Hi, someone asked what my talk at ILCA was about (co-presented with
Kathleen Bruce, whom you all know).

It was on Internet resources for LCs. Obviously we could not list ALL of
them. We went over the types of info that are out there (opinions from
famous bf supporters, bf information for parents and LCs, activism sites,
info in languages other than English, etc.) and we talked about email
lists, search engines and how to use them, newsgroups, and database
searching (with a good example of searching the Lactnet archives). Really
just gave a taste of the wide array of things out there. A lot of it
focuses on how to select resources and evaluate them--especially with
things we recommend to clients. The quality of info on web sites, chats,
and email lists directed at parents is so varied that we wanted to stress
that you just can't give a blanket recommendation to parents. You don't
want your good advice to be ignored because someone read something
contradictory on the Internet and believed it just because it was on a
computer. We stressed recommending resources whose authors and credentials
we are familiar with.

Another thing we dwelled long and hard on was email etiquette and
professional contact on email lists. Things like not posting copyright
protected info on lists, not giving out professional advice you would
normally charge clients for, and protecting yourself legally. We gave hints
for how to avoid getting unsolicited breastfeeding questions via email
(unless you want and like them of course!). Mainly this means NOT
announcing you are an LC or other bf professional on email lists that deal
with other topics.

Our handout just listed some of the best/most interesting web sites for and
by LCs, and how to subscribe to this list and the LLL Leader email list
(which is the appropriate place to post questions on running an LLL Group
and other internal issues). Anyone who reads Lactnet faithfully will be
familiar with everything on our handout, so I don't think you would need a
copy (all the links are also found on my personal page at
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/other.html).

One thing I don't know if you all would be familiar with is how much
information in Spanish and Italian there is on the LLLI web site. If you
work with mothers who speak either language, you might find some of the
information there helpful to give them as back-up to what you are telling
them: http://www.lalecheleague.org/LLLIlang.html

Kathleen B and I both enjoyed meeting so many of you at the conference.
People were very friendly!

Sue Ann Kendall
also known as ILCA Webfrau



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*** Sue Ann Kendall * [log in to unmask] **
****** Brushy Creek (Austin) Texas, USA ******
La Leche League Web Site Manager
************* www.lalecheleague.org **************
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