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After a friendly conversation with a very patient lady at the ALA registration desk, it turned out that the reason they had no record of my registration was…I hadn’t actually remembered to register. So that’s a shining start to the conference.

Friday afternoon I went to LITA 101, a gentle introduction to ALA’s coolest little division. [Ever use technology in your work? Then you should join LITA.] I spent the session assuring prospective authors that, yes, LITA has a place for them to publish, whether they’re working up an article, a book, or something in between. Saturday morning was taken up with committee meetings: one with a committee of committee chairs discussing how to lead a discussion (I’ll let you reflect on how “meta” that is); and one where in fact we talked through how to support authors working on that “something in between” publication. I think LITA will be able to put some interesting options out for people with something clever to share about how they implement technology in their libraries.

Saturday afternoon included a program by the LITA Mobile Interest Group titled “We Went Mobile, Now What”. Presenters included a librarian from Portland State University who discussed the usability testing process for getting their mobile web site up and running; and two librarians from Oregon State University talking about the process of replacing their original, now five-year-old, mobile site with a new responsive design for mobile and desktop computers. An important lesson: you can bribe undergraduates with coffee in exchange for feedback.