21 Jul 09 New Committee Rosters in ALA Connect

ALA Connect got a warm reception during the ALA Annual Conference earlier this month, and we’re seeing increased usage as a result of the marketing push. The dust had finally settled a little from Annual, so this past weekend we flipped the rosters in iMIS (our member database), which means the rosters in Connect got flipped, too.

What does that mean? It means that anyone whose appointment to a committee ended on June 30, 2009, is no longer part of the roster for that committee in Connect. So if you log in and find that you suddenly don’t have access to a specific group anymore, it’s likely because your appointment has ended and new people have been added to the roster.

Conversely, if you log in and see a new committee showing up in “My ALA Groups” or on your profile, it’s probably because your appointment to that group started on July 1, 2009.

We performed some magic behind-the-scenes to make the switch happen after Annual in order to give working groups the ability to access their space in Connect during the conference, but now it’s time for the new roster to work in that space.

If you believe that an affiliation is missing from your profile in Connect or that you’re on a group you shouldn’t be on, please leave a comment here, email me at jlevine [at] ala.org, or use the contact us form on the Connect site. Even better, if you *know* you should be listed on a specific committee, contact that committee’s staff liaison (or “admin” in Connect), because that’s the person who can add you in the member database so that Connect reflects your participation.

ALA staff members who receive questions about committee appointments from members should first check iMIS to make sure the appointment dates are correct there. If you’re still experiencing problems with rosters in Connect, feel free to call or email me. In fact, it’s a good idea to check your rosters in general to make sure that they’re accurate, as we only flipped dates for appointments that ended on June 30 or began on July 1.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!

Tags: ala connect, ala2009, iMIS, rosters

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07 Jul 09 Conference Connect Tips

Back in January, I got an early taste of the power of ALA Connect during ALA’s Midwinter Meeting while the Website Advisory Committee was beta testing it. I found the site to be a huge help, so I want to share some tips as we all head to Annual because if you’re lucky enough to have a laptop or web-enabled cell phone with you at #ala2009, Connect can be both useful and fun.

Useful:

Being in a meeting and trying to figure out who else is in the room with you by looking at the group’s roster.
Meeting someone for the first time and adding them to your network so that you can easily find them again later.
Emailing someone whose address you don’t have handy at that particular moment (just go to their profile and use the “send a message” feature).
For committees: entering your meeting notes as an “online doc” directly into your Connect workspace as you’re taking them so that you don’t have to worry about distributing them via email as Word documents afterward. Doing this also allows the whole group to make their own additions/corrections or add comments much more quickly

Fun:

Seeing which avatar/picture your friends choose for their Connect profiles.
Seeing which groups and communities your friends are active in.
Watching which new communities are forming during conference.
Watching the Connect tag cloud change as various groups add content from their Annual sessions.

More than 11,000 people have visited ALA Connect in the last month alone, so it’s a pretty good idea to make sure your profile there is accurate. To check it, log in using your ALA website username and password and click on the my profile link in the left-hand sidebar. If any information listed is incorrect, you can fix it by updating your profile on the ALA website and logging back in to Connect.

Even better, if you’re comfortable with the idea of posting a picture of yourself, add one in Connect in order to help your colleagues do the useful and fun things listed above. If you’re looking for a job while at Annual, you might also think about fleshing out your profile, making it “public,” and linking to it from your resume so that potential employers can see your professional affiliations. It’s a great way to use Connect to your advantage!

My member profile on Connect (friend me there!):