At the recent ACRL Oregon/Washington Joint Annual Conference at Menucha one of the ways we asked participants to contribute to the discussion about futures thinking was to write on some big sheets of paper posted at the back of the room.  It was fun to watch these sheets fill up as the conference went on.  I was worried people would be hesitant or would need some instruction about what we wanted them to do and was delighted to see people jotting down their thoughts before the program had even begun.

We asked participants “what one word” comes to mind when you think about the future.  It is delightful to read this list of words because it really reflects the thoughtful, excited, optimistic nature of our profession!

The words people jotted down when thinking of the future include:

"What one word"

We also asked people what questions came to mind when they thought about their job in ten years.  The results were questions that ran the gamut from despairing to hilarious to excited. I feel like the real anxieties we feel about the future came out more strongly in the questions we asked than in the “one word” that came to mind, which is interesting!  Questions included:

• What will LIS education need to teach students?
• How will I get my walker behind the Reference Desk?
• Will I drive my flying car to work?
• If we will have figured out the faculty collaboration question yet. And if state schools will still exist.
• Will the “orphan works” problem get solved?
• Will Google Books have an academic subscription (assuming legal issues resolved)?
• Will I just keep adding duties or specialties? When will I get to let go of doing everything all the time?
• If I will still be ahead of the curve for adopting tech, or ideas, or if I will fall behind.
• Will I/my faculty have lost our fair use rights because we didn’t use them enough? ie.- will “use it or lose it die?”
• Will all books be reused to build houses because trees are needed for the WWIII effort?
• Will my job still exist if I can afford to retire in 2020 (cataloging)?
• How GPS/ other technology will have helped make us ubiquitous in people’s lives/or even on their ?persons? – RFID chips/other?
• How I will continue to stay relevant with ever present change?
• If wearable computers will be fashionable
• How will be think of “analog”? Will it still be analog v. digital?
• If they’ll have stopped saying that lots of retirements will happen within 10 years
• Will we have re-branded (repackaged?) the word “Library”?
• Will I have tenure?
• What new ways will we be helping people connect with information?
• Will I be a contractor working independently for multiple institutions?
• How much of my teaching will be face to face?
• How will Google Books change how we view collections?
• Will I still be in a cubicle?
• If we will have finally figured out a way to market ourselves efficiently?
• What, exactly will I be doing? Or will I even be working in a library?
• Or will we be in the midst of another great depression and I’ll be living off the land?
• If I’ll have had a raise.
• If I will still be cataloging our backlogs, hidden collections, microforms, maps, serials, etc., etc., etc.
• How will libraries be defined/perceived by the public as universities and academia change?

What words do you think of when you consider the future?   What are your big questions about your job in 10 years?

The annual membership meeting was well attended. A brief report of the prior year was given as well as a presentation of OLA’s Vision 2020 report. Each OLA division has been asked to respond to the four vision statements presented in the report. We ran out of time for discussion, so watch for a chance to respond by email soon.

This year also marked the 35th anniversary of ACRL Oregon as a chapter. After the membership meeting, we all celebrated with cake!

Ready to eat!

I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you there!

Laura

Laura Zeigen, MA, MLIS
User Experience Librarian
Oregon Health & Science University
zeigenl@ohsu.edu / 503-494-0505

October 28-29, 2010 at the Menucha Retreat and Conference Center, Corbett, Oregon

As ACRL Oregon celebrates its 35th anniversary, we’ll take the opportunity to look into the future instead of examining the past.  What hopes, expectations, and fears do we have for academic libraries in general and in the region going into the future?  What questions can we ask now that will help us grow into the futures we hope for and avoid the futures we fear?  How can we discuss possible futures in a way that enriches our current practices?  How do those daily practices create the future?  Gather with your colleagues in a beautiful setting and take a break from the present to gaze into our future.

Registration Form: https://web.memberclicks.com/mc/quickForm/viewForm.do?orgId=ola&formId=85967

ACRL-Oregon invites library school students and first-time Fall Conference attendees from Oregon to submit an application to win a scholarship that covers registration (including food and lodging).

The fall conference is October 28-29, 2010, at the Menucha Retreat and Conference Center.

The scholarship application deadline is Monday, September 20. Apply
online.

If you have questions about the scholarship, please contact Joan Petit at jpetit@pdx.edu.

Good luck!

===========
Robin A. Paynter
ACRL Oregon Communications Coordinator

Join academic librarians from across the Pacific Northwest as we discuss the future of libraries with a great slate of speakers including David Silver (associate professor of media studies at University of San Francisco), Elizabeth DuPuis (Associate University Librarian at University of California, Berkeley and Director-at-Large of ACRL), and Jamene Brooks-Kieffer (Assistant Professor and Resource Linking Librarian at Kansas State University Libraries).

Register now for:

“If we knew today what we’ll know tomorrow: Futures thinking for academic libraries”
October 28-29, 2010
Menucha Retreat and Conference Center, Corbett, Oregon

Spaces are limited, so register soon!

For more information about the conference including speaker bios visit:
http://www.olaweb.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=110690

To go directly to registration, visit:
https://web.memberclicks.com/mc/quickForm/viewForm.do?orgId=ola&formId=85967

We look forward to seeing you in the Gorge!

=========
Robin Paynter
ACRL Oregon Communications Coordinator

You have 5 minutes and 20 slides to tell your colleagues from Oregon and Washington academic libraries what you think about the future!  What will you tell them?  We’re looking for a nice mixture of practical, visionary, funny, dire, and inventive.  Wherever you are in the library or your career – from library director to library student - you have something to add to this discussion!

Submit your idea now! We don’t require a fancy or formal proposal, just give us a general idea of what you plan to discuss.

And here’s the hashtag for Menucha 2010: #menucha10

Use it liberally!

The ACRL Oregon Board is busily planning two great days of programming, activities, and conversation.

More details about this year’s conference can be located at:

http://www.olaweb.org/page/menucha2010

Don’t forget to submit your ideas for lightning talks!

https://web.memberclicks.com/mc/quickForm/viewForm.do?orgId=ola&formId=76239

The 2010 ACRL OR/WA Annual Joint Conference at Menucha will feature Ignite-style talks presented by conference participants.  These fast, fun lightning talks will give more people a chance to participate and will allow many more ideas to be thrown into our two-day discussion about the future.

We want your ideas for lightning talks!  Our topic is broad — nothing less than the future of academic libraries!  What do you worry about when you think about our future?  What do you hope for?  Are you working on a project that you believe represents some of what the future has to offer us?  We’re looking for a nice mixture of practical, visionary, funny, dire, and inventive.  Wherever you are in the library or your career – from library director to library student – you have something to add to this discussion!

To submit your idea, please go to https://web.memberclicks.com/mc/quickForm/viewForm.do?orgId=ola&formId=76239 and fill out the quick form.  The proposal process is really informal, just tell us your idea!  The ACRL-OR Board will be accepting submissions on a rolling basis until all spots are filled or August 1, 2010. Your early submission will help us plan a better conference!