Library Technology Conference 2014
10:30AM “Teaching Information Literacy with Games and Gadgets” by Sarah Thorngate, North Park University
11:30AM Lunch
1:15PM “Reigniting your Relationship with Social Media: Policies, Plans, and Peccadilloes” by Katherine Gerwig and Samantha Klein, Metro State University
2:30PM “User Experience – the Good, Bad, and Confusing” by Patrick Patterson, SUNY Potsdam
3:45PM “Appification of Information Literacy: Low Stakes, Big Rewards” by Kate Hinnant, UWM-Eau Claire
I was so excited to finally have a chance to attend the Library Technology Conference 2014, held at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, so it was very disappointing that it did not live up to its hype. First there was the issue with parking. They gave directions on where to park, so that’s where I tried to park, only to find no parking. So for OVER an hour I drove around looking for parking. Plus they said not to park on the street and when I went to look for street parking, there was no street parking due to all the snow. Second, March is winter in Minnesota and if you hold a conference you need to plow the parking lots and shovel the sidewalks. Its a no-brainer. But apparently Macalester and the Conference people did not think so. The parking lots and streets around and on campus were bad, as in icky, snowy, wet, mushy things. I saw two people with mobility issues (including one person in a wheelchair) struggling with the snow and ice in the parking lots and sidewalks. Lunch was disappointing, which I find odd as its really hard to mess up spaghetti (but then I did try the gluten free). Hence no photos of lunch. Lastly, some of the talks were just dull and bad. I talked to a few other librarians and they were saying the same things about many of the talks (dull, bad, and disappointed). Has the LibTech Conference lost its edge?