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Hi folks. I will try not to repeat the earlier messages about the NECC conference held this past week, but give you a few of my impressions. First, I am very sorry to have missed ALA in Chicago. Had I my druthers, I would have attended both important events. Thanks to Alice Yucht and others who have kept us virtually posted on the goings on there. Philadelphia was a terrific venue for the NECC conference. My lovely wife Anne and I came in early to spend a day sightseeing the wonderful historic area and like others who posted, we were blown away by the two-year-old National Constitution Center, an non-partisan, informative, interactive and extremely important "museum." The city and its convention center were friendly and convenient. We also took a day trip to Gettysburg to visit the battlefield, reliving a trip I remember taking when I was about 14. A beautiful, moving place. I participated as an ISTE board member in the meetings held on June 24 and 25. We welcomed Kurt Steinhaus as ISTE's new president, heard various committee reports, received a detailed financial report, a policy and advocacy update, and a NECC conference report. I submitted a draft of a membership ethics statement. This organization is well-run (financially prudent and mission-driven) by our CEO Don Knezek and his hard-working staff. As always, I do my best to reflect the views of those of us in the trenches of K-12 education and library media specialists. While board duties and my own presentations kept me from going to as many sessions as I would have liked, I was impressed by the ones I did attend. (Note Gordon Dalby's earlier posting about how to get some sessions in streaming video.) These included: - The challenging opening keynote by David Weinberger "The New Shape of Knowledge" who argued that information should be viewed as a conversation rather than a static entity, dissed Melvil Dewy, and made me think seriously about starting a blog. (I need to get his books.) - Joel Barker's "Five Region's of the Future: A New Way to Think about Technology" that explored emerging political philosophies about where technology should be taking us. (Another book to read.) - Sally Brewer and Peggy Milam's report on the recent School Library Journal study showing a high degree of involvement by school library media specialists in all aspects of technology integration in schools. -Our SIGMS (Special Interest Group for Media Specialists) planned upcoming activities, including a membership brochure, a column in Leading & Learning, and increased use of the "communities" section of the ISTE website. Karen Lemmons will be our very effective chair this coming year. (Also a fascinating discussion about using Wikipedia as an information source.) -The vendor are, as always, was intimidating - acres and acres of things that go "beep." One product that I will look at more closely is Nettrekker d.i. that assigns a readability level to the vetted websites it helps students locate. We all know that technology is continuing to have a major impact on both schools and libraries, and it's tough to keep up. But NECC helps and I hope many of you try to get to the next one in San Diego in 2006. Consider as well joining ISTE and SIGMS. The dues are reasonable, the L&L publication is useful, and this is one way librarians can collaborate with others in education. (At library conferences, I feel I am preaching to the choir; at tech conference, I get a shot at those who still need library "religion.") Anyway, thanks again to all of those who have reported to LM_NET. All the very best, Doug Doug Johnson Director of Media and Technology Mankato Area Public Schools Box 8713, 1351 S Riverfront Dr. Mankato MN 56001-8714 507-387-7698 x 473 dougj@doug-johnson.com www.doug-johnson.com "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." -- George Carlin -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------