The Online News Association conference doesn’t formally kick off until Friday morning. But some of the material is already available online for those who couldn’t make it to San Francisco this year.

JD Lasica has posted two new PDF handouts: 8 ways to use social media in the newsroom and 6 Twitter tools for journalists in advance of the panel on social media on Saturday.

And Amy Webb has posted a page of resources, links and guides for her “Hot Jobs/ Hot Skills ” ONA talk. There is a wealth of material, including the obligatory guide to social media for journalists.

The conference can be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #ONA09, and there are also dedicated tags for the panels, which can be found on the conference schedule.

Expect to find lots of updates on Twitter, judging from the messages that are already flying around with the #ONA09.

I’ll be blogging some of the sessions, as no doubt will others.