Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Hear this engaging story about an organization with no money which in 2 years transformed into a community-driven gathering place. Recent risk-taking activities included kids with sledgehammers, pocket museums in bathrooms, fun with flamethrowers, collaboration with homeless people, and a redefinition of its mission as primarily about community development. Grab many insights and ideas for sparking huge increases in attendance, community relevance, and financial success, as well as an incredible amount of visitor co-created magic!

Becoming a U.S. citizen, earning a digital badge, and getting a high school diploma are all initiatives of the Los Angeles Public Library, and learning is at the core. Hear about the exciting and different ways that the library is reaching its constituents and the partnerships it’s growing to support its activities.

This overview of three exciting strategic directions provides inspiration for libraries considering how to strengthen their role as critical community partners. Bicknell explains how libraries can employ news aggregation, community curation, and “data alchemy” to engage and inform both current library users as well as potential users. He reviews how libraries can create (and create a demand for) their own value-added community news and information. It explores how RSS feeds, Twitter, and an auto-generated online newspaper tool give every library the potential to become a reliable, relevant, and respected news source. He explores how new applications of powerful tools such as Historypin and Wikipedia connect people with library collections and resources. Learn how innovative collaborations around these tools can help libraries create a critical role in how their entire community is defined online and how they can seize opportunities regarding both civic “open data” and linked open data for libraries/ archives/museums (LODLAM) to position themselves in repurposing and providing valuable public information in new and engaging ways.

This rapid-fire, pecha-kucha-style, session features 5 libraries and the stories of how they engage their customers. Stokes talks about engaging Las Vegans in the world’s playground. Hear how they get the 1.2 million residents of Las Vegas and the rural areas in Clark County engaged with their digital destiny. Learn about the library’s tech studios, first Fridays, mob events, iPads in the library, and much more. The State of Maine taxpayers check off a donation to public libraries on their income tax forms. Hear how they used celebrity endorsements and encouraged donations. Learn how one academic library goes beyond information literacy and creates unique programming of tech literacy to reach its community by teaching users the latest trends in free mobile apps, productivity tools, the cloud, and more. Listen to how the CPL is using the internationally recognized Coder Dojo model, a dynamic forum for developing computer coding skills that lay the foundation for web app and game design. Learn more about its small hub of engaged youth and mentors who are excited by the possibilities of their new and developing skills. See the platform developed by PCLS for meaningful online engagement that encourages the community to explore services, collections in an environment focused on discovery, sharing, and progress-tracking using badges, leaderboards, and more.

In 2012, Markham Public Library (MPL) launched its Customer Service Revolution, a unique, staff-driven initiative to dramatically reframe how customer service is delivered through all avenues. Find out how this project dramatically improved customer service metrics, increased staff engagement, changed MPL’s recruiting and training practices, and helped make MPL a leader in innovative service delivery. If you are interested in improving customer service, do not to miss this session; the approach used is transferable to any service environment.

Hear what PPLD is doing with a 112,883 square-foot facility that library leaders hope to transform into a new kind of library, a building that will become a showcase for what a library of the future might look like. The goal is to have a regional destination that fosters creativity and innovation among its patrons. Learn about efforts to engage the community, including the launch of a new website to document construction on the project through multiple channels, such as library-created videos and local media coverage, community focus groups, partnerships with local meetup groups and universities, and even a staff rebate program to encourage all staff to get engaged with a new kind of library offering services geared more toward content creation than simply curation. Join speakers in an interactive group activity to brainstorm what their library is already doing that fits into the mold of a “21st Century Library” and share ideas for how PPLD could better market and engage audiences with these programs.

