Keynote - Hi Tech With Hi Touch - Libraries: Innovative & Inspiring
Regency Ballroom
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM

Erik Boekesteijn, founder and director Doklab, Doklab ShanachieTour
Jaap Van de Geer, Delft Public Library
Geert van den Boogaard, M.Sc., Innovation and funding, Delft Public Library (The Netherlands) BOOG Design and Advice

Feel the excitement of the Shanachietour 2007, the librarians’ road movie highlighting best practices in libraries across the US. Hear about the experiences. See the movie. Be inspired.

With new collaborative Web 2.0 tools and open source software, the options for next-generation library catalogs are expanding. Hear about new interfaces, new initiatives, new approaches, and new analytics. Gain insights from our experienced speakers for your next generation catalog.

Following a period of widespread dissatisfaction with library OPACs, a number of projects and products have emerged to provide library interfaces more capable of satisfying the needs of web-savvy library users. New models of what constitutes a library catalog are forming, and products are now beginning to embody aspects of this new vision. Breeding provides an overview of the library catalogs and interfaces now available or in development, including both commercial and open source alternatives.

This session highlights two statewide initiatives: creating consortial automated library groups using a single solution and migrating from a 40 year old union catalog to a virtual hybrid catalog that connects Z target library catalogs. It focuses on three different regional consortial solutions in place, one using Auto-Graphics Verso, one using Sirsi Unicorn, and one using Koha Zoom open source. Speakers discuss creating a virtual hybrid state union catalog overlaid with a new federated search engine. The result is a Google-like search of statewide, library-owned resources; vendor-supplied databases; digitized state documents; and the state library’s website. Implementation of Quova (geolocation software) to authenticate Kansas users automatically is addressed.

Come hear about systems and services for the next-generation library catalog from the librarians who are making it happen. Sheehan, at the first library to go live with LibraryThing for Libraries, talks about how her library used this new service to blend librarian-driven reader’s advisory with the intelligence of social networking. Childress discusses the successes and surprises of WorldCat Local, OCLC’s project that uses WorldCat to replace the library’s OPAC. Trainor surveys the road map of major OPAC enhancement innovations and discusses roadblocks, successes, and predictions for the future. Blyberg focuses on data architecture required for next-generation services and systems and why we need to take a holistic approach to information and knowledge brokering.

Come hear about systems and services for the next-generation library catalog from the librarians who are making it happen. Sheehan, at the first library to go live with LibraryThing for Libraries, talks about how her library used this new service to blend librarian-driven reader’s advisory with the intelligence of social networking. Childress discusses the successes and surprises of WorldCat Local, OCLC’s project that uses WorldCat to replace the library’s OPAC. Trainor surveys the road map of major OPAC enhancement innovations and discusses roadblocks, successes, and predictions for the future. Blyberg focuses on data architecture required for next-generation services and systems and why we need to take a holistic approach to information and knowledge brokering.

Kilzer provides an overview of the impact Google Analytics has on uncovering the mysteries of how users search the proprietary OPAC, as well as details on how to interpret the data and draw conclusions to aid design and policy decisions. With internet search engines (SEs) the preferred tool for finding information, Mi and Weng report on studies into the interface and searching capabilities of current OPACs and the OPAC bibliographic display. Bringing usage patterns to the forefront can provide information that helps libraries create resource discovery tools that offer users the choices and help they need, ones that rival online SEs.

From mashups to Drupal to visualization tools, video and the creative commons, managing content is complex but exciting. Join our speakers for a peek into new possibilities. 

This session showcases Yahoo! Pipes, a web site that allows users to create customized mashups of RSS feeds and other XML-formatted information without having to write one word of code! Yahoo! Pipes’ visual editor allows drag-and-drop construction of data sources, filters and transformations, and customizable output. This workshop-style presentation is perfect for the librarian who wants to experiment with XML, RSS, and syndication tools but doesn’t want to learn programming.

Drupal, a free, open source content management system, can be utilized to create substantial social networking websites. It offers a flexible modular configuration that allows website community creators to pick and choose functionality ranging from blogs, social bookmarking tools, private messaging, tagging, chat, groups, and events calendars. This session discusses how libraries and librarians are utilizing this increasingly popular new technology to create community-based websites.

With the debate over copyright raging, with some calling for the end of the “all rights reserved” regime, and libraries feeling like they’re caught in the middle, just what are the alternatives? CC is the most respected alternative available today with its idea of “some rights reserved” as set by the content creators themselves. Sauers talks about the principles of Creative Commons, shows how you can easily apply it to your intellectual property today, and how you can use CC to find material that you can legally reuse in the creation of new content.

