IASL Conferences

An Evaluation of the Attendance Pattern of Participants 1998-2010

Abstract

There are many reasons for librarians’ attendance at professional conferences and equally many why their attendance is either regular or irregular. This research was conducted to find out the push and pull factors that affected members’ attendance at annual conferences from 1998-2010. It also sought to ascertain whether virtual conferences would be accepted as an alternative to face-to-face conferences. A quantitative approach was used to conduct the research. Four hundred-fifty five members were randomly selected as the sample. Eighty-eight (88) responded. The findings revealed that participants attended mainly for professional development and only a very small number attended regularly over the 13 years. The main reason identified for the irregular attendance was the geographic location. A slight majority mentioned that they would recommend virtual conferences although there were disadvantages. Among the recommendations was the need for IASL to group countries by geographical regions to give members a better opportunity to attend more regularly.