The BRASS Program for the 2012 ALA Annual Conference was “Adventures in Dataland: Business Data Sources” featuring Bobray Bordelon (Princeton University), Angela Lee (Esri), Joe Nation (RAND Statistics), and Jerry Wong (U.S. Census Bureau). The theme of our program was Business Data Sources, with a focus on free and low-cost resources. The committee extends our appreciation to Capital IQ Standard & Poor’s for their generous sponsorship of the breakfast.
Our program attracted a total of 120 attendees. Bobray Bordelon demonstrated resources from a variety of nonprofit and government sources, including the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) and American Time Use Survey (ATUS). Angela Lee discussed free and upcoming GIS resources from Esri. Joe Nation from the RAND Corporation presented several state statistical resources focusing on a wide range of social scientific data. Jerry Wong introduced the new changes to the American FactFinder and helpful ways to navigate the database. BRASS members Christy Goodnight and Van Houlson handled the audio and video recording of the full program. The video has been posted to the BRASS Section of ALA Connect for viewing by BRASS members.
Marketing for the program was well received and many people “friended” the BRASS Anaheim Program Committee Facebook page started by Jason Dewland. Members of the committee are writing an article to supplement the program that will be available in the winter 2012 issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly (RUSQ).
Program committee members: Paul Brothers, Laura Carscaddon, Jason Dewland, Allison Leaming, Chris LeBeau (BRASS Chair), Tony Lin (Committee Chair), Julia Martin, Peter McKay, Michael Oppenheim, and Mark Siciliano.
Anthony Lin, Chair, 2011-2012