Get your coffee ready because you’ll need to be wide awake for 3 hours of Steven Cohen’s favorite online tips, tricks, tools, and  esources. Cohen reveals which tools assist in making  sers, colleagues, and family members happy. From Firefox plug-ins to Web 2.0 startups to mashups to RSS tricks, attendees of this workshop will leave with an arsenal of information and applications to bring back to their organizations. Knowledge is power, and this workshop assists librarians of all specialties in becoming current and up-to-date with the new and most exciting web tools available.

Online tutorials used to be extremely time intensive to create. With the increase in reference and instruction to distant users in all types of libraries and the need for just-in-time learning in many organizations, we need quicker ways to create tutorials to transfer information and demonstrate online library resources. New tools make it quick and easy to create online demonstrations and tutorials with a minimum of effort, to record screen actions, and to add a voice commentary. Explore using software such as Camtasia, Captivate, and Wink to quickly create online tutorials for your distance users.

While Bebo, Facebook, hi5, MySpace, and Orkut are among the better-known general online social networks, there is an ever-increasing number of online networks that have emerged for and within a wide variety of communities. Among many others, these include networks for academe and education (e.g., EduSpaces), ethnic groups (e.g., Black Planet), Boomers (e.g., Boomj), business (e.g., Linked-In), gay/lesbian/transgender groups (e.g., OUTeverywhere), religion (e.g., MyChurch), and researchers and scholars (e.g., Nature Network). This workshop provides an overview of the more significant niche online social networks, reviews their common and unique features and functionalities, and considers the potential opportunities for wider engaged library outreach to these communities.

See blog entry/slides here.

Learn all about the alternative approach to building web applications as seen in popular Web 2.0 sites such as Google Maps, Flickr, and Netvibes. Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) is changing the way that users are able to interact with web applications and will change their expectations. This workshop introduces the concepts behind the Ajax method, provides examples of library applications of Ajax, and walks through the code that makes it all happen. It looks at the implications for next-generation library applications. Walk away with an understanding of Ajax, working examples of Ajax in action, and the confidence to start creating your own Ajax apps.

RSS feeds are an excellent way to receive information from the internet. What many people don’t know is that you can receive that information and easily repurpose and republish it on your website with little technical know-how. Imagine automatically posting up to date local or industry headlines on your library’s homepage. This is what you can do in just a few simple steps. Our expert internet trainer shows you how. This workshop also covers additional RSS tools and services, including one that will create feeds from content without its own feed and another that will automatically turn your text-based content into a podcast.

This workshop examines how learning styles and learning theory can be applied to the latest technology tools. Instructional design,  creation of learning outcomes, and assessment of technology effectiveness are explored. Get a better understanding of your target audiences and which tools will best suit their instructional goals. Perfect for any library staffers who want to learn how to create training modules using new technology tools, this workshop explores the different audience levels, evaluative measures that can be used in conjunction with cutting-edge technology tools and learning styles.

As we embrace new technologies and ways of working we often find ourselves in the new role of project manager, even though  any of us have not been formally trained. In this train-the-trainer workshop, speakers will share a simple and practical approach that empowers staff and takes the fear and uncertainty out of project management. Based on a 3-hour workshop being delivered to library personnel at the UCSF Library, this session is full of practical ideas with step-by-step guidelines and two easy-to-use templates. Workshop leaders walk participants through the process, discuss the benefits of planning upfront, help eliminate the fear of setting deadlines, and talk about communication and participation issues. They demystify user roles, use case scenarios, and functional requirements.

So what’s the difference between going to work in a building and seeing and talking with your colleagues and patrons … and going to work digitally, connecting with your colleagues and patrons via web, voice, and webcam? And what’s the difference in managing a team that works in the same building, and managing a team that has no building at all? Quite a bit, actually. Simply connecting people with technology doesn’t mean things are going to go well. This workshop looks at what to consider when working digitally,
whether you are the manager or the team member: the roles, working approaches, and competencies that help make digital working environments work. Speakers share their years or experience and learnings, and, using the Topeka& Shawnee County Public Library’s emerging digital branch as a case study and model, help you prepare to evolve your library to a digital branch model.