Azure Mountain hike

The Azure Mountain diversion went off without a hitch despite a weather forecast of "scattered thunder showers." It was pretty warm, made warmer by the high humidity. Joe Petrick and Jane Vivala joined "interpreter-in-training", Marianne Hebert up the short mountain hike. Normally you can see the high peaks from the summit, but on such a hazy day, we couldn't see past the nearest local peaks.



We all had a good time, despite the overly active black flies. Wildflowers were glorious. Jane and Marianne had fun with identifying a variety of native flowers. Lunch at the nearby Deer Valley restaurant included two house specialties: poutine and deep fried cheesecake!



Jane volunteered her services to help prevent this glacial erratic from rolling down the mountain!

See more photos on the SUNYLA Flikr groups.

Thank You Everyone!

The conference is finally over. I'm back at home, heading out to the garden to relax and rejuvenate. I want to send a thanks to all the conference attendees for making this conference such a success. We heard at lunch yesterday, how much work goes into the conference: the Conference Committee, Local Arrangements Committee, Presenters, Facilitators, and I thank them all too. It takes a "SUNYLA village" to raise an annual event.

But, what made this conference so great was the participatory nature of the attendees. Not only did you socialize, blog and attend presentations, you drummed, sang, danced and played a myiad of games. I truly expected the Talent Night to be a pretty good "gong" show. What we got was outstanding performances by outstanding talents. Who knew? Everyone embraced the spirit of "making a racket" and made the conference a fun place to be. THANK YOU ALL!

Wishing everyone a safe journey home and a relaxing weekend. See you next year!

Birdwatching Diversion

When I suggested you'd be amazed with the bird watching diversion, I was thinking you'd be amazed that anyone (i.e. me and 4 other SUNYLA members) would get up at 6:00am to go bird watching. Truth is, I had no idea bird watching could be so amazing!

The Clarkson University Great Blue Heron rookerie was hopping with activity. It surpassed anything I have ever seen on nature documentaries like "Sunrise Earth." Our thanks to local bird experts Joan Collins and Mary Beth Warburton who led us on a most fascinating journey. Mary Beth brought her scope so we could see zoom in on the birds in their nests. Both gave a running commentary on the birds we saw and heard as we walked through the woods and watched the marsh from the observation desk. In addition to the birds listed below we observed a muskrat munching on water lily leaves, heard many bull frogs and volunteered our services as a breakfast buffet for many mosquitoes. I wish I had brought my camera, but I'll be heading back to the marsh this weekend and will post those photos later.

Thanks to Joan Collins who just emailed me with her official account of the outing, posted to the Northern New York Birds email list earlier this morning:

6/12/08 Clarkson University Trails, Potsdam (6:30 to 7:30 a.m., weather was cool and clear, with calm winds)

Marianne Hebert, SUNY Potsdam Librarian, organized a pre-breakfast bird walk for several people attending the SUNY Librarians Association conference. Mary Beth Warburton and I led a hike to the observation tower overlooking a large swamp with a Great Blue Heron rookery. The short trail (~ 1/2 mile) leading to the swamp passes through a mature deciduous forest with one large open area near the beginning of the trail. We found 31 species during the short walk, including 6 flycatcher and 5 warbler species. Here is a complete list of the birds found:

Wood Duck - pair flying over

Hooded Merganser - female that flew in and briefly landed in the water near us

Great Blue Heron - we had wonderful views of all the nest sites filled with young. We also observed an adult carry a stick to one of the nests. It gave the stick to the other adult perched on the nest. The second adult placed the stick in the nest which had 3 young.

Green Heron - pair observed flying into the swamp together. They briefly perched in a dead snag then dropped down out of sight.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Eastern Wood-Pewee - several

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe - adults with 3 young perched in trees near the tower begging for food

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird - in the clearing area chasing Amer. Crows

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

Amer. Crow

Tree Swallow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Hermit Thrush

Amer. Robin

European Starling - several in the swamp

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Ovenbird

Northern Waterthrush - at least 3

Common Yellowthroat

Song Sparrow

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Baltimore Oriole - adults feeding young in a nest over the observation tower!

Amer. Goldfinch

Diverting!

Today's fantastic experience: hiking Stone Valley with some other librarians after a huge thunderstorm blew through yesterday. We had to take a different path than I had planned, due to some dramatically downed power lines, but the other side of the river, though downed as well, was more accessible, and because it has the dam access on it, had been cleared by the power company. It was gorgeous, moving very fast, and definitely an adventure as we climbed over some fallen trees, looped around others, and watched the water just cruise on past us on a gorgeous summer day. And we even talked a bit about librarianship. It was totally professional networking. TOTALLY. Thanks to Gerry, Barbara, and Joanne for going along for the adventure!

Reminder: New Member Orientation

Attention New Members! Please join us in front of Barrington Hall (the Student Union) Wednesday, June 11th at 5:30pm. Meet fellow new members and get oriented to the conference. We’ll all walk over to the BBQ together. Then, after dinner, we’ll meet back up and walk to the membership social where you’ll have the chance to win fabulous new member prizes.

