News

If you were present at the two most recent ALISS Open Meetings, held on October 31 and December 5, 2008, you probably noticed that several officers were facilitating the meeting in both a physical and virtual space. In an effort to include as many MLIS students as possible, ALISS Open Meetings will now be simultaneously conducted in Mary Gates Hall and through Adobe Connect. On October 31st, we piloted this effort and, despite some first time kinks, it was a resounding success. Adobe Connect was again used to conduct the Open Meeting on December 5th. Many students, both Residential and Online were able to “attend” the meeting, hear the speakers, and thanks to several moderators, were able to have questions answered.

Prior to the October Open Meeting, Grace Whittaker facilitated a training session for ALISS officers and some fellow MLIS students to teach the ins and outs of hosting a meeting on Adobe Connect. Days before convening the meeting, ALISS President Jen Waller sent all MLIS students the meeting URL and information about the necessary software and test procedures so that interested students could connect. And connect they did; we had a full house in MGH 420 and had over 20 participants in the online meeting room.

While we want to encourage MLIS students to attend the physical meetings as often as they can, ALISS is excited to be able to use this technology to help all students in the MLIS program feel connected and informed. Expect to see e-mails prior to each ALISS Open Meeting with information about how you can connect.