LITACamp Wrap-up

A big huge thanks to everyone involved in the first ever

LITACamp

May 7-8, 2009

Colombus, Ohio

The terrific Keynote/daily kick off speakers:

Joan Frye Williams

John Blyberg

The sponsors:

BCR

OCLC

The LITA Camp Task Force

Mark Beatty

David Ward

Jennifer Ward

Michelle Frisque

Zoe Marshall

Peter Murray

Maurice York

Eric Childress

Holly Tomren

Lisa Thomas

and in particular the 50+ attendees.

The conference wiki is the source to check at:

http://litacamp.pbworks.com/

Experience is showing that attendees interest, contributions and level of participation really makes a "camp". The LITACamp had a diverse, lively, eager, and really flexible group that contributed to a great experience for all. We were able to utilize a number of un-conference techniques to allow everyone to share and discover want they came to camp for.

Each day began with a kick off speaker. Joan Frye Williams the first day and John Blyberg the second. Both provided important thought provoking ideas on the nature and futures of technology and libraries. There were stimulating ideas and conversations that urged but did not dominate or overshadow attendees ideas and concerns.

The theme that quickly emerged from the campers and continued in many variations for the whole un-conference was "User Experience". That theme colored almost every other topic as for example how can libraries improve UX, deliver the patron expectations of UX and convince our colleagues of the importance of UX.

For full reports in all manner of methods check out the conference sessions notes at:

http://litacamp.pbworks.com/Session-Notes

Some random thoughts and general notes about LITACamp

The OCLC Conference facilities were excellent, the was staff great, good wifi everywhere, and when power strips were requested they showed up almost instantly. There were loads of rooms of various sizes, all well equipped, to meet all our diverse needs. An especially big thanks to Eric Childress who so generously arranged with LITA the conference facilities.

Holly Tomren and Lisa Thomas did a super job with Twitter and the camp. They made sure there was a universal hashtag and that everyone knew about it. Then they made sure Twitter was used. Finally they made sure the archive was captures. Check the Session Notes page. Holly and Lisa have written up their Twitter experiments and experience, in particular from LITACamp, as part of their ALA Emerging Leader project. It describes techniques and procedures which will be used by LITA.

uStream videos were made of short interviews. Just a laptop and a wireless connection were needed. These are on the Session Notes page too.

Thanks to Sheila Zillner of WiLS for the LITACamp graphic.

Large thanks to the LITA staff for loads of support and encouragement.

Excellent local arranging from Peter Murray and Zoe Marshall, with a great deal of flexibility to include the opening night of the new Star Trek and then due to family and other commitment neither of them were able to attend.

My personal thanks to David Ward, Michelle Frisque and Jennifer Ward and Maurice York for stepping up and really keeping the process moving forward at several different times during the planning and production of the event. Among so many other things David was the wiki master, Jennifer the Facebook group and Michelle wrangled sponsors.

If you're looking for someone to blame, it's all my, Mark Beatty, fault .

Tweet It, Post It, Tag It, Share It

LITAcamp is now on Twitter! http://twitter.com/litacamp

Find us, Follow us, Feedback us! Official hashtag : #litacamp09

LITAcamp is THE library technology unconference for lib-techies by lib-techies. We understand the power of technology to expand reach, share information, and build community. Tweet #litacamp09 with conference highlights, observations, tips of the trade, best practices, and feedback.

Can't attend? Follow conference activity in real-time at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=litacamp09, grab the RSS feed, participate via Twitter @replies, and make connections with colleagues tweeting about your interests.

Photo happy? Post pictures of LITAcamp on Flickr and tag them litacamp09!

LITAcamp 2009. Wherever you are, be there: May 7-8, 2009.

The latest PR blast ....

LITACamp, the unconference, May 7-8 in Dublin, Ohio

LITACamp is a place to discuss and explore the latest in library technology topics and speculate on what might be to come.

Our theme, “The Everywhere Library: Creating, Communicating, Integrating” and our award winning keynote speakers, John Blyberg and Joan Frye Williams are perfect for the wide range of unconference possible presentations and discussions about the new and ever changing landscape we work in.

For example OCLC just announced WorldCat Local Quickstart. Marshall Breeding has said of the announcement: “I see this move stirring up the mix of options and opportunities for libraries. Anything that provides new alternatives to libraries is welcome relative to the state of affairs of recent times where libraries feel frustrated by too few options. So we’ve seen open source come in to challenge proprietary systems; we’re seeing initiatives to fundamentally rebuild library automation systems. Now OCLC adds Web-scale, WorldCat-based library automation to the mix. The library automation scene is getting to be more interesting.”

Stirring up. Mix. Options and opportunities. New alternatives. Web- scale. All the very best of reasons to go to LITACamp.

It is not too late to register for LITA Camp. Registration forms are still being accepted via fax or email AND registration will be accepted onsite.

Call for Camp Topics

We'd love to hear all your ideas for LITA Camp topics - we have some suggestions posted at http://litacamp.pbwiki.com/Topics but there's plenty of room for more. If you're planning or even thinking about going to Camp, log in to the wiki with the password listed at the top of the Topics page and start adding ideas for what you'd like to hear more about.

Topic can be things you want to talk about, learn about, or both. Looking forward to seeing what people are interested in!

Sponsor LITACamp 2009

If your organization would like to help sponsor the LITA Camp 2009, please select a sponsorship level and amount, and email Mary Taylor, mtaylor@ala.org, Executive Director, LITA.

Online Collaboration Tools for LITA Camp

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on good ways to collaborate/share content/archive the results of LITACamp. For example, we have some Twitter tags listed on the Wiki (http://litacamp.pbwiki.com/More+Info), but I'm also wondering about setting up some chat rooms, online whiteboards, etc. that would help with collaboration and tracking output of different sessions for presentation to the group as a whole.

Infocamp Seattle, for example, used a UStream channel, people put things up on slideshare, etc. It would be great to have a bunch of relevant tools set up (such as they need setting up) before hand to help sessions run smoothly.

-David

Camp Registration is Open

The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) is pleased to offer:

LITACamp, The Everywhere Library: Creating, Communicating, Integrating
http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/lita/litaevents/litacamp/index.cfm

LITACamp, a library technology un-conference, is scheduled for:

Thursday & Friday, May 7 & 8, 2009
OCLC Conference Center in Dublin, OH

LITACamp features a community-driven format. There is no pre-determined session topics or presenters, other than the two daily keynote sessions. Participants create and lead the sessions. Participants determine the topic and format of the sessions, sign up for time slots, and pitch session ideas to all. This format encourages collaboration, interaction, discussion, and real-time innovation.

Our keynotes will be delivered by notables known for pushing library technology to directly serve patrons, and are designed to stimulate discussions and ideas and energize the days' sessions.
Our Keynoters for this year include:

Joan Frye Williams
John Blyberg

Visit the LITACamp wiki for the most current information about the camp, including registration and housing.

http://litacamp.pbwiki.com/

Librarians, information technologists, students and trustees from the user-centered information community are all encouraged to attend this un-conference focused on timely discussions of current library issues, determined by the participants themselves.