ELUNA 2024 Annual Meeting Report: Cathy Tully
By Cathy Tully, Library Specialist, College of the Sequoias
The ELUNA 2024 Annual Meeting was the first professional conference I attended. As a classified library employee, I do not get many opportunities to attend events on this scale. I had planned to attend the ELUNA 2020 Annual Meeting as part of the Alma/Primo implementation team at my library and was disappointed when the in-person meeting was cancelled. I had no idea what to expect from ELUNA 2024, but I intended to take full advantage of this opportunity.
My library specialist responsibilities revolve around circulation, course reserves, and cataloging. Therefore, most of the twelve presentations I attended addressed issues in these areas, such as "Departure Ahead: Building Bridges for Collections and Services during a library renovation" and "Using Alma to Create Equitable Access to Library Technology". These presentations addressed the two most pressing challenges at my library: library renovation and our aging laptop and hotspot loan program. I came away with strategies to reduce confusion during our library renovation by minimizing the shelving locations for our collection, which I am currently implementing. At the latter presentation, I was able to contribute to the discussion my knowledge of technology loan programs in the California Community College system. I also made connections with other libraries and library staff facing the same issues and look forward to our continued exchange of ideas that will benefit the LSP consortium.
Most of the sessions were geared toward system administrators and librarians and presented resources that are not obtainable for a medium sized community college like mine. I was intimidated. I may not have always understood all the points presented, but I came away from each session with at least one strategy that I could implement at my library. Presentations such as "Navigating Troubled Waters of Collection Management with Alma Analytics", and "Assessing Geographic Diversity in Your Collection: From Alma to Data Visualizations" made me rethink how our library presents our resources. I intend to use Data Visualizations in collaboration with our librarians to visualize the metadata information in their assigned subject areas of our collection so that they have a better understanding of the diversity of the library collection. If it’s a success, we may apply the same tools to other areas of information of interest to them.
"The Search for the Undiscoverable: The Successes and Challenges with Non-Traditional Library Materials in Primo" used the case study of cataloging video games to make them more searchable for the students. The presentation sparked ideas for my own anatomical collection. That collection is not easily searchable by students who are interested in a specific muscular group or organ. The tools I learned can be adapted to make our anatomical collection and hopefully future non-traditional materials easier to locate by students and faculty.
Community college libraries were not heavily represented at ELUNA 2024. CCL’s commitment to sending multiple representatives from our consortium and including classified staff stood out among the attendees I spoke with. I am proud I was able to represent such an inclusive organization at ELUNA and thankful for the opportunity to further my professional development and understanding of the possibilities still to discover with Alma.