june09b.indd


ACRL National Conference 
edited
by
Jessica
Albano
and
Elinor
Appel


Pushing the edge: Explore, engage, 
extend 
The 14th National Conference wrap up 

The
ACRL
14th
National
Conference,
“Push­ing
the
Edge:
Explore,
Engage,
Extend,”

was
held
in
Seattle,
March
12–15,
2009.
On

day
one
attendees
(at
least
those
of
a
certain

age)
were
humming
“the
bluest
skies
you’ve

ever
seen
are
in
Seattle”;
on
the
last
day
of

the
 conference,
 Seattle
 was
 suddenly
 blan­
keted
in
white
by
an
Ides

of
 March
 snow
 fall.
 The

eco­friendly
 conference

itself,
 however,
 was
 the

“greenest
green”
yet.


Seattle
 Conference

Chair
Betsy
Wilson
(Uni­
versity
 of
 Washington)

and
 the
 conference
 co­
ordinating
 and
 compo­
nent
committee
members

produced
 a
 conference

filled
 with
 informative

keynote
 and
 invited

papers,
 panel
 sessions,

workshops,
 roundtable

discussions,
 preconfer­
ence
 workshops,
 Cyber

Zed
 Shed
 presentations,

and
much
more.
Round­
ing
 out
 all
 of
 the
 excel­
lent
 programming
 were

several
 exciting
 events,
 including
 gaming

night
and
the
all­conference
reception
at
the

world­famous
Experience
Music
Project/Sci­
ence
Fiction
Museum.


The
 committees’
 efforts
 were
 greatly

appreciate
 by
 the
 more
 than
 4,300
 library

staff,
 exhibitors,
 speakers,
 and
 guests
 from

every
 state
 and
 22
 countries
 who
 gathered

in
Seattle.
Combined
with
the
more
than
350


ACRL
 President
 Erika
 C.
 Linke,
 Seattle

Conference
Chair
Betsy
Wilson,
and
ACRL

Executive
Director
Mary
Ellen
Davis
at
the

ribbon-cutting
ceremony.


online
participants
in
the
ACRL
2009
Virtual

Conference,
the
Seattle
conference
had
the

highest
combined
registrant
participation
ever

for
an
ACRL
National
Conference,
with
3,263

face­to­face
and
virtual
attendees,
including

approximately
1,150
fi
rst­time
attendees.


Despite
 an
 uncertain
 economy,
 the
 un­
precedented
 number
 of

scholarship
 winners
 was

another
 first
 this
 year.

Thanks
to
generous
dona­
tions,
110
awardees
were

able
to
attend
ACRL
2009

(some
virtually).


Several
 scholarship

winners
 contribute
 their

highlights
 of
 the
 confer­
ence
in
this
report.


Conference themes 
Conference
 program­

ming
 was
 divided
 into

five
 different
 themes:

“Cast
 a
 Net”
 (outreach

and
 collaboration),
 “Feel

the
 Buzz”
 (emerging

trends
 and
 assessment),

“Get
It
to
Go”
(new
tech­
nologies),
 “Harvest
 and


Sustain”
 (conservation,
 preservation,
 and

digitization),
and
“Scale
the
Heights”
(library

leadership
 and
 professional
 development).


Jessica Albano is communications studies librarian 
at University of Washington’s Suzzallo Library, e-mail: 
jalbano@uwashington.edu, Elinor Appel is reference 
and instruction librarian at North Seattle Community 
College, e-mail: eappel@sccd.ctc.edu 
© 2009 Jessica Albano and Elinor Appel 

330C&RL News June 2009

mailto:eappel@sccd.ctc.edu
mailto:jalbano@uwashington.edu


Each
theme
featured
programming
in
a
va­
riety
of
formats
including
workshops,
panel

discussions,
contributed
papers,
poster
ses­
sions,
and
roundtable
discussions.


