Sunday, October 26, 2014

Now that our smartphones can search the web for us, how do info pros set themselves apart from anyone with access to Google? This full-day workshop brings the basic principles of hacking—curiosity, creativity, collaboration—to advanced web research. Searchers Academy allows you to interact with a series of industry experts, who share their search hacks and expertise in the field of web research. There’s always something new to be learned from these leading-edge info pros. Participants should have basic experience with web searching, but even searchers with an extensive searching background will come away with a new attitude and new resources and tools. Academy topics include:

• Hacking Google: Learn about the new and little-known search features that enable you to out-Google anyone... even your clients!
• Hacking the Deep Web: Today’s best techniques for identifying and searching the rich content within the deep web
• Hacking the Social Web: How to get the most value from social media, both for research and professional development
• Hacking Your Deliverables: What you can do with your search results to make the information even more valuable
• Hacking Subject Searches: Specific tools and resources for searching in a variety of specialized topics

Libraries are challenged to communicate their value in uncertain fiscal and changing environments. Our communities, boards, management, and institutions are asking for stronger and better measurements of our impact and value to help them with decision-making and prioritization. This interactive, half-day workshop looks at the various metrics and measures the library sector uses to manage what it is doing (its activities and individual services) and the value of what it is doing. These are very different measurement objectives and processes, yet complementary and vital. It discusses “measurement” in a broad sense, including the value of selected services, as well as the overall management of processes and services. It is very important that people in the library sector are aware of different measures—with different objectives. Who knows where new ideas will come from? All libraries can learn from each other.

This interactive workshop looks at the maker evolution over the last 4 years. It provides data on both Canadian and U.S. spaces illustrating the types of programs and services being established and developed. If you are considering starting a program in your community, this workshop provides lots of insights, ideas, and practices to build and develop your program. It looks at the services and resources of both successful and challenged initiatives. It discusses financing, sustainability, and community engagement for the maker movement. It tackles the tough questions in a collaborative effort: Are makerspaces one of five key initiatives that public libraries are using to ensure they remain relevant as an OCLC survey says? Are they adopted because it is trendy or because it’s part of a fundamental engagement with core issues? Why are these spaces so popular? What challenges do they create? Is a library truly the best home for a community’s makerspace? What is the difference between a makerspace, a fab lab and a discovery center? In a time of sustained and rapid change, how do we develop our skills as librarians in these creation spaces to meet the needs of our communities? What does it mean to be a librarian in a makerspace? How do these spaces impact communities: Who is included and who is excluded?

Library collections today have become more complex than ever, with proportions of electronic and digital resources increasing relative to print and other physical materials. To manage these complex, multiformat collections, libraries need to consider many different options, both in the technology tools used and in their operational workflows. Many different types of technical options are available for libraries to manage their collections and operations, including traditional integrated library systems and a new generation of library services platforms, with open source and commercially licensed options and locally installed or cloud-based deployment possibilities. This half-day workshop explores the realm of library resource management technologies, helping attendees understand the relative strengths of each of the many alternatives and which automation scenarios may be most appropriate to pursue for their library. Filled with real-world examples, this workshop presents many possible strategies, technologies, and options for managing library collections.

This interactive workshop shares what libraries have done to renovate their spaces, and participants are expected to share their experiences. It discusses the reasons to renovate and change, different innovative methods to do such things, uses statistics and facts about why and how changing and renovating spaces, including forward-facing books shelves, remapping layouts/moving furniture, the need for sitting, and the need for fab labs or hacker spaces, can improve the collection. Bring photos of your library, and help us brainstorm ways to improve and change our structures, hopefully all at low costs!

Technology has changed the face of libraries, and is continuing to change how we work and how we deliver services to customers. This workshop introduces emerging technology trends, and how those trends are reshaping library services. Examples are provided of how to incorporate these emerging trends into libraries. Attendees learn what trends to look for, the difference between a technology trend and a fad and get ideas on how their library can respond to emerging technology.

Interface stands on the shoulders of infrastructure. User experience relies on the foundation systems of information architecture. And, the biggest problem on the web and in the library is still findability. This half-day workshop covers information architecture from top to bottom, explaining how search and navigation systems (and taxonomies and metadata) can be designed to support and shape user behavior. Explore the concepts, methods, and tools needed to practice information architecture successfully.

