Professional Development for Information Professionals - METRO LibGuides at Metropolitan New York Library Council

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I Need a Hero - New York Comic Con 2010

On October 8th & 9th, 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the New York Comic Con at the Jacob K. Javitz Center. A discount on weekend admission is offered for educators, librarians included, as an incentive for professionals to attend. The price for a weekend pass is $10.00, as opposed to the $50.00 regular price for non-professionals. This also includes a time set aside on Friday morning when the exhibit area is open only for those with professional passes before the convention opens to the general public. Professionals wishing to only attend on Friday are given free admission for the entire day. I opted for the weekend pass since I knew I would want to attend for more than one day. This was my second time attending NYCC, having also gone to the last one in February 2009. If possible, the convention was twice as overwhelming the second time around. Despite my bewilderment, I definitely had even more fun at this year’s New York Comic Con.

My first Midwinter

This past weekend, I attended my very first professional conference ever, ALA's Midwinter 2010 in Boston, MA. This was also the first time I'd ever visited Boston, but that's a story for another time. I hope this list of twelve lessons learned will help other future conference attendees.

In no particular order, they are:
1. Bring LOTS of business cards. I brought 50 with me, and although I did not run out over all, I did run out one day because I forgot to replenish my stack on Saturday morning after Friday's networking events. Also, another conference attendee stored her business cards in her name tag -- a great trick to always have them at hand.

2. Don't do everything. Really. I read this before I went and did not heed the advice. I tried my best to hit all the events that interested me, so I was exhausted on Saturday night. Edit, edit, edit (or weed, weed, weed, we are librarians) your schedule. #3 also speaks to this issue.

3. Feel free to come late and/or leave early from sessions. As long as you do it quietly and respectfully, no one seemed to mind when people were late or left early.

4. Account for travel time. Although the Boston Convention and Event Center (BCEC) was enormous, all the events were not held at the BCEC, so shuttle buses sponsored by Gale from from the hotels to the BCEC. It took about 20 minutes for me to get from the BCEC to the hotels I needed to go to -- a problem when meeting #1 ends at 10:30 and meeting #2 starts at 10:30 and they are at different venues. See lesson #3.

5. If staying with friends to save money (a great tip in and of itself), consider splurging for a hotel for one night. In my case, my friends' neighbors had loud parties on Friday and Saturday nights, so I missed out on sleep, and had to schlep to the BCEC at 8:00 the next morning. It would have been worth the cash to be alert at least one early morning.

6. Network, network, network. For me, this is what the conference was all about. Because I am a new librarian, I didn't have any committee meetings, so I met and visited with a lot of people. I hope that at least some of these contacts will turn into lasting relationships.

7. The big-ticket events are interesting (shout out to Al Gore, who gave an inspiring speech about climate change), but connections are made in the smaller gatherings. As someone with a background in history, I attended RUSA's History section discussion group and had a wonderful experience. In my library school, we learned about subject guides using the term "pathfinder," which, according to the librarians in the History section, is out-of-date. LibGuides is now the preferred term (and a vendor as well). Everyone else was talking about LibGuides and I asked for clarification.

8. Speak up! I may not have looked like the smartest person in the room in that History section meeting, but I'm glad I spoke up because it was an ice-breaker with fellow attendees when the meeting was over.

9. Don't be afraid to stop strangers and ask them questions. One of the great contacts I made was a woman I stopped on the Exhibit floor because she was wearing a RUSA badge and I wanted to learn more about the association. I would posit that almost all librarians became librarians to help people, so if you have a question, ask!

10. Plan ahead if you're going to take advance reader copies (ARCs) or buy books. I give myself a C- in this area: my suitcase was only about halfway full when I got to Boston (a step in the right direction), and while the books I picked up fit in the suitcase, it became far too heavy to lift by myself and navigate the subway (oops). I tried to use the ALA Post Office, but the line was VERY long just before it closed and I was stuck. Next time, I will hit up the Post Office earlier or be more selective.

11. Bring snacks with you. I nearly missed a meal because my resume review session (which was excellent, I highly recommend taking advantage of this service offered by the New Members Round Table) ran over. If I had had a granola bar, I would not have been forced to scarf down quite possibly the worst piece of pizza I ever had while running to hear Al Gore (which seemed to be the only event to which no one either was late or left early).

12. The Exhibit floor can wait. I tried to cram visiting the Exhibit floor into small time slots on Saturday and Sunday, but I was at the conference Monday as well and should have taken my time to leisurely visit then. Also, as a student looking for my first library job, some exhibitors were, shall we say less-than-friendly? Perhaps Library Directors have a better experience here.

