Searcher Academy
FULL DAY: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Moderator:
Mary Ellen Bates, Principal, Bates Information Services
Faculty: 
Gary Price, Co-Author, The Invisible Web, Creator, Price’s List of Lists & Direct Search
Greg Notess, Reference Librarian, Montana State University, and Creator, Search Engine Showdown
Ran Hock, Principal, Online Strategies, and Author, The Extreme Searcher’s Guide to Web Search Engines

Want to sharpen your skills? Learn from the experts? Join search veterans, authors, and columnists from Searcher and ONLINE magazines and the “Super Searchers” series of books to learn the latest strategies and techniques for searching online. This day-long event introduces you to experts who share their searching secrets and expertise as they focus on the most current practices in the field. Participants should have basic experience with Web searching, but even searchers with extensive Internet background will find tips to polish and advance their skills.

Academy topics include:

• Search Engine Mechanics: Pop the hood and look into the mechanics of the search engines with our search engine grease monkey.
• Searching the Invisible Web: How to find hidden troves of deep information on the Web.
• Cool Search Tools: The best of the best Web resources.
• Practical Research Tips and Techniques.
• Choosing the Right Search Engine: When to use which engine and when to use the invisible Web, plus the value of advanced search features.
• Ask an Expert: An interactive discussion including favorite tips, Web sources, and advanced techniques from the faculty and a chance to ask questions.

Web Managers Academy
FULL DAY: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Moderator: 
Darlene Fichter, Data Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan
Faculty: 
Frank Cervone, Assistant University Librarian for Information Technology, Northwestern University
Peter Morville, President, Semantic Studios
Marshall Breeding, Library Technology Officer, Vanderbilt University
Jeff Wisniewski, Web Services Librarian, University Library System, University of Pittsburgh

Web development is challenging. It requires a range of technical and management skills to develop a great Web site. No matter what type of library or information service you manage and support, this full-day workshop provides a good foundation in:

• How to develop or redesign a site.
• Key checkpoints in a Web project life cycle.
• How to develop a solid and sustainable site architecture.
• Demystifying Web site standards and jargon.
• Solid tips for creating usable Web designs.

Basic HTML for Librarians
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Ran Hock, Principal, Online Strategies, and Author, The Extreme Searcher’s Guide to Web Search Engines

Knowing about HTML isn’t just for Webmasters anymore. Whether you are responsible for creating Web pages for your organization or just for yourself, or you want to be “in the loop” in discussions of Web page construction, it is useful to have a basic knowledge of HTML. For those who build Web pages using editors, a knowledge of HTML is useful for solving problems, plugging in JavaScript, etc. This half-day workshop covers the basics including formatting, links, tables, lists, images, etc. This course will be “hands-on” using your own laptop. Attendees should bring their own laptop, loaded with either Netscape or Internet Explorer, and either Notepad or Wordpad. No Internet connection will be necessary. The workshop helps attendees understand the basic structure of HTML code, become familiar with the main HTML tags and features, understand how to modify existing code, “plug in” JavaScript features, and more.
 
 

WORKSHOP 4

The Info Pro as Instructional Designer
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Bonnie Burwell, Burwell Information Services

Do you create half-hour “brown bag” demonstrations or multiweek Web-based courses, or anything in between? This half-day workshop provides an understanding of instructional design methodology and principles for developing successful learning experiences. This practical, experiential session illustrates how to design an effective instructional program using a variety of delivery methods. You will learn how to:

• Set educational objectives based on an assessment of the learning needs in your organization.
• Select a learning format appropriate for your organization.
• Use templates to develop an instructional plan that incorporates best practices for adult learners and lots of interactivity.
• Integrate evaluation techniques into your instructional design strategy.

Strategies for Improving the Business Value of Your Intranet
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting
Jean E. DeMatteo, McQueen Consulting

This half-day workshop is a case study on how an international consulting firm of 5,000 employees used the balancing perspectives of governance, information, and technology to drive improvements in business value on its intranet. The workshop discusses the methodology, the objectives, and the recommendations, focusing on information management, information architecture, human resources, change management, and the adoption of communities of practice. The workshop also suggests a user-centric implementation plan that addresses the bottoms-up approach to generating user buy-in. Attendees who work for business units or enterprise teams seeking to improve the value of their intranets will find this interactive course highly valuable.
 
 

WORKSHOP 6

Intranet Strategy & Architecture
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Peter Morville, President, Semantic Studios, and Author, Information Architecture

As we shape distributed organizations to tap innovation and emergent strategy, the intranet is becoming an essential vehicle for employee productivity, corporate communication, and knowledge management. Usability and findability are now on the radar of many managers and executives. Solid intranet strategy and successful implementation require an intimate understanding of users, content, and context. The information architecture must serve as a bridge, connecting taxonomies, metadata, and search and navigation systems to a company’s identity and strategic direction. This session discusses how to balance top-down and bottom-up methods of strategy formation and information architecture design to produce adaptive, scalable intranets that confer competitive advantage.
 
 

WORKSHOP 7

Writing Grants for Technology Projects
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Jack L. Smith, MPA, The Smith Group

Grant writing is both a science and an art. This half-day grant-writing training program is geared toward the real-life grant-writing situations faced by administrators, direct line staff, and others who must juggle their regular duties while they write technology grants. 

Topics include:

• Grant-writing frame of mind
• Grant-writing shortcuts
• Accessing resources on the Internet
• Key components of a proposal
• Examples of successful grants for technology projects and programs

Information Portals & Content Management Strategies
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting
Jean E. DeMatteo, McQueen Consulting

This half-day workshop covers content management from A to Z and features McQueen’s Six Functional Layers to unlocking the value of content management. Containing top-down and bottom-up information architecture strategies and weighted equally between internal and external content 
enhancement strategies, this course defines “content infrastructure” investments that must be made for horizontal and vertical (vortal) information portals to be successful. Filled with case studies and compelling applications, this intermediate, non-engineer/developer course, led by an intranet expert, equips attendees to be effective content managers or consultants.