“Cast
 A
 Net”
 featured
 sessions
 such
 as

“Twitter
 for
 Libraries,”
 “Studying
 Your
 Stu­
dents:
Adapting
Research
from
the
University

of
Rochester
Study,”
and
“Outreach
Inside
the

Library.”
Trends
highlighted
in
the
“Feel
the

Buzz”
theme
included
“Subject
Librarian
2.0,”

“Reference
Area
Redesign,”
and
“Whose
Line

Is
It:
The
Business
of
Improvisation
Applied

to
Library
Instruction.”


“Get
 It
 To
 Go”
 included
 information
 on

LibGuides,
data
literacy,
and
tracking
student

reactions
to
emerging
technologies.
Attendees


at
 “Harvest
 and
 Sustain”
 themed
 programs

learned
about
topics
including
“How
to
Green

a
 Library
 Conference,”
 “Understanding
 the

Integrative
Role
of
an
Academic
Library
for

Undergraduate
Library
Student
Workers,”
and

“Electronic
Resources
Management
in
Today’s

Library.”
“Gender,
Generation,
and
Toxicity,”

“Mapping
Your
Path
to
the
Mountaintop,”
and

“Where
Have
All
the
Librarians
Gone?”
were

featured
in
the
“Scale
the
Heights”
theme.


Keynote speakers 
Rushworth Kidder 
The
opening
keynote
address
was
given
by

Rushworth
Kidder,
author
and
founder
of
the

Institute
for
Global
Ethics.
Kidder
began
by


June 2009 331 C&RL NewsJune 2009 331
 C&RL News 

Going green 

This year everything 
was a little more 
sustainable—from 
the shower timer 

in the recycled­fabric conference bag, to 
the bamboo utensils at mealtimes, to the 
paper handouts that were probably not 
distributed at all! If you attended the confer­
ence, chances are you heard about some of 
the ways we “greened” things this year, and 
chances are you helped us do it. 

Conference Planning Chair Betsy Wilson 
kicked things off in 2007 by charging a new 
Green Component Committee with a mis­
sion to reduce waste and raise awareness of 
the environmental impact of the meeting. 
The committee polled ACRL’s membership 
to find out what we thought were the most 
important issues.Waste paper reduction was 
a clear winner, along with overall reduction 
of energy, materials, and resources. 

Membership got behind the green initia­
tive in a big way. More than 80 percent of 
the 3,263 participants (virtual and on­site) 
signed the Green Pledge,agreeing to reduce, 
recycle, and learn more about sustainable 
practices. One member commented in the 
virtual conference,“The ACRL’s Green Com­
ponent Committee for the 14th National 
Conference makes me proud to be a librar­
ian!” Someone else noted:“One thing I did 
not come away with is a big pile of stuff….I 

have a hunch that there was a lot less paper 
this year than there has been at past confer­
ences and this is in part a reflection of the 
greening of the conference.” 

It’s true, we saved a lot of paper. We 
estimate over 236,000 pages were saved by 
using more electronic communication.And 
what if you didn’t want a coffee mug at all? 
ACRL staff helped route lots of extra materi­
als to worthy charities.At the end of the day, 
500 coffee mugs were donated to food bank 
Northwest Harvest and community­building 
organization Solid Ground. Packaged food 
and unconsumed nonpackaged food was 
donated to FareStart,a job training and place­
ment program for Seattle’s homeless. More 
than 500 show bags went to Treehouse.org, 
a support organization for foster children, 
and 1,000 exhibitor bags went to Northwest 
Harvest. Books were donated, too. More 
than 1,000 books were donated to Better 
World Books and other charities.The book 
drive raised almost $1,000 in commissions 
that went to the National Center for Family 
Literacy.Even our signatureACRL raven signs 
were donated to a local theater group,where 
they’ll be used as props. 

