I recently went to the SLA annual conference, this year is at Vancouver which, BC, June 8 – 11. This season proclaimed the 5th anniversary of the professional association’s Taxonomy Division, its most recent and quickest-growing special interest group. The programming is prepared with the Taxonomy Division of most taxonomy-related sessions for the meeting, enough sessions so that guests are thinking about only taxonomies can find a session appealing for most of the programmed time-slot machine games.
The Taxonomy Division comes closest to a specialist business for taxonomists and a good networking opportunity. The founding of this Taxonomy Department five years was the reason that I became a member of SLA ago, since I am not a librarian. SLA stands for “Special Libraries Association” however the business now favors the acronym on the name that it once stood for, and members are increasingly referred to as “information professional” or “info-pros” rather than librarians.
This label better matches taxonomists. As, well as the annual conference programs, the Taxonomy Division has bi-monthly webinars also, a mentoring program, and other resources for its members. Not merely does the Taxonomy Division organize taxonomy-related conference sessions, but it organizes networking occasions at the annual meeting also, including an informal no-host dinner and a far more formal networking event that is the area of the conference program.
Both division people and anyone else thinking about taxonomies are welcome to attend these events. There is a combination of experienced taxonomists typically, who already know each other from previous conferences likely and those new to taxonomies and would like to learn more. The SLA conference is a superb place for taxonomists to network and study from each other, but it is not necessarily the spot to hear the latest trends in taxonomies. “Current Topics in Taxonomies” was the title of an informal roundtable session, but its discussions were more about sharing experiences.
- Outstanding balances
- Clear communications about bans on retaliation
- Setting Organizational Objectives
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other shape of speech which you are used to seeing in printing
- Perform an analysis of the customer’s current policy
- Goals – Will be the goals you established unreachable? If they’re, re-look at these goals
At the four roundtables, with normally seven people per table, a few of the discussions included experienced taxonomists offering advice to the less experienced for specific taxonomy execution issues. The latest topics or trends aren’t necessarily the subject of regular periods either, a year in advance since the program is planned close to.
On the other hands, year to year the field of taxonomies is not one that changes that much. It is extremely business and technology trends that change. If you’re not used to taxonomies, then the SLA conference is a great place to learn a lot, through both the various sessions and pre-conference continuing education workshops. If you are an experienced taxonomist then SLA is a great way to network with other taxonomists and get inspired to speak at future conferences. In June 13-16 I am looking forward to speaking at SLA in Boston, 2015. See you there, in my home city!