Thursday, April 19, 2018

At the cross-section of innovation, open data, and education, our speaker shares her thoughts of the challenges and opportunities for communities in the coming years. She discusses empowering members of our communities and improving services using new tech such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, predictive analytics, gamification, and more. Join our knowledgeable speaker and gain insights to build your successful community!

Libraries make great investments in creating collections for the benefit of their communities. In order to get the most out of these investments, libraries also need to have effective strategies for discovery and access. Libraries can implement discovery systems to enable the patrons who visit their websites to search and gain access to materials. But it is also important to find ways to make their collections easily found in other contexts, such as through Google searches or course pages in learning management systems. Breeding reviews the current state of discovery products and the technologies and services able to make library collections more widely discoverable beyond the library-provided interfaces.

Libraries have a long record of creating and improving tools for content discovery, usually leveraging metadata to surface articles, books, and media content. But what if researchers had tools for discovering the knowledge within that content or for revealing novel ideas that warrant exploration? This panel explores two such tools: Knowtro and Yewno. Knowtro extracts findings from published content and helps researchers find, cite, and use scientific research findings in seconds. Yewno assesses meaning from published content and produces a graphical interface for exploring interrelationships between concepts. Speakers introduce their discovery service, what it does and how the technology works, and how it fills a need for researchers. They include a lively discussion of new approaches to discovery, how they relate to—and differ from— traditional content discovery, the role of libraries in evaluating and introducing the new tools to researchers, and coordinating the new technology with existing tools.

Each day, Price curates thousands of news items and reports to publish online reports that thousands of people depend upon for reliable, usable information. He shares how to build an open web resources database that suits your clients. He elaborates on the tools and techniques he uses to build a timely collection and gives you a road map to build your own!

Web-scale discovery tools are the top-notch search engines. Most American academic libraries have deployed one or two web-scale discovery layers by now. Some libraries acquired discovery tools in the hope of boosting dwindling local borrowings. However, evidence from past research did not earmark an increased use of local collections in spite of a usage pattern change after the implementation of a discovery tool. An increase in the use of journal articles and electronic books has been detected, accompanied by a decrease in local print collections. Can we use discovery services to increase local circulation statistics? This presentation describes a project by two librarians to look into how local collections are presented to users in interface design and information retrieval. Only web-scale discovery tools with a unified index are being examined including EBSCO Discovery Service, Primo, Summon, and WorldCat Discovery Services. Up to now, most research on discovery tools focus on usability studies and the impact of discovery tools on reference and library instruction. No research exists on the presentation of local holdings in web-scale discovery tools. So the research discussed in this presentation intends to serve as a starting point to understand more about how discovery services function and could be improved.

One of the important philosophies in information retrieval is try best not to fail users’ expectations, which were confirmed and reinforced by earlier user online behavior studies. This idea was made substantial as a box in the libraries’ Bento-Box style discovery system and/or interface. Triggering multiple pieces of technologies, the box can be shown as title match, database match, or best bet, just to name a few. Over time, additional features such as partial title match were also built into the system. Come to this presentation to hear the implementation strategies, and how the library let users empower its system and drive searches for themselves.

Several factors are blurring or sharpening the distinction between libraries, archives, and museums. For example, technological developments such as digitization help us share best practices or lessons learned, but divergent metadata standards pose a challenge for potential cooperation or collaboration. And while LAM institutions all strive to increase accessibility and embrace diversity, their unique composition and relationships to users have them charting different paths. The speakers are librarians who participated in a year-long national research cohort exploring library, archives, and museum cultures. They share the group’s findings with an eye toward increased interdisciplinary collaboration, cross-sector continuing education, and professional development. Some compelling emergent models for cross-sector projects are highlighted, including blended LAM research events, single-focus projects, innovative research portals, super-regional research platforms and affinity networks, and emerging communities of practice.

It’s time to meet the new kids in town. While you were busy worrying over Millennials, the next generation has silently materialized to form the largest percentage of the United States population. Gen Z (b. 1995–present) has solidified many of the trends initiated by the “Facebook Generation,” but its members should not be simply dismissed as Gen Ys on steroids. Can libraries, notoriously resistant to change, rise to meet the challenges presented by consumers who expect immediacy as the rule, instead of the exception? This session provides an introduction to the first true Digital Natives and an overview of the consumers that our “next gen tools” should actually be targeting.

