ALA Midwinter Meeting: Reevaluating and Reenergizing

摘要

Library and information industry professionals at the American Library Association's (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Dallas discussed technologies, change, and demonstrating value, and they proved they are meeting the challenges of economic decline. Granted, there were fewer librarians at the meeting Jan. 20-24: There were only 6,200, compared to last year's 7,500 in San Diego and 8,500 in Boston in 2010. But, there were about 3,700 exhibitors, nearly 50% more than the 2,500 of the 2 previous years. Though aisles were notably empty during some of the 23 hours of exhibit time, the ratio of nearly 2-1 attendees to exhibitors meant that librarians rarely had to wait at the 425 booths, and there was plenty of time for B2B investigation and chatting.