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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

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