It was a good year to be green at ACRL, 
and we’re looking forward to 2011, which 
we hope will carry on the tradition of a vi­
brant, engaged, and sustainable conference 
for all.—Karen Munro, University of Oregon 



Opening
keynote
speaker


Rushworth
Kidder.



stating
that
we
are
not
only
in
an
economic

recession,
 but
 also
 in
 an
 ethical
 one.
 He

pointed
out
that
what
started
out
as
a
fi
nan­
cial
 problem
 has
 proven
 to
 be
 one
 of
 lies,

deceit,
and
overall
lack
of
integrity,
resulting

in
general
moral
outrage.
Kid­
der
 proclaimed
 that
 we
 are

in
 clear
 need
 of
 an
 “ethical

bailout,”
and
that
we
need
to

rebuild
our
moral
culture
and

recreate
a
culture
of
integrity.

He
called
for
moral
courage,

which
he
defi
ned
as
the
will­
ing
 endurance
 of
 signifi
cant

danger
for
one’s
principles
to

do
what
is
right.
Acknowledg­
ing
that
ethical
choices
are
of­
ten
between
“right
and
right,”

rather
than
between
right
and

wrong,
he
said
that
the
task

is
 to
 find
 the
 “higher
 right.”

Kidder
 lauded
 librarians
 for

already
 creating
 havens
 of

principle
 and
 recalled
 Winston
 Churchill

in
urging
us
to
“never,
never,
never,
never,

never
 give
 in.”—Jade Alburo, University of 
California­Los Angeles 

Sherman Alexie 
American
Indians
are
not
always
what
you

expect.
They
can
be
many
things,
even
con­
tradictory
things.
This
was
one
of
the
many

subtle
 points
 Sherman
 Alexie
 made
 using


Keynote
speaker
Sherman
Alexie.


stories,
a
sprinkling
of
poems,
and
a
heavy

dose
of
humor
during
his
keynote
address
on

the
second
day
of
the
conference.


Alexie
told
the
story
of
how,
as
an
adult,

he
 learned
 that
 his
 grandfather
 was
 a
 war

hero
 and
 had
 earned
 numerous
 medals
 in

World
 War
 II.
 While
 a
 member
 of
 Seattle’s

Anti­Iraq
 War
 Planning
 Committee,
 Alexie

applied
for,
claimed,
and
passed
these
medals

on
to
his
father.
Native
Americans
are
often

patriotic,
despite
the
fact
that
America
has
not

been
good
to
them,
Alexie
pointed
out.
Alexie

also
acknowledged
that
most
stereotypes
are

based
on
truth.
He
then
asked
those
in
the
au­
dience
who
love
an
alcoholic
or
drug
user
to

raise
their
hands.
It
was
a
powerful
moment

for
the
audience
to
view
these
raised
hands
all

around
them.
While
alcoholism
is
a
problem

in
many
Native
American
communities,
it
is

also
a
disease
that
has
touched
many.
This
is

the
genius
of
Alexie—the
ability
to
relate
to


a
wide
audience
while
por­
traying
contemporary
Indian

life
in
realistic
terms.—Sandy 
Littletree, North California 
State University 

Ira Glass 
The
closing
keynote
address

began
with
the
unmistakable

voice
of
This American Life’s

Ira
 Glass
 filling
 the
 pitch­
black
 ballroom.
 Although

Glass
jokingly
stated
that
he’d

requested
 to
 do
 his
 entire

speech
 without
 being
 seen,

the
stage
was
eventually
illu­
minated,
revealing
him
sitting

behind
a
sound
mixing
table


wearing
black
frame
glasses
and
a
well­worn

hoodie.
Looking
more
like
a
DJ
than
a
confer­
ence
 speaker,
 Glass
 captivated
 an
 audience

of
hundreds
of
librarians
as
he
discussed
and

demonstrated
the
art
of
story
telling.


