m-Libraries 2009

Attention conference delegates: if you have taken photos  of the m-Libraries 2009 Conference, please do send them (or links) to Allan Cho, allan.cho@ubc.ca.    Photos will be posted to the m-Libraries 2009 Conference website.

Thanks to the plethora of mobile devices that are inherent at a gathering such as this, there has already been a virtual outpouring of discussion on this morning’s keynote Lorcan Dempsey and continuing into the Plenary talks (on now!). I’m sure will only continue as we get farther into the sessions today and tomorrow!

You don’t even have to be on Twitter to check it out! Just tune your browser to http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23mlib09 to take a look! Happy tweeting!

The m-Libraries 2009 Conference takes place in the new Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.  IKBLC is facility dedicated to the intellectual, social, cultural, and economic development of people in British Columbia. By providing and enhancing access to information, knowledge, and innovative teaching through the support of learning and research on an interactive basis with people in British Columbia and throughout the world, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre provides the opportunity for future generations to be at the forefront of learning.

Constructed around the core of the Main Library of The University of British Columbia, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre demonstrates the fundamental relationship between the heritage of the past and the potential of the future. The Learning Centre will be a visual icon for a learning environment that provides the tools and support to turn information and data into knowledge, understanding, and solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s worlds.

For those of you who are already in Vancouver and attending the pre-conference sessions today, welcome! I wish I could extend a sunnier greeting to your visit to the Pacific Northwest, but the overcast sky will just have to do. Just a reminder that the registration desk is open until 7 this evening and through the week, so whenever you arrive, please stop in to pick up your name badge, program and ask any questions you may have to the volunteers (who are wearing those “Ask Me” buttons).

This afternoon at 1:30 you have a choice. Workshops 3 and 4 on “Mobile Library Techincal Development” and “Researching m-Libraries,” or you can attend the tours around UBC which are being offered to the famous Museum of Anthropology, the beautiful UBC Botanical Gardens, or our own brand-new facility the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Further details for all of these activities can be found in your program.

This evening everyone is invited to join the other attendees for a dinner at one of Vancouver’s tourist treasures, Granville Island. The bus is scheduled outside the Barber Centre at 4:45, so we are looking forward to a big, welcoming crowd. Enjoy your time in Vancouver, and thanks again for coming from everyone at m-Libraries 2009!

If after the conference in Vancouver you’re just dying with new ideas that you’d like to share, it looks like there will be a great outlet for you. On July 30th, 2009, there will be the inaugural Handheld Library Online Conference! From the About page:

The first ever Handheld Librarian Online on July 30, 2009 is the place to learn about these and other topics related to using wireless and hand held devices in your library. The program, sponsored by Alliance Library System, LearningTimes and Infoquest, will include a variety of ways to collaborate, network and learn from a great group of experts in the field. In addition to live interactive webcasts, we will have a collection of available resources, discussions boards, and access to the recording of all live events for one year after the conference.

What better way to share some ideas and learn a little more about the mobile web and m-libraries? And the best part? The whole thing is online!

[via Handheld Librarian and Peter Scott]

Hello! Welcome to the blog for the m-Libraries 2009 conference in Vancouver, BC. The conference programme is available here for download, and the conference home page with more information is http://m-libraries2009.ubc.ca/

I am here to introduce this blog and some of our more web-oriented resources before registration starts this Sunday, and to keep everyone abreast of what’s going on as the week progresses. We will most likely have opinions flowing into and out of this blog from several volunteers (and any interested commentators). We want the conference to be as accessible as possible of course, so if you would like to see many of the concurrent sessions but can’t be everywhere at once, check back here and we will hopefully have a little more information on what went down in the other room!

Also, keep in mind that m-Libraries 2009 has a larger web 2.0 presence outside of this blog. In addition to subscribing here, please feel free to follow us on Twitter, or join our facebook group. This way you can stay connected no matter where you are!

We are all looking forward to the speakers, as well as to hearing from all of you at the event. Please get out there and participate with these online tools, it can make a huge difference for mobile libraries if you do! Also, please keep an eye out for volunteers with “Ask Me” buttons if you have any questions during the week. Remember, registration starts at noon on Sunday so if you’re around early, come in and stop by!

Of course, a big thank you goes out to Sony and Emerald for their sponsorship of this event, and again, we are very excited about getting m-Libraries 2009 off the ground soon!