Expanding Professional Engagement Through Online Conference Access: Working Toward Inclusive and Effective Hybrid Models

Remote learning and conferencing platforms have been available for the past two decades but were only recently deployed to great advantage during the pandemic. For the first time, library and archives workers without ability or funds to travel could attend conferences and network online. While online conferencing did not address the digital divide, it nevertheless afforded cutting-edge professional development opportunities for many who had never been able to travel to conferences. Voices previously excluded were suddenly amplified in online sessions, particularly those of disabled and underemployed professionals and paraprofessionals, perhaps the most diverse and rapidly growing segment of our profession.

As pandemic fears wane, many professionals of means are eager to return to in-person learning and conferencing, but others have found greater opportunities for engagement online. This session begins with an overview of the 2022 Survey of Conference Attendance Preferences, which investigated in-person, virtual, and hybrid attendance preferences of more than 400 library and archives workers before and during the pandemic, and looking ahead to the future. Following a summary of survey results and examples of challenges posed by online and in-person delivery, the session opens to discussion envisioning the future role, reach, benefits, and viability of online, in-person, and hybrid conference models.