All
stories,
in
their
most
basic
form,
are

essentially
a
sequence
of
actions.
The
chal­
lenge
 is
 to
 make
 people
 care
 about
 the

story
 they
 hear.
 Central
 to
 every
 narrative,

Glass
claimed,
is
a
universal
human
experi­

332C&RL News June 2009



ence,
 “something
 at
 tions’
 information

stake”
 that
 makes
 literacy
learning
out­
people
stop
and
pay
 comes.

attention.
 Ar med
 The
 presentation

with
 interview
 clips
 ended
with
a
spirited

from
 his
 radio
 and
 question­and­answer

t e l e v i s i o n 
 s h o w , 
 session.
Some
in
the

Glass
replicated
this
 audience
applauded

powerful
 narrative
 the
 idea
 of
 greater

technique.
 Each
 in­ accountability,
while

terview
had
its
own
 others
 expressed

unique
message,
but
 their
 deep
 dissatis­
all
 were
 engagingly


honest
 and
 stripped
 of
 the
 “fake
 gravitas”
 

that,
according
to
Glass,
plagues
contempo­
rary
journalism.



The
stories,
like
the
people
telling
them,

spoke
 for
 themselves.
 True
 to
 fashion,
 Ira

Glass’s
 closing
 keynote
 address
 was
 story­
telling
at
its
best:
intimate,
honest,
touching,

and
 funny.—Veronica Arellano, University 
of Houston 

Invited papers 
On
Friday
Marilee
Bresciani
(associate
profes­
sor
of
postsecondary
education,
San
Diego

State
University)
discussed
her
paper
“Con­
fronting
the
Business
Lens
for
Accountability

of
 General
 Education,”
 which
 she
 cowrote

with
 Megan
 Oakleaf
 (assistant
 professor
 of

library
science,
Syracuse
University).
Accord­
ing
 to
 Bresciani,
 the
 business
 approach
 to

accountability
 is
 to
 fi
rst
 define
 the
 product

and
then
determine
how
to
best
organize
the

business
to
deliver
the
highest
quality
product

at
the
most
cost­effective
price.
Consumers

can
then
easily
compare
similar
products
and

their
prices.
If
we
consider
learning
outcomes

to
be
the
primary
product
of
higher
educa­
tion,
very
little
is
being
done
to
communicate

to
 our
 consumers
 how
 our
 product
 differs

from
those
of
our
competitors.


By
not
providing
this
data,
we
both
force

consumers
 to
 make
 an
 uninformed
 choice

and
remove
the
motivation
for
higher
edu­
cation
to
organize
in
the
most
effi
cient
way.

Bresciani
recommended
that
librarians
work

toward
creating
a
scoring
system
that
would

allow
 consumers
 to
 easily
 compare
 institu­

Closing
keynote
speaker
Ira
Glass.

faction
with
the
idea


of
moving
higher
education
further
toward

a
 business
 model.—Ben Hunter, University 
of Idaho 

In
 his
 presentation
 “What
 Really
 Are

Student
Learning
Outcomes?”
Peter
Hernon

(Graduate
School
of
Library
and
Information

Science,
Simmons
College)
clarified
the
differ­
ences
between
student
outcomes
and
student

learning
 outcomes. Student outcomes are

classified
 as
 institutional
 accomplishments,

such
as
retention
rates,
graduation
rates,
and

year­to­year
measurements
of
a
university’s

performance.
In
libraries,
these
translate
to

circulation
 statistics,
 reference
 counts,
 and

resource
 access,
 to
 name
 a
 few.
 Student 
learning outcomes,
on
the
other
hand,
are
the

abilities,
such
as
analytical
thinking
and
civic

engagement,
 that
 students
 gain
 as
 a
 result

of
 their
 college
 experience.
 These
 abilities

are
not
easily
measured
using
the
statistical

tools
 traditionally
 used
 in
 the
 accreditation

process.
What
does
this
mean
for
the
library?

Hernon
suggested
that
accountability
to
stu­
dent
learning
outcomes
touches
the
library

and
the
university
as
a
whole
and
should
be


Join us in Philadelphia 
Mark your calendars! Join your colleagues 
March 30–April 2, 2011, in Philadelphia for 
ACRL’s 15th National Conference “A Dec­
laration of Interdependence.” Pam Snelson 
(Franklin & Marshall College) chairs the 
ACRL 15th National Conference Executive 
Committee.The Call for Participation for 
ACRL 2011 will be issued this fall. 

