InfoCamp 2009

InfoCamp is an “un-conference,” which means that there is no pre-set agenda and sessions are given by the participants. This un-conference focuses on user experience, information architecture, user-centered design, librarianship, information management, and related fields. Also highlighted were speakers Axel Roesler, a professor who specializes in interaction design at the University of Washington, and Vanessa Fox, a “cyberspace visionary.”

What I liked best about InfoCamp, besides seeing all sorts of people from my past, and meeting lots of interesting new people, was the diversity of disciplines represented. Library conferences have their limits, and techies have their own lingo that is often beyond me, but interdisciplinary gatherings force people to define their acronyms and speak in a common language (English?). The organization element was amazing, everything ran on time, it seemed that everyone had a chance to talk and or present, and the discussions flowed. The weather was gorgeous, hard to be indoors, as fall has arrived in Seattle, but it pushed us outside during lunch and breaks and facilitated some interesting conversations.

What did I come away with?
• Academics would do well by interacting with “lay people” more often: get past the theory and try some practice; move beyond your ideas and think about what your ideas mean to “normal people.”
• It’s good for all of us to get out of our fields and hear what others who have similar interests have to say from a different viewpoint; and be forced to elucidate the ideas that have been rolling around in our heads.
• Talking about an idea with others may be good (or not), but it never hurts to try.

Sooooo, Kara Fox and I did a session: Public Sector Applications: How to Make the L-Word Sexy. What the heck, wasn’t that why we were there? After the first day of InfoCamp, we stayed up late talking about libraries and why they are perceived as being so un-cool. But it’s not about the libraries themselves, it’s what they have to offer and what already exists – government support, infrastructure, networked services, a dedication to servicing the population… Kara used the analogy of a salt shaker (we were sitting around the dining room table), it’s not the salt shaker itself, it’s what the salt creates, the enhanced flavor, the experience! So can we get past the ‘libraries are boring and places for scholarship’ and move onto what they provide and how we can use the pre-existing infrastructure? And let’s not forget about servicing populations who can’t afford to have a computer at home, buy a new book, pay for database subscriptions… As more and more libraries close, because they are ‘outdated,’ we are depriving people to essential access to information.