• Learn how to make your website, intranet, library catalog, or mobile application more useful, usable, accessible, desirable, credible, and findable.
• Understand how information architecture is evolving to accommodate the challenges of ubiquitous computing and cross-channel user experience.
• See best-in-class examples drawn from library, corporate, ecommerce, education, government, and social media websites and applications.
• Discuss with your instructor and fellow attendees the unique challenges you’re facing today. This is an introductory workshop intended for librarians, designers, developers, web managers, content strategists, and information professionals.

This introductory workshop focuses on the use of open source and free software to create, validate, index, search, display, and maintain a digital archive of various materials, including photographs, full-text- searchable oral histories and books. Learn how to take simple digital files and turn them into a knowledgebase of standardized archival dig- ital objects, complete with Library of Congress standardized metadata. Build a collection, host it on a website. Make your full-text-searchable oral histories to FADGI guidelines. Capture audio files with Audacity, use digital cameras and scanners to create full-text-searchable archives with WatchOCR and ResCarta software. Take the free and open source tools and knowledge from this workshop home with you to create a growing and sustainable archive.

This half-day workshop focuses on how librarians can work effectively to build an in-house marketing plan for their library. The facilitating speakers focus on how librarians and staff can develop strategies and identify vehicles that can deliver powerful messages to their communities via both traditional print and online social media platforms. Participants actively discuss key issues including social media engagement, how to set and implement specific goals and strategies for both traditional and online marketing vehicles, and overall marketing project management. Participants are exposed to examples of marketing including digital signage, videos, mobile marketing, social media marketing, publications, websites, blogs, public programming, exhibits, and communications. Participants are encouraged to share their existing and forthcoming marketing campaign projects prior to the workshop in order to receive peer and instructor feedback. Workshop participants develop essential elements of a functional marketing plan draft during the session.

This half day workshop takes an in-depth look at essential site-building tools such as Views, Entity Reference, Display Modes and Blocks, and how these tools can ease the creation of a site that is customized to your specific needs without diving into module development or template files. It has a flexible format to accommodate specific attendee questions, but, also covers the powerful Features module and how it can be used to aid collaborate development and clean deployments. Bring your laptop and play along.

There is definitely a need for libraries to think like startups! To emulate startup culture, there is some learning to do! This interactive workshop shares information on the build-measure-learn cycle, validated learning, iterative design, continuous improvement, and other components of lean thinking. It emphasizes the importance of hands-on development, prototyping, and hypothesis testing. Join the conversation and make entrepreneurial thinking a habitual part of our library practice and profession. In April 2012, Brian Matthews published a widely circulated white paper that encouraged libraries to “think like a startup.” But just how do startups think? Come learn the fundamentals of startup thinking—and see how this can be put into practice in your library. This active learning session focuses on key lean startup concepts such as customer development, the business model canvas, the value proposition, the build-measure-learn cycle, and minimum viable product. Attendees have the opportunity to apply startup thinking to one of their ideas for a new library service or product during this session.

Knowing as much as you can about your audience is key to creating websites and services that resonate with your customers. One of the key tools for doing that is the development of personas to represent the different types of audiences you have—and the values, motivations, and relationships they have. Not only do you learn how to create personas, you get to see the results of several organizations in developing their personas.

Whether your library is reassessing the role of social media, needs to increase the sustainability of an existing program, or is ready to explore more innovative technology, this program provides food for thought in the coming year. Bicknell oversees a suite of social media properties that have garnered attention both nationally and abroad. For example, his library’s online Flickr photo collection has logged more than 5.7 million views in just 5 years. He brings his experience and expertise with social media to this workshop of 15 strategic directions for attendees’ consideration. Topics include development of a social media program, how to “volumize” existing properties to increase their visibility and use, storytelling through social media, exploring potential collaborations to share and grow audiences, exploiting embedded resources, leveraging open data opportunities, investigating the potential for infographics and data visualization, taking your social media to the streets, and more! Whether you are looking to initiate or “reboot” your online community engagement activities, this workshop is for you!

Want to learn how to design and build responsive websites with a responsive, CSS-based framework? This hands-on workshop focuses on Bootstrap with supplemental information on Foundation. You will learn to control layout using a responsive grid system, apply the framework’s CSS to HTML elements, and incorporate select custom jQuery plugins. Participants should come with a basic understanding of HTML/CSS, a laptop, and an opinion (or two). Topics include selecting a Framework, downloading the framework and incorporating it into an HTML document , designing page layouts utilizing a responsive grid system, adding basic page elements using CSS and customizing the CSS, creating navigational elements, incorporating jQuery plugins, integration in third-party tools (i.e., LibGuides), web fonts, modals, carousels, and CMS integration.