Every library wants the best possible user experience for patrons to access their online collections and services. However, as libraries continue to offer more digital content from different vendors, patrons are increasingly sent to multiple platforms, each with its own interface and functionality. This multitude of platforms creates barriers for patrons, inhibits usability of library resources, and ultimately decreases the value of content purchased by the library. With usability studies driving web development made possible by the use of open source technologies and vendor provided APIs, libraries can unify and continuously improve the user experience to best meet patron needs. Garfield County Public Library District (GCPLD) and the Marmot Library Network have done just that, creating a responsive library website and online catalog that offer a consistent user-driven experience as well as access to materials from multiple content providers in a single interface. Hear about collaboration strategies between GCPLD and Marmot, the creation and use of tools to provide a uniform user experience across platforms (specifically access to CSS, vendor-provided APIs, and code snippets/widgets implemented using VuFind and Drupal), and the implementation of formal and “guerilla” usability studies to guide ongoing interface development.

This session goes beyond surveys to look at creative ways to gather and present user input. Surveys are tried-and-true ways to gather input from constituents, but there are many other fun and creative ways to hear your users’ voices. From user diaries, to flipcarts and pens, time-lapse photography, and on-the-ground guerilla surveying using iPads, learn alternatives for gathering and presenting user input to make more informed decisions for your library.

This fast-paced, information-filled, session shares lots UX tips, tools, and techniques. Brandon shares the basics of responsive web design and what you need to know to get started. True shares techniques used within successful software design ventures at Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Adobe, even in an instance of a team of two, that helped produce “winning” UI. She gives tips and tools on how to learn to do environment scanning/needs assessments; whip up your personas; practice rapid prototyping with UI design paper cutouts; “chunky-monkey” your design; practice scaffolding, zoning, and eye tracking; and game the system with speed usability testing. Conrad discusses techniques and approaches for making data-driven decisions as well as convincing stakeholders to adopt the learning from this data. She talks about using Google Analytics general statistics, In-Page Analysis click tracking, and Inspectlet usage captures to track how users were navigating the website and begin making preliminary decisions about the amount of content available on the web. Based on search habits research and analysis of search logs, it became clear that users needed a combined search for all kinds of library content. Too much content, however, messes up search results, and so further decisions were made about purging unnecessary content and avoiding future over-archiving of websites. Schwartz discusses garnering buy-in from other information professionals, anticipating reactions of the internal stakeholders while locking on the needs and expectations of the external user, with particular emphasis on presenting a beta of the new site.

Cooking metaphors abound in this fun and mouthwatering presentation on finding and combining the right ingredients to make up good UX for your hungry library consumers. Learn the five tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and spicy as applied to UI and instructional design. Other factors include color, portioning, mixing, and plating. See recipes and results of good library and information UI concoctions. Learn of apps and tools that help fill recipe requirements. Also see how the new tactile nature of touchscreens makes “playing with our food” and “eating information food” with our hands the new UI cooking requirement. Bon appétit!

Get tips and insights from an extensive study of graduate, undergraduate, and faculty users by combining interviews, user testing, and surveys. The user testing was implemented with Camtasia, an application designed for tutorial construction, that is also very useful for documenting user behavior through screen capture and video recording. The study revealed a number of surprises about users and is currently driving redesign efforts and the purchase of a discovery interface. Hear about a new study of the discovery interface which has been in operation for a semester and how users are interacting with it.

You’ve come a long way, Twitter. Especially since the recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision that companies can post market-moving information via social media. This is a game-changer for corporate and law firm librarians. How will we find “the first mention” of critical company and industry-related news in the Twitter historical archive? How do the big fee-based proprietary databases (Factiva, Bloomberg, LexisNexis, etc.) stack up with regard to Twitter content? How do we determine which handles are the official ones for corporations and key executives? What happens when we need to find a deleted tweet? How can we tell if a tweet is “fake” and from a hacked or ghost account? What types of Twitter content can be considered Big Data? It’s a mine field, but it’s also exciting! Come and hear how to harness intelligence from the Twitter genie now that it is out of the bottle. Then hear more social strategies from Bicknell, who oversees a suite of social media properties that have garnered attention both nationally and abroad, one online Flickr photo collection has logged more than 5.7 million views in just 5 years. Bicknell focuses on strategic directions—you will want to take them home and try them right away!