In recent years, libraries of all types have become incubators and testing grounds for new technologies for their local communities and customers. Due to the changing nature of libraries, staff have honed the ability to identify innovative applications for new technologies, as well as the necessity to collaborate with a diverse group of stakeholders. Academic libraries see that handheld devices and mobile communication rule the day. Outside of the university, people are being exposed to The Internet of Things, near field communication, geolocation, and other types of interactive experiences, especially at specific points of interest. Institutions of higher education, and more specifically, libraries, can take advantage of this developing “new normal” by implementing low-stakes and low-cost initiatives that create mobile interactive experiences for their communities. Bluetooth beacons are one tool in the litany of mobile technologies with which libraries can easily experiment. At Bryant University, the library has partnered with web and integration services to become the first department on campus to test the application of Bluetooth beacon technology. Learn about the Bluetooth beacon landscape both broadly and relative to libraries and how beacons were implemented in the Bryant library. Strategies for business case generation, cross-departmental collaboration, and technological implementation are discussed as well as the successes and hurdles that Bryant staff experienced and how the library’s willingness to experiment allowed the university to expand this technology to other areas of campus.

Cervone discusses Blockchain, a permanent record of transactions that’s transparent to all its users, how it is currently being used in many different ways, and how it might apply to library issues such as copyright and intellectual property.

This session provides an overview of several new free tools. Intellum is a technology company that provides learning and collaboration solutions to companies including Google, Facebook, and Pinterest. It found that all of its clients struggle with presenting fresh, modern learning content that keeps up with the expectations of their learners. So it hired a team of librarians and professional content curators to help build a solution for identifying and sharing the best of the freely available content on the internet. This curation tool presents a powerful new approach for reference, patron training and staff training. See how librarians and content curators demonstrate features of the tool and share use cases for libraries of all types.

Linked data, a powerful tool that can make all your library’s assets (events, programs, materials, databases and services) discoverable in local web searches, casting the widest net for library outreach is the focus of the second talk. The linking of separate data sources to create superior and more complete repositories of information boosts discoverability of content in search engines. Get a quick overview of Linked Data and the Bibliographic Framework Initiative (Bibframe), including the collecting and connecting of data from Google algorithms, geotagging MARC records, special collections, and calendar feeds. Learn strategies and best practices, especially to promote programs and events on the web to help your library become an increasingly relevant and necessary asset in your community.

Imagine having a Google-Analytics-style dashboard for your library building: number of visits, what patrons browsed, what parts of the library were busy during which parts of the day, and more. Measure the Future, with a Knight Foundation grant, is working to make that happen by using open hardware-based sensors that can collect data about building usage that is now invisible. Making these invisible occurrences explicit will allow librarians to make strategic decisions that create more efficient and effective experiences for their patrons. Hear more from the librarian behind this initiative!

Public libraries play an essential role in advancing digital inclusion and digital literacy. To date, the outcomes achieved by technology services in public libraries for Ontario residents and communities have not been measured. Funded by the government of Ontario, TPL worked with seven partner libraries to develop an Ontario-based technology service assessment toolkit for libraries to identify priorities for technology services based on evidence, benchmark technology service levels with similar-sized libraries, measure the outputs and outcomes achieved by technology services, and advocate for technology services that support provincial and municipal priorities. The session highlights the recent work in developing the toolkit and the findings from the pilot phases, the essential role of public libraries in advancing digital inclusion and digital literacy, and how this work supports and aligns with existing tools that measure outcomes of library services including ALA’s Project Outcome and Edge.

Identifying the ways to measure scholarly influence and research impact remains a vital skill for those who work with researchers. This session provides an overview of advances in bibliometrics and altmetrics to enhance understanding of research impact including in the online environment. Bibliometrics, based on citations in scholarly, peer-reviewed literature, remain essential to describing the influence of scholarly output from entities ranging from individuals, journals, institutions, even nations. Newer citation metrics tools and altmetrics measure much more than “who cited whom.” These tools allow for more nuanced understanding of scholarly influence and capture of metrics in days or weeks instead of years. Case study examples show how these tools help provide data analysis and value of research to senior executives at institutions, potential funders and the general public. Attendees from many sectors, including academic, cultural, government, and corporate institutions involved with research, should find this of value.

As libraries become increasingly data-driven, the need for usable data that demonstrates outcomes in our strategic planning expands. Learn how Oak Park Public Library and Sno-Isle Libraries are creating and navigating data and project processes to inform decisions and measure organizational and community impact. Attendees will also learn about how our roles in data analysis and project management help service managers to implement and operationalize our strategic plan. Our lessons learned are applicable to libraries of all sizes and geographic distribution. Please join the discussion and help our learning too!

