Here's an interesting article you should read from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Life around here has been chaos lately. Computer worm and virus infections, multiple power outages closing down the library, overbooked schedules, and the usual problems with being treated like shit by every office and organization I have to contact with routine requests. I don't know if this is a South Florida problem, or an American problem generally, but people down here tend to treat you like you're an unwanted interruption to their work day, instead of the reason that they are in business for the first place. If I could just make one phone call without being placed on hold midsentence, constantly interrupted, or otherwise treated with total disrespect, it would be a miracle. If people could do the simple, basic, no-brainer tasks that comprise their jobs without having to be hounded for days it would be even *more* miraculous. In Broward County, however, that seems too much to ask.

I've been gathering research for my presentation at USask...hopefully it will go well and I won't look like a total idiot! I decided to focus on two major trends--consortia/partnerships between universities and other types of libraries, and online reference delivery growing increasingly interactive. Fortunately, I just happen to have experience in both areas as part of my jobs here, so I won't be talking totally theoretically.