Beth Daniel Lindsay, MA, MLS

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The New York Librarians Meetup Group at the Morgan Library

The New York Librarians Meetup Group at the Morgan Library

Visit to A Woman's Wit: Jane Austen's Life and Legacy Exhibition on
Sunday January 10, 2010

Photo Courtesy of The Morgan Library and Museum – view of J.P. Morgan’s private library looking out toward the foyer



















Photo of Morgan Café courtesy of The Morgan Library and Museum

Dollops of whipped cream infused hot chocolate and scoops of colorful gelato laced with mint sprigs provoked exclamations of ohs and ahs among the twenty plus Library Meetup group members who gathered Sunday, January 10 to see the Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library http://www.themorgan.org/. I can't tell you how welcome the sunlight cascading in the floor-to-ceiling glass windows felt as I sat in the Morgan Cafe sipping my pot of tea on a crystal clear but frosty winter day. Conversation quickly ensued as Stephanie introduced the group and told us about upcoming Library Meetup events, networking and volunteer opportunities such as helping compile the job and career resource list and co-hosting future events. Even though it’s hard to leave pleasant conversation, particularly while indulging in sweets, we finally sauntered off to see the Jane Austen (1775-1817) exhibit: A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy.



Silhouette of woman reputed to be Jane Austen - courtesy of the Jane Austen Society of Australia (JASA)


By happenstance, I wended my way down the winding staircase adjacent to the café area which led to the newly created performance hall. For those of you who aren’t challenged by vertigo and wish to navigate around the Morgan, I recommend stepping into the glass elevators in the center of the atrium which provide an eye-popping view of the soaring glass windows and lead invitingly to the exhibition space. Several members of the group waited and chatted in the red cushy auditorium seats for the next showing of the two alternating short videos, one about J.P. Morgan and his collection and the other, the delightful The Divine Jane: Reflections on Austen. Both films dazzled and had the same theme: passion. It’s easy to see why this financier had an eye for exquisite objects; his piercing eyes are his most prominent feature and implore us to gasp in awe at the illuminated manuscripts portrayed in brilliant color in the video. The narrator describes Morgan as a “sultan of a secret seraglio who wanted all the beautiful things in the world and assiduously acquired them. The Divine Jane video showcases the passion of several actors, authors and scholars for Austen’s work. Cornel West’s visage excitedly extols the virtues of Jane Austen’s literature. In no uncertain terms, West lets us know that her canon of works achieved Shakespearean status. I’m still haunted by West’s elegiac reminder that Austen departed this world at the age of 41. Perhaps, Colm Tóibín’s deadpan statement that he’d much rather take a Jane Austen novel to bed than a companion is the most memorable portion of the video. I embarrassingly laughed raucously at Tóibín’s exposition, but I wasn’t the only one to laugh. The visuals were likewise stunning; the creator of the film showed several of the interviewees either lovingly poring over Austen manuscripts or reading at a shadowed desk in front of a window invoking literary life circa early 1800s, Austen’s time period. For those of you who can’t make it to the Morgan before the Austen exhibit closes March 14, you can see it online: http://www.themorgan.org/video/austen.asp.
The curators also wisely set aside a portion of the Austen exhibit area to show the film for those who bypass the performance hall viewing.

Once the movie ended, I conquered my fear of the glass elevator and glided up to the second floor Austen exhibit (with my eyes closed). The exhibit can best be described as “cozy” as it only occupies a medium sized gallery. However, the curators managed to cover Austen’s home life which included her father’s library of 500 volumes, her societal milieu, the works of her best-selling literary contemporaries and her short career within the tight gallery space. Since the Morgan holds the largest collection (51) of Austen’s correspondence out of her 161 extant letters the centerpiece of the exhibit was those letters along with her surviving manuscripts. Luckily, for tired eyes the curators only displayed a few of her letters to her sister Cassandra and relatives as the cursive writing of the day is difficult to read. The curators highlighted the contents of the letters in metal plates affixed to the glass cases protecting the precious correspondence. I particularly enjoyed one letter to her niece which summarizes the sentiment Austen expressed in many of her novels: “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection.” An ironic statement in that Austen’s novels aptly portrayed the impossibility for many women of marrying for affection in an era when most women depended on men for financial support. Indeed, my favorite part of the exhibition and unfortunately hidden against the back wall was the description of Austen’s lesser known short novel, Lady Susan. Lady Susan, an epistolary novel, paints a scathing portrait of a “gold-digger” without a heart of gold. Marilyn Butler, a scholar depicted Lady Susan as a “cruising shark in her social goldfish pond.”

Therein lies the source of Austen’s enduring popularity; those who relentlessly search for a pairing of affection are still surrounded by cruising sharks in social goldfish ponds some two hundred years after Austen graced us with Sense and Sensibility, her first published novel.

Jodi Cantor