Today’s headlines boldly proclaim both the beneficial and threatening aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). Leaving aside the hype and the fear-mongering, there is an important aspect of AI that is gaining more and more attention. The issue: How can AI tools be made more transparent? Governments, organizations, and corporate entities are all calling for greater transparency, accountability, and a right to an explanation when AI techniques are used in decision making that can determine if you get a mortgage, go to college, get a job, or get out of jail. Our first speaker explores the issue of algorithmic accountability and transparency, discusses whether governments should regulate AI, corporations set their own standards, and more. Then hear about the tools one library used to assess their virtual reference service with text analysis research by using 6 semesters of 10,000 chat transcripts. They used Voyant and Lexos software to extract words and phrases from the chat transcripts and establish word counts and frequencies, then compared the vocabularies of librarians vs. students in chat reference interviews to improve communication between librarians and their user base; findings are being applied to reference tools and resources. They used the Topic Modeling Tool, adapted from the original Mallet tool, to trace related clusters of words and perform a content analysis on the chat FAQs. Finally, a sentiment analysis using The Subjectivity Lexicon compared student and librarian sentiment. Procedures for all the text analysis techniques are presented, along with key findings and applications.

Every service a library offers, and every task staff perform is an investment for the library. A library’s service and content portfolios must be managed in the same way that a healthy financial portfolio is managed: divest in one area to invest in another.  Jones describes a simple “portfolio management tool” that can help libraries identify what services, tasks and content purchases can be stopped, started or continued, and how public and academic libraries have stopped doing things to make way for higher valued efforts. Soto-Barra presents the incredible changes and achievements for NPR’s RAD since they stopped doing “this” to turn their attention to “that.”

“Prioritization means doing the things that are most important first. If you build products, it means doing the things that create the most customer value first.” Brandon Chu, product director @ Shopify, caught Jones’ attention with this definition and, most importantly, with his framework for prioritizing projects. Come learn the framework and how to use it to ruthlessly focus your and your library’s attention and resources. If we aren’t ruthless, we’ll be redundant.

Implementing new technology and staying abreast of emerging trends are increasingly important for libraries. The first step in supporting your community through new technology is adequately supporting your lifeline to the community, your staff. This session discusses encouraging staff buy-in, effective communication methods, fostering and legitimizing staff concerns, teaching opportunities, and simple tools to empower staff. The entire staff may never all be on board, but this is the time to identify the leaders of your organization, and they might not all be management. Get tips and communication methods for engaging multigenerational and multicultural staff, from Google Hangouts and web forums to Post-its. Gain insights for developing an environment in which staff feel safe to fail or not understand and are willing to ask for help and learn. Using marketing, analytics, and social media to prove an ROI to staff is one of the best ways to create buy-in when it comes to implementing new technology, so these important tools are highlighted.

In difficult times, incremental change is often not the answer to challenges facing a library. Sometimes, deep and bold changes are needed to innovate and improve the library despite the risks. Hemstock focuses on three bold changes that his law library recently made: shifting hosting and design of its independent website to the larger university, rebuilding a for-credit research course to include focuses on social justice and other student interests, and moving ebook collection development in new directions. Each of these changes required “crossing the Rubicon” moments and had unexpected complications, but resulted in increased student engagement and satisfaction, a more efficient website, and enhanced usage of ebooks. Hear how! Bower discusses how one public library with 400 staff members spread across 21 branch and multiple office locations helped bring together the staff for collaborative learning and projects. She shares how they used SharePoint Online to build an interactive intranet, the tools staff built, lessons learned during the project, and how these lessons can be applied to intranet or internal communications projects at your library, regardless of size or the specific platform being used. Harris focuses on a flexible approach for building a new data services model, using three pilot projects to illustrate the process: research that faculty conduct with students developing digital humanities journals and community-engaged research repositories and research data management needs for accreditation. She discusses having clear expectations and an understanding of what “piloted services” means by all parties, taking a community-building approach to developing new services and integrating with existing services across campus.

The competition for the hearts and the minds of the information user is fierce. Libraries are struggling to keep up with not only the latest in technology, but the growing amount of data being collected by these technologies. According to a recent study by the publisher IHS, 75.4 billion devices will be connected online by 2025. These devices will create drastic changes in the way that people and organizations obtain information, do business, and transform the use of library space. As librarians plan for their role in this world, where pervasive portable electronics and wearable devices converge with Big Data, how do we create innovative ways to leverage these devices and provide practical applications and new ways of engagement to reach creative solutions? The possibilities of the Internet of Things and for libraries to apply data collected in the future are many-fold. Mass amount of data (Big Data) is being collected; the trends and patterns that emerge from these metrics can help in space planning and determining where and when people are visiting, and as guides to help shape and push external content about library collections and services and exhibits. Explore current and future examples showing how libraries are embracing this convergence, where you can use a location-based app to explore the library collections, take a virtual tour in the life of books, and simplify your public programs by modeling your use of space and engaging users in exhibits and library programming.

