In the middle of the day we held a quick business meeting. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, who represents the 125th district (Tompkins/Cortand counties) and was appointed Chair of the Assembly’s Library and Education Technology Committee, attended the afternoon portion of the day. The Assemblywoman's office had recently given SCRLC's Tools of History digitization effort a boost with a $15,000 member item. She provided us with some tips and strategies for advocating with our legislators.
During the business meeting, I gave a report, highlighting some of the sections of our Annual Report, including the Tools of History.
I also mentioned some of the emerging technologies that are shaping libraries and library users. More on "Users Gone Mobile" in a future post. From my Bag of Mantras, I reiterated that technology is a tool to help us achieve our goals--it is never a goal in of itself. We need to be mindful of our organizational goals as we examine the advantages, possibilities, and cost-benefits of venturing into the realm of the Metaverse.
Tom Peters, our final speaker of the day, summarized and wove the day together for the annual meeting participants. Check out his slides at www.tapinformation.com/SCRLCtalkPeters.htm - works best in IE.
And... take a look at the presenters and some of the people who attended the Annual Meeting!
By the way, the Second Life Economy 3rd Quarter in Detail report was released yesterday--very strong showing! Check it out on the Second Life Blog .
Highlights include:
• 150M USD in User-to-User Transactions, 54% growth over the same quarter last year (note: this is an all-time high!)
• A new all time high and continuing rapid growth for the Xstreet online marketplace.
• 3.1 Billion Voice minutes, up 27% from the same quarter last year.
Check out the blog for more information, charts, etc.
-Mary-Carol Lindbloom