Mountains of data are piling up in libraries and corporate intranets, but how do we say it visually and make data more useful? Fichter looks at new online tools that enable sharing, analysis, and data visualization to show trends, associations and new insights on your library website that quickly engage, inform, and empower your customers to create their own visualizations. Tools such as Many Eyes go beyond the data visualization and tap into the social dimension encouraging sharing, collaboration, and reuse. Fichter talks about what happens when data goes “social.” From visual dictionaries, textual analysis of works of fiction, to star size and nutritional components of Big Macs, hop on board for this fast-paced look at an amazing set of tools that are at your fingertips.

In a YouTube world, library patrons expect to see video content on your web site. Creating fun and interesting videos does not require expensive video equipment or outsourcing. McBride discusses how a simple video camera, a basic laptop with good video editing software, and a healthy dose of creativity and curiosity are all you need to make your library a video star. Baker, an award-winning YouTube producer, shares his secrets and inspires you to create your own videos.

Whether you call it social media, social software or Web 2.0 tools, the participatory web is here to stay. Hear about library applications and use of the new tools and see what fits with your organization. 

Wikis are incredibly useful tools that can be used for a variety of purposes: facilitating communication, promoting library resources, and fostering group collaboration. Wikis are fairly easy to set up, so the challenge is getting others to use a wiki and not let it become yet another stale, stagnant webpage. This session offers best practices for creating a wiki, getting others to use and contribute to the wiki, marketing the wiki, and keeping your wiki growing. It shares in-depth, firsthand experiences with three applications of wikis: a research guide (The Biz Wiki), one for internal communication (The Ref Wiki), and one for campus collaboration (The Second Life Learning Community Wiki).

In early 2007, librarians discovered the latest in microblogging: Twitter. The point of Twitter is to answer the question “What are you doing now?” in 140 characters or less via the web, client software, IM, or SMS. The first presentation shares the ups and downs of Twitter along with results of several librarian- and library-based Twitter experiments. The second presentation discusses the use of social bookmarking for library instruction, research consultations, and collaborative resource guides using del.icio.us. These presenters share experiences, address technical issues, barriers to participation, training requirements, and satisfaction.

Since Facebook (FB) opened its platform for worldwide development, applications have skyrocketed making FB the top online social networking site. Bridges discusses the most popular applications, as well as library applications including LibGuides, Librarian, and individual library catalogs. Landis illustrates how MySpace and Facebook have changed the way that library users are interacting with each other and their libraries and highlights how the social network of the web is changing as libraries are “friending” their users and sharing knowledge.

This session focuses on successful strategies for experimenting with, trusting, and integrating Web 2.0 tools in an organization’s daily work. It covers marketing strange new tools to an idiosyncratic group of library users with extremely specific needs and whose discipline, art history, has typically relied on more traditional resources. Speakers demonstrate how the library staff quickly adopted Web 2.0 tools, created winning presentations for all museum staff dealing with the relevancy of these tools to scholarly research, the concern with authority and security.

Pecha Kucha is Japanese for the sound of conversation and represents a fast-paced series of presentations. Each of our panelists has 6 minutes and 40 seconds along with 20 images to express their opinion about 2.0 technologies. Each takes a view—IM, podcasts, wikis, videocasts, Facebook, and, of course, the skeptic. See if they can do it and then join in the conversation about 2.0 technology tools and tricks.

Whether libraries are delivering them in person or virtually, the services highlighted here are using the latest econtent and technologies to reach and engage patrons where it matters most: at the point of need. 

A combination of wireless internet access, laptops, and 2.0-minded staff can greatly enhance both the experience and involvement of library patrons. The effective use of a laptop lab in a library can engage both teens and older adults, support literacy and ESL programs, increase equity of access to technology among patrons, and open space for other library activities. This presentation demonstrates the benefits, costs and opportunities, and tried-and-true uses afforded by using laptops for learning instead of creating computer labs.

Does your library youth services model effectively reach and serve digital natives? Are you global, mobile, and building participatory apps? Are you adapting your physical collection and layout, your services, your programming, your catalog, and your online presence? If you are, come and share your stuff. If you aren’t, come prepared to change . . . today.

Inexpensive and integrated webcams combined with higher bandwidth capacity have vastly increased the popularity of video and voice over IP services such as Skype, GTalk, and Windows Live Messenger. New advances in internet telephony and video communication present accessible, inexpensive opportunities to interact virtually and visually with patrons. From stationary video kiosks to face-to-face calling with distance users, various library applications of the technology are possible. Using the Ohio University Libraries’ Skype reference pilot as a case study, this session explores the trials, tribulations, and technical issues involved in enhancing electronic library services using video and voice over IP, including a discussion of scalability, video reference interactions, and the user experience.

