VLAPF

I was fortunate to attend the VLAPF Conference this year, "The Many Faces of Libraries: Fearlessly Evolving to Meet User Needs".

Monday brought a full day of workshops with "Internet Addiction: Myth or Reality" as my first. It was interesting to delve into the debate between Internet addiction as a true addiction or as an emerging social problem. With the new technology in libraries it is certainly relevant to our daily work.

Second, was the session on "Using Google Scholar: The Pros and Cons". Led by a techno guru from Radford College we learned about Scholar's advantages and limitations.

Third, after the cancellation of my intended workshop, was "Cataloging Web Resources". This session allowed me a glimpse of cataloging with an emphasis on how to handle the myriad of new technologies such as streaming video.

Tuesday morning brought two more sessions:

"Good to Better Questions" -- where the importance of a good reference interview was emphasized along with some excellent tips to refresh our approach. We were reminded to use the open questions at the beginning of the interview and work our way to the closed questions as we reach the verification phase.

"Humor in the Workplace" -- In this session members of the audience were encouraged to share their ideas and experiences for introducing some fun into the workplace.

I found the sessions relevant to my work in the public library and the people I met to be very down to earth. It was refreshing to have the opportunity to talk with library staff from all types of library environments, military, academic and public.

The conference closed with a luncheon speaker, Kim Weitkamp, a gifted storyteller who developed her skills while working with victims of abuse. She found that by telling them stories she could often illustrate a coping strategy that might have sounded judgmental had she presented it outright. Kim is now a profession storyteller who visits schools, libraries, camps and retreats.

J. Massey
Aspen Hill Library