Embracing Optimism

摘要

The concept of change has been, for many in the specialized librarian community, a negative concept. Changes in the past few years were perceived to be at the least disruptive and at the most catastrophic. Budgets were cut, physical space reduced or eliminated, jobs lost. Now, an ever-so-slight shift is emerging. That positive change will be evident at the 2004 annual meeting of the Special Libraries Association, now doing business as SLA, at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, June 5-9. "People are working in lean and tough conditions, but they are working with what they have to make themselves and their services more visible," says Cindy Hill, SLA's current president. "There are indications of a trend to quiet, steady optimism about the association, the economy, and jobs in general. Things are slowly stabilizing, in part because there is a growing awareness that evaluated information is critical to organizations," she says.