Late yesterday, I found out that my professional organization’s membership – the Special Library Association – voted down it’s name change proposal. The reasons were fairly obvious. While a most members think that we need to branch out to other disciplines (which we do) the alternative name, well, sucked. The Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals just didn’t strike a chord. Neither did it’s acronym of ASKPro.

You would think, then, that the leadership would tread more carefully when posting news to the internet on the topic but this hasn’t been the case. An already oft-quoted blurb from the SLA website reads, “voting in record numbers, SLA members failed to approve a proposal to change the organization’s name to the Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals.” Note the word failed. While I will admit that I did vote for the name change I’m a little relieved that it didn’t go through. Most importantly, it’s also worth pointing out that the real failure here wasn’t on the part of SLA’s membership. It was on the part of name change proponents to find an adequate replacement.

This week the Special Library Association’s leadership announced a new name… which they recommend we adopt as part of their ongoing realignment project. Henceforth, there is a chance I’ll be a member of the Association of Knowledge Professionals or “ASKPro.” The chance is small, for sure, but it’s not completely out of the question. Like my Millennial peers I’m torn as to how I’ll vote .

I am sure of two things though:

1) I am Librarian. This doesn’t change the fact that I can fill into multiple roles either. That’s the nature of the profession. It’s changing along with technology and as a traditionally older group retires. We are vast. We contain multitudes.

2) This issue/debate won’t be resolved until I’m much older. Anything and everything that has to do with the transmittal of information is in flux. It’s going to take people a long time to adapt to any switch from analog to digital technology. We don’t even know how far the shift will go.

If  Sen. Gary Nadler ever runs for a statewide office there’s a good chance I won’t vote for him.

I don’t know much about his voting record and I don’t care about his politics. I just don’t think I could vote for someone who has repeatedly helped to kill proposals that would allow laptops on the floor of the Missouri State Senate. While I respect his “love of tradition” and his concern that technology can distract people from important business… he has disregarded a few important things:

• Instant access to information could improve debate and discussion.
• The only reason a laptops  haven’t been on the floor of the Senate floor… is because they are relatively new.
• Senators are not in High School. A computer might distract them from time to time but they’re adults. They can focus just fine.
• Opposing the use of laptops or similar equipment makes him come across as a Luddite.

I know that technology has it’s share of problems but barring it from an important institution is not realistic.

I know I’ve posted quite a few websites lately, but the Federal Government came out with another site that I’ll be using quite a bit today. From the Data.gov “About” page:

As a priority Open Government Initiative for President Obama’s administration, Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government. A primary goal is to improve access to Federal data and expand creative use of those data beyond the walls of government by encouraging innovative ideas (e.g., web applications). Data.gov strives to make government more transparent and is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. The openness derived from Data.gov will strengthen our Nation’s democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

While I’m not sure about how open datasets will increase government transparency – the general public don’t know jack about analytics – it certainly seems to be a useful tool for researchers, web-developers, and anyone who needs raw data. What is going to be really interesting is how the internet community takes advantage of this it. The Federal Government is the largest statistics keeper in the country, and this certainly creates plenty of opportunities for the library world.

So get out there folks!

Projects like this – even though there’s no chance that most libraries can build them – are sooooo cool. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce the World Digital Library. At $10 million dollars it’s proof that digital tools and information sources can be a form of entertainment in and of themselves.

World Digital Library: http://www.wdl.org/en/