Conference Web Portal

I've setup a simple web portal using Netvibes just for updates on the conference. This includes updates from the conference blog, conference bloggers, as well as a Conference Schedule using a widget from Google Calendar. Hope you find it useful!

Conference Web Portal
http://www.netvibes.com/sunyla2008

Mobile Version
http://m.netvibes.com/universe/sunyla2008/tab/108539746

Note: The Flickr widget is only set to tagged photos with "SUNYLA" at the moment. Official conference tag is still "SUNYLA08", but there are not enough photos yet to be picked up by the widget.

Stone Valley Hike

Want to check out Stone Valley? Did you sign up? Did you forget to sign up? Doesn't matter to me!

Meet me at 1:00 in the lobby of Draime Hall, by the Knitting Lounge, and I'll take you there. 3 people in my car, as many as wish it in someone else's. (So find a driver...) We'll be back by 3:30 at the latest, and it's going to be a gorgeous day!

Session Facilitators Needed!

Session Facilitators Needed!

Hey SUNYLA!

We still need people to help out and facilitate some sessions at SUNYLA 2008. Here are the times and sessions where we need your help.

Pre-Conference:
P1 SUNY Borrowing Task Force part 1 9am-noon
P2 Unravelling Web 2.0: Matching the Technology to the Need 1pm-3pm
P4 The Automated Authority Control Process, saving time saving resources 1pm-3pm
P5 SUNY Borrowing Task Force part 2 1pm-3pm
P6 "What Do We Want?: Librarian Equity, UUP, and the Executive Committee" 3pm-4pm

Conference:
V-1 Digital Preservation: Greatly Desired, Greatly Unknown… 8:15 - 9:00am room 217
G-S Whirlpool Ahead! Librarians and the Vortex of University Service 9:15 - 10:00 am
M-S Information Literacy Assessment: Session I: Program Assessment 9:15 - 10:00 am
V-4 Serials Solutions 3:30pm - 4:15pm room 217
V-5 Elsevier 4:30pm - 5:15pm room 217
U-S Negotiating rough waters: library director evaluations 8:45am-10:15am
V-6 ExLibris 8:45am-10:15am room 217

Please consider helping us out.
Thanks,

Mark McBride
mcbridmf@buffalostate.edu

Arriving on Campus - Redux

When you arrive on campus, the first thing you should do is REGISTER!

Register FIRST, even if you are late for the pre-conference, BBQ or other event.

Your registration packet will have your PARKING PERMIT. If you don't get your parking permit prominently displayed in your window, you WILL likely be issued a parking ticket, and we WON'T be able to fix it! Overnight parking is allowed in LOTs 25 and 25A.

Sorry!

What to Wear in Potsdam

The weather in Potsdam is unpredictable...just like everywhere else in NY. As of today, Monday, we are expecting it to be mostly in the mid-70's, mostly sunny, 20% chance of rain. That of course can change at any moment!

The dorm rooms (Draime) are not air conditioned (bring a fan?), and the air conditioning in Kellas Hall is unpredictable. We suggest you dress for warm weather and bring a sweater or jacket in case the air conditioning in Kellas decides to be robust.

Don't forget:
The registration bags are lime green, so make sure your ensemble doesn't clash!
The BBQ is in the park by the river, and black flies and other un-invited guests may show up!

Drumming Circle: Bring Your Drums

On Thursday, as part of the Talent Show entertainment, we will have a drumming circle workshop. If you have "real" drums, we encourage you to bring them. Bongos, tamborines, congo drums, tablas, any percussion instrument will do.

If you don't own a drum, don't worry! Be happy! We will be providing "suprise" instruments in your registration packets, so everyone can participate and help us make a racket!

Assistance with Walking

If you find walking distances to be a challenge, we will have a golf cart or two to assist you with getting from point A to point B. Library staff volunteers will be available to transport you (campus locations only).

You can flag the drivers down anytime, or ask them to pick you up at a specific time. We will have walkie-talkies, so you can either "call" for a ride at the Kellas reservation desk, or ask me (Marianne) to give them a holler.

We have never done this before, so please be patient while we work out the kinks.

While the golf cart service is intended to assist those who need assistance, able-bodied walkers are welcome to ride if space is available.

Please note that the BBQ picnic at Lehman Park is ~10 minute walk (~1 mile). Parking is very limited. There is a very tiny parking lot (10 cars?) at the park, but you can park on the grass by the entrance, near the main road (Rt. 56).

Since parking is so limited, we encourage you to walk. It is a very nice stroll from the dorms, and you can make a racket while you walk!

Live Audio-cast of Keynote Address

Can't come to SUNYLA this year, but would love to hear what Joe Janes has to say?
We are trying something new this year...

Live audio-casting (no video) of the keynote speech will be available courtesy of our campus BearCast system. This is a LIVE cast ONLY, and will not be available for downloading later. There will NOT be a link on our BearCast website, you will need to use the link below:

http://bearcast.potsdam.edu:8000/crane.mp3.m3u

The above link will be activated on Thursday, June 12, sometime between 1:45 and 2:00pm. It will not work before then! We apologize in advance for any technical difficulties.

