ALA Galley and Signing Guide and RA for All ALA Posting Schedule

Later today I am getting on a plane for DC and ALA Annual. Before I left, I wanted to make sure I passed on the ALA Galley and Singing Guide available with this link AND include this reminder post I wrote during Book Expo last month where I discussed how these guides are still an extremely useful resource even if you are "left behind."

I was left behind for Book Expo and will be there for ALA and I can tell you first hand that the galley guides are a great resource whether or not you are there. In fact, I barely use these conference guides while I am there, and only use them as a resource after the fact because while I am there I am too busy going to meetings and presentation to spend a lot of time worried about grabbing galleys at a specific time.

Ah, grabbing galleys. This is also my annual reminder to those of you who are going to ALA that the reason you are there is NOT to get as many books as you can, nor is it to spend your time in line waiting for an author's signature. You are there to network and learn. I get upset every time I go to ALA and see people spending their day in lines. Sigh.

There is no problem with grabbing a few free books as you walk by. There is also no problem getting a bunch and shipping them home, especially if you will use them with staff and give out as prizes to patrons. But, please remember why you are there, and more importantly, why your supervisors are paying for you to be there [this is the Trustee in me talking now]. Free books are tempting, yes, but you will miss out on meeting new people and learning new things if all you do is stand in line on the exhibit floor.

So use that Galley Guide [here] when you get home in the ways I suggest [here].

And now, before I head to the airport, a note about the posting schedule here on RA for All because it will be a bit nontraditional due to the conference.

I will not be posting tomorrow-- Friday. I will however, we actively Tweeting and you can follow those Tweets in the side bar here on the blog even if you don't have Twitter. Or use this link to see my timeline. Again, you do not need a Twitter account to read anyone's Tweets; you only need an account to Tweet yourself.

Actually, I will be live Tweeting more than posting all weekend. I will do each program I attend as a single Tweet thread for easier retrieval and will post a wrap up with direct links to each program and other general thoughts next week on the blog. Rest assured, everything will make it on to the blog at some point and that is so all of us, myself included, can access the notes and information more easily, at a later date.

I WILL HAVE  posts on Saturday and Sunday, each serving as the resource page for the panels I am a part of.

The point is, the blog will be a little less predictable over the next 5 days or so, but don't worry, I am taking notes the whole time and will get everyone up to speed when I return.