Our profession has changed exponentially each year as new trends and technologies are introduced. NJLA's Emerging Technologies Committee does a fabulous job each year at conference presenting programs that keep us hep, spiffy, radical, or whatever the kids are saying these days. See what they're offering us this year with Conference Committee's Doug Baldwin as our guide!

Technology is just one of those things that permeates throughout the work we do in libraries, whether it is programming, training, collection development, reference,  and pretty much everywhere in between!  Now more than ever it is vital in our profession that we make every effort to remain abreast of new tools, ideas, perspectives, and challenges posed by the use and implementation of technology in all areas.

Fortunately, the NJLA Emerging Technologies (ET) section has worked especially hard this year, along with many other co-sponsoring sections,  to provide a slate of sessions for this years conference that cover a broad range of these topics no matter where you focus or interested may be.

I contacted this year’s ET section president, TJ Lamanna of the Cherry Hill Public Library, to get his inside scoop on which session should not be missed! Here are his selected highlights :

“The Importance of HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt” on Monday (4/24).

This preconference will cover the necessity of HTTPS for libraries and their vendors. It's focus will be an explanation of what HTTPS is, why it's important,and what libraries and vendors can do to implement it. Let's Encrypt is a free, automated, and open certificate authority run for the public’s benefit. More information can be found here: https://letsencrypt.org/about/

“Librarians: Protecting Yourself Online” (Wednesday, 4/26, 9:00-9:50am)

Join a fantastic panel to discuss practical ways you can protect yourself and your library online. You've probably heard about a lot of products and programs designed to help you, but some of them might be a little tricky to use. We're here to help. It's becoming more and more vital librarians understand what they can and should do to protect themselves, their patrons, and their libraries online. Don't fall behind, it's easier than you think.

“Maker Outreach : Taking Tech to Urban Schools” (Wednesday 4/26, 9:00-9:50am)

This panel will discuss taking our tech to urban schools. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn some easy and practical methods of improving your libraries community outreach and getting more young people interested your libraries maker equipment.

Also, don’t forget to check out the annual “The Year’s Best Video Games of 2016 (Wednesday 4/26, 2:30-3:20pm)” which will explore not only the newest gaming systems and the gaming landscape as it stands today,  but review the best released games across the most popular platforms for 2016.

And this is just the beginning! There are many other programs ET has the privilege of co-sponsoring with our other hardworking sections across NJLA. But we won’t steal their thunder and let them tell you all about those as well! Stay tuned and hope to see you at conference!

Doug Baldwin and the 2016-2017 NJLA Conference Committee