American Historical Association, 2009 meeting, New York, NY

What a privilege to attend the AHA convention! It provided some opportunities for professional development, which I hope to chronicle here, and some for personal rewards, which I can talk about elsewhere.

January 3

American Association for History and Computing, Session 1

"Old Stuff, New Tricks: How Archivists are Making Special Collections Even More Special Using Web 2.0 Technologies"

Jean Green, Binghamton University
Mark Matienzo, NYPL
Amy Schindler, College of William and Mary
Jessica Lacher-Feldman, University of Alabama

This was a roundtable discussion with each participant displaying and discussing examples of how his or her library had made use of blogs, micro-blogs, photo- and video-sharing, and social networking.

Blogs
Blogs expand the display space.

The "Cool at Hoole" blog (coolathoole.blogspot.com) helps market the special collection of the University of Alabama by letting readers know what's new or what's the library has on a topic or person that's in the news.

The blog of the special collections library at SUNY Binghamton highlights certain books or useful websites.

William and Mary special collections launched a blog with a life span. It was only meant to cover the anniversary year of coeducation at W & M.
Photo-sharing
flickr Commons
- is a public photo collection
- accepts metadata, but is designed for "tagging"
- partners use flickr API to upload batches of photos
- photos must have "no known copyright restrictions"
Hoole has used flickr as an online exhibit tool, W & M uses it to highlight the collection and to make "friends" for the library
"archives on flickr" - group name
Libraries send low-res images to flickr, then may still charge to share high-res copies.

Ditto for YouTube and iTunesU, where institutions may share content.
Facebook
Will facebook page overtake or replace the library website?

"archivists without a cause" - facebook group
Wikis - use for FAQ's, knowledge management