The California Library Association conference had fewer technology workshops than Internet Librarian, yet had more wide-ranging information on budgeting, children's programming, literacy, and management.
My report reflects only a small portion of the conference since I focused on the technology seminars. Much like Internet Librarian, social software was discussed. As libraries struggle to appeal to tech savy teens and kids, one of the out reach efforts was done by building a virtual library in the Second Life video game. The creators of Second Life call it a "3D environment," but it's essentially a downloadable video game with a virtual library in it.
Other ways for libraries to capture the youth market is to create a MySpace or Facebook account and interact with teens via blogging. Creating instant messaging accounts at Yahoo!, MSN, Google, AOL and consolidating them at www.meebo.com was advised to provide patrons with instant message access to librarians.
A representative from Medlineplus.gov was at the exhibits and said that Medline is a FREE online database that has a wealth of information pertaining to health.
NextTen.org is also another non-profit organization that provides FREE information about the California State budget and statistics at their website.
Some speaker weblogs from the conference are at:
http://www.tametheweb.com/
http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/