Modern business intelligence (BI) tools make it easier than ever to analyze transactional data. It is now possible for decision makers at all levels of an organization to get answers, spot trends, mine data, and inform strategic plans. Speakers discuss the nature of BI, how it can be applied in a library, how it supports effective decision-making, data collection and storage, analytic tools, and communication strategies. They introduce powerful concepts such as the Data Mart, PowerPiviot, and DAX; query analysis; easy web analytics; and Info-Graphics for storytelling. No pocket protectors provided. Tim Gallati then talks about information-seeking trends and narratives to be found in library usage data. He provides a practical discussion on methods currently in place at the Qualcomm Library to collect, normalize, and analyze usage data from disparate sources including company search logs, library usage statistics, and related sources, to surface valuable insights on the company’s information needs and practices. He includes details on tools and techniques, and take-aways that can be directly implemented into existing data workflows.

These three presentations share strategies and tips for

• Rebuilding websites (cma.ca), the channel used to promote and access products and services, especially clinical information. Hear how CMA improved search capability using Ebsco’s Discovery Service and got to a simple and efficient single search experience retrieving high-quality relevant results across third-party licensed and CMA’s own clinical content.
• Using interactive health games to improve consumer health literacy about heart attack, stroke, and medical terminology using two online platforms: the 3D virtual world of Second Life and the library’s web- site. More than 1,000 people worldwide played the e-health games in the study and showed surprising results. Come and hear those results!
• Social media, which is fast becoming an essential tool for con- sumers to find and share health information and interact in real-time, regardless of geographic location. Hear how librarians engage with the community in meaningful ways by implementing personalized one-to-one real time communication.

Learn strategies for untying the purse strings, such as identifying management concerns, speaking to those concerns, and communicating the value and benefits achievable through a knowledge assessment in order to gain management support. Included are actual examples, best practices, and lessons learned from the speaker’s depth of experience.

Old dinosaurs can teach new tricks! As libraries are rapidly moving into a digital information commons convergence, the practices and workflows that normally accompany the software and technology models and product delivery of software giants such as IBM, Microsoft and Apple, are being “lost in translation.” Never before has the need to transfer the knowledge of these processes over to libraries and information centers (as well as library software companies) been greater as these places are now becoming deliverers, curators, and developers of digital content and apps. Our speakers, formerly of Microsoft and IBM and now library professionals, convey the intrinsic strategies and secrets of process, practices, and workflow that can be utilized in small or large library centers. They relate how and why they shifted from the software world to the library world, share some insider stories, and emphasize the importance of transferring knowledge to the next generation of library digital professionals before it is “lost.”

It seems like the Internet of Things has been upon us for years now. There has been a big push by vendors, everyone from appliance manufacturers to electronics and networking vendors, on the adoption of the Internet of Things. However, who are the real adopters? How will it affect library services, and what do libraries need to support these adopters? Wong covers smart homes/spaces, personal devices (FitBit type devices), sensors and systems (maker type of systems such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi), what we can do with the Internet of Things, biometrics health, energy savings and the smart grid, agriculture and gardening, automating home life, shopping (iBeacon), and more. She addresses what the library needs to address to support a mobile world, including workshops for the public on security and privacy, technology and infrastructure considerations, and improving workflow and library services.

The Gizmo Garage, a partnership program with the Idaho Commission for Libraries, offers e-readers and tablets to libraries for staff and library user training. The Gizmo Garage belongs to a regional area and is circulated among libraries for events. The Portneuf Library’s events are very popular, leading to more classes and one-on-one sessions to help users learn to use their devices and connect to digital materials. Dene discusses successful staff training concepts and shares different methods for teaching library users. Come hear about the successes of this program and learn how you can build a team to create your own Gizmo Garage!

