I couldn't remember for sure which business meetings, if any, I had signed up for. So, I went to the Technical Services Section meeting. I always have to be careful at these events so I don't volunteer for anything on the spot. I get myself into trouble that way.
The meeting was pretty business-focused, with updates from MINITEX, and for some other projects that the section had been working on. I was interested to hear about a "shadowing" program that had been offered at one point. It sounded like some kind of job shadowing effort. It piqued my interest, as this is something I will want my Intro to Technical Information Services students to do. I made a note to follow up with the person who had coordinated that effort to see what planning they had done and how I might learn from it. They announced that they were starting a new blog for the Technical Services Section. You might want to check it out at:
http://tssmla.blogspot.com/
I managed to escape without volunteering for anything. Phew!
The TSS meeting was over early, so I went next door to where the Support Staff and Paraprofessional Interest SectioN (SSPIN) was meeting. As a former SSPIN chair, it's fun to see what that group is up to. In addition, it is such a great group for paraprofessionals to "cut their teeth" in, in terms of developing leadership skills and becoming involved at the professional level in the library world. There, I saw Kathie Martin, ILL coordinator for Gustavus Adolphus, JoAnn Toussaint, ILL assistant at St. Thomas, and JoEllen LaPrade, cataloging associate at St. Olaf College, two long-time friends from my early SSPIN years. I made a great contact with the incoming chair, Chris Lang, who works for Plum Creek Library System. I can tell, she's going to be a "mover and shaker."
