Conference 2007 in Review

We’ve all had a very busy fall and time flies, but let’s look back at some of the highlights from our OK-ACRL conference last month. Thanks to all the speakers and presenters for their efforts: it was a very informative, fun day in Tulsa!

The Oklahoma Chapter held its 2007 annual conference on Monday, November 5 on the campus of Oklahoma State University—Tulsa. This year’s topic was “Eyes Forward and Hands On: Gearing Up for 2.0 in Oklahoma,” and featured keynote addresses by Dr. David Silver, Asst. Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco, and Dr. Lynn Connaway, Senior Research Scientist at OCLC. The program provided an overview of how Web 2.0 is affecting academic libraries and the expectations of our customer base. David discussed the culture of Web 2.0 and how academic libraries are contributing to this new world of interactive online content (and how even offline content can help increase interaction with our patrons). Lynn presented the findings of her research on faculty and student expectations in the digital age, and how academic libraries are seeking to meet those expectations.

In the afternoon we have a series of poster sessions on different projects and initiatives being undertaken at Oklahoma libraries: Frederic Murray and Erin Ingraham (SWOSU) on Pecha Kucha at the Library, Robin Leech (OSU) on IM Reference, and Linda Summers (NSU-BA) on the NSU-Broken Arrow Library Blog. Following the poster sessions we had six breakout sessions presented by Oklahoma librarians on various Web 2.0 technologies: IM reference products (Jason Dupree, SWOSU), Blogging (Adri Edwards-Johnson, Pioneer Library System), del.icio.us and Tagging (Jason Cimock, UCO), Aquabrowser (Anne Prestamo, OSU), Getting a Library Presence in Course Management Systems (Roy Degler, OSU), and Animoto (Jason Dupree, SWOSU).

Here are some photos–more to come!

David Silver

David Silver

Lynn Connaway

Lynn Connaway

Business Meeting
Business Meeting

Robin Leech
Robin Leech

Adri Edwards-Johnson
Adri Edwards-Johnson

Jason Dupree
Jason Dupree

OSU-Tulsa
Fall Colors at OSU-Tulsa

We had over 60 people in attendance, and a good time was had by all. Thanks to the OK-ACRL board members and OSU-Tulsa for helping ensure that the conference ran like clockwork!