A few months ago, I was informed that my proposal for a “session” for the 2008 ARLIS/NA conference was approved.  I put session in quotes here because what I proposed doesn’t really fit into the definition of a  traditional conference session or workshop.  I’ll explain what I proposed, but first I’ll explain a bit about where my proposal came from.

Two years ago, I attended my first ARLIS/NA conference.  Thanks to the generosity of the DC/MD/VA chapter, who awarded me a scholarship, I was able to travel to Banff, AB (in the Canadian Rockies) for a few days of networking and learning about the current issues in art libraries.  I enjoyed my time, and I enjoyed many of the sessions, but I left with a definite awareness that there was very little mention of technology and technological innovations.   When technology was mentioned, it seemed to come from the academic librarians who were engaged with the library colleagues in using blogs, wikis, and RSS as instructional tools.  The art librarians I encountered from smaller institutions and museums on the other hand (with some exceptions, of course), seemed to be unfamiliar with these tools.

The disparity between those who were in the “Web 2.0″ know and those who weren’t probably shouldn’t be surprising.  Many cultural institutions are lucky to have a single/solo librarian who is responsible for acquisitions, cataloging, reference, preservation, stacks maintenance, facilities, etc.  With a job description like that, it’s hard to work in time for professional development.  These folks weren’t going to ACRL, ALA, or Computers in Libraries.  Their engagement with the greater profession was through ARLIS… and ARLIS (at least it seemed to me) wasn’t talking about web or library 2.0.

So, last year, Rebecca Price and I co-moderated a Hot Topics session for the ARLIS/NA conference in Atlanta.  And we ran into a dilemma.  What would be considered a “hot topic” for technologically-savvy ARLIS members would be far beyond what many members could really be engaged with.  Asking a panel member to talk about the next generation of the STEVE museum tagging project, for example, wouldn’t reach members who still didn’t understand the concept of relevance of tagging.  And those unfamiliar with the concept wouldn’t be likely to attend the session at all.  So, Rebecca and I took a risk, and created a session that provided a more basic introduction to the topics that are being widely discussed in a more advanced way in the greater library community.  Our panelists talked about blogs, RSS, tagging, and Second Life, and why they are relevant to the future of art libraries.  In doing so, we hoped to start to bridge the gap between the more technologically-savvy members of ARLIS and those who hadn’t jumped on the 2.0 bandwagon yet (and were about to be left behind).

All in all, I think Rebecca and I were successful, to a degree.  But I also know that there are still ARLIS members out there who don’t know or understand these increasingly relevant tools, and who stayed away from our session because it was technology-focused.  And, although we tried to provide a forum for bridging the technology gap, the gap itself was extremely pronounced in terms of conference programming.  In 2007, certainly more than the previous year, the ARLIS conference had a number of sessions that focused on advanced technological innovations, such as Next-Gen OPACs, portals, etc., it was still easy for conference-goers to stick to thematic sessions that talked about regional art and artists, historical topics, and the like.  While I’d like to believe that every conference goer took the opportunity to attend both types of sessions, I think that the reality is that there are two types of ARLIS members emerging–those who are engaged with the future of technology as it pertains to art libraries and the services they offer, and those who are not engaged (perhaps due to lack of opportunity, interest, or a feeling that the chance to learn about these new tools has passed them by).

And so we come to the 2008 conference of ARLIS/NA and my proposal.  For this year, I knew that once again the conference would feature sessions discussing advanced applications of web 2.0 technologies.  But I still felt like as an organization, we should be committed to catching the tail-end of the web 2.0 wagon.  A full-on session didn’t seem appropriate as an introductory venue.  I imagined that those still needing an introduction to these technologies might be shy about admitting it in a group setting, or might be the type that would attend, go home, and never actually engage themselves with a blog, wiki, etc.  And so, I came up with a new concept that I hope will be a success — a Tech Kiosk.

The Tech Kiosk will be positioned in the exhibits hall, and will be a walk-up service point where ARLIS members can chat with staffers about a variety of web 2.0 tools.  The staffers will be able to give a very brief introduction to a single tool of the visitor’s choosing, and then actually guide the person through using that tool for the first time.  Visitors interested in blogs will walk away with their own blogger account.  Visitors interested in tagging will walk away with a flickr account.  Visitors interested in RSS will walk away with a Google Reader or Bloglines account populated with art and library related feeds.  Each person, then, walks away having (hopefully) broken through the initial fear of engaging with a new technology, and with a useful tool/account that they have already begun to build and use.

While the details of the Tech Kiosk (and the staff list) have yet to be worked out, this is a project I’m really excited about.  In many ways, the development of the Tech Kiosk mirrors my own philosophies about library instruction.  First, it’s moving out of the classroom and into the space where the users are (in this case, the exhibits hall).  Second, it’s meeting individual needs instead of attempting to reach everyone with a blanket presentation.  Third, it engages those who learn in a hands-on way and who might not retain information from a standard PowerPoint presentation.  And finally, it presents skills in a manner that are immediately relevant and applicable to the learner.  Visitors to the Tech Kiosk don’t walk away saying “wow, maybe I should look into having a blog”, they walk away with a fully operational blog which they can revisit after the conference.

It’s hard to predict whether the Tech Kiosk will be a hit or not.  As a new type of conference offering, it comes with some risks.  Maybe no one will show up.  Or maybe fifty people will arrive at once, which will be too many to allow for the one-on-one interaction I’m aiming for.  Whatever happens, though, I think that the Tech Kiosk will be a grand experiment… and hopefully one that will bring the membership of ARLIS closer in sync in terms of technological know-how so that no one will be left out as art libraries move forward in the computer age.