Quick Links

Master Schedule
The complete schedule of upcoming OPAL public online events.

Auditorium
Most OPAL programs are held in the Auditorium. After clicking on the link above, type in your name and press Enter. First-time OPAL users need to install a small, safe sofware plug-in.

Archive
Recordings and other documents about previous OPAL programs.

Podcast
For information on listening to previous OPAL events on your portable MP3 player, visit the OPAL Podcast blog.

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Chronological List of All Upcoming Programs

    Note: All OPAL public events are free of charge and open to everyone worldwide. Most OPAL online programs last about an hour.
  • Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 6:00 p.m. GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      From Monticello to Capitol Hill: Thomas Jefferson and His Library

      Host: Library of Congress

      Online Location: OPAL Online Auditorium

        After nearly two centuries, Thomas Jefferson’s library has again been recreated at the heart of the Library of Congress for all to see. How did catastrophe vie with vision and innovation to transform Jefferson’s library into the Library of Congress? Join us as we take you on a virtual journey across the Web, blending a nineteenth-century story with twenty-first-century technical innovation to bring you online resources that are both the oldest and the newest treasures the world’s greatest library has to share.
  • Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 3:00 Central, 2:00 Mountain, 1:00 Pacific, and 9:00 p.m. GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      "Technology Training and Competencies for Libraries" Presented by Sarah Houghton-Jan

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Online Location: OPAL Online Auditorium

        Join Sarah Houghton-Jan, the Librarian in Black blogger, in exploring how libraries can provide tech training for staff. Every library on the planet struggles with technology training for staff. In this session, learn how to create a set of useful technology competencies, catered to your individual library and its technologies. Also learn how to use these competencies, and the staff's assessments, to build a self-sustaining staff technology training program. You will hear about the purpose and benefits of competencies and technology training, get a review of the process of creating competencies lists, and the implementation process, including assessment. Please note: This program will last approximately 90 minutes.
  • Friday, May 16, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      A Casual Conversation with Stephen Abram

      Stephen Abram is the...

      The Casual Conversations series is designed to be up-close and personal from a respectable online distance. While there are many conferences (in-person, online, and in-world) where librarians can hear leaders in the field make formal presentations about interesting projects, there are few opportunities to hear these same leaders discuss informally what they currently are working on, their future plans and goals, the challenges and opportunities facing librarianship, their personal pet peeves, etc.

      Watch for more information about these upcoming Casual Conversations:

      Friday, June 6, 2008: Michael Stephens
      Friday, July 11, 2008: Greg Schwartz

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
  • Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 1:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      Book Discussion of the detective novel Hard Time by Sara Paretsky

      Chicago private investigator V. I. Warshawksi finds a dead female escaped convict in the road. In the course of her investigation she is charged with murder by the police, burglarized, beaten, and imprisoned. The truth will out.

      This discussion is part of the ongoing series of casual book discussions called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," focussing on American and British hard-boiled detective fiction.

      This discussion will also be held in Second Life at Mystery Manor on Info Island. You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life, or both!

      NLS Audiobook number RC 48812.

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
  • Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 1:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      Book Discussion of the detective novel Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley

      Set in L.A. in 1967, this tenth novel in the Easy Rawlins series find Easy dealing with the loss of the love of his life, Bonnie. He also must find two of his friends, Raymond ("Mouse") Alexander and Christmas Black, before those who are hunting them do.

      This discussion is part of the ongoing series of casual book discussions called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," focussing on American and British hard-boiled detective fiction.

      This discussion will also be held in Second Life at Mystery Manor on Info Island. You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life, or both!

      NLS Audiobook number in process.

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
  • Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 1:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      Book Discussion of the detective novel The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

      This is the novel that introduced Nick and Nora Charles, wealthy slueths based in New York City. The couple combines keen observation, sardonic wit, and grace under duress as they try to solve the disappearance ten years ago of the thin man, Richard Wynant, an eccentric inventor.

      This discussion is part of the ongoing series of casual book discussions called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," focussing on American and British hard-boiled detective fiction.

      This discussion will also be held in Second Life at Mystery Manor on Info Island. You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life, or both!

      NLS Audiobook number RC 16349.

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
  • Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 1:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      Book Discussion of the detective novel A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes

      Set in 1950s New York City, this novel follows the fortunes of Jackson, a hapless, gullible working class Black man, as he tries to protect the love of his life, Imabelle. Harlem police detectives Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson figure prominently in this high-action novel.

      This discussion is part of the ongoing series of casual book discussions called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," focussing on American and British hard-boiled detective fiction.

      This discussion will also be held in Second Life at Mystery Manor on Info Island. You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life, or both!

      NLS Audiobook number RC 45215.

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
  • Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 1:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:
      Book Discussion of the detective novel Cypress Grove by James Sallis

      Turner, a retired homicide cop from Memphis and an ex-con, has moved to a cabin outside a small town in Tennessee seeking peace and solitude. When Lonnie Bates, the local sheriff, asks Turner to help solve a ritual killing, Turner gets to know the locals as he contemplates his past.

      This discussion is part of the ongoing series of casual book discussions called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," focussing on American and British hard-boiled detective fiction.

      This discussion will also be held in Second Life at Mystery Manor on Info Island. You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life, or both!

      NLS Audiobook number RC 59090.

      Host: TAP Information Services

      Location: OPAL Online Auditorium

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