Groeten van Holland

Hello. I am currently in Tilburg, Netherlands getting ready for my podcasting and videocasting talk tomorrow. Everyone has been super nice so far, and the computer lab and classroom rock. They have a great setup.

The trip has been fun. I hung out in Brussels and Ghent for a couple of days before arriving in Tilburg yesterday. An obscene number of photos are available on Flickr. I have decided I take way too many photos when I travel.

A couple of things I've learned:

1. Musuems are closed on Monday in Belgium. This is not good if you are planning on visiting them on a Monday. If I had bothered to read the guidebooks I bought, this problem could have been averted.

2. Bring a clock. None of my hotel rooms have had clocks. I use my cell phone for a watch, and it doesn't work in Europe so I have no idea what time it is most of the time. Which isn't a bad thing, except when I wake up in the middle of the night.

3. I've used Blogger so much that I can navigate it with no problem in Dutch.

I'm heading to Amsterdam sometime on Friday and then back to Chicago on Sunday.

Vaarwel voor nu.

Keep Your Eyes On The Road

This evening I'm heading out to Brussels, via a 4 hour layover in London (think there's Old Speckled Hen in the airport?), for the 2007 Ticer Institute. I'm talking on Thursday morning about podcasting and videocasting in academic libraries. There will be a pretty large hands on component to the session, so perhaps look for some audio and video online. I'm excited, and slightly nervous, about talking to a group of librarians whose native language is something other than English, but I'm sure it'll go well.

I'm spending a day and a half in Belgium and a couple of days in Amsterdam after, so look for pics on Flickr. I'll definitely have Internet access in Tilburg and looks pretty plentiful in Amsterdam.

Farewell Transmission

"I will be gone, but not forever." - Magnolia Electric Co.

Wednesday I'm heading out to Chicago, so this will most likely be my last post of any substance for a little while. Although who knows, the Chicago Public Library seems to have free wifi in all branches, so I might be back sooner. But I will return in at least the next few weeks with the usual mix of random stuff that you have grown accustomed to over the past year or so. With probably a little more publishing and marketing type content thrown into the podcasting and library mix. So don't unsubscribe! But you're gonna have to look elsewhere for your ALA gossip. :)

I have one guest post lined up from a bibliopodcaster, so be on the lookout for that next week. And if you are podcasting at your library and would like to contribute a blog-post-length overview or insight or whatever about what your library is doing, I'll be glad to post it as well. Just send it to dwfree(at)gmail(dot)com.

Happy trails.

Spring Tour 2007

Let the travelling begin! On Sunday I'm heading up to Chicago for four days to look for a place to live. I've got some good leads thanks to the Chicago Reader and excellent assistance from friends and aquaintances. But wish me luck.

Then on Thursday I fly to DC for ALA Annual. My schedule mainly consists of my participation in the RUSA Reinvented Reference preconference, BIGWIG Social Software Showcase roundtable (Saturday from 1:30-2:30, Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room) and lots of ACRL job related meetings. With some social opportunities and a couple of actual sessions thrown in. I am free pretty much all Monday morning before I fly back to Atlanta at 4pm, so drop me a line if you want to get coffee or lunch or can recommend a good session.

I'm skeptical of my Internet access in Chicago hotel, but will be online daily from someplace with free wifi. So keep the Twitter comments coming. I'm going to try to blog from Annual as well if I can get online. I again can't figure out access possibilities at hotel, so posts might be pretty few and far between.

Questions, comments, and apartment leads are still being accepted at dwfree(at)gmail(dot)com. Hope to run into some of you in DC. If you see me, say hello.

ACRL Day 2

Why yes, I am just getting around to posting an update on the second day of the conference. The couple of sessions I attended in the morning were OK. I did manage to get a few tips on gaming and getting training on library resources to distance learning faculty, but neither session really held my attention. The content was there but the presentation styles were somewhat lacking. I’m certainly not a stellar public speaker but I really do think that as academic librarians, we can do better than we do in this area, whether at a conference or in the classroom.

John Waters did a keynote luncheon which wasn't completely library relevent (although he did talk about libraries and reading some) but very entertaining. It was pretty much what I expected and was great! I got to meet him afterwards for the ACRL podcast (I'll post more about this when I get home)and he was very gracious and funny.

I spent the evening exploring the Fell’s Point neighborhood about a mile or so from the conference center. I ran across a great little indie record store and had a great dinner of tapas and sangria followed by a couple of pints at a great low key Irish pub. Unfortunately, I didn’t note the names of restaurant or pub. But there are lots of great choices for both in the area.

ACRL Day 1

I arrived in Baltimore today and made it to the conference center in time to register and catch the opening session with Michael Eric Dyson. I was looking forward to his talk and he didn’t disappoint. He covered topics ranging from literacy to the state of the black community. It was a very politically charged talk but very entertaining and thought provoking. And he rapped selections from Nas, 2Pac, Snoop, and Rakim! Best line: “I may be preaching to the choir, but the choir needs to sing better”. I did notice several folks leaving during the talk, so maybe it wasn’t for everyone. But he did give mad props to librarians.

Afterwards, we hit the exhibits, and then heading to the Wharf Rat for dinner and drinks. And ending up sitting next to fellow ACRL conference blogger SaraRanger, although I didn’t know she was a fellow blogger at the time. It was cool enough that she works with Michelle.

I’ve got Flickr pics!

Things To Do In Denver

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Originally uploaded by dwfree1967.

I'm currently in Denver for the ACRL/ EDUCAUSE/ Association of College Stores forum I mentioned last week. Thanks to everyone who gave me input by the way. Due to the flight schedule out of Atlanta I arrived yesterday and got to check out a few things.

The Denver Art Museum is very cool. They had a couple of good temp exhibits and interesting regular collection. Did a little record shopping and happened upon the Best Burger in Denver. And had a couple of good beers at a local brew pub. So all in all a good day.

More on the forum later, although I'm not sure what the internet access will be like at the hotel.

Geek Bars

There's a cool little piece near the start of the new Wired on the top geek bars in the US. I was excited to see that one of my Top 5 Bars, Barcade in Brooklyn, made the list. They have great American microbrews on tap (in fact that's all they have beer wise) and a bunch of old school video games with ridiculous high scores.



Check it out if you're in NYC. I'd probably be there in March if ACRL wasn't at the same time as the Radio Heartbeat Powerpop Fest.

New Modes of Information Delivery In Higher Education

I'm heading out to Denver on Sunday to participate in a two day ACRL/ EDUCAUSE/ National Association of College Stores forum on new modes of information delivery in higher education. The forum will focus on discussion about how librarians/IT/ bookstores can collaborate on new modes of information delivery like e-reserves, online textbooks, copyright, the role of emerging technologies (which I guess is where I come in) and the like.

I'm not really in the league of thinkers as some other people who are attending like Roy Tennant and Alane Wilson and am actually a little nervous about it, so I'd love a little input or discussion before I go on these issues. Any thoughts about the following questions or issues?

1. What do you see as the future of e-books, e-book readers, e-reserve systems?

2. What are the barriers to making digital textbooks more commercially viable? Do you think the barriers will be overcome?

3. What concerns do you have about the increasing digitization of content (Google etc) and what are the greatest opportunites available in those areas?

4. Is there any specific advice you would give to higher education leaders regarding preparing fo a future with more digital content?

I plan on spending some time this week pondering these myself and any input would be greatly appreciated!