Hack the Library! a first timer’s look at the 29th Computers in Libraries conference in Washington, DC

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on selected presentations from the 29th Computers in Libraries (CIL) conference that took place at Washington Hilton hotel, Washington, DC. In addition to its content, the CIL (2014) conference provided opportunities to discuss best practices and emerging issues with IT professionals, vendors and “techno” librarians, especially from North America. There was a conference within a conference – the Internet@Schools track integrated into CIL 2014 as Track E on Monday, April 7, and Tuesday, April 8.

Design/methodology/approach

Reports from the viewpoint of a first-time attendee of CIL (2014) present a summary of the selected presentations with more detail on networking events and the exhibition. The CIL (2014) conference attracted librarians from 13 countries other than the USA. It is difficult to document the entire conference happenings in a single report because of several tracks (A-E) and number of speakers; therefore, a selective approach is used.

Findings

The CIL (2014) in Washington, DC, is considered a major North American library technology conference for librarians and information managers. As a first-time attendee, the author found that CIL (2014) is informative; it covered technology applications in libraries and strategies to enhance communication – useful to librarians and information professionals both in the USA and internationally. The conference was full of innovative ideas and revealed the diversity of current developments in library service delivery, especially in North America.

Originality/value

Today, more and more library users are using various innovative technologies including mobile apps, data visualization, application programming interfaces, open-source and multimedia. Phones (smart phones) and tablets are emerging as popular choices to access content. This report is a summary of selected educational sessions/presentations in CIL (2014) on diverse technology-related topics, especially mobile technology in libraries that will be of particular interest to readers and useful for professionals who did not attend CIL (2014) in Washington, DC.

Citation

Ghosh, M. (2014), "Hack the Library! a first timer’s look at the 29th Computers in Libraries conference in Washington, DC", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-05-2014-0031