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I served ice cream my first day at MLA 2008!
November 20, 2008 03:13 PM | Professional Organizations, MLA2008Michael Scott, Assistant Director
Well, if that doesn't get some attention, I don't know what will! More on that in minute.
While my first day at MLA was mostly focused on preparing for the 23 Things Party on a Stick: Social Networking in Real Life reception put on by the Multitype Library System Directors, I was able to attend a couple of programs. First, the keynote for the conference, again sponsored by the Multitype Library System Directors, was a presentation Tim Spaulding, the developer of LibraryThing, on the topic of social cataloging and social networking. He created LibraryThing to catalog his own library for his friends and it is now a huge phenomenon! It has some really great features that I truly can see anybody wanting to see in their library's catalog. Things like the possibility of tagging books, DVDs, and other library materials with words that have more meaning to them (cookery, anyone?) or the ability to more easily find a "similar books" or "you might like this" list.
Later in the day I attended a session, Introduction to RDA/FRBR. Frankly, I was a bit scared of this session but as Resource Description & Access and Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records are the items of discussion amongst catalogers, and as the SELCO Cataloging Team reports to me, I thought I should attend. Plus, I was just curious. The update, provided by Chew Chiat Naun from the University of Minnesota Libraries, asked more questions than provided answers. RDA is a new set of cataloging rules being developed while FRBR is a model used in these new rules. Essentially, the goal is to find a way to move cataloging forward to continue to meet the needs of patrons (as well as library staff) to electronically access the materials in libraries. We'll certainly be watching the development here at SELCO.
Finally, I served ice cream during the 23 Things Party on a Stick. Who knew that ice cream bars (note: the Blue Bunny Sundae Crunch Bar was the MOST popular) would be such a hit! Watch the SELCO Flickr site for photos from the party and you'll get to see me at work (and maybe a backup career!) handing out ice cream bars to librarians. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to talk "23 Things" and enjoy ice cream. By the way, all ice cream treats were "on a stick" to fit the theme.
