For the second time since 1998 I'm missing Access, the annual peripatetic Canadian Library Technology conference which this year happens to be in St John's Newfoundland. Come to think of it, and entirely coincidentally, that was also where it was the last time I couldn't attend. That was back in 2000 when the outfit I was working for back then hosted an ICOLC conference in Vancouver at the same time. This year the dates just didn't work for me; too much going on right now both personally and professionally for me to blow town for a week. The programme looks like a great mix of regulars and not, and I'll be sorry to miss every single one of the sessions and social events.
Fortunately UVic is represented at Access this year by Systems Librarian Corey Davis, whose talk on Discovery tools and scholarly communications promises to be a real highlight. I think there's going to be a live feed and if so, I'm going to do my darndest to get up early on Thursday to watch it. The time zone difference means much of the live stream will be over by the time I get to work ...