Got Elections? Informing the Public
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton, Room PLS-360
(**Transportation will be provided from Convention Center**)
Co-sponsored by ACRL-Law & Political Science Section
EVENT CODE: GO1

Preconference registrants, please see details here. 

8:30am-9:00am (30 min)

Sign-in & Continental Breakfast

9:00am-9:05am (5 min)

Introductions & Welcome

• Welcome by Bill Sleeman, GODORT Chair & Kelly Janousek, LPSS Chair
• Introduction by John Hernandez of Keynote Speaker

9:05am-9:45am (40 min)

Keynote Address: Patterns in U.S. elections & Election 2008

• Speaker: Mr. Rhodes Cook, RhodesCook.com (political commentator & author of America Votes)

9:50am -11:00am (1 hr 10 min)

Who Runs? – Information on Candidates

• How libraries can help get the word out
• Sources for biographies, positions and records of candidates
• Campaign finance information sources
• Information on historical trends in partisan power
• Presenters:
• Adelaide Elm Kimball, Project Vote Smart & Follow the Money.org
• Kay Bruce, League of Women Voters North Orange County
• John Hernandez, Princeton University, Firestone Library

Short Break 11:05am-11:15am (10 min)

11:20am-12:05pm (45 min)

Who Decides? – Information on Voters

• Voter demographics, registration and turnout data
• Presenter:
• Kris Kasianovitz, UCLA, Charles E. Young Research Library

12:10pm-12:55pm (45 min)

Who Cares?  – Information on Issues Pt.1

Political Blogs

• Highlights of key blogs
• Tips for evaluating blogs
• Presenter:
• Erik Estep, East Carolina University, Joyner Library

Lunch (provided on site) 1:00pm-2:00pm (1 hr)

2:00pm-2:45pm (45 min)

Who Cares?  – Information on Issues Pt.2

Public Opinion

• Sources of public opinion
• Resources on trends in public opinion on key issues
• Party platform sources
• Presenter:
• Stephen Woods, Penn State University, Paterno Library

2:50pm-3:35pm (45 min)

Who Cares?  – Information on Issues Pt.3

Ballot Measures: Initiatives & Referendums

• Brief history of direct democracy in the United States
• How ballot measures make it to the ballot
• Sources for locating current and historical ballot measures
• Presenters:
• Herbert E. Cihak, Pepperdine University School of Law
• Betsy Rosenfeld, Center for Governmental Studies

Coffee Break 3:40pm-3:50pm (10 min)

3:55pm-4:40pm (45 min)

Who Wins? – Information on Election Results

• How election returns are aggregated, certified and reported
• Sources for current and historical election returns
• The electoral college, popular vote, and red vs. blue states
• Exit polls (their uses, limitations and published sources)
• Presenter:
• Chris Palazzolo, Emory University, Woodruff Library

4:45pm-5:10pm (25 min)

Taking it all Back Home

• Discussion of voter information programs at a public & academic library
• Comments on what you can do at your library
• Presenters:
• Louise Mazerov, Buena Park Public Library
• Angela Bonnell, Illinois State University, Milner Library
• John Hernandez, Princeton University, Firestone Library

Shuttles depart for Convention Center: 5:30pm

For more information contact John Hernandez at jhernand@princeton.edu.

REGISTRATION:

Registration for the preconferences is only through the regular ALA Conference registration. If you are not an ALA member, you can still register for just the preconference by paying the Non-ALA registration fees. The ALA Conference registration page is at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2008a/registration.htm#how

If you have already registered for the conference, click on Add optional events to your previous Annual Registration to register for this pre-conference. The Event Code for Got Elections? Informing the Public is GO1.

If you are an ALA member, you can register for the conference online, or via Fax/Mail.

If you are not an ALA member, the Fax or Mail option works best, as the online registration requires you to log in with your ALA username and password. To look up addtional pre-conferences, go to:

http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2008a/an08-regevets-prelim.pdf