Jessamyn West and Karen Schneider have posted thoughts about dealing with ALA, especially the issue of access to technology at conferences and virtual participation.

As an international member of ALA, I have a strong interest in advances that increase involvement for members wherever they live, in the USA or elsewhere. I joined ALA a little over two years ago to get a different perspective on issues than IFLA and ALIA. When I join an association, I want to be actively involved because I don’t see the value of joining unless you participate. With ALIA, especially in the last year, this has been very easy, I’ve attended two New Librarians’ Symposia and the biennial ALIA conference, helped form a committee and joined another. At the same time though, there are many members of ALIA that live in remote areas that have more difficulty participating at times. In the groups I’ve been involved with, we’ve worked hard to create options for such people to participate, but again its up to individuals to make the most of those options.

With other organisations, it’s not quite so easy. I would like to participate in IFLA, but I find it overwhelming, there are so many levels and divisions and distributed events that I don’t quite know where I would start. I have asked a few active members of IFLA how they became involved, but for most the starting point was attending the annual conference, which I do not yet have the ability to do. I also asked the current president of IFLA about this issue at the New Graduates Dinner at ALIA biennial, Kay Raseroka and she suggested writing a paper for the conference, and arranging for someone else to deliver it if I was unable to attend. While that is a good idea, as I do enjoy research, I also enjoy committee work and putting ideas into practice.

And then, coming back to Jessamyn and Karen’s points, there’s ALA. Some committees have come up with the idea of virtual committee members, who do tasks such as edit newsletters, or solo tasks that can be done remotely. Further, many calls for volunteers for committee positions state that you need to be a personal member of ALA. Are international members personal members? I’m never quite sure. Where exactly do international members exist within ALA? Where do we come from, why did we join, what do we hope to gain from being a member? I would love ALA to create a Round Table just for us (outside of the International Relations Round Table), instead of just holding an international members breakfast for those that can travel to ALA conferences.

For the bulk of committee positions, attendance at conferences is required. Living in Australia, this precludes me from attending due to cost. I’m no more qualified than anyone else that may seek a committee position, but I do have time and enthusiasm to give and it’s a little disheartening to be discounted every time due to travel issues.

So what can be done about this? At the very least, I look forward to a future when ALA, IFLA, and other conferences are streamed live on the web, so that all members of these associations can participate (if the digital divide can be resolved). I don’t think this will decrease physical attendance. I also look forward to real-time communication with other participants, perhaps through Instant Messenger programs, blogs or audio chats. No, there’s nothing quite like being there, but for those that can never be there, it’s a start.