Here I Am! And Where Are My Friends?

Below are notes from the session "OCLC Reaching Consumers through Nontraditional Methods: What Can WorldCat Do for You?" which I attended at ALA Midwinter in January.

Mashable: the Social Media Guide = Mash-up integrates two sources of data

OCLC Offers:
1) A find your library feature and the ability to make lists and bibliographies
University librarian Jennifer Friedman uses these features in collection development. She can see what items are available at nearby institutions and discover topical books and publishers of niche books to fill collection gaps. She noted that the lists can be imported into Excel. Graeme Williams added that one can make notes, tag, and review list items as well as add items from others’ lists.

2) Interfaces/information that can be accessed by software or API (application program interfaces). An XML layer allows one to present that information in different ways.

3) Metadata “crosswalk” = e.g. send MARC record get back Dublin Core

4) A Developer Network

OCLC is also a partner with many groups such as Google Books, Bibliofile, and QOOP

Andrew Yu of MIT talked about popular platforms in use today, noting that mobile web access through smart phones (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) is surpassing that of laptop computer access. He mentioned that the MIT web is an open source project that is platform neutral. He also noted that the younger generation wants to share with the rest of the world. Instead of being afraid to reveal their location, they state, “Here I am! And where are my friends?”

ALA Midwinter Conference Schedule (Actual)

Italicized events are personal, sight-seeing events, not professional, conference related sessions.

Also, this "actual" schedule varies drastically from my planned schedule because of the distances (and time) involved in navigating to the various sessions.

Friday, January 15
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 Registration and Exhibit Hall
7:30 - 8:30 ALSC Speed Networking
9:30 - 10:00 Emerging Leader Reunion

Saturday, January 16
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 Sunrise Speaker Series featuring Elizabeth Gilbert
9:00 - 10:00 Exhibit Hall
10:30 - 12:00 OCLC Reaching Consumers through Nontraditional Methods: What Can WorldCat Do for You?
1:00 - 5:00 Visited McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings sculpture and walked part of the Freedom Trail
7:00 - 7:30 BWI Social
8:00 - 9:30 Attempted to attend the Notable Children's Videos Committee, discovered it was canceled but met Queens Children's Librarian Sueli Zaquem
10:30 - 12:00 ALA Social where I attempted to meet the EMIE Bulletin Editor

Sunday, January 17
8:00 a.m. - 11:30 LNOSCY Committee Meeting
12:00 - 1:00 Exhibit Hall
1:30 - 3:00 Cataloging of Children's Materials Committee
4:00 - 5:00 The Role of Commentary in the Standards Review Process from the ALA Office of Accreditation
Monday, January 18
6:30 a.m. - 7:30 (the last) Martin Luther King Sunrise Celebration, met EMIE Bulletin Editor
7:45 - 8:45 Youth Media Awards
8:45 - 9:15 Exhibit Hall
9:20 - 10:00 Youth Council Caucus