My book is due in just over a month. This is a fact that is causing me a fair amount of anxiety. I know I’ll get it done in time, but will it be good? I don’t know. Roy Tennant, trying to be nice and give me advice a while back, told me that I need to do a really good job because what I write will reflect on me for many years to come. Gulp! I know I have a pretty good blog writing style, but I don’t know if I’m a “book writer” by virtue of the fact that I’ve never written a book. I don’t know how to write like the author of a book, or at least I’m not sure if I can. I spent the weekend writing the introduction to the book which was funny because I had no idea how an intro should look since I usually skip over them when I read! Needless to say, I was scouring the intros of all of the library-related books I had at home (and I promise I’ll never skip one again!!!). I also have a book chapter due two weeks after my book. So, I’m going to be pretty darn busy until mid-July.

This is why you’re not going to hear much from me until then. I may blog a bit just because I find it therapeutic, but don’t be surprised if you hear at most a peep or two out of me this coming month. And I must apologize in advance if I don’t get back to your e-mails for a good long while (unless they’re about pressing issues and I know you personally). I get a lot of e-mails from new librarians and folks in library school as well as aspiring wiki creators. Normally, I get back to people really quickly, but that will not be the case until mid-July. I just can’t focus on anything else.

Later this summer I’ll offer more details on what I (and the people I’ve asked to organize this with me) are thinking of in terms of online education. I will definitely be asking for volunteers from all over the library blogosphere to volunteer for various pieces of the endeavor. But from the comments on my last post, it sounds like a lot of people have some great ideas for online education and conferences. I think the more different models we all try for providing education in the online medium, the better we will know in the future how to design an ideal program on a dime. YAY!

Oh yeah, and go read Dorothea’s terrific post on conference economics, different types of speakers, and online conferences (and not just because she calls me a “hardcore altruist” in it). Dorothea has the distinct misfortune of listening to me wax poetically (over IM) about my idealistic visions of free online education almost daily. She’s a pretty altruistic person herself, even if part of her just wants to “show ALA how it’s done.” Hey, can’t say I feel any differently about it. 😉