It’s almost time for the librarians to convene for the ALA 2013 Midwinter Meeting, which begins in one week in Seattle, WA.   If you’re attending, what are you looking forward to seeing while you’re there?

Or, if you’re like me when I was a school librarian, it was tough to take the days to travel in January, so I followed the events as closely as I could online, especially the Youth Media Awards on Monday morning.  What will you track on Twitter, Facebook, or elsewhere?  Tell us in the comments!

Here are a few events that I’m looking forward to next weekend, plus a few that I can’t attend, but I’ll be sure to check out on Twitter with hashtag #alamw13.

Friday, January 25 from 4:00-5:00 PM (in the Washington State Convention Center, room 604) is the YALSA Research Forum, which I’m helping to facilitate.   We’ll hear from LIS faculty Karen Gavigan and Kendra Albright on the topic, “Information Vaccine: Graphic Novels as an HIV/AIDS Prevention Tool for Young Adults.”  Then we’ll break into discussion groups to explore the topic further.  This event is for practitioners in school and public libraries, as well as researchers and library educators, so please join us!  More info on YALSA programs is here and more info on ALSC events is here.

Two AASL events that caught my eye are the Dewey versus Genre Discussion Group (Saturday, January 26, 8:30am to 10:00am, WSCC-Room 213 ) and the School Library Research Update (Sunday, January 27, 1:00pm to 2:30pm, WSCC-Room 205).  Check out the full schedule of AASL events here.

I have to miss the Dewey/Genre discussion; instead, I’ll be up early(-ish, it’s Pacific Coast time, after all) on Saturday to join my school library educator friends at the ESLS meeting (the Educators of School Librarians Section of AASL), where the discussion portion will feature the topic, “Outside Our Box: Impact of Related Professional Standards on School Library Preparation Programs.”

If you’ll be in town and you’re looking for things to do (or eat) outside the Convention Center, take a look at the “What’s Happening in Seattle” board on Pinterest, a group board featuring shopping, dining, museums, light rail info, and even some librarian humor.

The Midwinter countdown is on, and I’m looking forward to learning, networking, sharing, and exploring Seattle . . rain or shine!

–Rebecca Morris

Image: Army Photography Contest – 2007 – FMWRC – Arts and Crafts – A Plumpish Proportion, by familymwr on Flickr. Used with a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

ALA recognizes four library programs as top cutting-edge services in third annual contest | District Dispatch via kwout

From the ALA Washington Office’s District Dispatch Blog:

The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and the Library Information Technology Association (LITA) have selected programs at Contra Costa County Library in Pleasant Hill, Calif., New Canaan High School Library in New Canaan, Conn., New York Public Library in New York, and Scottsdale Public Library in Scottsdale, Ariz., as the winners of the association’s third annual contest to honor cutting-edge technologies in library services …

“This year’s winners represent thoughtful and creative engagement with technology trends including QR codes, open-source software, social media, GIS, and mobile applications,” said Christine Lind Hage, Director, Rochester Hills Public Library, who chaired the selection subcommittee. [Kristin's editorial note: Hage is a UM library school alum -- Go Blue!]

About the Winners:

Snap & Go, Contra Costa County Library, California
Using QR (Quick Response) codes, Snap & Go serves as an innovative delivery mechanism for traditional library services. From local transit ads to posters to newspaper ads, Contra Costa County is delivering instant access to library materials and services to cardholders with mobile phones. By scanning the code with a reader on their phones, users are directed to downloadable e-books and audiobooks, virtual museum passes, interactive reference service, account and catalog search, and readers’ advisory tools. QR codes placed on popular titles take readers to “read-alike” lists created by library staff. Usage of the library’s mobile site has increased 16 percent since Contra Costa implemented Snap & Go. http://guides.ccclib.org/qr

Participatory Platforms for Learning, New Canaan High School Library, Connecticut
New Canaan’s Participatory Platforms for Learning program strives to cultivate curiosity throughout the learning community and encourage experimentation with new tools for content creation, publication and participation. The program includes deploying the full complement of Google applications; advocating a culture of intellectual freedom; using Twitter for current events research; and using Facebook groups for students to record their research process and provide feedback to others in the group. The program enmeshes learning and the “real world” to teach students digital citizenship by encouraging them to become responsible information consumers, creators and contributors … Their online portal is at: http://nchslibraryannex.blogspot.com/ [Kristin's note: one of New Canaan's librarians, Michelle Luhtala, has strong ties to School Library Monthly -- having co-authored a recent article -- and its book publishing wing, Libraries Unlimited. She penned a chapter on webinars in the upcoming professional development book Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers, co-edited by Debbie Abilock, Violet H. Harada, and me.]

Map Warper Toolkit, New York Public Library, New York
The Map Warper toolkit allows staff and the public to virtually stretch (or geo-rectify) historical maps onto a digital model of the world à la Google Maps or OpenStreetMap, transforming old atlases into interactive spatial environments. Participants also can go deeper, tracing and transcribing specific map features into a growing public database. The project adds to the historical and scholarly record while engaging library patrons in building digital resources. The service is managed by the NYPL Labs group, developed in collaboration with EntropyFree, an open source geospatial software firm. The tools are in the process of being published to an open code repository for other libraries, scholars and cultural heritage workers to use and build upon. http://maps.nypl.org

Gimme Engine, Scottsdale Public Library, Arizona
The Gimme Engine mobile website helps customers find a great book to read based on a library staffer’s recommendation and review. Gimme combines library catalog MARC data, content enrichment service images and descriptions, and library staff book reviews on Goodreads.com to create a unique experience. Gimme, which was developed with monies received from an LSTA grant, was created to meet a need stated by both library and non-library users; they wanted book recommendations powered by library staff. The Gimme engine is a creative solution to meet these customer needs … http://gimme.scottsdalelibrary.org

Congratulations, winners!

Tech & Learning magazine has announced its 2010 Awards of Excellence.

I’m delighted that my colleague Jeff Stanzler, as well as a number of our MAC students in Teaching with Technology class, are recognized for hours of work evaluating tools, software, and Web tools. Go Blue!

Image from Tech & Learning