Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Reading and writing are doomed. Literacy as we know it is over. Welcome to the post-literate future. From the perspective of a literate person, the idea of a post-literate world seems frightening. It isn’t. At least it needn’t be. Beyond Literacy views this possibility not as some new Dark Age but instead as a kind of liberation of human ability and interaction. Beyond Literacy is about a positive future. Think about it as a search for Alphabet 2.0. Not for the faint of heart, you will definitely enjoy this lively and thought-provoking talk!

A participatory library is an organization that has evolved beyond offering community service into a platform for building community and empowering entrepreneurship and innovation. Using examples drawn from Anythink's programming and other cutting edge library systems, the first presentation discusses the space planning, technology needs, staff training, and community partnerships that can be leveraged to build a participatory library.

Douglas County Libraries has been in the news for the work its doing with econtent. The first presentation peeks behind the wizard’s curtain to show what DCL has been doing and how its service model is changing. Digital touchscreen power walls in branches, mobile apps, inbrowser ebook readers, and publishing ebooks with Adobe Content Server are just a few tools in DCL’s belt. Its VuFind catalog then integrates and makes this all discoverable. Learn about DCL’s experience and how you can incorporate what DLC is doing in your library. Next, hear how Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota librarians transformed the Twin Cities’ campus library’s instructional services. The goals were threefold: Expand instructional serv- ices while maintaining current staffing models; provide responsive, relevant, and sustainable instruction that did not take away from class time or add to faculty workloads; and develop graduate students’ critical thinking and information literacy skills in a more intensive way. The end result was eBrarian, an entirely online instructional service. Hear about this new eBrarian model, lessons learned, and student and instructor feedback.

In 2012, Califa (a multitype consortium of 220-plus member libraries), having worked with almost all of the various ebook vendors, decided to build its own platform, allowing ownership of both the content and the development of features on the platform. Califa purchased an Adobe Content Server, the easy part, and then dealt with the steps it took to actually develop an ebook platform, from researching hosting options to approaching publishers and securing funding. Hear how it’s going, and see statistics and data showing the growth of the platform. Learn what goes into the process, dealing with negotiations and surprises. Tibbets shares the status, challenges, and learnings from a similar project at his library.

Imagine walking by a sheet of music and hearing it burst into song, picking up a movie and watching it transform into a trailer, approaching a new piece of technology and receiving a personal demonstration. Imagine a library where every sign, display, piece of technology, and room is alive and interactive. Through free mobile software, ESU’s Libraries & Archives is evolving the library culture by changing the way patrons see and interact with their physical library space. ESU has merged the boundary between the physical and virtual worlds, offering patrons the opportunity to go beyond walking through stationary signage, resources, and displays to a full interactive experience.

While cloud-based technologies have an incredible potential to benefit libraries, it’s important to understand the specific architectures and deployment models involved and their specific advantages or disadvantages. Breeding separates the marketing hype from practical realities and explains ways that cloud computing can transform libraries and enable them to achieve their strategic work.

This session is all about using creative open source solutions in libraries—from libraries to afford accepting credit and debit card payments (without chargeback fees) for fines and lost items, as well as donations electronically to demonstrating Untangle, an open-source Super Friend to help you manage access to the internet for all your users. The software is free and will likely run on an old PC you have lying around. Peterson illustrates how to upgrade on your PC, gives a broad overview of Untangle’s features and capabilities, and discusses how easy it is to block bad stuff while allowing the good stuff. The second half of this session focuses on Android and iOS apps, including free apps for wireless and remote systems administration as well as others for saving time and being more efficient.

Have you ever wished you could see what your online patrons or other colleagues are seeing on their computer screen? There are many free/freemium tools that allow just that! The first presentation discusses results of experiments with Google+ Hangouts and Join.me to provide research consultations online. It shares different types of screen-sharing tools, privacy and security issues, and their training and evaluation approaches. The second presentation describes how one public library repurposed existing underutilized PCs in 384 libraries into virtualized workspaces. It discusses the many advantages, including centrally managing the workspaces, zoning libraries for different patron uses, and reducing deployment and main- tenance costs. Get lots of tips!

Building on last year’s popular session, our speakers say there’s an app for everything and everyone. But with more than a billion apps available, it’s difficult to tell which ones are good. The speakers discuss 50 time-tested apps for Android and Apple devices that will change the way you search, access, and view information in and beyond the library walls.

Learn about two new national initiatives to help public libraries evaluate their public access technology programs and services and get the information they need to plan and advocate for digital inclusion in their communities. Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and led by leaders in the public library field, the University of Washington Impact Survey provides public libraries with the ability to collect information to measure the impact of providing free access to the internet and other library resources directly from patrons. It allows any library to easily survey its community and immediately receive the results in ready-to-use reports and advocacy documents for planning programs and services the community really needs, illustrating the impact of the efforts to improve the lives of patrons. The Edge Initiative is a leadership tool designed to enhance public computing services by helping libraries to evaluate their public access technology programs and services against benchmarks developed by a coalition of library leaders. Hear how you can use these tools as well as real examples of how libraries have done so for strategic planning and meeting community goals.

What does it take to offer massive, broadcast information literacy instruction that captures both the art and the science of the research process? In the past year, Google built and ran two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on search and research skills: Power Searching With Google and Advanced Power Searching. Our Google Search educator shares the challenges and lessons learned from creating the content for these global information-literacy trainings. Learn about the experience from the point of view of several participants, and explore the opportunities massive-scale education tools offer for the library profession.

Hear from one library director how moving to the cloud impacts services to users and library staff’s traditional workflows. Then hear from Blowers about the collective insights of more than 100 libraries that have made the move to the cloud. Hear about their experiences after transitioning from a traditional ILS to a cloud-based, next-generation library services platform.

