A revitalized SLA is responding to a need for flexible, affordable, professional development Specialized librarians are continuing to recover from the effects of layoffs and reorganizations owing to the economic slowdown, the perception of online competition, and the reality of corporate efficiencies. These are the times when a professional association can provide crucial support. SLA "has a role in investigating and presenting new ideas to members, enabling them to enjoy richer careers," says SLA president-elect Pam Rollo. SLA members have identified the need for flexible, affordable, professional development, and the association is meeting this challenge with a rich conference program in Toronto, June 5–8, and a number of new online learning opportunities. SLA will debut an online university in Toronto. This major professional development effort will offer self-paced courses on a customized virtual learning system from Learn.com. "SLA is focused on strengthening professional development opportunities for its members over the next few years," says SLA executive director Janice Lachance. "I believe you'll find SLA the leader in ensuring that library and information professionals have access—affordable, available access—to career-building and -strengthening opportunities through professional development." SLA also has arranged for members pursuing an online degree or certificate program offered by Drexel's College of Information Science and Technology to get a 20 percent tuition discount. In addition, the association is participating in WISE (Web-enabled Information Science Education), a consortium of 12 universities that share classes, students, and online resources.

An eye to the future

Government information and competitive intelligence are growth areas for SLA members, and new divisions have been created to respond. As corporations grow and compete globally, they rely more heavily on their library and information professionals to help them keep up, says Lachance. As governments worldwide continue to deal with the threat of terrorism and work together to combat global threats, such as those concerning the environment, the need for the services of government information professionals increases. SLA also is reaching out to younger practitioners. It revamped its annual Leadership Conference this past January to include emerging and midcareer leaders. Membership growth and retention are also on the table. Incoming SLA president-elect Rebecca Vargha wants to ramp up membership recruitment, following up on 2004's Member-Get-a-Member campaign. "Networking is the number one benefit most members expect when joining SLA," says Vargha, and the conference is the perfect opportunity for it. In contrast to other years, no one theme dominates the 2005 sessions. Member needs and interests have become more diverse, according to conference planning committee head Juanita Richardson. Competitive intelligence, blogging, RSS, and e-learning have become more high profile, while outsourcing seems to be cooling off. The following are our picks.

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Monday, June 6

7:30–9 a.m. SLA Tech Zone: RSS—Rich Site Summary; or, Really Simple Syndication, You Decide? (Event #420, $35) Tap an easy way to deliver aggregated information by gathering information from web sites that publish or syndicate newsfeeds. Also, learn how to increase your visibility by similarly offering content from your site. Hands-on instruction led by Factiva's Jason Malatesta. 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Defining Your Intelligence Requirements Learn the tricks of the competitive intelligence (CI) professionals. Reach beyond the ability to identify and prioritize information needs to develop sources and analyze content. Using the Key Intelligence Topics process, a CI core concept, will make it all come together. Collection Issues: Building on the Past To Improve the Future Is there just too little time for collection development while meeting users' information needs? A cutting-edge "information matrix" tool developed by North Carolina State's Bonnie Tijerina and Terry Hill can help. They will demonstrate, using business resources, how to combine a reference tutorial with an evaluation tool. Return on Investment: Making the Business Case for Your Library This message could stand to be repeated at every conference. This time around the Environmental Protection Agency's Richard Huffine explains his success in substantiating the value of his library. 3:30–5 p.m. Embedded Librarians for Project Teams and Communities of Interest Information professionals are continuing to leave physical information centers behind to join project teams and other practice units, often with the mandate to master additional skills. Find out more about the methods needed to operate this way, and fine-tune your service while saving the company money. Building a Human Source Collection Network Are you planning to climb aboard the competitive intelligence bandwagon and expand your primary source investigatory skills? This session can help. It addresses the idea that social networks are important sources of information and teaches participants how to exploit social ties. 5–7 p.m. Consortium for Business Information Linking Add variety to the usual reception networking options by dropping by this forum for publishers and information professionals. The group is involved in the development of multilinking through digital object identifiers (DOIs)— offering menus of alternative paths that exist behind each link—to purchase, find related content, learn about an author, and more.

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Tuesday, June 7

7:30–9 a.m. Emerging Technologies Breakfast (Event #530, $10) Start the day off right with a jolt of new ideas, steadied by a substantial meal. Colleagues in finance and the law offer their views of the best in new tech tools along with ideas on future developments. 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Establishing a Weblog on Your Organization's Intranet Stay ahead of the curve. When asked to set up a web log, or blog, respond with a ready understanding of the issues and knowledge of techniques. Better yet, volunteer to take on a project that can facilitate the sharing of timely content. Practices and Concerns Associated with Outsourced and Insourced Information Services/Luncheon (Event #580, $40) A9 Consulting director Annie Olesen explains the results of a 2004 study, based on the direct input of practitioners, that identifies the skills necessary for successful client-consultant relationships. She'll also offer an overview of outsourcing/insourcing issues and trends. Marketing Tangibles and Intangibles: Selling Information Services/ Luncheon (Event #620, $20) As an expert in the information industry, Outsell, Inc. knows about the value of information services. Lead analyst Mary Corcoran offers insights into tailoring the right pitch, in the right format, for potential clients. Helpful for independent information professionals/ consultants. SLA's President's Series Are you prepared to embrace right-brain thinking in your career? Dan Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age (Riverhead, 2005), advocates for the conceptual, inventiveness nature in all of us. In the wake of globalization, he suggests, this should be the next American economic model. 1:30–3 p.m. Gary Price—The Newest and the Best from the One Who Knows The Resource Shelf guru riffs on what's new on the web and not just the free stuff. He's sure to intersperse comments on how to promote librarian (he does use this word) expertise to an audience ignorant of their worth.

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Wednesday, June 8

9–11 a.m. Closing General Session: Gary Hamel, Keynote Speaker If you are vacillating over whether to spend an extra day at the conference, the charms of Toronto and the lure of innovation and strategy expert Gary Hamel should change your mind. Author of Competing for the Future (Harvard Business School, 1994) and Leading the Revolution (Harvard Business School, 2000), Hamel is known as an original thinker and compelling speaker. 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. SLA Tech Zone: E-Learning Technologies—No Programming Required! (Event #720, $35)Don't let the information technology hurdle stop you. Follow SLA's example and embrace e-learning. Nowadays, a variety of applications exist that ease the technology burden and let you concentrate on content. This session offers the opportunity to create an e-learning module.

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Lynn Blumenstein is Senior Editor, Library Hotline