Ever wondered if there’s a better way to do something? Chances are that someone else has wondered the same thing and had a brilliant idea for a freely available online service. This session is full of tools and services that make you go “AHA!” The web is filled with tools vying for your attention, but some of the best lie waiting under the radar. Learn about these online gems, which you can use to improve your productivity, your work or home life, or share with your friends and colleagues. Discover a plethora of online tools that you probably haven’t heard of but will be glad that (now) you have.

You have made video and dumped it to YouTube. But have you “gone live”? This presentation explores the emerging and easy-to-use live streaming tools available to today’s librarian. We examine Facebook Live, YouTube Live, live streaming on Instagram, and Periscope, which allows you to go live on Twitter. Introductions to each will be given, and suggestions for use in a library setting will be provided. We might even “go live”!

A simple audio-video tour app, used innovatively, has engaged a little community in a profound way. Phillips presents the lowcost and high-impact process by which his community was granted the power to explore its historic 1883 library through streaming mobile content. With a single download, digital immigrants and natives alike have anytime access to GPS-triggered guided tours and virtual visits of their library architecture, its collections, its Italianate gardens and statuary, and greater community history. Practical information on the various resources and steps necessary to replicate this hugely successful project are outlined.

Working with semi-structured or malformed data requires skills that cross disciplines. Fortunately there are tools that make cleaning and standardizing data easier. Waller provides an introduction to OpenRefine: basic strategies for its use; necessary technology and software and the Chrome browser, or its open-source sibling, Chromium, which are needed for full compatibility with OpenRefine’s user interface. He also shares how he used SAS and OpenRefine to make the data sparkle and ensure a successful migration.

The Crossref REST API lets anyone search, filter, facet and sample Crossref metadata related to over 90 million content items with unique Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs). It’s free to use, the code is publicly available and end-users can do whatever they want with the data. In exposing the authoritative cross-publisher metadata to the community in this way, it becomes more accessible, functional and much simpler to integrate with third party systems and services (from the publisher and the end-user side). Smoother workflows and increased discoverability using existing publisher processes - what’s not to like?  Hear how third parties can, and do use the API to integrate publisher metadata into their own products and services, e.g. Coko Foundation’s Pubsweet ‘science blogger’ alpha, Kudos, Authorea, Open Tree of Life, JournalHub, Impactstory. Also hear about the potential of this API in helping streamline OA workflows within academic institutions.

Hear about tests for usability and effectiveness for a suite of tutorials created for international students. The testing asked students to think aloud during the process of performing the tasks and going through the tutorial. These sessions were recorded through audio, video, and note-taking, and a brief exit survey. Tests showed that prior to taking the tutorial the majority of the participants did not use the library online catalog as their starting point, instead opting for the Google-like e-Discover search engine. After taking the tutorial, most participants began their searches with the library online catalog. Get tips and useful guidelines for developing usable and helpful tutorials.

According to Outsell, the Information Industry generates over $700B in revenue to the vendors servicing the library community. Academic Libraries spend $7 billion per year. $4 billion of this on acquisition of products & technology to serve users. Libraries deal with hundreds, even thousands of unique vendors every year. And budgets are generally flat or constricting. Gruenberg examines the economic value components and motivations from the vendor side of the negotiation process and how those drivers impact negotiations with libraries. Be better prepared for your next negotiation.

GIFs are everywhere, but how do you make the most of them? GIFs can be a valuable tool for emotionally engaging your social media followers particularly those in younger generations. This cybertour discusses best practices for using GIFs including how to find the right GIF, the types of GIFs available, and GIF management.  It looks at the way GIFs are used to denote irony, humor and sarcasm, and emotional reaction as well as the power of GIFs in regards to racial emotional labor, contextual implications, and directive emotional impacts. Hear how GIFs can be made more accessible to your users.

Podcasting is a growing form of entertainment and information. Whether connected to a maker space or on its own, podcasting can be a valuable addition to any library. This talk demonstrates what it takes to set up a podcast for a library and for patrons starting with the concept to hardware, software, hosting and launch.