Wednesday, April 9, 2014

With the changes in publishing, communities and campuses, as well as society in general, libraries are challenged with their spaces more than ever. How can libraries act in a timely manner and gather support for change in their communities? Hear from the author of Tactical Urbanism and see how many communities are “just doing it,” rendering possibilities in real time with little in the way of resources. Fantastic examples stretch your imagination and provide lots of ideas to take home to your library! Includes an introduction by Michael Edson, Web & New Media Strategy, Office of the CIO, Smithsonian Institution.

Would you like to get relevant information from your ILS and present it to your patrons in an engaging, helpful, and meaningful way? How about showing The NYT bestsellers list that only displays titles that are in your catalog? Connecting your catalog to a system such as Drupal is easier than you might think. Hear how the Chattanooga PL is using Drupal and jQuery to provide a compelling experience for customers. Get tips on how to create a carousel of popular items from your catalog to display in your Drupal site.

Digital textbooks, social media, video content. It seems as if instructors are moving everything into online and hybrid classrooms except for the resources of the library! How can librarians bring the world of quality databases, ebooks, and other digital resources easily and directly into the online learning environment? This interactive session demonstrates a plug-in for learning management systems (e.g., Moodle, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Sakai, Canvas) that adds unprecedented functionality for online course instructors: the ability to create reading lists of library materials without ever having to leave the course site. The plug-in allows instructors to create library reading lists without grappling with permalinks, proxy prefixes, or PDFs, leveraging the value of the library discovery system in a frictionless environment. Come see how the library is directly embedded in the online learning and hear how it is getting positive attention from campus administration and teaching faculty. Learn about the technology underneath the hood of this tool. Smith describes how a for-credit library assignment distributed annually to nearly 2,000 students was migrated to the online learning-management platform edX Edge and the capabilities of edX Edge and examines the challenges and successes of the shift from paper to an online platform. He discusses how edX Edge offers flexibility of instructional design, autograding functionality, and ease of use.

Imagine approaching a new piece of technology and receiving a personal demonstration, entering the library’s learning commons and being instantly immersed in the infinite possibilities of its flexible space, walking by a display case and watching the items burst free in an explosion of audio, video, and images. Imagine a library where every sign, display, piece of technology, and room has been hacked to merge 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. Through free mobile software, Emporia State is evolving the library culture by changing the way its patrons see and interact with the physical library space. Come hear and see their story.

Hear how gamification is helping to engage communities. The session talks about how lights and an arcade atmosphere resonates with young adults, LAN games progress students out of digital literacy and basic stem skills into social skills and fostering community, and the Artemis spaceship simulator model, which can be adapted to explore issues of governance and a better understanding of decision making in a group dynamics. It also touches on using online tools to create avatars and digital badges and digital signage and social media to create leaderboards to broadcast achievements.

With the changes in publishing, communities and campuses, as well as society in general, libraries are challenged with their spaces more than ever. How can libraries act in a timely manner and gather support for change in their communities? Hear from the author of Tactical Urbanism and see how many communities are “just doing it,” rendering possibilities in real time with little in the way of resources. Fantastic examples stretch your imagination and provide lots of ideas to take home to your library! Includes an introduction by Michael Edson, Web & New Media Strategy, Office of the CIO, Smithsonian Institution.

Libraries worldwide spend almost $2 billion/year on technology products and services and are constantly considering prudent strategic technology investments. Author of the “Automation Marketplace Industry Report” (Library Journal) since 2002, Breeding has the incredible ability to explain the current state of the industry and what we need to watch for in the future and factor into our technology decisions today.

Cornell University Library is implementing a new library catalog using Project Blacklight. This session describes how cross-discipline teams of designers, librarians, and programmers, along with stakeholder involvement, are positively impacting the user experience, communications, and recommendations. The usability testing, agile software development, and the Blacklight software push a flexible and iterative design process, which has initiated a culture change in how IT projects are viewed and managed.

