ELUNA 2024 Annual Meeting Report: Patricia C. Torres

Once again, I was able to attend ELUNA Annual Conference due to the generosity of the CCL Executive Board. Having been selected to attend last year’s I did not think that I would have the opportunity this year. When I learned that my attendance was approved, I was very pleased and began my planning. This year I prepared by reviewing the programs ahead of time and taking advantage of their online scheduler app, Dryfta. The app was great. I was able to save time in moving from one session to the next. It was much quicker than thumbing through the print program.

There were many sessions that caught my eye. Here are some of the ones I attended:

•    Wait, You Want What? Using Alma For Campus-Wide Technology Inventory Management
•    Looking for Trouble: Using Alma Analytics To Find Problems in Your Catalog
•    Reparative Cataloging in the Washington Research Library Consortium
•    How to Manage Open Access (OA) Content in Alma
•    Bridging Code & Culture: An Affordable Course Materials Project
•    I Didn’t Know You Could Do That in Alma!
•    myLibrary: Connecting Students to Library Resources Related to Their Courses
•    Alma All Title New User Interface
•    Creating the Discovery Walkway: The Next Discovery Experience
•    Alma Circulation Desk: A New User Interface for Manage Patron Services
•    California Regional User Group (eCAUG) Meeting
•    Diffusion of Innovation: Implementation of a ChatBot in a Minority Serving University Library
•    Alma Digital Working Group Update: Where We Are and Where We Are Going
•    From Google to ChatGPT – libraries and the tale of two revolutions

As a member of the Circulation workgroup I was inclined to attend sessions dealing with the Fulfillment side of ALMA but as a Library Services Manager I was also drawn to sessions that dealt with technical services and reserves. I was pleased with the presentations. Just like last year, I found myself sending off emails/text to my colleagues back at work and asking questions relating to session I was attending or sending them pictures of some of the slides that I thought would be helpful. 

Having the opportunity to meet up with fellow workgroup members “in-person” was a great asset to the conference. Some of us attended the same presentations which led to great discussions on what we do similarly and differently and why we do the things we do.  I enjoyed the collegiality during the workday and the group dinner we had at “Hell’s Kitchen”. Thank you once again CCL for sponsoring us. 

Due to scheduling flight times, I did not depart Minneapolis until Saturday evening. I had a few hours to explore downtown before heading out. Since this was my first time visiting Minneapolis I took advantage of some sightseeing. I enjoyed visiting the Minneapolis Central Library, walking over to a park near the Mississippi River, and stopping by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. After all of this I was tired! I realized I had been walking downtown for 3 and half hours. I was ready for my flight. 

I recommend that everyone attend an ELUNA Conference when possible. 

Patricia C. Torres, Circulation Workgroup-Southwestern College Library