June 4, 2007 - Part 1

Today began at 5:30 am as I prepared for the BNA-sponsored Legal Division breakfast at 7 am. I was quite impressed by the food selection since they did a full breakfast and I was expecting just danishes. I was glad to see some protein!

I ended up at a table of law firm librarians who were based all over the world. It was interesting to hear about the various types of communication systems they have set up in order to coordinate everything and serve their attorneys no matter where they are in the world. One of the firms, Greenberg Traurig, has set up a virtual reference service, which one of their DC librarians was describing. Hmmm…maybe academic law librarians are not that different from firm librarians!

After breakfast, I went to the highly advertised synergy session where a 4 person panel discussed questions that had been submitted prior to the conference. I wasn’t really impressed. All of the topics were rehashes of things that I had heard in the past, and I was hoping for a session with more audience participation since it was touted as a discussion. It may have worked better in groups of 30 or less.

Next I snuck back to the EXPO looking for the Library of Congress representative that I had spotted yesterday. I never found her, but I did discover a few other vendors that I had missed yesterday, including the EPA libraries (yes, they do still exist), and a company called Bookwear, which provides marketing tools where cardboard covers are designed to look like books, but when unwrapped, there are items such as t-shirts, tote bags, etc. in them with the company logo on them. I was quite impressed and think that this may be an interesting idea for 1L orientation. I am bringing home samples to show everyone.

After the EXPO, I lugged my new samples down to the Legal Division Business Meeting and Lunch. I think the legal division is trying to stuff me with food. We had a 3 course meal which was very good. The Professional Grant recipients, me included, were recognized and many people were thanked for their participation.

Next came the Google Tips and Tricks presentation. While I was waiting for it to begin, I ran into a librarian from the UNC Academic Affairs Library, Linda Drake. We really hit it off when I told her that I was a 2003 UNC Law grad and had a nice discussion. She told me that she would pass my regards on to Lolly and Anne.

The presentation was really good. I knew about many of the features that were being discussed, but was excited about some changes that have been instituted in the last few weeks. I took 2 pages of notes, which I will have to type up when I return home.

After the presentation, it was time for a break, which is when I typed these observations. I will have to finish the rest of the day later, however, since it is almost time for me to return for my next session on Government Information Mashups.