While ASRS (automated storage and retrieval system) installations in libraries are not new, Liberty University’s was distinctive on several fronts: The ASRS vendor had no previous experience in libraries; the library aggressively chose to store some 70% of its main library collection in the ASRS; bins with books were preloaded as construction progressed, allowing for rapid ingestion into the ASRS and subsequent launch of regular retrieval; and the ASRS is a technological showpiece of the new library building. The speakers look at the planning, collection analysis, software development, loading and ingestion, and ILS management.

This rapid-fire session features three libraries that are harnessing technologies to reinvent collection and reference processes:

• York County Library System is improving deduplication with weighted algorithms and z39.50.
• University of Miami is integrating open source and commercial software (Aeon) with OpenURL, Z39.50 and JavaScript to improve access to special collections
• Walden University Library has created a point-of-need, robust, multimedia knowledgebase using LibAnswers that gives students vetted, instructionally rich library help.

Baldwinsville Public Library is using open courseware and textbooks to create a “poor man’s version of Libguides,” customizing and expanding resources for small business, and LibreOffice Office Suite, Seamonkey HTML browser/editor, and Calibre ebook reader/converter to create locally produced ebooks in epub and mobi formats. And at University of Guelph, McLaughlin Library is taking a vendor application, a little coding knowledge, and mixing it with a bit of JavaScript and jQuery to customize a seemingly locked-down vendor application. Hear how collaboration between a web application developer and a Primo administrator resulted in user requested usability enhancements to the Primo discovery layer interface.

With the changes in publishing, communities and campuses, as well as society in general, libraries are challenged with their spaces more than ever. How can libraries act in a timely manner and gather support for change in their communities? Hear from the author of Tactical Urbanism and see how many communities are “just doing it,” rendering possibilities in real time with little in the way of resources. Fantastic examples stretch your imagination and provide lots of ideas to take home to your library! Includes an introduction by Michael Edson, Web & New Media Strategy, Office of the CIO, Smithsonian Institution.

This session discusses how technology is enabling users to interact with special collections. Binghamton University Libraries demonstrate its use of Microsoft Kinect and Leap Motion technology to create a natural user interface (NUI) that allows patrons to interact with collections and turn special collections and digital content into an interactive digital display. Their demos can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQ_B5Nhf9W2OLMoCGSh1RQ.

Research finds that students continue to hold a strong preference for using printed books but academic libraries report ebooks are used as much, or in many cases, more than, printed books. These two libraries looked into this discrepancy. Walton describes how Southwest Baptist University Library explored this issue, the outcomes, and the impact on their decisions regarding ebooks. In 2013, librarians at Delaware County Community College conducted a user survey to understand and gauge how students use technology to determine the viability of ebooks. The survey indicated user attitudes toward ebooks, student and user access to relevant technology, how preferred reading practices may dictate which collections of ebooks to purchase, and the impact of cost on student preference towards ebooks.

Course development tools are siloed away from content discovery systems – a problem for faculty, students, and the library. This session looks at how two institutions are managing this problem. At the University of Central Florida, the library and the Center for Distributed Learning collaborated to integrate content discovery and selection seamlessly into course creation. The result, Library Tool, is a simple icon in the LMS on the page-creation form. It leverages the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standards and EBSCO’s API, which can be easily adapted by other institutions. RIT’s MyLibrary application presents context-sensitive library resources within the learning management system, including contact information, library guides, course reserves, and useful links for all courses. It is an example of successfully integrating data from campus systems (LMS, LibGuides, ILS, registrar systems, etc.).

This session presents the results and recommendations of two studies that examined students’ research and learning processes. ProQuest researched how students use social media to collaborate with each other when conducting their research and how they engage—or don’t—with the library. Pepperdine librarians used journey mapping and a simple software solution to examine distance students’ experiences. Both of the approaches used for these research projects are intriguing and the findings are priceless.

