ALA Annual in Anaheim

I have been meaning to post about my time at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim but for reason I just keep putting it off (not a good habit to develop for a blogger). So here is a little to do about my experience.

The session I went to was on Advance Resumes and Cover Letters. This was useful as I am out on the prowl for the perfect Science/Engineering Librarian position and want my application to be the best that it can be. I liked the idea of having a document that contains everything you have ever done and then you pick and choose from that to customize your resume and cover letter to the job description. Also, the speaker emphasized the importance of accomplishments as opposed to tasks. This is a key aspect to consider that I had not thought of before. Think of it: tasks or accomplishments. Which will make your resume look better and appear more professional?

Later that day, I went to a session on the freedom of expression, put on by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table. We watched a documentary that was about freedom of expression and how it is becoming more and more hindered by copyright laws. Also discussed was fair use and creative commons. Some websites that relate: www.stayfree.org, www.rtmark.com, www.freeculture.org, and www.freedomofexpression.us.

The next day I went to a discussion panel on Information Privacy. The speakers were: Cory Doctorow (Boing Boing blog), Dan Roth (Wired, editor), and Beth Givens (Privacy Rights Clearing House). Is it time for a revolution? It was to some degree frightening to catch a glimpse of how we are losing our privacy by our complacency on the Internet. Anything goes as long as I get what I want. Despite the shocking amount of privacy we are losing, practically no one talks about it. No one even seems to want to confront it in a minimal way. Dan Roth shared that he hopes it might become a movement, like going green to going private. Beth Givens argued that everyone should know their basic privacy rights and should take advantage of the laws that protect them, such at the Fair Credit Report of 1970. Apparently there is an article about searching the web through cell phones and how that invades privacy (I will need to read this if I am going to be getting an iPhone). Cory Doctorow was the most articulate and magnificent with his words in expressing his concerns over the loss of privacy on the Internet. For example, "Personal information is like uranium. Once refined it becomes deadly." He also stated, "Once disclosure it out, it will never go away -- it'll be like smog." Some pretty strong visual images to make his point. A website he recommended: www.eff.org.

I'll post more later.