Nebraska Library Association
Nebraska Educational Media Association
2006 Fall Conference
http://www.2006nla-nemaconference.info
 http://www.nebraskalibraries.org/conference
October 25-27, 2006
Qwest Center, Omaha
Thursday Keynote Speaker (11:00 AM)


Stephen Abram, MLS is Vice President, Innovation for SirsiDynix. He is president elect of SLA and is the immediate past president of the Canadian Library Association and an SLA Fellow.  He is also the past president of the Ontario Library Association.   In June 2003 he was awarded SLA’s John Cotton Dana Award and the University of Toronto’s Jubilee Award.  Stephen is one of the first of Library Journal's Movers and Shakers. 

Web 2.0: the Library 2.0 in Your Future

There is a global conversation going on right now about the next generation of the web. It’s happening under the name of Web 2.0. It’s the McLuhanesque hot web where true human interaction takes precedence over merely ‘cool’ information delivery and e-mail. It’s about putting information into the real context of our users’ lives, work and play. Concurrently, a group of information professionals are having a conversation about the vision for what Library 2.0 will look like in this Web 2.0 ecosystem. Some are even going so far as to talk about Web 3.0! Web 2.0 is coming fast and it’s BIG! What are the skills and competencies that Librarian 2.0 will need? Come and hear an overview of Web 2.0 and a draft vision for Library 2.0 and an opinion about what adaptations we’ll need to make to thrive in this future scenario.


 Post Conference Evaluation - If you didn't turn yours in at the conference, please take a little time in turn your's in by mail or e-mail to one of the addresses at the top of the form linked below. 
Pre-Conferences - Wednesday
 Wednesday Evening Events
  • Open House at the Charles B. Washington Branch of Omaha Public Library, 4:30-6:30 pm.

    Join John Bernardi, Branch Manager, and his staff for hor d'oeuvres and continuous tours of the newly remodeled and enlarged Charles B. Washington Branch Library. The new Teen Center, which is unique to the public library system, offers a variety of activities and services for our community's young people. The library is in a diverse community and has a large collection of African American materials. We are especially proud of our outstanding public art displays. Sponsored by the NLA Diversity Committee.

  • Sneak Peek of the Hollywood Librarian: Librarians in Cinema and Society. Witherspoon Concert Hall, Joslyn Art Museum. Doors open at 6:30 p.m..                                                                                                                                                            Plan now to attend the sneak peek of The Hollywood Librarian: Librarians in Cinema and Society Wednesday night, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on October 25 at the Joslyn Art Museum. This gala event is brought to you by the Friends of the Omaha Public Library and a grant to the Nebraska Library Commission from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. Special thanks to the Friends of OPL and Rivkah Sass, director of the Omaha Public Library for making the showing at the Joslyn possible. If you are attending the NLA/NEMA Conference you can use the conference registration form to register for the event for $10, which will be used by the conference committee to cover the cost of food.
Conference - Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
Conference Registration and Session Attendance Planning
 Exhibitors Presenters
Hotel Information  (Follow this link and type NLA into the Group/Convention Code box to obtain the special Conference rate.)  If you desire to make your reservations by phone the phone number is (402) 998-3400.

Qwest Center Information

How to get to the Qwest Center and where to park

Restaurant Suggestions

NLA Scholarship Fund Raisers
NLA Paraprofessional Fund Raiser
  • Visit the Paraprofessional Section table and buy a raffle ticket to win one of two spectacular baskets - "Food, Fun and Favorites."
Nancy Pearl/Alex Kava  Items Available at the Conference

Library Links

Local Arrangements Committee Chairs










 Friday Keynote Speaker (1:50 PM)


Nancy Pearl
Nancy Pearl is the former director of the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library. She speaks to library and ommunity groups across the country and reviews books regularly on NPR's Morning Edition, Wisconsin, Seattle, and Tulsa public radio stations. She is the author of Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason (Sasquatch Books, 2003); More Book Lust: 1,000 New Reading Recommendations for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason (Sasquatch Books, 2005). Among her many honors and awards are the 2004 Women's National Book Association Award, the 2004 Louis Shores Greenwood Publishing Group Award for excellence in the reviewing of books and other materials for libraries, the 2004 Media and Communications Award from the Ontario, Canada, Library Association, the Public Library Association's 2001 Allie Beth Martin Award. In 1998, Library Journal named her Fiction Reviewer
of the Year.

She is the model for the Librarian Action Figure

The Pleasures and Perils of a Life of Reading

Nancy will talk about her relationship to reading, how she came to write Book Lust and More Book Lust, and some of the perils she’s discovered in her love affair with books.  Along the way she will, of course, be recommending some good books to read.