Attending at Unconference

Wikipedia says an unconference is “a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose.” Topics are suggested when attendees first meet, and then informal groups discuss these topics. There was an unconference at the Nebraska Library Commission last fall. The unconference I attended was a regional NASIG conference at Hale Library, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Our Technical Services Round Table was asked to help sponsor this meeting, and this sponsorship qualified as our annual Spring Meeting.

The topics we discussed had been suggested prior to the meeting, and then combined into five main areas, ERM, Cataloging, Acquisitions, Blogs and Wikis, and Professional Development. We had the opportunity to attend three of the sessions.

The advantage of the unconference is that there was an opportunity to spend a lot of time discussing topics that might otherwise be addressed only by a speaker in a formal presentation. I found this to be invaluable. Although I don’t know if I would want to attend an unconference every year, it was a great opportunity to really get to know what others are doing and thinking, without having to miss a session at a regular conference because I was too busy talking with someone over a cup of coffee.

Hale Library is one of the most beautiful buildings I have visited. We were told to look for “the largest building on campus,” and that is what it is. Five stories tall, cherry woodwork, lots of windows. http://www.lib.k-state.edu/help/halemap/ How big is it? On the fourth floor, six times around the stacks equals one mile.

~report by Sheryl Williams