News Division Program for the
Special Libraries Association Annual Conference 2008
June 15 - 18, 2008 in Seattle, Washington
Additional details about the conference, including information about hotels and online registration, is available on the Special Libraries Association Web site Seattle 2008. SLA offers special registration deals, like a discount for early registration (which ends April 1) and a special price for one day attendance. Tickets for most ticketed events are available through SLA's registration system or sold at the conference.
If you have questions about the News Division activities available during the SLA Annual Conference, please contact Ron Larson, chair-elect of the News Division. He is in charge of conference programming this year. His e-mail address is rlarson[at]madison.com
More information about News Division offerings at the conference will appear on this page as information about them becomes available.
The News Division Suite is in room 3315 at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers. It will be open Sunday and Monday evenings. Please join us! (News Division members: don't forget to pay your suite fee!)
Presentations and notes are being linked from this page as they become available. Check out some photos taken by Chris Hardesty at the conference. Here is a slideshow of the tour at the Seattle Times, done by Carolyn Edds. (And a uncaptioned set of photos from Alice Pepper.)
The locations of events are subject to change.
A few people may be blogging the conference on NewsliBlog, the News Division's weblog.
Activities by DateSaturdaySunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Additional InformationGeneral Information about SeattleGetting Around Seattle What to Wear What to Attend |
Saturday, June 14
5:00 p-6:30 p
Seattle Times Reception and Tour
Location: The Seattle Times,
1120 John St.
Presentations: Seattle Times Intranet
Carolyn Edd's slideshow
Sunday, June 15
1:00 p-5:00 pCE Course: Six Degrees of Separation: Mining Social Networks for News Research
The course will teach new methods for researching social connections on sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and the importance of understanding how “Web 2.0” social networking services must become a crucial part of news research. Attendees are expected to be familiar with standard public records databases used in the newsroom.
Ticketed Event: Ticket #495: $199 for members, $299 for nonmembers
Moderator: Dana Gordon, Newsweek Research Center
Speakers: Catharine Skipp, Newsweek; Meg Smith, Washington Post
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 303
3:00 p-4:30 p
News Division Board Meeting
Location: News Division Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
7:30 p-8:30 p
Reception: "Mentor & Mentee" Meet and Greet (Sponsored by Heritage Microfilm.)
Location: News Division Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
8:00 p-11:30 p
Networking in the News Division Suite (Sponsored by Heritage Microfilm)
Location: News Division Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
Monday, June 16
7:00 a-8:30 aDigital microfilm breakfast gathering
Enjoy a light breakfast while sharing conversation with news colleagues and microfilm vendors.
Participating vendors: Heritage Microfilm, NewsBank, Northern Micrographics and ProQuest
Location: News Division Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
9:00 a-10:30 a
A Digital Microfilm Road Map (Sponsored by Heritage Microfilm, NewsBank, Northern Micrographics and ProQuest)
Digital microfilm is a technology that is heating up. The options for newspapers have increased while the cost of converting microfilm to digital has dropped. Case studies, guidelines and advice will be offered, providing news librarians a road map to their digital future.
Moderator: Ron Larson, Library Director, Wisconsin State Journal/The Capital Times
Speakers: Andrea Vanek, Assistant Director of Newspaper Projects, California Newspaper Project; Sharon Clairemont, Director of News Research, Orange County Register; Vicky McCargar, Preservati Partners
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 614
Presentations: Clairemont, Vanek
Handout: Vendor comparison
1:30 p-3:20 p
Technology Free-For-All (Sponsored by Thomson Reuters and Basch Subscriptions)
A fast-paced session starring Derek Willis and Jessica Baumgart, two of the techno gurus in the News Division. Derek and Jessica will answer questions, prompt discussions and solicit demonstrations in this rapid fire exchange of ideas relating to the latest and greatest in library technology.
Moderator: Amy Disch, Library Director, The Columbus Dispatch
Speakers: Derek Willis, Newsroom Developer, NYTimes.com; Jessica Baumgart, Quality Assurance Engineer, Renesys
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Ballroom 6E
Presentations: Willis, Baumgart
3:30 p-4:30 p
News Division Business Meeting
The News Division leadership reports to the members of the division, discusses progress and plans for the future.
Moderator: Justin Scroggs, News Division Chair
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Grandroom B
4:30 p-5:30 p
News Division board meeting
Location: News Division Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Grandroom B
6:00 p-11:00 p
Reception and Silent Auction (Sponsored by ProQuest)
Location: News Division Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
Tuesday, June 17
7:00 a-8:30 a
News Libraries 2.0 (Sponsored by LexisNexis.)
Constant changes in technologies are making it difficult to stay current with the tools we need to do our jobs. Learning about today's tools, such as RSS newsfeeds, mashups, aggregators, blogs, wikis, instant messaging, del.icio.us, social networking applications and more, can be a daunting task. Practical advice will be offered in how to win the technological battle in your news library.