June 2009 
333
 C&RL News 



clear
 in
 the
 mission
 statements
 of
 both.
 In

addition,
libraries
have
an
important
relation­
ship
with
their
university
and
should
be
pro­
foundly
involved
in
the
accreditation
process.

Librarians
have
the
unique
opportunity
to
be

more
involved
in
this
process
by
developing

partnerships
 with
 faculty
 to
 embed
 library

services
into
instruction
on
campus,
impacting

attitudes
toward
research
and
scholarship
on

an
institution­wide
level.—Cass Plater, North 
Carolina Agricultural and State University, 
and Amy Roberson, Graduate Student, School 
of Information and Library Science, University 
of North Carolina­Chapel Hill 

On
 Saturday
 Lynn
 Silipigni
 Connaway

(senior
 research
 scientist,
 OCLC
 Research)

presented
“I
Would
Sort
of
Appreciate
a
Little

More
Understanding:
Engaging
Net
Gen
Stu­
dents
in
Virtual
Reference.”
Her
talk
focused

on
the
information­seeking
behaviors
of
the

Net
 Generation,
 those
 born
 between
 1979

and
1994
and
living
in
a
socially
networked

environment.
 Her
 study
 focused
 specifi
cally

on
 Net
 Gen
 users
 and
 nonusers
 of
 Virtual

Reference
Services
(VRS).


Highlights
of
the
study:
the
Net
Gen
popu­
lation
 associates
 libraries
 with
 books
 rather

than
electronic
resources;
these
users
would

most
likely
use
VRS
when
recommended
by

someone
they
trust;
they
prefer
instant
access

to
information;
and
they
find
VRS
to
be
less

intimidating
 than
 other
 types
 of
 reference

services.
The
study
also
found
that
this
popu­
lation
is
deterred
from
using
VRS
by
experi­
ences
with
nontech­savvy
librarians
because

they
can
find
information
elsewhere,
because

they
want
24/7
access,
and
because
they
often

don’t
 know
 the
 service
 exists.
 According
 to

Connaway,
 information
 professionals
 must

modify
their
services
and
attitudes
in
order
to

accommodate
this
new
population.—Michele 
Alaniz, College of San Mateo 

Gaming night 
The
buzz
of
excited
conversation
and
the
beat

of
rock
music
greeted
all
who
came
to
ACRL

Gaming
Night.
Thanks
to
coordinator
Jenny

Levine,
academic
librarians
had
the
opportuni­
ty
to
be
rock
stars,
belting
out
Rock Band tunes


in
one
corner;
to
show
their
moves
in
a
Dance 
Dance Revolution
in
another;
and
to
duke
it

out
 with
 the
 Mario
 Brothers
 in
 yet
 a
 third.

Levine
 also
 supplied
 more
 traditional
 board

games
 such
 as
 Apples to Apples, Ingenious, 
Don’t Stop, and Hamster Wheel. While
having

fun,
participants
engaged
in
new
learning
op­
portunities
(some
of
those
games
are
hard!)

and
met
colleagues
from
all
over
the
country.

Conversations
 about
 budgets,
 instruction,

and
 organizational
 issues
 were
 interspersed

with
dancing
and
laughter,
snacks
and
drinks

(provided
 by
 University
 of
 Pittsburgh).
 The

success
 of
 this
 event
 provided
 a
 promising

beginning
to
the
conference.—Carole Svens­
son, University of Washington 

Cyber Zed Shed 
The
 popular
 Cyber
 Zed
 Shed
 returned
 to

ACRL
2009
after
its
successful
debut
two
years

ago
in
Baltimore.
These
sessions
focused
on

technology­related
innovations
and
were
tasty

bite­size
 morsels,
 easy
 to
 digest,
 and
 chock

full
of
great
ideas
for
attendees
to
try
in
their

own
 libraries.
 The
 two­day
 sessions
 ran
 for

20
minutes:
15
minutes
for
the
presentation

and
 5
 minutes
 for
 questions
 from
 the
 audi­
ence.
This
format
proved
to
be
very
effective.

