Last week was the annual meting for the Medical Library Association in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The theme was Information Revolution: Change is in the Air and it was a great conference. Jean Shipman - a director I admire and a friend I adore - was this year's president, and did a great job with her ambitious theme of change (even if she hasn't made it to NYC yet!) I have to make note of Mark Funk's outstanding inaugural address - it was a presentation worthy of all the positive buzz it is getting. While I do not think I have ever been so busy at a conference, I was sure to make time to sit and chat with colleagues and mentors from around the country (in my book - the most valuable part of any conference). So many people lament conferences, and I can hardly blame them* - my first few conferences were less than thrilling, but as time goes on it becomes a great place not only to learn new things but also to take a step back from the everyday and consider the big picture - not only for your own work in your library, but also in the field as a whole. I come back from this conference every year brimming with enthusiasm and ideas.
This year I has the great opportunity to give two presentations and a report on the activities of the Leadership and Management Section PDCAMM Task Force implementation. The response to both my presentations has been great, and a bit overwhelming (in the best possible sense of overwhelming) - so I will post on them individually this week, with links to the presentations and supplemental information.
A great thanks to all my friends (old and new), mentors and audiences for a great conference.
* If you haven't seen March of the Librarians take 5 minutes and watch it - it is laugh out loud funny.
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