Hello from the Special Libraries Association 2003 Annual Conference!

So far, things are going really well. I've attended a lot of useful sessions and several presenters have already given me their presentations for the SLA News Division Web site. I'll get those up when I can find a computer with software to upload them to the server. (Soon, I hope.)

The Archiving Web Content continuing education course Sunday morning was very useful. Four panelists talked about efforts in their news organizations to archive Web content. They talked about archiving what goes on the Web that isn't included in the print edition as well as archiving Web sites. Janine Yagielski of CNN talked about their efforts to archive screen shots of some of their site's pages. Olivia Kobelt of the Christian Science Monitor discussed the importance of being able to find what's on the Web.

The Sunday afternoon CE course, Tracking Down Public Records, gave a good overview of what public records are, how to find criminal and civil records, the differences between access in different states, and some changes in retrieval and access since 9/11.

Monday morning's bright-and-early Internet Update session was excellent. Liz Donovan talked about blogging in news organizations. A link to her presentation is available from her Infomaniac blog. Charlie Campo discussed finding things on the invisible Web and how we, as news researchers, can help our newsrooms use the Internet.

The News Division Awards Banquet and cruise last night was excellent. Jody Habayeb, past chair and chair of the awards committee, picked an awesome venue. Judy Canter and Ginny Everett won the Agnes Henebry Roll of Honor Award. John Jansson was awarded the Kwapil, the News Division's highest honor. Jennifer Klimas, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, received the Vormelker-Thomas Student Award. There was also a very nice ceremony honoring CB Hayden, an ABC News librarian who passed away in 2001, that included giving a certificate of recognition and a portrait to his brother. This year, the News Division awarded the first scholarship for professional development in his honor. The $500 grant was awarded to Carol Taylor at the Daily Camera.

The cruise itself was amazing. We had some terrific views of Manhattan, the bridges, and the Statue of Liberty as we sailed along the Hudson River. Being serenaded by Richard Geiger was nice, too.

Linda Henderson, now chair of the division, has done an amazing job planning and running the News Division's portion of the conference.

Thanks, Carolyn Edds, for letting me borrow your computer to do this post!

--Jessica Baumgart, SLA News Division Webmaster