Submit your program ideas for the 2020 ALA Annual Conference
We encourage the submission of innovative and creative proposals for the 2020 Annual American Library Association Conference. We’re looking for 60-minute presentations that focus on the current or future use of technology in libraries. We strongly encourage presenters from underrepresented groups to submit proposals. The deadline to submit content is September 10, 2019 12:00 Midnight (CST). More details here.
Submit your proposal here: https://www.abstractscorecard.com/cfp/login/turbo.asp?EventKey=NIJIBATE
For comments or questions please contact LITA at (312) 280-4268 or lita@ala.org
Because of LITA's commitment to upholding the ALA Code of Ethics, we want to remind everyone present about the importance of dismantling systemic oppression within the profession, understanding differences, valuing those differences, and ultimately, learning how to communicate in an inclusive manner that welcomes diverse perspectives.
View LITA events in the conference scheduler
- Join us for the LITA President’s Program with Meredith Broussard: Artificial Unintelligence
- Sunday June 24, 2019, 3:00 - 4:00 pm
- Location: Washington Convention Center, 146A
Friday, June 21
LITA Preconferences
LITA AvramCamp 2019
Friday, June 22, 2019 - 9:00am - 4:00pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 150A
Event Code: LIT1
Ticket pricing: ALA Member: $25 - Other Member: $25 - Non-Member: $25
Facilitators: Sara Margaret Rizzo, Systems Librarian, Monmouth University Library; Aisha Conner-Gaten. Instructional Design Librarian, Loyola Marymount University; and Anne Slaughter, Director of Technology Services, RAILS
This workshop for women and non-binary individuals will start with looking at imposter syndrome and then allow participants to propose unconference topics such as salary negotiation, creating inclusive job postings, and becoming leaders in the technology field.
Sponsor
We thank our sponsor, OCLC, for supporting travel scholarships to help build connections for participants who would not otherwise have access to these opportunities.
Beginning Git and GitHub
Friday, June 21, 2019 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 150B
Event Code: LIT2
Ticket pricing: ALA Member: $170 - Other Member: $170 - Non-Member: $210 - LITA Member: $140
Presenters: Kate Bronstad, Librarian Web Developer, Heather Klish, Systems Librarian, and Ari Gofman, Social Science Data Librarian, Tisch Library, all Tufts University
Work smarter, collaborate faster, and share code or other files with the library community using the popular version control system Git. Featuring a mix of fundamentals and hands-on exercises, participants learn the basics of Git, how to use key commands, and how to use GitHub to their advantage.
Metadata Management Tools
Friday, June 21, 2019 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 152A
Event Code: LIT3
Ticket pricing: ALA Member: $170 - Other Member: $170 - Non-Member: $210 - LITA Member: $140
Presenter: Michael Bolam, Head of the Metadata & Discovery Unit, University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
Participants will use hands-on activities to learn how to incorporate different metadata management tools into their workflows, discuss example use cases for each tool, and have the opportunity to collaborate on problem-solving metadata workflow issues.
Interest Groups Discussions Sessions
Find days, times, and locations of LITA Interest Group discussions in the ALA Annual Scheduler.
Check out this page for fuller descriptions for some of the discussion sessions.
LITA Conference Buddy Program
The Application site will open soon for the LITA Conference Buddy Program for the 2019 ALA Annual Conference
LITA is excited to continue our program designed to make conference attendance more approachable, foster inclusion, and build connections. Inspired by the GLBTRT Buddy Program, we hope to foster stronger relationships among LITA members who attend conferences and also make attendance more enjoyable and rewarding for everyone who participates.
Find more information, including instructions for applying for the program, on the Conference Buddy page.
If you have any questions about the program, please contact the Diversity & Inclusion Committee at LITAConferenceBuddy@gmail.com
LITA Conference Kickoff - by Recording
In order to get information to you about LITA and LITA programs at ALA Annual in a timely manner for you to make decisions about attending conference, we are now producing recorded welcomes for conference. In this fast paced, 10 minute recording, hear Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) Member Development Committee members, and other LITA members engaged with conference, talk about LITA activities at the upcoming ALA Annual 2019 conference. They will describe ways you can meet LITA leaders, committee chairs, and interest group participants; build professional connections; and share your knowledge and ideas about current issues in library technology while in Washington, DC.