One of the issues the increasingly digital academy faces is that students are not able to successfully find relevant resources because they do not “understand the language of academic research” or are not familiar with the topic and field of their research. Renfro and Axford, authors of www.academicpkm.org, outline several new programs at the Georgia Tech Library, including the popular blog series, A Year to Improved Productivity for Librarians and Academic Researchers, which connects librarians with the academic community in new and vital ways. 

With the changes in publishing, communities and campuses, as well as society in general, libraries are challenged with their spaces more than ever. How can libraries act in a timely manner and gather support for change in their communities? Hear from the author of Tactical Urbanism and see how many communities are “just doing it,” rendering possibilities in real time with little in the way of resources. Fantastic examples stretch your imagination and provide lots of ideas to take home to your library! Includes an introduction by Michael Edson, Web & New Media Strategy, Office of the CIO, Smithsonian Institution.

Hosting a hackfest or hackathon in the library provides an opportunity for engaging students (and others) with critical information literacy, discussing and developing new approaches to research, facilitating collaborative coding exercises and encourages an open access pedagogy. It is a common feature of technological conferences to host hackathons. Similarly, large Silicon Valley companies such as Google and Facebook host hackathons to foster new innovative ideas. This session discusses capturing entrepreneurship and innovation in the library with examples of hackathons held in libraries: University of Toronto Critical Making Lab and York University Steacie Science and Engineering Library (Annual Dungeon Hackfest). They provide tips on hosting a hackathon, required resources, themes, achievements of participants, and why hackfests are relevant to student learning in the library. Be inspired by these experienced librarians and organize your own events to facilitate an enhanced student experience and encourage student learning.

Last year IMLS issued a challenge around its Public Library Survey data as part of the inaugural National Day of Civic Hacking, June 1–2, 2013. With 11,000 participants nationwide, the event resulted in the creation of several IMLS-related projects, as well as greater awareness of library hackathon involvement throughout the country. Whether through hosted events or participation in local challenges, a number of libraries engaged in this nationwide open data event. Presenters share lessons learned from their involvement as well as practical tips for hosting your own library hackathon. Learn how libraries can add value to these events and reach new users for transformative results.

The Provincetown Public Library is the only library in the U.S. utilizing digital publishing technology to publish original content! Utilizing iBooks Author and Adobe InDesign, the Provincetown Public Press gives authors and artists the ability to publish their works to all major digital book distributors, while also building a reputation for highlighting quality content. Napsha and Clark talk about the challenges of getting started and the technology involved and describe the utilization of the library’s online ecosystem (library website, Public Press website, Facebook, Twitter, publishing blogs, etc.) used to market the project and connect with potential authors. They share their processes, tips, and lots more!

Sweeney teaches attendees about some of the latest tools and techniques that SuperPACs use across the country to influence elections and advocate for their agendas. He shares how to use these tools and techniques to advocate for libraries, build a coalition of library supporters, market library services, and better inform the general populace about the importance of the library. Then hear from winners of the IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Service for excellent service to their communities about ways they use technology to engage their communities, as well as some of their leading-edge practices. From AfterSchool Edge stations to help reduce summer learning loss in math to internet safety lessons for students, these libraries share perspectives on channeling technology to further their work as community anchors.

The first example of community crowdsourcing comes from a public library that moved its hosted local community directory (http://community.ahml.info), updated by library staff and volunteers, to a LocalWiki. It is now a community-maintained, wiki-based site. Learn about the decision to migrate, the technical issues that were faced, and the ongoing effort to build a self-sustaining community of contributors. The next example comes from the Smithsonian libraries and archives, which have digitized more than 2 million Smithsonian materials to date and have made the digital content available online. Materials include photographs, diaries, manuscripts, field notebooks, hand-written letters, vocabulary cards of endangered languages, and much more.While these materials are accessible via its brief catalog records, much of the deeper content is locked inside of scanned images without easy searching and readability. The Smithsonian has created a Transcription Center, which is a platform, to invite the public to help unlock the deeper contents and to encourage interactions between communities and the Smithsonian. The transcription project combines information technology and social community interactions to create an inclusive environment for both the Smithsonian and the community at large. Hear about the project scope, system platform, and design considerations; community responses; and project outcome. Gather insights about the challenges, lessons learned, and future project directions.

