Report from Library Camp at Brooklyn College yesterday

This was the first professional meeting that I've attended since March. I had attended a smiliar library camp at Baruch College in August 2007. Talks at professional meetings are usually prepared in advance. At a "camp" the meeting is announced on a Wiki where people can suggest topics. At the first session of the camp the events with their moderators are arranged. Like any meeting, it is impossible to attend every session.

I suggested the topic "How Should We Handle the Dinosaur Known as the Reference Desk". I was concerned about the dropping off of face to face transactions at the reference desk. The participants suggested that librarians roam to see if people needed assistance. People reported that many library patrons would rather communicate electronically. A summary of this session compiled by Myron, a student at the Queens College Library School may be found at:

http://libcampnyc.pbworks.com/Reference-Desk-as-Dinosaur

My second session was Social Media Marketing moderated by Ellyssa Kroski. She discussed many Web 2.0 services that could be used in libraries. Some of the resources she discussed were:

• Twitterfeed
• Sitemeter
• Widgetbox
• Ping.fm
• Protopage

After lunch Stephen Francoeur moderated a session titled the Future of Digital Reference Services . People talked about their experiences with various chat reference services. Stephen also demonstrated the service Etherpad , the only web-based word processor that allows people to work together in really real-time.

My last session was titled Publicizing collections using 2-0 and Twitter 101. Susan Chute talked about the use of Voicethread and blogging at the New York Public Library. Valerie Forrestal gave a primer in the uses of Twitter. I am wondering if it is just a fad or is it here to stay. It seems to be a real consumer of time.

Many of the Web 2.0 resources that were discussed at the meeting seem redundant. It was worthwhile to go to learn about what other libraries are doing.

I met Susan Gormley who worked with me at the Science and Technology Division of NYPL over 20 years ago.

Now I will go back to the Wiki and read about other sessions.