President's Message

 By Debbie Millward, SLA WCC President 2000-01

SLA WCC has definitely hit its stride this fall season! Pausing for breath, it occurs to me that everything we've been doing has been grounded in partnerships of one kind or another.

Convergence 2000, covered in this issue of Wired West, was a great professional development symposium. Its success sprang from so many partnerships: the organizing committee, headed by Carol Williams, partnered with a wonderful cadre of volunteers in Calgary; WCC partnered with the generous vendors who supported Convergence; Xenia of Stanford Solutions partnered with WCC to coordinate her workshops so attendees could hit both events; our chapter partnered with SLA headquarters, via Linda Broussard and her valuable contributions especially to the Town Hall session; Stephen Abram partnered with Dorothy and Toto to eloquently express the convergence opportunities now emerging in our profession. (Yes, sometimes it does feel like a tornado's aftermath, but we do illuminate the yellow brick road and know where to find out about rainbows.)

In Vancouver, many WCC members are partnering with the UBC School of Library Archival and Information Studies this fall semester by hosting interns and/or speaking to the class in the School's charter "Issues in Special Libraries" course. And the student chapter is becoming an active partner of ours, lending enthusiasm and raising thought-provoking questions.

Across the chapter, we often partner with CASLIS and other professional associations for programming, and this autumn is no exception. Upcoming programs from Winnipeg through Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary and Edmonton to Victoria will be offered jointly with CASLIS or other associations. In December, WCC will again partner with Vancouver Online Users Group and Vancouver Association of Law Librarians to host a Christmas program.

A final thought: last January, the SLA Board of Directors created the Partnership Task Force. I'd say that WCC is once again on the leading edge!

Thanks, partners.

Debbie