With the changes in publishing, communities and campuses, as well as society in general, libraries are challenged with their spaces more than ever. How can libraries act in a timely manner and gather support for change in their communities? Hear from the author of Tactical Urbanism and see how many communities are “just doing it,” rendering possibilities in real time with little in the way of resources. Fantastic examples stretch your imagination and provide lots of ideas to take home to your library! Includes an introduction by Michael Edson, Web & New Media Strategy, Office of the CIO, Smithsonian Institution.

Google Glass is Google’s latest consumer technology and is a wearable, head-mounted computer that acts like a voice-activated, hands-free smartphone. Hailed by some and reviled by others, Glass provides a peek into the future of information delivery. In July 2013, Google chose the presenter as an initial “Glass Explorer” — one of approximately 7,000 people wearing, testing, and providing feedback about Glass. She introduces the features and limitations of Glass, demonstrates how Glass has been used at the Miami University Libraries, and then explores how librarians can begin thinking about providing future services with Glass in mind.

The first presentation looks at the steps involved in research and the latest technology tools and apps available for researchers to utilize at each stage of the process: mobile and cloud-based apps allowing researchers to blur the traditional divides between the field and the lab and between the researcher and the participant, all while shortening the time it takes to conduct research, and tools or apps (web-based or device specific) that can assist in the tasks of analyzing, data gathering, and reporting. These apps include note-taking or productivity (EndNote, inScribe, MobileNoter), visualization and conceptualization tools (SimpleMind, MagicalPad, Min- domo, Popplet), online collaboration (itracks Mobile, GRID), data gathering and analysis (Nativeye, EthnoHub), multime- dia capabilities for recording audio and capturing video (CaptureNotes, SenseMaker, TagPad), and data organization and cloud storage (Dropbox, Mendeley Reference Manager). The second presentation focuses on effectively summarizing large and often complex data. Visualization is a powerful method of conveying large amounts of information in a user-friendly format. Hear about some of the techniques and open source software tools that you can use to create graphs, charts, maps, and network graphics that are accurate, informative, and visually compelling.

It's old news that librarianship is changing as a profession, and we understand that library professionals need to change with it. But how? How do you learn to see yourself 5, 10, or 20 years down the line when we have no idea what's coming next spring? Learn from someone who has bootstrapped herself from a tech-nervous newbie to a code-savvy web librarian over the last 20 years, and brainstorm ways to evolve all your strengths, skills and interests into your next big thing.

The National Agenda for Digital Stewardship annually integrates the perspective of dozens of experts and hundreds of institutions, convened through the Library of Congress, to identify the highest-impact opportunities to advance the state of the art, the state of practice, and the state of collaboration within the next 3–5 years. The document highlights emerging technological trends, identifies gaps in digital stewardship capacity, and provides funders and decision-makers with insight into the work needed to ensure that today’s valuable digital content remains accessible and comprehensible in the future, supporting a thriving economy, a robust democracy, and a rich cultural heritage. Come hear about the challenges and opportunities related to digital preservation activities.

Do you want to add value to your library programs and reach a wider audience at the same time? There are two common problems users have with library programming: making the time to attend and finding value in program content. Attend this session to learn how you can reach every user by using Google Hangouts and YouTube and utilizing digital badges to make your programs count.

Library staff face a constant stream of new technologies to explore and evaluate. Get a refresher on how to learn a new technology or tool, and how to take what you’ve learned and pass it on to the public and other staff. Filled with lots of tips!

Learn what personas are and why they are important for improving your website and your services. It’s all about understanding users, their values, motivations and relationships. Hear how you can use them in your community.

This cybertour provides a look at the rapidly growing landscape of subscription-based or free all you can read, listen, view, etc. content providers. It discusses what it might mean for libraries going forward as they curate the collections they make available to users.