Saturday, June 22nd
Agency, Consent and Power in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Saturday, June 22, 2019 - 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Washington Convention Center, 146B
Science Fiction and Fantasy has always held a mirror up to nature and continues to explore themes that resonate in contemporary society. As our current culture grapples with issues such sexual assault, bodily autonomy, classism, racism, and consolidation of power, both political and economic, science fiction and fantasy writers have been responding with works that illuminate our current situation. By creating new worlds to set their stories, these authors are able to present trenchant contemporary issues as metaphor, which can make it easier for ideas to be debated and discussed and even subversively change people’s minds. Join a panel of popular genre authors (TBA) talking about how their work is informed by and informs discussion on the topics of agency, consent, and power in the real world and in the worlds of their own creation.
- Sarah Gailey*
- Malka Older
- John Scalzi
- Martha Wells
* Tor Books has agreed to waive its library embargo on Sarah Gailey's title, Magic for Liars. We thank Tor for working with us to make this ebook available for licensing on the date of publication.
Sunday, June 23rd
Top Technology Trends
Sunday, June 23, 2019, 1:00 - 2:30 pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 146A
LITA's premier program on trends and advances in technology features our ongoing roundtable discussion by a panel of LITA technology experts and thought leaders. The panelists will describe changes and advances in technology that they see having an impact on the library world and suggest what libraries might do to take advantage of these trends. Panelists include:
- James Neal, Session Moderator, Senior Program Officer, Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Matthew Enis, Senior Editor, Technology, Library Journal
- Matthew Hunter, Digital Scholarship Technologist, Office of Digital Research and Scholarship, Florida State University Libraries
- Terry Ann Lawler, Assistant Manager, Adult Services, Phoenix Public Library
- Lavoris Martin, Associate Librarian, Director of Library Technical Services, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
- Ricardo Viera, Chief Information Officer, Orange County Library System
More information about Top Tech Trends and wrap ups of previous sessions is available at the Top Tech Trends site.
LITA President’s Program with Meredith Broussard: Artificial Unintelligence
Sunday, June 23, 2019, 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 146A
Speaker: Meredith Broussard
LITA President Bohyun Kim welcomes Meredith Broussard presenting: Artificial Unintelligence
Our collective enthusiasm for applying computer technology to every aspect of life has resulted in a vast number of poorly designed systems. We are so eager to do everything digitally—hiring, driving, paying bills, even choosing romantic partners—that we have stopped demanding that our technology actually work.
In this talk, author and professor Meredith Broussard looks at the inner workings and outer limits of technology, and explains why we should never assume that computers always get things right. Making a case against technochauvinism—the belief that technology is always the solution—Broussard looks at why self-driving cars don’t really work and why social problems persist in every digital Utopia. If we understand the limits of what we *can* do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we *should* do with it to make the world better for everyone.
Data journalist Meredith Broussard is an assistant professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and the author of “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.” Her academic research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting, with a particular interest in using data analysis for social good. She is also interested in reproducible research issues and is developing methods for preserving innovative digital journalism projects in scholarly archives so that we can read today’s news on tomorrow’s computers. She is an affiliate faculty member at the Moore Sloan Data Science Environment at the NYU Center for Data Science, a 2019 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow, and her work has been supported by the Institute of Museum & Library Services as well as the Tow Center at Columbia Journalism School. A former features editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, she has also worked as a software developer at AT&T Bell Labs and the MIT Media Lab. Her features and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Slate, and other outlets. Follow her on Twitter @merbroussard or contact her via meredithbroussard.com.
LITA Happy Hour
Sunday, June 23, 2019, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Fado Irish Pub
808 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
202-789-0066
Join LITA members from around the country for networking, good cheer, and lively conversation. Cash bar.
Monday, June 24th
Executive Perspectives: A Conversation on the Future of the Library Technology Industry
Monday, June 24, 2019, 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 146A
Marshall Breeding, author of the annual Library Systems Report published in American Libraries, will assemble and moderate a panel of senior executives representing organizations that produce software or services for libraries.
Breeding will give a brief introduction and will then lead a lively discussion to probe at the technology and business trends. This year, the panel discussion will focus on issues related to the use of open source software for core resource management, repository, and discovery systems. Topics that we might address might include the relative maturity of open source solutions, how this approach appeals to technologists and administrators in libraries, business models involved, opportunities for innovation, and challenges seen relative to proprietary software.
Panelists will be expected to candidly reflect the perspectives of their organizations, but not promote their products.
Hashtag: #alaexecpanel
- Marshall Breeding, Independent Consultant, Creator and Publisher Library Technology Guides.
- Laurie Arp, Director of Collections Services and Community Supported Software , Lyrasis
- Lynn Bailey, Chief Executive Officer and CFO, Index Data
- Neil Block, Vice President for Global Open Source Innovation, EBSCO Information Services
- Brendan A. Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, ByWater Solutions
- Mike Rylander, Executive Director, Equinox Software Initiative