Moderator: Julie Domel, News Researcher, San Antonio Express-News
Speakers: Amy Disch, Library Director, The Columbus Dispatch; David Milliron, Director of Media Services, Caspio; Lynne Palombo, News Researcher, The Oregonian; Anne Holcomb, Newsroom Librarian, Kalamazoo Gazette
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 619
Presentations: Domel, Disch, Holcomb, Palombo, Milliron
Handouts: Palombo, Panel Bios
9:00 a-10:50 a
UnSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation (Sponsored by Dow Jones)
Media audiences are spun by political parties and officials as well as various public interest groups and corporations. Jackson will discuss the tactics used by the "spinners" and why audiences buy into the spin. He will provide many recommendations for sources of reliable facts and offer proactive strategies people should use to ferret out the facts. Shared program with the Government Division.
Speaker: Brooks Jackson, co-author of "UnSpun: Finding Facts in the World of Disinformation."
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 3AB
11:00 a-12:30 p
Using blogs, podcasts and newsgroups for competitive intelligence research. (Sponsored by Copyright Clearance Center)
Cyberspace abounds with prolific bloggers and chatters; some of them may be (or know) your competitors. How can you identify and monitor reputable sources of information from the blogosphere? This session will highlight effective techniques and tools for mining blogs, podcasts, and newsgroups.
Shared program with the Competitive Intelligence Division.
Speakers: Cynthia Cheng Correia, Knowledge in Form, Inc. ; TBA
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 603
3:15 p-4:45 p
It's not your father's archive anymore. (Sponsored by Preservati Partners)
PDF's, blogs, video, MP3, online material and more are grabbing our attention as archives expand and adapt to new demands. Practical advice will be shared in how to approach the changing landscape of archiving and the tools needed to do the job.
Moderator: Debra Bade, Editor, News Research and Archives, Chicago Tribune
Speakers: David Breslauer, MerlinOne; Katie Daugert, National Public Radio; Chuck Palsho, NewsBank; Ron Larson, Library Director,
Wisconsin State Journal/The Capital Times; Leigh Poitinger, San Jose Mercury News.
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 308
Presentations: Bade, Breslauer, Daugert, Larson, Poitinger
Handout: Panel Bios
6:30 p-10:00 p
News Division Awards Banquet (Sponsored by NewsBank)
Ticketed Event: Ticket # 805: $60 for members and nonmembers
Location: Rock Bottom Brewery, 1333 5th Ave., which is on the block between Union Street and University Street, map showing Rock Bottom Brewery (B) in relation to the conference center (A)
Awards
History of News Division awards and previous winners
31st Annual Awards Banquet Program
Chris H's photo gallery
Agnes Henebry Roll of Honor
Joseph F. Kwapil Memorial Award
Wednesday, June 6
8:00 a-9:30 a
"There's gold in them thar files" (Sponsored by Heritage Microfilm and 10k Wizard)
In an era where news libraries are facing cutbacks in staffing and budgets, it's time to be proactive by showing management how news libraries are no longer a service department, but a profit-generating force. An important element of a profit-center includes being knowledgeable about rights and permissions and copyright.
Moderator: Sharon Clairemont, Director of News Research, Orange County Register
Speakers: Leigh Montgomery, Librarian, The Christian Science Monitor; Elaine Raines, News & Research Services Director, Arizona Daily Star
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 619
Presentations: Montgomery, Raines
Handout: Copyright Resources
12:15 p-1:45 p
Future of News Libraries, Part II (Sponsored by Reference USA)
What have news libraries done to adapt to the changing information and news media landscape? Audience participation in the debate and discussion will be a vital part of the session as Division members set a course to the future of news librarianship.
Moderator: Elaine Raines, News & Research Services Director, Arizona Daily Star
Speakers: Nora Paul, Director, Institute for New Media Studies, University of Minnesota ; Katherine Long, Research Editor, Seattle Times
Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Room 608
Presentation: Future of News Libraries
Handout: Future of News Libraries
General Information About Seattle
The SLA 2008 Seattle Wiki is a good resource which should prove useful as you start planning for the conference. Also check out the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau. Information about the Washington State Convention & Trade Center is on its Web site.Getting Around Seattle
The Sea Tac Airport Web site details transportation options for traveling between the airport and downtown Seattle.
What to Wear
Some good advice for almost any SLA conference is to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring leg and/or foot lotion for sore muscles. It's also a good idea to bring a sweater or jacket for cold lecture halls. How people dress varies. Business casual is the median. Some people choose to wear formal business attire, but there are always people in shorts and jeans as well. People usually dress up for some of the fancier activities, like the Opening Gala and the News Division Awards Banquet. Some events state the dress code.
What to Attend
Go to anything that interests you. The majority of the sessions are open to anyone, regardless of division, caucus, or chapter affiliation. If an event is only for people from a certain division, caucus, or chapter, it will almost always say so.
Walk through the exhibit hall at least once. Some conference-goers plan several hours in their schedule to visit the vendors. Vendors help defray the cost of the conferences and many support SLA activities outside of the conference, so visiting their booths lets them know that their presence is appreciated. It's also a great opportunity to learn about products and professional development resources.
The vendors often have free goodies, like pens, highlighters, and sticko-notes, that are good to grab. Some libraries get their year's supply of pens in the exhibit hall. Some people recommend bringing an extra shipping box to send stuff back to the office or home after the conference because it's easy to get overloaded with free stuff and conference handouts. Sharing conference goodies with coworkers can be a great way to earn brownie points.
Conferences
SLA News Division Home
Last Updated: 07/15/08
Alice Pepper
newsdivisionweb@yahoo.com