All libraries have important roles to play in teaching customers about protecting their online privacy. Online privacy is a hot topic, a critical part of information and digital literacies—and libraries need to seize this opportunity to provide people with accurate and unbiased information. Price shares tools to teach patrons, students, and customers—tools that can be used by libraries to create public, campus, or customized “online protection” awareness sessions.

Information discovery for the most important evidence is an essential skill of info professionals, but much of info searching focuses on the published literature. Finding and incorporating grey literature search results along with published literature is becoming an increasingly essential step of the searching process. Grey literature can be quickly searched and disseminated for all types research and the inclusion of grey literature search results can benefit all types information requests-a grey literature search need not be just for a systematic or scoping review. This workshop provides an overview of the evolving types of grey literature, intros and demos of selected searching tools for locating grey literature, evaluates the best searching practices for grey literature. It covers the searching process for particular types of reference requests and different types of search methods to locate diverse grey literature documents from both national and international sources. It includes: how to quickly apply quality filters to search results, critical appraisal of grey literature publications, searching for grey literature sources from diverse geographical locations, demos of quick search tips and navigation strategies that can adapted for a wide range of users. Bring your laptop and practice during the boot camp!

Librarians have long played an important role in enhancing enterprise search primarily through the development of taxonomies and metadata schemas/standards. The use of text analytics software to semi-automate tagging documents can improve search, enhance the value of taxonomies and metadata schemas, and enhance the value of librarians in the enterprise. This workshop by an expert and practitioner covers the basic features of text analytics including auto-categorization, entity extraction, and more. It looks at the text analytics vendor landscape and provides an evaluation process to determine the right software for your organization. It talks about how to develop advanced auto-tagging capabilities, design and implement a hybrid-tagging system that combines the best of human and machine tagging, and the range of applications that can be built on a text analytics foundation

How can we change the library culture that loves collecting facts and figures to be more in alignment with today’s trends? Traditional marketing focuses on logic with facts, figure charts, and statistical examples to prove a point. While this information is still needed in persuasion, current studies prove that facts and figures are not enough to keep long-term loyalty. Marketing expert Marc Gobe’s groundbreaking book Emotional Branding states successful emotional branding “brings a new level of credibility and personality to a brand by connecting powerfully with people at a personal and holistic level.” When a consumer feels emotionally connected with the brand, it builds a bridge of trust between the brand and the consumer. The new approach to marketing today emphasizes not what your product or service “does,” but what it means. Today’s most successful brands (Apple, Nike, BMW) utilize emotional branding consistently in order to maximize customer loyalty. In this interactive workshop, participants learn about emotional branding and how to align both traditional and social marketing together to create a consistent and repetitive message that customers need to form a lasting connection to the library brand; develop a library brand personality; develop a sensorial experience; take current or ongoing library projects; and begin to develop your own unique emotional branding strategy.

By setting clear goals and expectations, info pros can make the most of meetings and develop mutually beneficial relationships with content salespeople. Get strategies, tips, and techniques from a longtime salesperson, supporter of libraries, and recent author. Filled with real-life situations and real solutions, this interactive workshop provides practical strategies, tips, and tricks for successful negotiations around content purchase and licensing. Be prepared to participate! Bring your latest negotiation frustrations—vendor names not necessary—and get expert views on how it could have resulted in a better ending for the library and how a better plan will help the info pro face future negotiations with more confidence. Gruenberg provides the tools that you can use in your very next negotiation.

When building a Drupal site, sometimes more advanced tools are required to get the site you really want and need. There are often multiple ways to solve a Drupal-problem, and are equally valid for different reasons. The key is knowing what the tools really do and when you would choose one over the other. Common examples: Panels vs. Context + Display Suite? Workflow vs. Workbench? Field Collection vs. Field Group? This half day training workshop covers what these tools do, how to use them, and, most importantly, how to choose which option for your specific site. Bring your laptop and play along!

Join our gamers and gadget lovers for an evening of fun, playing, learning, and networking. See how you can transform your thinking, your programs and your spaces with the latest games, gadgets and ideas! Share with a poster what your library is doing with creative making and MakerSpaces in your library. Led by Brian Pichman, M. J. D’Elia, and Stephen Abram, this event will start your conference experience with lots of learning and laughing! Refreshments included.