What's New
Staying Ahead of the Curve
by Susan Feuer How do you keep current with the professional literature?
Steven M. Cohen, librarian at PubSub Concepts and creator of Library
Stuff, offered his advice in his presentation of Library
Technology-Trends and Fads. According to Cohen, librarians have a responsibility to be
ahead of the curve, to know more than their patrons do about new
technologies, and to understand how their use could improve library
services. An informal poll of the audience asking how we stay current
revealed that we tend to get our information via Trade Publications,
E-mail Alerts and Listservs, Web Site Monitoring Software, Weblogs,
RSS Feeds and News Aggregators. Cohen gave the pros and cons of each
and advice on how to keep them manageable. His personal choice as the best way to stay current is RSS
(Really Simple Syndication) Technology. Simply (it really is!)
subscribe to your favorite sources and be notified whenever new
material appears. Using this technology, he cut down the amount of
time he spent keeping current from up to three hours to no more than
45 minutes each day! Having taken this workshop, I learned how to keep current
without feeling overwhelmed. Some suggestions: Too much e-mail?
Subscribe to 3 listservs (tops) in digest form. Too many trade
publications piling up on your desk? Pick your favorite (1 or 2)
and read the Table of Contents first. Figure out what is most
important and get rid of the rest of it.
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Recent Events
SLA-LI provides a mix of educational, social and
networking opportunities for its members.
Recent events have included:
Library Technology--Trends and Fads
--A Workshop with Steven M. Cohen The Annual SLA-LI Dinner
--approved the minutes, read the treasurer's report and
had an election of officers at East Buffet and
Restaurant in Huntington Station. As Time Goes By:
Creating an Oral History of Your Community or Institution
--Long Island Library Conference 2004 workshop Getting Your Message Across
--A Workshop with helen-ann brown Thriving on Career Change
--A Seminar with Roberta Piccoli Rae C. Kornreich Library tour and demonstration of
assistive technology devices
--National Center for Disability Services in Albertson.
Second Annual Long Island Trivia Bowl
--Hosted by Newsday Puzzle Editor Stan Newman.
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