Yes, why? In a year that offers us BookExpo America in New York and the ALA Annual Conference in even more glorious San Francisco, why, oh why did I choose green, sustainable, community-oriented Portland? With its green, sustainable, community-themed ACRL Conference? Here’s why:
- The People. 3000 academic and research librarians from more than 25 countries gather at the ACRL conference in Portland. It’s a rare opportunity to learn from and interact with colleagues who are dealing with the same issues and challenges we are at UBO. Which brings us to:
- The Program. It just seemed so familiar. A session on “Systematic Literature Review Methods for Topics in the Humanities” echoes the recent introduction of systematic searches into “our” Humanities and Social Sciences Library, another on “Measuring the Success of a 21st Century Center for Learning” (an assessment of how an awardwinning large new library with a focus on student success actually performed) seemed interesting because of the plans for redesigning the interior of GSH . “Ebook Showdown: Evaluating Academic Ebook Platforms from a User Perspective” – what’s not to love? I had almost made up my mind at “Tutorials Toolkit: Creating Sustainable Library Instruction”, and then came the clincher. “The Neoliberal in YOUR Library: Resisting Corporate Solutions to Collection Development”. By then, I was booking my ticket. And OK, I wanted to see
- Lawrence Lessig. The final keynote speaker at the conference may be worth the wait. Lessig is Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School, founding member of Creative Commons and longtime opponent of increased legal restrictions on copyright. He is also the founder of Rootstrikers, a network of activists leading the fight against government corruption. His TED conference talk on how current campaign funding weakens democracy made some waves. So did his interview with Edward Snowden. Wouldn’t you want to know what he has to say to 3000 librarians?