Presentations
were
very
lean,
providing
basic

information
 while
 whetting
 the
 appetite
 for

more.
After
the
sessions,
interested
attendees

could
meet
with
the
presenters
to
get
further

information.
 The
 sessions
 were
 scheduled

one
after
the
other,
making
it
easy
to
stay
and

listen
to
the
next
presentation,
but
making
it

harder
to
catch
up
with
the
previous
presenter.

Cyber
Zed
Shed
sessions
were
so
popular,
that

often
seating
was
tight
and
people
ended
up

sitting
on
the
floor,
myself
included.
Despite

the
standing
room
only
conditions,
Cyber
Zed

Shed
sessions
were
a
big
hit.—Junie Hayashi, 
Leeward Community College 

Poster sessions 
With
a
total
of
150
posters
presented
over
two

days,
viewing
all
the
presentations
at
confer­
ence
 was
 like
 professional
 speed
 dating
 for

academic
 librarians!
 As
 always,
 instruction­
related
content
was
well
represented
and
a


June 2009 
335
 C&RL News 



big
draw,
and
it
was
nice
to
see
discipline­
specific
 examples
 of
 information­literacy

efforts.
The
use
of
multimedia
in
instruction

keeps
 generating
 an
 increasing
 number
 of

interesting
projects,
and
my
only
regret
was

that
the
poster
sessions
didn’t
include
video

to
showcase
some
of
these.
Another
exciting

presentation
was
on
institutional
repositories,

and
 I
 imagine
 that
 we’ll
 see
 more
 on
 these

in
Philadelphia,

as
libraries
con­
tinue
 to
 lead

the
 charge
 on

scholarly
 com­
munication
 is­
sues
 for
 cam­
pus
 constitu­
ents.
 Mobile

devices
are
also

on
the
horizon

for
 an
 increas­
ing
 number
 of

libraries,
as
the

smattering
 of

posters
 in
 Se­
attle
 testified.
 Probably
 the
 most
 innovative

poster,
 in
 my
 opinion,
 was
 Indiana
 Univer­
sity’s
 “Depicting
 Faculty
 Impact:
 Visualizing

Contributions
 to
 Research
 with
 Dossier
 In­
serts.”
Robert
Noel
and
Peter
Hall
have
been

helping
faculty
create
inserts
for
their
tenure

and
 promotion
 files
 that
 visually
 showcase

their
 research
 influence
 through
 cited
 refer­
ence
counts
and
journal
impact
factors.
Now

that’s
 serving
 your
 users!—Rebecca Metzger, 
Lafayette College 

Roundtables 
Roundtable
offerings
were
plentiful
and
en­
gaging.
 Librarians
 tackled
 a
 wide
 variety
 of

topics,
including
but
not
limited
to
outreach
to

online
learning,
using
social
networking
tools,

diversity
and
pedagogy,
and
collaboration
with

faculty
and
community
members.
LibGuides

(a
popular
topic
across
the
programs)
was
the

theme
of
two
roundtables.
I
attended
a
packed

session
 led
 by
 Jennifer
 Corbin
 (Tulane
 Uni­
versity),
“Beyond
Subject
Guides:
Using
Lib­
Guides
for
Information
Literacy
Instruction.”


The
All-Conference
Reception
at
the
Experience
Music


Project
and
Science
Fiction
Museum
and
Hall
of
Fame



Participants
 ranged
 from
 librarians
 who

have
 used
 LibGuides
 since
 2007
 to
 those

thinking
 about
 implementing
 LibGuides
 at

their
institutions.


The
majority
of
the
discussion
focused
on

how
librarians
are
using
LibGuides
in
instruc­
tion
 and
 liaison
 work.
 Attendees
 exploring

LibGuides
were
interested
in
how
students
and

faculty
react
to
the
guides
and
whether
they


were
 easy
 to

set
up
and
use.