Two public libraries have both undertaken projects to connect with their communities through music. Building from their Local Author Community database, which profiles Sonoma County authors, past and present, and links to and sometimes hosts their work, the Library has launched a similar effort to feature local musicians and musical groups—again, past and present. The Santa Cruz Public Library has begun a project to feature streaming music by local musicians. Speakers discuss the process of contacting musicians, making their work available online, and the philosophical implications of promoting local arts via the Library. They share how these projects foster and disseminate local identity, position the library as a discovery tool for local culture, and have the potential to impact economic development in the musical arts.

The Palo Alto Library provides services in the heart of Silicon Valley through five branches. As new technological tools continuously mushroom in the community it serves, the Library constantly explores and identifies tools to effectively deliver the high level of services patrons expect. Hear their experiences in developing Chromebook lending and Magazine-on-iPad programs. Learn how they keep up and decide on their Next Big Thing!

Library signage, both print and digital, is used to make announcements, provide information, promote events and services, or provide directions, but is often viewed as overused, ineffective, and generally unwelcoming. Speakers detail the process for clarifying the purposes of digital signage, examine policies for its terms of use, and outline the best practices for interactive and appealing digital signage content. Inexpensive, DIY alternative solutions for digital signage are discussed, including a system created as part of a user services UX overhaul leveraging game design principles. Attendees will play an entertaining and informative game of “What’s Wrong With this Sign?”

This session profiles how libraries are using usual tools in unusual ways. Indiana University Library uses Wikipedia to teach students critical thinking skills. Students learn about copyright, fair use, public domain, creative commons licenses, and how to evaluate information. University of North Texas Library uses LibGuides web applications to promote ebooks with targeted marketing opportunities of ebooks to students as well as 24/7 assistance on ebook platforms. Using APIs, widgets, and other LibGuides features, the Library embeds book covers, trailers, and podcasts; mobile apps; social bookmarking; really simple syndication (RSS) feeds; and virtual book clubs to enhance ebook specific guides. The Library at California State University–Chico researched the impact of LibGuides on students learning. The research provides insight into the pedagogy of creating guides and how different elements of a guide are not platform-dependent but rather can be adapted to different library systems and environments.

Are you using or considering demand-driven acquisitions? Be part of the discussion with Johnson County Community College about its pilot of patron-determined collection value by comparing usage of print and ebooks. Learn about different DDA models, the benefits realized for the library and campus community, how user behavior differs with format type, and whether collection value increases through user-driven selection.

This session highlights two association grant funded projects. Funded by a federal NTIA grant, the first project is a partnership between the New York State Office of Cyber Security and the NYLA to “convene, support, coordinate, and enhance programs that provide digital literacy training.” Following the adoption of a statewide set of digital literacy standards and accompanying digital skills, a task force developed a digital literacy curriculum that was approved by the New York State Broadband Initiative. The grant funds a series of statewide train-the-trainer workshops for public library staff to develop a cadre of trained library staff who can advance the digital literacy skills of their patrons. Hear about their project experiences, the impact for public libraries, and get tips and resources to take home to your community. Then learn about the PLA’s new site, Digital- Learn.org, an IMLS grant-funded site, and an online hub for digital literacy support and training intended to build upon and foster the work of libraries and community organizations increasing digital literacy across the nation.

Price discusses digital literacy issues that come from SnapChat, a popular photo-sharing app especially popular among younger people. Being aware of what SnapChat and similar apps (all apps for that matter) offer or don’t offer the user, both the pluses and minuses, is key to digital literacy. Then, users (and if needed, parents, guardians, teachers, etc.) need to make the final decision to use or to not use the tools. Vecchione discusses the Mobile Learning Initiative at Boise State University identified as a campus need—to fortify the digital fluency skills of students and faculty. Teaching digital fluency skills to our users is no single discipline’s responsibility, but all are impacted by our users’ level of expertise with everything from email attachments to using mobile devices to creating multimedia presentations.

This session focuses on using mobile media in traditional early literacy programming with specific examples from Mother Goose on the Loose (MGOL) and Every Child Ready to Read 2 (ECRR2), early literacy programming initiatives that educate and empower parents to support and develop their children’s early literacy development. The next generation of these landmark storytelling frameworks, MGOL 2.0 & ECRR2.0, capitalize on parent education to model positive media behaviors and enforce the concept of joint media engagement as more and more families begin accessing children’s books through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Speakers present apps and ebooks right alongside paper books and develop resources for parents to provide guidance for age-appropriate and high-quality digital media interactions for young children.

DLOs are a great way to teach information literacy skills from your library’s website and social media. But, sending these DLOs out into cyberspace and hoping for an audience is not enough. This talk showcases different ways to organize, promote, and share videos, LibGuides, tutorials, images, games, and quizzes in a usable and pleasing manner. It looks at what different types of libraries are doing to promote their DLOs on their websites and with social media. It also discusses using and sharing DLOs from repositories (MERLOT, ACRL Primo, etc.).

“The City Library is a dynamic civic resource that promotes free and open access to information, materials and services to all members of the community to advance knowledge, foster creativity, encourage the exchange of ideas, build community and enhance the quality of life.” Imagine having a client, a homeless person, quote the library’s mission to you. Inspiring? You haven’t heard anything yet! Josh Hanagarne believes in curiosity, questions, strength, and that things are never so bad that they can’t improve. At an imposing 6’ 7”, Josh is a performing strong man (he ties horseshoes in knots!), bookish nerd, devoted family man and a twitchy guy with Tourette Syndrome. Hear Josh’s entertaining stories about libraries and engagement and be ready to return to your library or information service, no matter what type it is, inspired and renewed.