The Ohio Library Council has announced that they are canceling their annual conference due to low expectations of attendance.  The organization surveyed library directors throughout Ohio and determined that most libraries simply don’t have the funds to participate.

Is this the beginning of a slew of cancellations, or will it be limited to areas where funding is being drastically cut?  ALA 2009 apparently did well, but will smaller, regional conferences survive?

Watch for conferences to scale down, or even combine with other events, over the next couple of years in order to provide more “bang for the buck”.  If you are a speaker/presenter, look at how you might be able to benefit conferences in your area… they might need all the help they can get.

found via Save Ohio Libraries and The Limnal Librarian

Marian Dworaczek has moved her Library Related Conferences website, so make a note of it.

If you haven’t seen her listing, check it out.  If you know of any conferences that aren’t on her list, let her know!

found via her posting to SERIALST (Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum)

I will definitely be attending the One Big Library Unconference next month in Toronto! I am enthusiastic about this, as it has been nearly a year since I have attended a conference, and I have been very curious about the unconference format. Having worked with Reaching Forward South for a few years, experiencing a participant-organized conference will be a big change.

This (un)conference is, partly because of it’s broad theme, a close fit for much of what fascinates me these days. Unstated, but implied, is the idea that the larger and more distinguished libraries need to join the tiny, underfunded community and special libraries in a way that the world as a whole can benefit. This is a challenging concept, and one that will strongly shape the library world in years to come.

Oh, yes… they’re in Facebook, too.

Eric Leese Morgan has updated his workshop notes for XML in Libraries : A Workshop.  This is as good an overview of XML for library staff as I have seen anywhere.

found via Catalogablog