I am one of several consultants participating in the free consulting sessions being provided as part of the Consultants Give Back programs delivered at the major conferences.  The date for CGB at ALA Anaheim is Sunday, June 24th from 1:30-5:30 at the Conference Center, Room 203B. 

I had hoped that our co-sponsors (ASCLA and PLA) would provide a handy webpagethat listed the consultants participating but evidently simple webpages are hard to come by!  Instead, there is a downloadable PDF (grrrr) circulating (somewhere) as a press release.  Good luck finding it!

So, for your convenience, I offer the following list. Please contact the consultant directly if you'd like to make an appointment at the Conference.   

Lori Bowen Ayre, The Galecia Group

• lori.ayre@galecia.com
• http:/galecia.com
• Open source software (Koha, Evergreen, Fulfillment) evaluation and planning; materials handling workflow optimization, automated materials handling and RFID assessment, selection, and ROI.
  

The objective of the new U.S. Data Model for RFID (NISO Document RP-6-2012) is to create an environment where every library can use every other library’s RFID tag regardless of the supplier. In addition, hardware from any RFID vendor should be interoperable and the systems should be free from proprietary interfaces that make the hardware work with any given ILS. If libraries adopt the U.S.

I've been participating in the Consultants Give Back (CGB) program at ALA and PLA since we started doing it a couple of years ago. The concept is to provide a short, free consulting session for libraries that might not otherwise afford a consultant.  Or to answer some easy questions without having to get into a consulting contract.  Or maybe you want to meet a consultant to see if they're someone you'd like to hire down the line.  It's a win-win for everyone!

I try to steer clear of anything having to do with e-books.  The whole thing just makes me mad at everyone involved:  publishers, customers, libraries, everyone.  The fact of DRM and the people that support DRM by virtue of buying DRM'd stuff is just plain wrong.  I figure if I ignore it long enough it will all just go away and everyone will come to their senses. That's my strategy anyway. Well, here's someone who agrees with me.

NISO has finalized their recommendation and the U.S. Data Profile is finally resolved.  They've settled on ISO 28560-2 which was the same recommendation in the version they released for public comment.  I haven't had a chance to see if there are any changes but will keep you posted.

Having a U.S. Data Profile for Library RFID is fantastic for libraries.  Now...all you have to do is put pressure on your vendors to transition your library to the new standard.  Interoperability here we come!