The last week of this month is the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California. Luckily, I’ll be in attendance for the first three of the five days the conference takes place (June 27-29).

In anticipation of the conference, I’ve compiled a list of programs that sound interesting to me.

Friday, June 27

• 9:30-11AM
  • Interviewing Strategies (ALA HRDR): interview strategies for new job opportunities
• 2-4PM
  • Managers Who Have the “Union Advantage” (ALA APA): creating positive working relationships with unionized staff
• 4-5:30PM
  • YALSA 101 (YALSA): YALSA orientation
  • LITA 101 (LITA): LITA orientation

Saturday, June 28

• 8-10AM
  • ABCs of DNA: Unraveling the Mystery of Genetics Information for Consumers (AFL BCALA): how to decipher genetics information for patrons
  • Ebook Workflows: Selection to Access (ALCTS AS): ebook selection, acquisition, and access
  • Sustainable Libraries: Shades of Green (LAMA BES): environmental library buildings
  • RFID in Libraries (LITA): examine RFID concerns
  • YA Literature, Graphic Novels, and Books on Popular Culture: How Do They Attract Reluctant Readers (YALSA)
• 9:30-11AM
  • Advanced Resumes & Cover Letters (ALA HRDR)
• 10:30-12PM
  • Research to Understand Users: Issues and Approaches (ALA LRRT): understand user behavior and the research process
  • Kids & Ever-Cool: Find Them Together @ Your Library (ALSC): Gene Del Vecchio, author of Creating Ever-Cool: A Marketer’s Guide to a Kid’s Heart speaks
  • How Branding Can Increase the Relevance of Your Library (PLA): marketing audit of the library, strategic positioning
  • Public Computing in a Library 2.0 World (PLA LD): implications of web 2.0 technologies in the library
• 1:30-3:30PM
  • There’s No Catalog Like No Catalog: The Ultimate Debate on the future of the Library Catalog (LITA): explores alternatives to catalogs
  • Social Software Showcase (LITA): showcase.litablog.org
• 4-5:30PM
  • Transformational Change: The Evolving Role of the Library IT Departments (LITA)
  • Science Fiction and Fantasy: Looking at Information Technology and the Information Rights of the Individual (LITA): Cory Doctorow speaks

Sunday, June 29

• 8-10AM
  • Beyond Gaming Tournaments (YALSA)
• 8-12PM
  • Creating the Future of the Catalog and Cataloging (ALCTS CCS): Tim Spalding, creator of LibraryThing speaks, as well as librarians from UCLA, University of Rochester, Cornell, and Columbia
• 11-1:30PM
  • Swap & Show: Hot Ideas for Cool PR (LAMA PRMS): provides access to samples of library public relations materials

As it gets closer to the time of the conference, I plan to narrow down my choices to only first and second choices for the time slots like I did last year at Washington, DC. That way, if a program is too crowded or starts and is not what I was hoping it would be, I’ll have a back up program to go to.

Are you going to the conference? What programs sound interesting to you?