Having spent the last few years immersing myself in LITA, I’m trying to articulate things I’ve learned in case you want to get involved, too, but are looking for places to start. The whole series can be read at the how to get involved in LITA tag. Stay tuned for more over the next few days!
Informal communication channels
For me, this is Twitter (where I’m @ThatAndromeda). A lot of LITAns are there. Unsurprisingly, there are also a lot of LITAns on other social media channels. Most of the Board is on Twitter, so I made you a list. There are probably lots of other great lists to be made of LITAns in general, or other LITA subunits, or LITA people on Facebook or G+ or FriendFeed or what-have-you, but Twitter’s my space and the Board is my geekdom, so I leave the other lists to you :). Drop a link in the comments when you’ve made one!
Many of these folks of course also have blogs. Notably Cindi Trainor, the VP/President-Elect[ref]Elected LITA Board members serve 3-year terms. In the case of the President, this is a VP/President/Past President cycle, just like with big ALA. Ex officio members’ terms vary.[/ref], blogs about her role in LITA.
I’ve found the social connections to be the most powerful and rewarding part of LITA involvement. I recognize that informal structures are the hardest for newcomers to any society to navigate, and the fact that I’ve had to rely so heavily on them to learn about the organization is an indication we need to do a better job communicating.
You can totally leverage informal connections over time through involvement with the the formal structures I’ve outlined, but you can also dive right in to social-media-land and face-to-face connections. Just pick a favorite space and find a handful of names you recognize and see who talks to whom, who’s a member of what; expand from there. It’s very much worth putting in the time to cultivate informal connections.
andromeda yelton 