Handheld Librarian Online Conference III Part 2

So, as I was waking up this morning, I thought about technology. I don’t know why technology was the first thing on my mind. Maybe it was because of the conference or maybe it’s because it’s so integrated in my life. My thought was that technology is awesome! I know not very original but technology is awesome. It makes my life easier and I love my iPhone. I honestly don’t think I could go back to a non-smartphone. I do have to say that sometimes the advances we are making scare me – privacy issues, loss of human interaction, robot madness, etc .

Oh, by the way, yesterday’s session by Lisa Carlucci Thomas was inspiring. She incorporated beautiful slides with powerful words – an unbeatable combination. She talked about risks and libraries. Taking risks is a part of librarianship and libraries have to take risks to stay in the game. She also mentioned that a new divide is coming. Not only is there a digital divide among computer users there also will exist a cultural divide between mobile users with smartphones and those without. I believe she’s right. Cell phones are ubiquitous but not everyone can afford a smartphone. It made me very happy to hear her talk about libraries melding the old and the new. I prefer to meld instead of exclude or throw away the old simply to adopt the new.

Today was the second day of the HHLIB III conference. Again, you can follow the tweets at #hhlib. Although I wasn’t able to attend all the sessions today due to scheduling conflicts, I do plan to listen to the archives. I did hear an interesting presentation about eReaders. It almost makes me want to purchase one but I still need to research my options and I’m not sure if I want to purchase one. I have my iPhone and can read books on it but haven’t read a whole book on it. I do read parts on my phone, parts on my computer and parts from the book. I enjoy the convenience of reading and storing books on my phone but don’t like I can’t page through the book and I love the smell and feel of books. Call me old-fashioned but I love walking into a bookstore or library and seeing all those books on a shelf. I realize ebooks are becoming more and more popular but I think there will always remain a place for print books. I also don’t think books are dying. As someone in the conference said, “books aren’t dying, they’re just changing.”

Thoughts?

Handheld Librarian Online Conference III

I am attending the HHLIB III Conference today and tomorrow. Lots of good speakers and info on mobile technology and how to use it in libraries and what other libraries are doing. I highly recommend it. If you can’t attend but would like to see some highlights. You can follow along at Twitter by using the #hhlib hashtag.

This conference  started out with a Battledecks session. I’ve seen it before (virtually) from ALA. This Battledecks session seemed to be hit and miss. There were some great speakers but I think the session lacked energy. For me, it was hard to stay focused.

The keynote speakers for the morning were Joe Murphy and Chad Mairn. A very awesome presentation that highlighted the where mobile library services are going and finding out what libraries are doing now – “Creating the Future of Mobile Library Services.” The afternoon’s keynote is by Lisa Carlucci Thomas. It’s called “Risk, Reality & the Mobile Revolution.” I’ve heard her speak before and she is great! Should be very interesting and relevant.

Will talk more tomorrow or later this afternoon…