Exhibits and books… oh my

So I spent the day in the exhibit hall today – no interesting sessions going on, but plenty of things rocking the exhibit hall.  I walked out of the exhibits with over 10 FREE books – many of them signed by the author – over the course of the last two days.  I’m still not sure how I fit everything into my bags, but I did – I think.  One or two of them may burst in transit.  I also spent a fair amount of time at the exhibits – break down was a lot easier than last year – yay, love the new display!  Anyway, I’m currently sitting in Chicago’s Union Station debating what to get for dinner – gotta go with Greek Islands (200 S. Halsted at the corner of Halsted and Adams), but I don’t know what to get because its all good! Hmm… octopus or shrimp or just a big salad?

More updates

So I said I’d update everyone on what I did yesterday – here it is.  The first FAFLRT session I attended had an SU LIS alum as one of the speakers.  She (Cindy Sheffield) and Greta Marlatt were talking about what it takes to set up different types of federal libraries.  There were quite a few really good links… the presentation should be posted on the FAFLRT website in teh next couple of weeks.  The lunch session was a discussion of the round table and various legislative issues.  The first afternoon session was absolutely fantastic – I could not stop taking notes.  it was presented by an FBI librarian, a DEA librarian and an FBI forensic scientist.  The session was packed and we got a really good idea of what these folks do.  While I knew something of what these librarians must do – and I still want to be one of them – I was still amazed by how much they get to do and how much they are relied upon by the scientists in the labs.  The following session was one in which a variety of federal digitization programs and projects.  I was interested in this, but had to leave early to get back to McCormick place to go to ALTAFF’s the Laughs on Us.  While I did not get to stay for Paula Poundstone (at least I got to see her on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me Thursday night), many of hte authors who did read were really funny.  I also ran into a voice from my past career at the SU alumni reception – my first as an alum!  I ran into the outgoing school librarian at Kirk Middle School (Newark, DE) – he’s headed to Delcastle Tech in the fall, but that was kind of cool.

Today, Monday, I walked the exhibits in the morning and found one of the most awesome booths – the Sisters in Crimes booth (female mystery writers) had authors signing books all day – for free!  Here’s hoping they have a few more tomorrow, but hey I already have at least seven free books (many of them signed) and one game.  I also was working at the SU booth – I have a picture of one of our staffers with a dinosaur!  let me know if you all want to see it.  After I got off, I walked around a little more and then promptly misread my schedule – missed the session I wanted to go to, went back to the hotel and fell asleep – no Cokie Roberts for me either 😦  Oh well, it’s off to watch Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols rock the Home Run Derby – let’s go Phils!

FAFLRT rules the Fairmont

So Sunday is once again the day of many FAFLRT meetings…  I started the day with a Wiki session, but it was for beginners and while I got some good tips I didn’t hang around past the halfway point.  The FAFLRT meetings were awesome though… more on them tomorrow!

Chicago blast off…

So ALA Annual has started and I apologize for the lack of post yesterday… my schedule didn’t allow it.  I had a really busy day starting at the Harold Washington Library Center, part of Chicago Public Library.  I was there for the FAFLRT Careers in Federal Libraries Event.  We started the day with a presentation from Helen Sherman, who works for DTIC (Defense Technical Information Center), on how to apply for federal positions.  This included an overview of both the employers and the applicants side of the process and included some basic tips.  This presentation was followed by a panel of Federal Information Professionals including Sally Boskin (US Naval Observatory Library), Mary Chute (IMLS), Kathel Dunn (NLM), Steven Kerchoff (Foreign Service, US Dept of State), Deb Schwarz (Library Associates, government contractor), and Lydia Tkaczuk (VA).  These professionals talked about how they got to there positions and what they do.  This was a really helpful session, if mostly because these individuals demonstrated the diversity of federal information professionals.  After lunch we had a resume and interview session with Robert Newlen of the Congressional Research Service – really helpful although I ended up second guessing my interview from the previous day! He is a great resource – he helped me with my resume last fall.  The day wrapped up with information on getting internships and practica from Blane Dessey (DOJ) and hosting a mini career event from Michelle Demeter (Florida State University student).

Once this was over I hit my first conflict of the conference – a FAFLRT session at the same time as a Games and Gaming Meeting – games won out.  During the meeting I got to meet quite a few of the Verizon grant recipients.  After that was the Open Gaming Session – just as much of a success as last year – even if there were a few Wii glitches and a Rock Star problem at the beginning.  It all got ironed out and Scott Nicholson, Jenny Levine, Chris Harris and all the others put on a great event!  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone playing again next year.

Just spotted on CNN

Better World Books, who were present at  SLA in DC, just got themselves written up on cnn.com.  For more see the article