missing ALA

Let me start by saying that I’m VERY excited about going to sea. I can’t wait. But, I’m also sad to be missing ALA Midwinter. Folks here are getting read to leave for Seattle. I love the ALA energy and this is the first conference I’ve missed in several years. Here are some of the things I would be doing in Seattle this weekend if I were going:

• ALCTS Forum: The Future of Cataloging and Basic Values
• The Next Evolution in OPAC's and Search Engines (MARS Hot Topics)
• Managed Discussion of Issues Related to Metadata Creation and Management (Networked Resources and Metadata Interest Group)
• MARC21: Going Strong, or So Long? (MARC Formats Interest Group)
• How Catalogers and System Developers Work Creatively with Metadata (Cataloging Norms Discussion Group)
• Training for Implementation of the New CONSER Standard Record (Continuing Resources Cataloging Committee)
  
• Whither Women's Studies?: Feminism, (Inter)Disciplinarity, and the Future (ACRLWomen’s Studies Section)
• Resource Description and Access (RDA) Update Forum & the Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access (CC:DA)
• Name Authority and Name Disambiguation Challenges (Cataloging & Classification Research Discussion Group)
• The Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS): Bringing Vocabularies to the Web (LITA Standards Interest Group)
• MARBI: RDA/ONIX Framework for Resource Categories; RDA/MARC report; Recording the linking ISSN (ISSN-L)
• Evaluation of Libraries External Operations for Sharing Bibliographic Records & An Operational Model for Metadata Management (Catalog Management Discussion Group)
• OCLC Connexion Users Group & OCLC eSerials Holdings
• ALA Metadata Get-Together

Of course, all the good sessions always conflict with each other anyway …

And then there would have been seeing Bob, who I miss a lot & who could have shown me all around Seattle, which I’ve never been to before.

And what has turned into a lovely biannual tradition: dinner with Evelyn (my Director at SJU), Elliot (President & Director of the Free Library of Philadelphia), and Lisa (Deputy College Librarian and Information Literacy Librarian at Franklin & Marshall).

And running into lots of other colleagues, Pennsylvania-folks, former-UVA-folks, visits with Geac & ex-Geac friends, Lester, Bill, Jackie, Mel, Phil, Allison (Phil & Allison must have a baby now? pregnant as she was at Annual in New Orleans in June).

I hope you all have fun in Seattle without me.