The increasing use of web-enabled smartphones, applications designed for smartphone interfaces, and cloud computing is rapidly changing how we and our customers interact with their environments. Recent surveys suggest that college students want to do research on mobile devices, so the TCNJ Library generated a survey to better understand the mobile research habits of undergraduate students. Hear how the results are influencing the design, capabilities, and resources of future mobile research websites. The second presentation discusses tablets2go and how the Cedar Rapids Public Library began lending Google Nexus 7 tablets (50) and Leap Pad Ultra Learning Tablets (80) to the public earlier this year. Not having a similar program to model after, there was no blueprint or guide, so the library staff share their journey from concept to completion, what worked well and what didn’t. Learn from their mistakes and successes and start a tablet-lending program at your library.

This session discusses some of the innovative ways in which libraries are leveraging mobile technology to acquire more users and increase digital resources circulation.

• It shares case studies of how libraries are partnering with inno- vative startups such as Uber and other hi-tech companies to reach readers in their community.
• It describes best practices for promoting digital resources via mobile apps that have resulted in a 213% increase in usage for a state library app during a 3-month period.
• It shares original findings uncovered from analysis of millions of app transactions using its Boopsie Analytics platform to reveal mobile usage trends such as what devices are most popular, and what types of services and features are being used most by mobile users.

Bishop shares some of the best free or low cost mobile apps for tablets and smartphones that will help you collaborate, stay organized and improve productivity -- useful whether you are working on a project virtually, teaching or managing a project. Our second speaker discusses tools and tips for implementing innovative services with free social media tools and mobile apps applied in libraries and other working environments. It includes apps supporting the latest trends in cloud  storage,  crowdfunding, ebooks, makerspaces, MOOCs, news aggregation, photo and video sharing, self-publishing, social networking and bookmarking, video conferencing, visualization and wearable technology --all tailored to the needs of libraries and the communities they serve.

Today’s teachers are called upon to address visual literacy and good digital citizenship as part of state and national standards. Students are already communicating with images by way of social networking tools such as Instagram and Snapchat. This presentation addresses how to help students understand, appreciate, create, and share visuals in a safe and appropriate manner. Attendees leave with specific sites and ideas to use with their students at all levels.

We are just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ebook adoption. What can we learn from student data about current ebook use to help us better promote and purchase titles? Explore student interviews, behind-the-scenes data, and current difficulties to unleash more effective access for students.

Support for school libraries continues to decline, paradoxically, in the era of information. Working with a team of researchers, Haycock has been investigating the principles by which some school districts and principals support school libraries and others do not. The team has validated six principles and drawn several conclusions from their research, not the least of which is that hearing words of support does not necessarily mean that action follows the words. Haycock lays out the six principles and cites examples of what teacher-librarians and others need to do to become more effective in informing future directions in education and training. Simple yet highly effective behaviors make a difference. Learn them here.

Digital curation no longer belongs only to librarians and museum curators. In the current digital environment, everyone can be a curator--especially students! Discover how school librarians can help students learn to curate, and why curation is a great strategy for critical thinking as well as a tool for inquiry and establishing niche authority. Learn how curation inspires academic sharing and co-learning as well as digital citizenship. Boyer discusses examples of best practices plus top tools to use. Then, live curation by participants rounds out this fun session.

Students have unique information-seeking habits, and during the progression from elementary school to high school, the differences in their skills and abilities can be striking. In this presentation, two user researchers from EBSCO share their journey of learning about student and educator behaviors in today’s digital environment. Participants learn the difference between how various student personas—”grazers, loopers and skimmers”—consume information, and what role emotions play in consumption of user interface design. Surprising findings on how students feel about image-dominant displays and source types is shared, as well as educator views on the “equity issues” present in today’s schools and how those issues impact the role of technology in today’s classrooms. The presenters also discuss the most effective methods for researching students, including their experience applying the video diary method, inspired by researchers at Google.

On the 25th anniversary of the Web, Pew has released new research on the Internet of Things: “Many experts say the rise of embedded and wearable computing will bring the next revolution in digital technology. They say the upsides are enhanced health, convenience, productivity, safety, and more useful information for people/organizations. The downsides: challenges to personal privacy, over-hyped expectations, and boggling tech complexity. Our popular speaker Rainie shares the latest research from Pew about libraries and puts it into context with the expanding Internet of Things!