2 inFoRmation tEcHnoLoGY anD LiBRaRiEs | junE 2008 mark Beatty (mbeatty@wils.wisc.edu) is LITA President 2007/2008 and Trainer, Wisconsin Library Services, Madison. Mark BeattyPresident’s Message I’ve recently read three quite different articles that surprisingly all had something similar to say with a different twist on the theme uppermost in my brain the last year or two. Here’s the briefest of quotes from the three. I would suggest your full reading of all three if you haven’t already. n Lankes, Silverstein and Nicholson, “Participatory Networks: The Library as Conversation,” in the December 2007 Information Technology and Libraries: “With their principles, dedication to service, and unique knowledge of infrastructure, libraries are poised not simply to respond to new technologies, but to drive them. By tying technological implementation, development and improvement to the mission of facilitating conver- sations across fields, libraries can gain invaluable visibility and resources.” n Bill Crowley, “Lifecycle Librarianship,” in the April 1, 2008 Library Journal: “Public, academic, and school librarians should adopt the service philosophy of lifecycle librarianship and jointly plan at town, city, or county levels to identify and meet human learning needs from “lapsit to nursing home.”” n Joe Kissell, “Instant Messaging for Introverts,” in the April 4, 2008 TidBITS (http://db.tidbits.com/ article/9544): “Several people I discussed this issue with (using IM and Twitter) expressed dismay at having had relationships deteriorate due to an unwillingness on another person’s part to adapt to changing technology. For example, people who don’t use e-mail don’t get Evites, and so they end up being excluded from parties.” What all three express to me is a concern that librar- ies, and just plain humans, need to be part of the conver- sation, part of the social structure, and full participants in life. We are now, through surveys and meetings and focus groups, starting to know that new librarians and new LITA members are most interested in networking with their colleagues using multiple methods to fulfill the whole range of their professional and social needs. Lankes wants to make sure we participate with all our constituencies, Crowley wants us to spend a lifetime with those constituencies, and Kissell wants to make sure we get invited to the party. That sounds a bit face- tious but I believe the point is that our association, our libraries, our social structures are now required to be active participants, physically and virtually, in the life of their communities. We have to recognize our communi- ties and then act to participate and provide space and support to those communities. This takes work and the will to always be part of our communities. All of which leads to my President’s Program, featur- ing keynote speaker Joe Janes and the blogging folks at “It’s All Good” at the ALA Annual Conference 2008 in Anaheim, California. It will be part of Sunday Afternoon with LITA, taking place on Sunday, June 29, 2008. The program line up will include: n Top Technology Trends 1:30–3:00 p.m. n LITA Awards and Scholarships Reception 3–4 p.m. n LITA President’s Program 4–5 p.m. n “Isn’t it great to be in the library . . . wherever that is?” It’s often said that today we have to run three libraries at once: the library of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We run both the physical, visible library, and the one that exists beyond the walls. This raises many questions of what a library is and encompasses, what it isn’t, where the boundaries lie, the impact on what we do and how we do it, what our clients want, how we serve them, and what kinds of librarians serve them. This program will attempt to examine the full social and cultural constructs of libraries that move beyond basic Web 2.0 and integrate patrons, librarians, and resources in what should be a ubiquitous manner. Join Joe Janes, associate professor in the Information School of the University of Washington in Seattle and columnist for American Libraries, keynote speaker, along with members of the “It’s All Good” blog- ging group (http://scanblog.blogspot.com) as the reactor panel for a lively exploration of possible futures. I hope you’ll be able to attend but be assured that members of the LITA community will blog and report and even record the sessions in various ways that will be made freely available to our community.