2011 Code4Lib Conference


2011 Code4Lib ConferenceA couple of weeks ago -thanks to a scholarship- I was in Bloomington, IN attending the 2011 Code4Lib Conference. I think the conference organization was great and it was well attended too -even with some international attendees. Two main characteristics of the conference were: the single-track method allowed new comers to avoid the problems of choosing between breakout sessions; and many participants were not only taking notes, commenting or twitting about the sessions, but also coding. It was also great to hear that some of the projects presented were actually “ideas gathered” at the previous conference; in short, Code4Lib seems to be a great place for brainstorming and initiating new projects that can produce deliverables for real-life projects in matter of months.

Some of my favorite presentations were:

The Lightning Talks seems to be an excellent method for learning about a variety of topics in a short period of time, some of my favorites included: AjaxyDialog jquery-ui widget, Blacklight and Hydra at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Open data and the Biodiversity Heritage Library experience, Mobile Web Apps for Library Exhibits, Digital Humanities and Libraries, and A Guide for the Perplexed.

The Ask Anything session was also an interesting one, questions and answers ranged from basic to advanced, from on-site to online, from short to long; as a new comer, the question of the day was “What should we teach new librarians about coding/programming/hacking?” The answers included: learn and try something simple and quickly, install LINUX, find an interesting and short-term project, use the command line … and I think we could also add one more: join Code4Lib -which could be as simple as joining the listserv, attending a conference, checking the Journal or maybe just making time to watch the archived videos from the 2011 Conference.

Once again, thanks Code4Lib organizers!

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