OLA Super Conference 2007

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Ontario Library Association, Author

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Welcome to the fourteenth annual Super Conference. last February, we explored how the future belongs to right-brain thinkers- the creative ones, the inventive ones. From coast to coast, 2006 was a year in which the rightbrain thinkers of the library community were given platforms for their creativity and invention. And, in the next few days we are going to see some of their solutions. looking back, we have a long tradition of adapting, accommodating, innovating, and inventing solutions. Consider these landmarks.
· Public policy for the 'information highway' through Information Highway Advisory Council over a decade ago.
· The Silver Birch Award reading program launched in 1994 as the base for our 200,000 reader literacy initiatives in 2006
· Bill 109 that would have ended provincial involvement in public libraries withdrawn under our pressure a decade ago
· Ongoing advocacy and research on the impact of school libraries and teacher-librarians on student success.
· Creation of the Education Institute five years ahead of what is now an avalanche of education for librarians.
· Development of The Partnership, an innovative collegial way for Canada's provincial and territorial library associations to work together to improve libraries coast-to-coast
· Creation of the Ontario Digital library in 2000, now transformed into Knowledge Ontario with an eight million dollar investment from the Ontario government · Development of Partnership: the Canadian Journal of library and Information Practice and Research, a practitioner's journal of The Partnership, using open source software
When it was established in 1994, Super Conference was also a solution in a changing landscape. It was becoming apparent that our commonalities were more powerful than our differences and that we had much to learn from each other across sectors. That is reflected in this Super Conference program, where we have opportunities to learn from leaders in the corporate world as well as from libraries of every type. You will meet leaders from across Canada and the United States, and even from Great Britain. Some of you will collaborate with your peers in a charrette to design a next generation catalogue. Web 2.0 and social software is everywhere, including at our first-ever interactive plenary session on Thursday morning. Create your Super Conference from this wealth of choice and ideas. Have fun, too, at the social events, among the many venues at which to meet and connect with colleagues, old and 1ew. For the 2006 OLA Board of Directors, Janet Kaufman, OLA President

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