This last weekend I had the opportunity to head out to DC for a couple of days and present on the topic of modifying vendor records using MarcEdit to the American Association of Law Libraries. It was a quick trip. I flew in on Saturday and was out by Monday, but one that I enjoyed for a number of reasons.
First, what did I do? Well, I gave two talks, if you will. The first was on using MarcEdit to deal with vendor records. Given the length of time allotted (60 minutes) — I focused primarily on two main aspects of the program — the MarcEditor and the Delimited Text Translator. The goal of the session really was to help attendees be able to leave the room with the knowledge that they would need to start editing records right away. Hopefully, that was accomplished. However, this talk also represented a first for me, in that this was the first time that I gave a presentation on MarcEdit while running MarcEdit natively on Linux. This is something that I do at work because I can live with a few of the less polished aspects of the program — but over the past month or so, I’ve been doing work on MarcEdit to specifically address those areas in need of polish on non-Windows systems and this weekend was kindof the coming out party. I know that this will make a number of people happy (a small vocal few that have been asking how to run MarcEdit on non-windows systems). I know the first question I may get in regards to this development is, how can I run MarcEdit on my [insert non-windows] system? And to those with that question, I’m going to ask for more patience. There are 4 or 5 significant areas where I still want to correct before I officially start hosting and posting instructions on how to run MarcEdit on a non-windows platform. Some of these things are simply UI things to update, others are related to ensuring that MarcEdit’s many ancillary tools can be initiated. But I am working on it, and give my “testâ€? run this weekend, I’m a lot more comfortable with how the program looks and runs than ever before.
Anyway, the second talk that I give was really more of a question and answer period. I hosted a round-table on MarcEdit, allowing people with specific questions or issues to come and ask their questions. This was also a good time for me, because I get a chance to talk with folks using the program and get a feel for the types of problems that they may or may not be having with the application — as well as get some great ideas for where I might make improvements.
Oh, and while I was at AALL, I did take a chance to drop into a few of the sessions though I quickly realized that I was out of my element when the discussion turned to the bar, laws and codes in general. 🙂
All and all, it was a nice trip. I learned a few things, got some great feedback, and had an opportunity to spend a little time in our Nation’s capital (a place that never fails to leave me inspired).
–TR