Inside ZSR
ALA Annual 2023: yet another trip to Chicago without an attached visit to my hometown of Decatur, IL. Next time I swear I am going to stay an extra couple of days and rent a car. It’s been several years, which is too long, even if Decatur is what it is At “Finding a New... more ›
To me ALA felt surprisingly normal this year, despite masks and lower attendance. I suppose masks simply no longer feel weird; and all the sessions I attended were full, as were the exhibits and hallways. On Saturday morning, being a member of two committees in the same section, I had to choose which table to... more ›
This is the first conference blog post I’ve written in a long time. I guess we’re getting back to normal, gradually. As we all know, ALA Annual 2021 was, for the first time, an online conference, after the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the 2020 conference entirely. Was this year’s version the same as past ALA conferences?... more ›
2019 was my second NCLA Biennial Conference. I only attended for a single day, so I’ll be brief. My main business at the conference was to serve as a panelist at the session “Project Management in Technical Services.” Alongside colleagues from UNC-Charlotte and Western Carolina and moderator Kate Hill of UNCG, I answered a planned... more ›
ALA Annual 2019 marked my first return to Washington DC since 2007, when I attended my very first professional library conference there. I was a law librarian then. I am no longer that. Nor am I a rookie librarian anymore. In fact, at this year’s conference, I met up with my new ALCTS mentee. Either... more ›
This post is on the late side, but there are good-ish reasons for that. I vacationed! Then I was sick! Yet I am embarrassed about my tardiness. Having a family and a body are insufficient excuses for professional negligence. I lived in New Orleans for seven years prior to joining the team at ZSR, so... more ›
Who doesn’t like Chicago? Everyone likes Chicago. In order to not like Chicago, you have to not like cities. Which is valid. I like Chicago, inasmuch as I like cities. I have family in Chicago. During an epic Greek meal on Sunday night I learned that one of my favorite cousins is pregnant. I am... more ›
For the 2017 Midwinter conference in Atlanta I made the strange decision to pack the back seat of my car with a 2-year-old and a 2-month-old, seated beside one another, facing in opposite directions but unanimous in their displeasure. My wife was better-behaved. Nevertheless the arrangement proved untenable and I ditched them somewhere outside Alpharetta, where... more ›
Steve, Leslie, Monesha, and I attended NCLA RTSS’s Fall Workshop at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro on 10/7/16. The workshop was impressively well-attended by folks from throughout the state. By way of summing up, we wrote a paragraph or two each. Here they are, in alphabetical order by author (aka Jeff-first order): “Watch This! Including... more ›
Assuming you are six years old, Orlando is a dream destination. If, like me, you’re 37, you need some compelling reason to go. Enter ALA Annual 2016. On Saturday I attended the program “Linked Data: Globally Connecting Libraries, Archives, and Museums.” Reinhold Heuvelmann of the German National Library described his library’s system of metadata creation,... more ›