Despite the hundreds of titles available in many e-reference packages, this wealth of information is often hidden to most users—including librarians. Sich talks about the use of Meebo and Skype for providing online reference service at an academic library, along with challenges, issues, use statistics, other options and future possibilities.  Badman describes how Temple established a new journal room virtually using RSS, Yahoo!’s Pipes mashup service, email, OPML, and other web services to bring tables of contents from journals to the user in a variety of formats (rss, email, web, widgets). A follow-up endeavor created a service to track journals for the librarians to foster continuing educational activities and disciplinary dialogue. He demonstrates how the services work and what others can do to offer similar personalized services for their patrons.

Establishing an IM or email reference service in an academic library sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Many libraries have already done it, students are using IM, and much of the software is free and easy to use—what could be so hard? Come hear the nuts and bolts of deciding whether to use email or chat, setting the service up, winning staff over to chat monitoring, marketing the service, and evaluating it, both the successes and challenges.

Purposeful change and innovation are core to keeping current with the changing world. This series of sessions focuses on strategies and insights for dealing with innovation and change in your organization. 

Innovation has become such a bandied word these days that in some organizations it’s now an expectation for library staff to be innovative from the ground up. So, where does “innovation” really come from? How do we kickstart something that is, by its very nature, connected to ever elusive waves of creativity? The answer: Innovation starts with “I.” This session will explore how I, YOU, WE are involved in responding to the needs and desires to innovate and change. We’ll delve into emerging library management practices, philosophies and staff programs that have allowed libraries to blossom through innovative practices. We’ll also provide tips and insights for front line and supervisory staff to help YOU lead the way.

Integrating technology, change management and planning, this session focuses on making the right choices for social software, staff training, and the creation of a user-driven environment. Our two leading librarians explore what makes a library transparent; offer a to-do list of strategies to make your library transparent, open, and hyperlinked; and offer a list of best practices for Web 2.0 tools, implementation, and evaluation.

This session examines the Information Commons as an arena for testing innovative ideas in technology, staffing, and scope of service delivery. It traces the evolution of the Information Commons as it has been driven by changes in user needs, pedagogical theory, technology, and society (from computer lab, to Information Commons, to Learning Commons, to Teaching/ Research Commons). It discusses the vision of the Information Commons as the preferred learning environment for the digital age and looks at “lessons learned” from selected academic libraries as they steer their respective commons into their second Iterations.

This session features libraries that are creating virtual and physical spaces to test, play, work, create, develop, and innovate with the assistance and involvement of their publics. In an age of participative media and software our publics have an increasing desire to take part in creating the library experience for themselves and others, and this provides a great opportunity to work with other community, organizational, and corporate partners in innovating services and programs and creating new experiences. Gullett discusses his library’s game, learning and media lab initiatives that are creating physical and virtual lab spaces for several core experiences, and Schwartz talks about his innovation lab that has created a virtual interactive space that is shared with the library’s public in an effort to test new ideas, software, and services.

Millsap explores the digital divide between administration and staff and looks at how leadership is the key and technology the tool. She shares strategies for leading with technology, not in spite of it. King focuses on why libraries need to make time for Web 2.0; why they need to learn about and experiment with new tools; allowing staff the time needed to play with these tools; making time for Web 2.0; and facing change.

The Second InfoTubey Awards: YouTube Productions & CIL 2008
7:30 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

Hosted by: Bill Spence, VP, Information Technology, Information Today, Inc.

Sponsored by:

These awards are presented to those organizations or individuals for outstanding YouTube productions. Presented on the red carpet at the Computers in Libraries conference, these awards recognize those creating YouTube library-related productions. Awards are presented to the top five productions that demonstrate creativity and innovation in marketing a library or library services or enhancing the library's value. The winning productions will be shown at CIL 2008 on Tuesday evening, 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. For a look at what happened last year, check out — https://www.infotoday.com/CIL2007/InfoTubies.shtml.

Submit your videos to www.infotubey.com by Thursday February 14th, 2008. Submissions must not exceed 4 minutes.

Each of the five InfoTubey Award winners will receive one complimentary three-day conference pass to Computers in Libraries 2008 (a $469 value). All submissions will be judged by a panel of distinguished information professionals.

Free and open to all registrants, exhibitors, and exhibit visitors. Visit www.infotubey.com for more information.