Is it over already?

As a very recent graduate of a MLIS program, and an even more recent entrant of the workforce, I had the opportunity to attend SLA Info-Expo 2009 due to the generous funding of the SLA Scholarship Program. It was a fantastic experience; from Colin Powell to the vast Info-Expo hall, from the First-Timers session to the many fun-filled open houses, it was four days of eye-opening experiences towards the life of opportunities that are ahead of me, and the many other graduates like me, who are embarking on their careers as Special Librarians and Information Professionals.

There were three things that will stay with me for the rest of my life and career: the friends you can meet through the SLA, the immense array of areas that require information professionals, and the enormous changes that are occurring in the field of information itself.

I have to say it, first and foremost, the friendliness and openness (including party-ness!) of the members of the SLA was incredible. I met numerous attendees simply by being in the hotel elevator with them; I met others at the sessions, and others still at open houses. Everywhere I went I was welcomed, introduced, and guided around. One particular woman sticks out in my mind, a very nice lady from Georgia who started speaking to me while we were walking towards the conference centre and took me under her wing, introduced me to her friends (all of which she had met through the SLA) and invited me to join her group at various open houses so I didn’t have to go alone. This lady had actually been forced into retirement by a corporation she had worked over 30 years for, but she was at SLA to see her friends. It was a yearly tradition that retirement wasn’t going to stop. What an amazing organization the SLA must be to have all people at all stages of life and career attend for their friendships.

The variety of exhibitors was also astounding; everything from physics information to movie information and everything in between. The wide range of institutions, corporations, and organizations that require information professionals really amazed and to be honest excited me. The possibilities of my career are not limited to a few areas, everyone needs a librarian or information professional to help them find and organize the information they require to do their jobs. The session entitled “International Opportunities for Information Professionals” was profound. Three presenters discussed three completely different ways for information professionals to work internationally: one created an international library by using existing out-sourcing and employing librarians in India, one was an academic who proved how interrelated the world was through capital flows, and one was a former World Bank librarian who put her own paid career on hold to establish libraries for street children in Malawi. As bizarre as it sounds, seeing a woman speak so passionately about her commitment to bettering the lives of street children through providing information was the defining moment of the conference for me; I can affect world change. A librarian was doing something to help international development through doing what she knew how to do best, provide books and information. It was inspiring.

Finally, and something that builds on the above two experiences, were the rapid changes occurring in the information profession. I watched attendees hiss at Colin Powell for using Google, I witnessed a robot have a discussion with people, I saw more computers than books in the Info-Expo, I heard numerous stories of lay offs and downsizing, and even more stories of using those lay-offs to do something they’ve always wanted to do, whether it be consult, travel, or find a more satisfying job. Mostly I encountered people filled to the brim with positive messages of their careers and lives as information professionals, and I left SLA 2009 with the feeling of being in the right place at the right time; the future is bright for information professionals and even brighter for those in the SLA.

Sarah Burns is a recent graduate (April 2009) of McGill University’s School of Information Studies and is a recipient of a 2009 SLA Scholarship. She is currently working in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada as an Information Management Analyst and is hoping for a long-lasting, interesting, and international career in the Information Profession. She can be reached at sburns01@gmail.com.