Third, belatedly, in a series. You can see the other ones here.
You know the disclaimer by now: Any opinions, either stated by me or inferred by you, are strictly my own, and do not necessarily reflect any opinions of my employer, co-workers, or the avenging chicken. The cat doesn't appear in this adventure, so his opinions are irrelevant; the dog's opinions revolve mainly around food and barking.
|
|
|
|
| The cat wasn't anywhere around this time, but one of the dogs made up for his absence. | On the plane taking us to San Jose. | One of the great advantages of staying near the Monterey Public Library is the coffee/pastry shop just around the corner. |
|
|
|
|
| We attend a pre-conference on Wikipedia at the Monterey Public Library. Afterwards we meet with the staff and talk about Koha, the ILS we both use. I was able to tell them something useful! | We pose with Inga Waite, director of the Monterey Public Library. She's also my cousin. | Monterey is a wonderful place, but I'm not sure I'd want to pay a mortgage there. |
|
|
|
|
| There aren't any meetings Sunday, so we spend a day sightseeing. We breakfast in Carmel, happy to find a restaurant that thinks "tea" is something more than a teabag floating in a cup of lukewarm water. | Then go to Point Lobos. Point Lobos and Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia tie for the most ostentatiously beautiful places I've been. | We spend some time looking at the ocean. |
|
|
| |
| And some more time... | At last! The conference begins! | |
|
|
|
|
| So there I was, sitting in the lobby of the conference hotel, when Terri Wilson of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Libraries comes up to me. "Are you Fred King? I didn't recognize you without the Avenging Chicken." It turns out that both she and her boss are fans. I reassure her that I have the chicken with me, and the three of us pose for a picture. I have always wanted to leave some mark on the library world, but I didn't envision it involving a stuffed chicken. | We attend a presentation on Building Healthy Communities by Bobbi L. Newman, Community Outreach & Engagement Specialist, National Network of Libraries of Medicine. | We attend a talk on virtual reality. It's in a room at the top of the hotel, and afterwards we look out at Monterey. |
|
|
|
|
| In the afternoon we attend a talk on online search techniques by Marydee Ojala, Editor-in-Chief of Online Searcher magazine. Afterwards I ask her a question, to which she replies "maybe somebody should write a poem about it." I have always wanted to leave some mark on the library world, but I didn't envision it involving poetry that struggles to reach the level of doggerel. | Monterey is a beautiful town, with alleys... | ...public gardens... |
|
|
|
|
| ...and, of course, a bay. | And don't forget the wharf. | My room had a fireplace, and the staff provided a fresh log every day. |
|
|
|
|
| We attend a talk by Marshall Breeding about Library Services Platforms. After the talk I asked him whether I should concentrate on learning more about what I know now or concentrating on new innovations about which I know very little. He reassured me that by the time the new cataloging protocols, etc., were standard, I'd be either retired or dead. Good to know. | Now it's our turn in the spotlight--we're part of a panel on Taking Control of your Online Catalog. Fortunately, we have an audience. | |
|
|
|
|
| Yes, I'm talking about Koha. | Back at the San Jose airport. | And back home. A month later we move to a new house, which is why this took so long to put online. |