselves.
  • You don’t *really* need all that stuff that you pack.
  • Doing travel laundry is ok for manmade fabrics, but it’ll make cotton stiff.
  • Time your meals and showers–there’s always a rush on both at certain times.
  • Check the iron before you iron your clothes.  Rust can be quite a surprise on a new white shirt.

Things I learned about myself:

  • A vacation alone isn’t really a vacation.  Experiences are meant to be shared.
  • My idea of a great holiday is sitting around watching cartoons and napping (i.e. letting my brain rest).  Not sitting in the sun.  There’s no need to feel guilty for not wanting to hang out on the beach.
  • I value the people in my life, and really do miss those I love, no matter how independent I believe myself to be.

ACURIL2008: Stephen Abram’s Keynote notes

Cliff June 2nd, 2008

  • Louisville women carrying stories forward after abandonment by making quilts, without libraries.  Community is what carries things forward in the midst of challenges.
  • Now the environment is “Free trumps quality, every time”
  • Working together, but feeling stretched.  How do we get our users educated?
  • We need to be inspired about libraries–sometimes we forget what it is that we’re doing.  We’re creating the information & knowledge economy.
  • We can let Google and Yahoo do this job, or we can do it.  Companies are altering results for profit.
  • We need to be aware of our own power and impact.  When we look back on our careers, what will we say?  Will we have an impact on creating an equitable information universe, or will we “give in” and slap a Google search box up on our pages?
  • Professionals commit.
  • Now, more than %51 is not in English.  “It’s not just catalog cards, it’s access to a culture that’s diverse.”
  • When we must come together and be inspired.
  • Our next great challenge is to put content into workflow.  That’s why we make databases accessible from home.  Now we need to put ourselves in that workflow.
  • (If you’re ever sick, DON’T SEARCH MEDLINE.  It’ll scare the bejeezus out of you!)
  • You can start small, but dream big.
  • Libraries help democracies persist.
  • What sort of informations skills will our users need when every book is full-text searchable?
  • Say Yes every chance you get!  Be part of the change you want to see.
  • We are a social profession–the point between the user and the information they need.
  • It’s not about contact or content — it’s about both together.
  • Semantic Web, the Cloud, No choice search engines, GIS oriented search and ads, infinite fulltext books, streaming media and spoken word search, personalization 3.0, microblogging, device proliferation.
  • Students use Google & Wikipedia.  We use Google & Wikipedia.  How dare we say that when we use it, it’s better?!?
  • Library culture of poverty, victimization, risk aversion and passive resistance.
  • How do we make open information a global reality?
  • The best thing about libraries is how subversive we are!
  • We need to put things where the users are.
  • Name tags:  Why are so many librarians freaking anonymous?

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