Providing a Collaborative Environment for Learning, Sharing, and Relationship-Building – HealthCampNYC Unconference Poster Session at MLA 2013

Are you going to MLA 2013?

Stop by Sunday, May 5th at 1:30-2:30pm at poster #129 in Level 2 Exhibit Hall. I will be presenting a poster session on “HealthCampNYC: Using Collective Knowledge to Improve Health Literacy and Community Health Through Unconferences”.

HealthCampNYC was a regional unconference that brought together over eighty-five educators, librarians, literacy professionals, public health and medical professionals, and people interested in sharing their work, skills, and knowledge about health literacy and community health. The content of the unconference is determined and managed by the attendees. HealthCampNYC offered a collaborative environment with unique opportunities for learning, sharing, and relationship-building.

Learn more about unconferences.

Upcoming Presentation – Leadership and Career Success for the 21st Century Information Professional – Library 2.012 Virtual Conference

We’re looking forward to presenting “Leadership and Career Success for the 21st Century Information Professional” at this year’s Library 2.012 Worldwide Virtual Conference.

Join us on Thursday, October 4 at 5-6pm EST.

Anyone can be a leader. You don’t need to be in a leadership position to develop leadership skills. In three simple and easy to remember concepts, participants will learn valuable tips, tricks and tools for paving the way to leadership and career success in the 21st century.

Objectives:
1. Participants will conduct an individualized career analysis.
2. Participants will receive an overview of useful tips and tools.
3. Participants will be equipped with practical career strategies that can be implemented immediately.

SLA 2012 in the Windy City: Conference Highlights from a SLA Rising Star

SLA 2012 — Seeing people I’ve met at previous SLA conferences, meeting people in-person that I’m connected with on LinkedIn, and meeting completely new people. It was a good conference.

Rapid Fire Consultant Showcase
Consultant or not, information professionals or anyone for that matter, need to have their own pitch or elevator speech and be able to deliver it. Jan Sykes and Lorri Zipperer (the session organizers) provided an informal environment for attendees to deliver their pitches and get feedback from fellow attendees.
Resources to check out:

• Toastmasters
• Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP)

2012 SLA Fellows and Rising Stars Roundtable
This was the third annual SLA Fellows and Rising Stars Roundtable. This year’s umbrella roundtable topic is how technology has changed and has not changed the information profession, with sub-topics grouped by pairs. Each pair consisted of a Rising Star and a Fellow.
The line-up:

• Search and Content Expertise – Ruth Kneale (Fellow) and Chris Zammarelli (Star)
• Engagement with Customers and Users – Scott Brown (Fellow) and Davis Erin Anderson (Star)
• Leadership and Change Management – Ann Cullen (Fellow) and Lisa Chow (Star)
• Organizational Strategy – Chris Olson (Fellow) and Janel Kinlaw (Star)
• Giving Back and Volunteering – Roberto Sarmiento (Fellow) and Moy McIntosh (Star)

User Experience (UX) Caucus Meeting
The UX Caucus, SLA’s newest caucus (formed in January 2011), met for the second time at this year’s SLA conference. Angela Schmeidel Randall, Gretchen McNeely, and I each talked about our work and experiences with usability and user experience.

Congratulations
Congrats to this year’s SLA awardees with a shout-out to fellow Pratt alum (Davis Erin Anderson and Moy McIntosh) on receiving this year’s SLA Rising Star award.

Future Ready
Last year’s SLA conference was in Philadelphia and SLA 2013 will be in San Diego.

SLA 2012: Picks from a SLA Rising Star

SLA 2012 is less than a month away. Here are some of my picks for this year’s SLA conference in Chicago:

Rising Stars and SLA Fellows Roundtable – Monday, July 16 @ 10am
Join us for the 3rd annual Rising Stars and SLA Fellows roundtable. Due to schedule conflicts, I wasn’t able to participate in last year’s roundtable. I’m looking forward to participating in this year’s.

Reinventing Library Skills – Monday, July 16 @ 4pm
Mary Talley will moderate a panel consisting of case studies and practical advice for transporting library skill sets to other areas of the LIS profession or entirely different careers.

Chocolate Reception – Monday, July 16 @ 8pm
It’s a reception with chocolate. There’s nothing more to say. I wonder if there will be chocolate ice cream – it is July in Chicago.

From Info Pro to Info Hero: 5 Easy Ways to Turn Information into Insight – Tuesday, July 17 @ 8am
Mary Ellen Bates will talk about five ways to provide more insight and value in what you send your clients.

Lincoln Park Networking Lunch – Tuesday, July 17 @ 12pm
Free lunch. Networking opportunity. Only wish: lunch in actual park.

User Experience Caucus Roundtable Meeting – Wednesday, July 18 @ 10am
Check out the newest caucus in SLA. This is the 2nd User Experience Caucus meeting.

More SLA 2012 picks.

The Job Skills of the Future, and of the Past

Tom Kucharvy recently posted a provocative post on the job skills of the future, and of the past.

As technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, it becomes capable of performing more and more tasks that previously could only be performed by humans. As of now, only three types of jobs still defy automation—specific forms of non-routine tasks (both manual and cognitive) and complex communications. Technology, however, is now beginning to make inroads even into these.

Kucharvy focuses on 2 key skills for the high-value jobs of the future:

• Complex communication skills; and
• High-level cognitive skills.

Read the rest of Kucharvy’s post to learn more.

How will the job skills of the future and of the past affect libraries and the library profession?