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Arlene's Excellent Summer Adventure

This summer, in addition to taking two classes in the summer semester, I decided to take an extended road trip. At the same time the American Library Association convention was happening in Orlando, I also had the Florida State Massage Therapy Association Convention to attend in my role as an Keys Chapter President and Executive Board member. I had also received a scholarship to attend the Science Boot Camp for Librarians Southeast at the University of Georgia in Athens. There were eight days in between both events so instead of going back home to Key West and turning around and going to Athens a week later, I stayed on the road.

The adventure began when the FSMTA conference was over Sunday afternoon and I headed to the Orange County Convention Center. I had tried several times to register ahead of time but it was too big and overwhelming so I decided to just get an exhibit hall pass. Google maps managed to get me there but just finding the parking lot was tricky; that place is huge. I finally got to registration and then the exhibit hall. It was packed full of people and booths and I wasn't sure where to start but I did have a few exhibitors I was excited to check out.

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As I have become interested in Digital Curation and Preservation one of my first stops was the booth for the Internet Archive. I loved using Wayback Machine to view my (other) business website from its inception to present. I spoke with Elizabeth Macleod who is Manager of Satellite Digitization Services in Chapel Hill, NC. Enthusiastically she demonstrated a device for scanning books that was simply terrific. I was telling her that I may be digitizing some old directories at the Monroe County Public Library and some were really worn out. The device holds the book in a cradle, so there is no worry about breaking the binding by mashing the book flat on a scanner. As I am a novice to all things Library and Archive, I had never seen something like that and was quite impressed.

I later stopped at the Institute of Museum and Library Services booth and spoke with Teri DeVoe, Senior Program Officer-State Library Programs. Prior to taking the course Libraries as Cultural Heritage Institutions with Professor McCook this summer I didn't even know about the IMLS. It is a great source for grants and program support.

The next day I met up with a classmate and learned that the vendors give away books and other items on the last day! I think I accomplished all my shopping six months ahead of time. The representatives from the Florida Division of Library and Information Services were especially generous. There was a collection of Florida Folklife music recordings from Florida Memory and a Paw Prints calendar featuring photographs of Florida pets from the archives. My sister and her husband are blues fans so the blues recordings are earmarked for them but I think I may keep the calendar for me!

To read about where my excellent summer adventure took me next, (who knew Huntington, West Virginia and the Marshall University Special Collections and Archives are so cool?!?!) stay tuned for my next post!

See you down the road! Arlene


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