The date rapidly approaches and I made a concerted effort to pack beforehand. This was done quite successfully. I am taking a suitcase and a carryon of a presentation laptop and a terabyte drive, which is an external drive roughly the size of a half of a loaf of bread. We bring this along in case the Internet is not functioning at these various locations in Africa. South Africa should be fine in this regard, but that has not been the case so far with my colleagues in Cameroon and Botswana.
All in all, I am excited, both personally and professionally. I will have to perform with some degree of conviction as librarians are a notoriously difficult room (at least based on what my boss said and what I have experienced with my former MLIS classmates). I have rehearsed it enough to feel fairly comfortable with it so hopefully that is projected as well.
So, off to Durban, via Dakkar, via Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Stop by the Aluka booth if you happen to be at IFLA. I will be sure to give you a run through of the website. We will be doubling up with JSTOR so look for their booth as well.
