Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of work done on my project this week, with the ILA convention preventing me from going to the library for a couple of days. Those days I did work didn't involve anything new to report, since I was doing exactly the same thing I have in previous weeks. I've now uploaded/cataloged a total of 10 pamphlets, with one more nearly ready. Nicki and I agreed that I would continue concentrating on production through the end of this month, and then shift my focus to planning the website. I will be scheduling a preliminary meeting with the web designer in a week or two to discuss my ideas.
In the absence of substantive project-related news, I will be writing about my impressions of the ILA conference as they relate to digital librarianship. Overall, the experience gave me a renewned feeling of confidence that the skills I am gaining through the IMLS fellowship will serve me well when I enter the field. The future of libraries in the Internet age was a big theme of the sessions I attended, and I was left with the feeling that the digital librarian will play a crucial role in shaping this new paradigm.
This idea was reflected in Jim Elmborg's talk about the future of library education, in which he emphasized the profound changes caused by technology and the growing importance of online access. He made a point of mentioning the exciting possibilities created by the marriage between special collections and digital libraries, which made me feel particularly glad that I am gaining experience in this area through my current project.
Another session I attended was entitled "A Crop of Careers in Libraries," in which representatives of various ILA subdivisions were on hand to answer questions about careers in their field of interest. I spoke with representatives of ACRL, SLA, and Information Technology, all of whom expressed optimism about the growing number of career opportunities in digital libraries.
I also heard Stephen Abram of the SirsiDynix Institute give a speech entitled "Baby Busters, Gen X, and Born Digital Babies". Abrams profiled the next generation of library users, who have grown up in a world of "media saturation" and experience the Web as a central component of their lives. His underlying point was that libraries need to embrace the Internet as a means to connect with this group, and obviously, digital libraries are quite applicable to this goal.
Next week, I will make up some of the hours I lost this week and try to get as much production work done as possible. This will probably require me to start choosing shorter pamphlets for digitization, so I can meet my goal of 50 pamphlets by the end of the semester.
