Legislative Research Librarians Staff Section
2009 Professional Development Seminar
October 14-17, 2009

Greetings from St. Paul! The staff of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library would like to invite you to attend the NCSL Legislative Research Librarians Staff Section Professional Development Seminar in St. Paul on October 14-17, 2009.

We have been busy planning some great sessions that we can’t wait to attend ourselves. Some of the highlights include:

• “Lobbyists as Information Providers and Information Seekers – or, Blackberries were Merely Fruit Ten Years Ago.” Three seasoned lobbyists will answer questions about lobbyists’ use of technology and how they communicate with legislators.

• “Using Technology to Serve Legislators and Citizens: Innovative Ideas from Minnesota Legislative Offices.” Four panelists will describe their programs serving legislators and citizens: LeeAnn Schutz, the editor of the Minnesota House’s weekly publication, Session Weekly; Steve Senyk, the director of Senate Television; Mike Schatz, the Legislative Library’s programmer; and Mike Speiker, House Webmaster.

• “New Media/Old Media Coverage of the Legislature.” Journalists from more traditional and less traditional news sources, including Sarah Janacek from Politics in Minnesota, and Mike Mulcahy from Minnesota Public Radio, will discuss evolving legislative news coverage.

• “Preserving State Government Digital Information: the NDIPP Project.” Robert Horton, Minnesota State Archivist, will describe a multi-state grant project to help legislatures deal with exploding electronic information. This program will be at the Historical Society, with free tickets to the museum exhibits.

• “Social media in Libraries.” The following speakers will discuss library-developed Web 2.0 projects, and the use of Twitter by libraries:  Tracey Baker from Minnesota Historical Society; and Marian Rengel from the Minnesota Digital Library.

• Tour the vast campus of Thomson West Publishing in Eagan, Minnesota.

• Get the inside story on the recent Minnesota Senate Franken-Coleman recount from Joe Mansky, Ramsey County Election Manager.

• Our tour of the State Capitol, and in particular, the chambers of both bodies, will feature descriptions from the best-informed staff ever. We’ll also eat a lunch in the refurbished Rathskeller.

More details and registration information is available here:  http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=18062

We hope to see you in October!

Elizabeth Lincoln & Robbie LaFleur