Live events are currently streamed in mp3 format. The stream should open automatically in iTunes, Windows Media Player, or other audio software of your choice.

Recommended software for MacOS includes iTunes, VLC, or RealPlayer.

Recommended software for Windows includes Windows Media Player, iTunes, VLC, or RealPlayer. Windows Media Player users may need to hit the "Play" button after the stream buffers for a few seconds.

BearCast is service that has been configured for campus concert performances and sporting events. We are making use of an previously existing service. Unfortunately we cannot make the cast available in video format or for downloading at a later time. Hope the live audio-cast will be adequate! Many thanks to Dr. Peter McCoy for making his server available to us!

Conference Confirmations

Conference registration confirmations will be going out today via email.
We apologize for the delay in getting them out, but with two back-to-back
conferences, our Conference Office has been swamped.

If you have any questions about your registration please contact
Nancy Hess:
315 267-2168
E-mail: hessnl@potsdam.edu

Information about arriving on campus and registration is now on the conference blog:
http://sunyla2008.blogspot.com/2008/06/arriving-on-campus-registration-and.html
http://sunyla2008.blogspot.com/2008/05/late-night-arrivals.html

Arriving on Campus - Registration and Dorms

When you arrive on campus, look for the SUNYLA signs to parking and registration.
A SUNYLA conference map is printed on the second page of the program.

Arriving Tuesday PM:
Park in LOT 25
Registration will be in Draime Hall from 4:00-8:00pm. If you have previously notified the Conference office that you will be arriving later than 8:00pm, your registration packet and dorm keys will be available at the police station.

Arriving Wednesday AM
Park in LOT 2. Due to construction on campus, Potsdam Drive is closed. You can drive through LOT 1 to get to LOT 2.
Registration will be in Kellas Hall 8:00am-4:00pm.
Registration will be in Draime Hall 4:00pm-8:00pm.
If you have previously notified the Conference office that you will be arriving later than 8:00pm, your registration packet and dorm keys will be available at the police station.

Arriving Thursday AM
Registration will be in Kellas Hall beginning at 7:00am-12:00pm.

Arriving Friday AM
Registration will be in Kellas Hall beginning at 7:00am.

If you have any questions, please contact Nancy Hess:
315 267-2168
E-mail: hessnl@potsdam.edu

Call for Conference Bloggers, Twitters, and other Web 2.0

Update: The conference wiki list "SUNYLA08" as a tag, so I changed the instructions to reflect that. "SUNYLA08" is just a little bit easier to type ;)

The past conference blogging usually went through the conference blog, with individual authors signing up and posting directly to the conference blog. This time around I wanted to let everyone use their own Web 2.0 tools. The following are instructions for people who want to cover the SUNYLA 2008 Conference using their own Web 2.0 tools.

Conference Blogging
Step 1: Add your blog to our Conference Blogger Listing at the Conference Wiki.
Step 2: If you are using a category or tag to specify your conference blogging, indicate it in your listings. I should be able to get an RSS feed specifically for a category or tag.

I will be using Yahoo! Pipes to merge all the RSS feeds from each blog together to form a single Conference RSS feed. Here is an example:

Conference Feed Example
(this feed will be displayed on the front page of the conference web site.)

Conference Twitter
The nature of Twitter is more about following each other, so I will leave the interaction to you. There will be a SUNYLA2008 Twitter that you can follow, but it will post updates from the conference blog using TwitterFeed. The conference wiki has a listing of conference twitterers:

http://sunyla08.pbwiki.com/Conference+twitterers

So feel free to add your user name if you would like to share tweets?

Conference Flickr
Tag your photos with "SUNYLA08" and leave the rest to me! I will have a slide show running on the conference web site that will automatically retrieve photos with the "SUNYLA08" tag. The slide show will be posted as soon as I find a photo tagged with "SUNYLA08" tag. Feel free to join the SUNYLA Flickr Group as well.

If there are any other Web 2.0 tools you would like me to cover, or if you have any questions, send me an e-mail at fujiuck@buffalostate.edu.

Conference wiki

Rudy Leon has set up a wiki to facilitate one of her presentations at the conference, and she graciously set it up so that other presenters can make use of it as well if they'd like. The URL is: http://sunyla08.pbwiki.com

The password was posted to the SUNYLA listserv on June 3, or can be gotten from Rudy directly, leonre@potsdam.edu.

Thanks, Rudy!

Also, Rudy asks that we all please note: "This is deliberately a 1.0 PBwiki in order to allow a single password to access the whole site. Please feel free to use it to support your presentations or other conference needs. But please don't make it a 2.0 PBWiki!"

Cell Phone Service in the North Country

Yes, we have cell phone service in Potsdam, and in Canton.

South of Potsdam, service can be pretty sketchy. Between Watertown and Canton, it fades in and out. You can count on very little service in the Adirondacks, except the populated areas of Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, and Tupper Lake. You can sometimes get service on mountain tops, but not on the hiking trails or valleys.

Best bet...don't count on it while you are traveling to Potsdam. Once you are here, you should be fine.

Make sure to fill your gas tank before you enter the Adirondack Park, especially if you will be traveling after 5:00pm. Many service stations in the Park are not open in the evening.