Student Snippets A Window Into The Daily Life & Thoughts of SLIS Students

conferences

Conferences

In the journey from academia to professionalism, library conferences can be an excellent tool for networking, updates about the industry, and job searching. Simmons holds memberships with many prestigious organizations such as the American Library Association, Massachusetts Library Association, and International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.  A comprehensive list of these organizations can be found here. A great in to these places and the greater community of librarians nationwide and worldwide is by attending yearly conferences. Ask your professors or advisors about the conferences they attend! Ask other SLIS students! Here are some of the advertised conferences for this year! Many organizations are still updating and listing their dates so check in frequently for more information. 


Virtual Conferences

In my last post of the spring semester, I mentioned how due to COVID-19 many conferences are now going virtual.  I have never been able to attend an in-person conference before because of my school and work schedule, as well as financial reasons, but virtual conferences are significantly cheaper (or free in some cases!), and you can attend from the comfort of your own home.  I still hope to go to a real-life conference before I graduate (assuming the pandemic and vaccines and everything works out), but for now, I’m taking advantage of virtual opportunities.  The ALA Annual 2020 Conference was initially supposed to be held in Chicago this year; however, it was moved online and transformed into ALA Virtual: Community Through Connection.  It was held from June 24-26 online.  Admittedly, I know it’s not the same experience—I’m sitting in my room, alone, with my laptop and my headphones on instead of being around tons of people after all!  If you compare this to Katie’s experience at ALA Annual last year, and at ALA Midwinter…