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July 2004 Volume 6 Number 3 Page 2 |
 SUNYLA 2004 |
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Cover Story Features Additional SUNYConnect Updates Link to the SUNYConnect Committees List
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 "'President Bitterbaum, you're looking at a miracle!' and then the
student described their development through four years at SUNY Cortland. I realized that
it was the faculty and staff that have made this a student-centered institution with 9000
applicants for 1000 slots. Now, if you could just ask the governor to send us more
money." With these words, the president of Cortland welcomed nearly 200 to SUNYLA
2004. 1997 was the last time the SUNYLA Conference was in Cortland. Next year? New Paltz. Conference organizers and presenters deserve praise for a great set of programs and activities May 25-27, 2004. "SUNY Libraries: The Core of Learning" included a timely keynote speech, a presentation on the SUNYConnect union catalog and much more. Kranich
Keynote Kranich's 2004 talk went over some of the history of these civil liberty issues in libraries, some background on the USA PATRIOT Act, a discussion of why these issues are important to libraries, and what we can do. "What's wrong with these provisions [providing government more access to private information without needing to prove 'probable cause']? They are there to protect us, right? But, the government peering into an individual's reading habits raises serious 1st Amendment questions and has a chilling effect on free inquiry." Kranich went on to talk about how there are increased threats to privacy at the same time that there is less openness about government and the information that it produces. "Maybe the government needs more librarians to help analyze all their new information," was a rhetorical comment Kranich made to highlight how the government's access to more personal information hasn't guaranteed greater security. "A free and open society needs libraries more than ever. A penchant for secrecy actually threatens security. Provisions of our open society help generate that security." Another notable part of SUNYLA 2004 was that it was the first SUNYLA conference with Ex Libris representatives in attendance. This included the Ex Libris Project Manager for the SUNYConnect union catalog and universal borrowing components, Eva Krall. Eva gave a well-attended and well-received presentation on the union catalog. Among other activities, Ex Libris Vice President Katrina Anderson met with the SUNY ALEPH Users Group Steering Committee. Plans are in the works for Ex Libris to participate in the SUNYAUG meeting in October.
The OLIS is extremely grateful to SUNYLA for this award. It means a great deal to all of us. Congratulations to Bill Drew (Morrisville) on his award. "I would like to nominate the office as a whole for their hard work and dedication
to the migra
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tion to the new SUNY[Connect] Library Management System...Meeting the
needs of all of the SUNY campuses is a daunting task because of the variety of types of
schools involved ... and the individual character of each campus. One of the strengths of
the SUNY system is that character because it offers students many different choices for
continuing education...Training librarians in a group comprised of several different types
of libraries was extremely useful because
librarians were able to learn from each other and share ideas."
(Nomination letter - 2004 Friend of SUNYLA Award)
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