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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 52| August 2001
American Library Association Conference San Francisco June 2001
Every year the Library sends a staff member to attend and experience the American Library Association (ALA), conference and trade exhibition. This major event attracts 25 000 registrants from all over the United States, plus international visitors and 4250 trade exhibitors. As a non-librarian Preservation Manager I felt particularly privileged to attend, the experience providing a corporate focus and insight into current issues affecting the library profession today.
For the first time the ALA conference program was organised into thematic tracks to make navigating the worlds largest conference smoother. The broad conference themes were, Leadership, Information Services, Digital Library, Information Access, Children and Youth, Issues and Updates and Advocacy.
Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor during President Clintons first term, presented the Opening General Session. He summed up his thoughts about libraries and family life in our fast-changing economy and how his departure from his position after four and a half years, was sparked by conversations with his sons when he realised that, One must be there and be able to relate to them. He addressed the dilemma of the DINS Double Income No Sex families, and why the phenomenon exists in our society today. He attributed it to the fact that earning streams are uncertain and unpredictable, families and individuals are working two and three jobs to make a living, everyone is busy and whilst this was formerly used as a boast its now more of a lament. He posed the question does one take the fast track and gain in financial stature and prestige, or do you take the slow track and cultivate a life as a parent and spouse and establish friendships?. He also described the ever-widening gap in equality of income and wealth. He said that he sensed that people had lost their bearings, with many asking what is life all about?. People needed a social safety net, and his proposition was that the nations libraries fill that need. He is a strong advocate for libraries and considers the Internet an unfiltered and unpremeditated entity requiring librarians guidance.
Marshall Keyes library consultant and former director of NELINET presented the ALTA Presidents Program presentationBeing Relevant in a 24/7 Gen-X World. The quotable quote to describe the changing role of library trustees and advocates was If you feel like youre in control, youre not going fast enough. He outlined the main responsibilities in the new millennium: educating the public that libraries are relevant to their needs, and making sure that they actually are relevant to the needs of a changing society. He discussed the current demographic changes, both the ageing population, and ethnic shifts occurring in the United States, and the need for succession planning to meet these changes. He talked about the globalisation of work, the move from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy. He said that the changing nature of library work needs to be planned for now, and finished with the Wayne Gretsky quote the secret of my success is that I skate to where the puck will be. Librarians need to do the same.
Nicholson Baker has stimulated considerable discussion in the library community of policy issues not well understood and largely unquestioned. His presentationBest Copy Available The Politics of Paper was a passionate and entertaining address. He argued that the policy adopted by some libraries of destroying paper originals to preserve intellectual content on microfilm had resulted in the irreversible loss of documents that convey testimony of the past. Baker said he supported microfilming and digitisation projects, but not when they resulted in destruction of original documents. He argued that some paper copies must be saved to preserve the richness of our historical record, and this was cleverly illustrated in his visual presentation. Questions from the audience following his presentation indicated a diversity of opinion. He countered his critics in a gentle but very persistent way, and insisted that his views would lead to a fundamental change in archival policy/practice in the United States.
The conference was a rewarding experience. In addition I was able to
receive complimentary feedback and recognition from conference
participants, about the Librarys digital activities with Pandora and
PADI, and on being a major contributor to the Research Libraries Group
(RLG) Cultural Materials Site.
Lydia Preiss
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au