ACL Conference - Part C

Tuesday.
First full day of conference.

I missed getting up in time for morning devotions. The morning keynote speaker, Dr. Tenopir, did a summary review of data that she has helped collect. I found the presentation interesting as she compared the usage of journals between various types of professional groups and university faculty groups. She was sharing numbers such as how many journal articles are read per year on average by groups such as practicing pediatricians, science professors, humanities professors and several other groups. The numbers were also broken down in several ways, including how the articles were found (by browsing or searching) and how they were accessed (electronically or print).

The first workshop presentation I chose to attend was on CPI Indexing. Christian Periodical Index (CPI) is a database produced by ACL that indexes 60+ evangelical journals and magazines using ACL member volunteer indexers. I usually lump indexing in nith cataloging and think it would be something I wouldn't enjoy, but it would be an easy way to get more involved in ACL. So I attended the presentation about how to get statrted as an indexer for CPI. I thought about it, but ended up missing a meeting later in the day that had more info, so decided I wouldn't try taking on that this year. Maybe next year when I'm not the only one in the library any more.

The second workshop presentation was a round-table discussion about ILL--everyone asking questions and sharing what they do. We discussed packaging techniques, software management options, OCLC Resource Sharing features, and options for sharing article copies. At the beginning of the discussion, everyone introduced themselves and gave a brief explanation of their experience/responsibility in ILL. When I explained the level of ILL PHC does, there were a couple of statements, including one of our regular lenders that, "Yes, we often send you more than four books per week."

In the afternoon, I played a couple of games of pool with SR and JE. It's been a long time since I've played pool! I'm still as undependable as ever. I'll make a short run of 2-3, maybe even make a side pocket or a bank shot, but then I might not make another shot for the rest of the game. I'm not ready to hustle anyone yet.

Supper was "Dinner on the Grounds"--a picnic type menu, but served inside. One of local ACL members and a group he sings with entertained us with some gospel music.

After supper was the Liberal Arts section meeting--made up of members that work in liberal arts colleges. Besides the normal business meeting, the members had a nuts-and-bolts discussion. Much like a round-table discussion, with practical questions being asked and various experiences and advice shared. One of the things discussed that I could relate to was space encroachment--other departments claiming (or trying to claim) library space. An accurate warning that was shared was the appearance of operations personnel or administrators that don't normally frequent the library looking around the library spaces. One of the ideas that I liked for fighting space encroachment was taking pictures with a digital camera at times when students are using the space to capacity or more.

We rounded out the evening with another group watching "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." What really added a layer of fun to the movie was sitting behind a couple of people that started listing the movies/stories that were being parodied with every scene change. The list included "Star Wars," "Lost in Time," "Jurassic Park," and the biblical story of Noah and the ark, just to name a few.