T h e y 
 w e r e 

also
interested

to
learn
about

the
 Web
 2.0

features,
 such

as
online
polls,

comment
box­
es,
 and
 chat

widgets.
 Two

larger
 issues

were
 raised

d u r i n g 
 t h e 

discussion—

c o n s i s t e n c y 


among
guides
from
a
particular
institution
and

whether
LibGuides
deter
students
from
using

main
library
Web
site.
The
overall
opinion
of

LibGuides:
they
are
a
simple
and
inexpensive

way
 to
 disseminate
 information
 and
 make

library
workshops
fun.—Lyda Ellis, University 
of Northern Colorado 

All-Conference Reception 
By
Saturday
night
the
rainy
weather
that
Se­
attle
is
known
for
had
made
its
appearance.

However,
it
could
not
dampen
the
enthusiasm

of
librarians
who
gathered
at
the
Experience

Music
Project
and
Science
Fiction
Museum
and

Hall
 of
 Fame
 (EMP/SFM)
 for
 an
 evening
 of

networking
and
socialization.
Upon
entering

the
building,
guests
were
directed
to
ascend

the
 stairs
 into
 the
 Sky
 Church.
 There,
 they

were
 greeted
 by
 the
 sounds
 of
 Wo­Pop,
 as

spun
by
Seattle’s
own
DJ
Darek
Mazzone,
and

treated
to
a
wide
variety
of
desserts,
drinks,

and,
of
course,
Starbucks
coffee.
In
addition,

the
entire
building
was
open
for
librarians
to

explore
and
enjoy
at
their
leisure.
Given
the


336C&RL News June 2009



EMP/SFM’s
dedication
to
showcasing
creativ­
ity,
innovation,
and
the
exploration
of
ideas,
a

better
venue
could
not
have
been
chosen.
The

relationship
between
the
mission
of
the
EMP/

SFM
and
librarianship
was
seen
throughout
the

night
as
librarians
were
overheard
instructing

their
 colleagues
 about
 museum
 exhibits
 or

were
seen
in
the
Sound
Lab
trying
to
teach
a

certain
uncoordinated
librarian
how
to
work

a
turn
table
(some
of
us
need
to
keep
our
day

job).
Hats
off
to
ACRL
for
hosting
a
spectacular

event
that
was
both
fun
and
educational.—Ni­
cole Morello, Baton Rouge Community College 

Virtual conference 
ACRL
2009
Virtual
Conference
featured
both

synchronous
 and
 asynchronous
 events.
 The

live
 online
 events
 occurred
 March
 13
 and

March
14.
On
each
day,
there
were
two
live

events:
“Can’t
Get
There
from
Here:
Achieving

Organization
2.0”
and
“The
Web
is
My
Library:

Undergraduate
 Students
 and
 Their
 Research

Behaviors”
on
Friday
and
“Cultivate
Your
Bot­
tom”
(empowering
librarians
and
staff
who
are


lower
in
the
organization)
and
“The
Impact
of

Data:
 Analyzing
 Book
 Use
 to
 Test
 Assump­
tions”
on
Saturday.
The
Webcasts
included
an

introduction
to
the
Virtual
Conference
and
a

discussion
board
area
enabled
participants
to

introduce
themselves
and
connect
with
other

attendees.
Orientation
was
available
on
March

11
to
those
attending
the
virtual
conference

for
the
fi
rst
time.


The
 virtual
 conference
 also
 offered
 dy­
namic
screen
captures
(audio
of
the
session

synched
 with
 PowerPoint)
 of
 more
 than
 80

conference
sessions,
Second
Life
library
tours

and
speaker
materials.
All
materials,
including

the
virtual
conference
Webcasts,
are
archived.

Access
to
the
virtual
conference
community
is

provided
for
free
to
all
ACRL
conference
reg­
istrants
for
one
year
so
they
can
look
back
on

any
sessions
they
may
have
missed.
Blog
and

Twitter
posts
from
attendees,
along
with
links

to
 Flickr
 photos,
 helped
 to
 provide
 a
 sense

of
being
there
for
those
only
attending
virtu­
ally.—Sara Rofofsky Marcus, Queensborough 
Community College 

June 2009 
337
 C&RL News