Weinberger studies the effect of the internet on ideas and their organization, and has written a series of popular books on the topic. He applies those ideas to libraries directly as the co-director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab, the motto of which is “Hack libraries.” From that Lab has come projects such as Stackview, an innovative visual library browser at use at Harvard and at the Digital Public Library of America, and LibraryCloud, which is an open metadata server being constructed under Weinberger’s leadership as head of the Harvard Library's Interoperability Initiative. The aim of LibraryCloud is, he says, “to make it easier to hack the library via open APIs.” Weinberger argues for transforming libraries into platforms that enable anyone on the planet to use everything that libraries know. “Libraries are probably not going to be the ones that invent their own future,” says Weinberger. “The ideas are likely to come from some kid in a garage. Platforms are how we can get everyone on the planet to help create the future of libraries.” Be inspired by Weinberger’s ideas and big picture perspective. Get new insights to apply to your network and library community. Gather strategies to apply for a successful and engaged future from our thought leader, industry guru, popular author and library strategist.

This popular annual favorite features our super searcher who continues to surprise and impress with new strategies, techniques, and tips for getting the most out of web research. The host of Searchers Academy (where even more secrets are shared) provides an up-to-the minute and jam-packed-with- valuable-tools-and-tips talk that’s always a hit!

Breeding, co-chair of the NISO Open Discovery Initiative, describes the general landscape of library resource discovery products, the trend toward web-scale, index-based services, and some of the issues that sparked this initiative to bring increased transparency and other improvements to the ecosystem involving libraries, content providers, and discovery service creators.

Have a web scale discovery tool? Thinking of getting one? Join this panel with two practitioners who interview and challenge discovery tool suppliers about their products, the new features and functionalities that are available to guide and support users in the information seeking process, how the products are evolving, how their clients are using them, and what’s on the horizon for suppliers and vendors.

Web scale discovery (WSD) burst onto the library scene 5 years ago, but its impact on info pros and their institutions is significant. WSD affects collection use, acquisition decisions, and ultimately, the place of the library within a community’s psyche. This session features two discovery gurus from opposite sides of the Atlantic to explore the state of WSD, divulge tips to maximize its value to your community, and survey trends and technologies likely to influence future developments. They provide a fast overview of WSD systems on the market and share insights on engineering the discovery layer to delight and engage users, as well as tactics to tame the central index to serve your community. They peer into their crystal ball to envision the future of WSD in an environment of open scholarship, new librarianship, linked data, contextually aware search, and other emerging influential technologies.

This session explores how minimal access to a vendor application, a little coding knowledge, and a little bit of JavaScript and jQuery can allow anyone to customize a seemingly locked-down vendor application. Oldham demonstrates some simple hacks, as well as some more advanced ones. He discusses how collaboration between a web application developer and a Primo administrator resulted in user-requested usability enhancements to the Primo discovery layer interface at the University of Guelph, a member of the Tri-University Group of Libraries Consortia.

Join us under the big top! Mix and mingle with other attendees and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere while visiting with our extensive hall of exhibitors.

Think redesigning your website is a big task? Imagine tackling 30,000 hand coded web pages. The UNC team did just that, striking out to create a user-focused, visually stimulating website built using responsive design. They share insights into taking the UNC library’s web presence to the next level and describe how they analyzed their web presence, conducted usability testing, redesigned content, made design decisions, and developed a content management strategy. Coulter describes Richland Library’s quest to create the ideal library user experience. Transforming Richland’s library site from a portal that sends library users off to different vendor platforms, Coulter shares how it is improving fragmented experience by offering library patrons an integrated user experience via custom modules in Drupal. Learn about the pieces of the integration puzzle and lessons learned as a new library user experience is crafted.

This session looks at the strengths, scalability, and flexibility of WordPress for library applications. Haefele describes how UNC Libraries selected and implemented WordPress as a content management system for their large university library website. Take a look at the power, ease of use, and customization offered by WordPress as well as tips on supporting a complex site.With years of experience using WordPress to power his business blog, a website designed to help business researchers at his institution, Boeninger demonstrates why he prefers WordPress as an alternative to commercial applications such as Libguides and showcases plugins, taxonomies, and techniques for organizing and promoting library research guide content.

Have you redesigned your library’s website lately? If not, then it’s probably time! In this session, panelists discuss the process they went through during their library’s website redesign from start to finish.What caused them to redesign? What new features did they incorporate into the redesign? What hurdles did they have to overcome? How did they achieve buy-in from staff and from customers? Come with questions, and learn some tips and current best practices on redesigning your website.

This session looks at some new and sometimes overlooked ways of enhancing the library’s web presence and shares new tools, design themes, and applications. Mairn shows how you can revolutionize mobile phones with your floorplan. He describes how places like libraries or campuses can work with Google to get their physical space mapped for indoor guidance with Google Indoor Maps.When someone zooms in on your library building on Google Maps, floorplans automatically appear. In your library, users would have point-by-point navigation via their Android smartphone or tablet (soon on iOS devices too) to reference desks, study rooms, computer labs, etc. Brandon looks at theming in Drupal and illustrates the steps, from the selection of a base theme to those involved in setting up a subtheme, using HTML/CSS to design multiple layouts. MSU Libraries’ chose the Omega base theme, the second-most-installed theme for Drupal CMS. Working with this theme, MUS Libraries’ web team created a responsive design for their academic library website. Bearden and Mitchell describe some of the hurdles they faced to keep their library website accessible, including a battle with Google.With the pace of tech change and job mobility, the old paradigm of solving problems by knowing who to ask is shifting to knowing what to ask. Find out what to ask when you’re faced with ensuring accessibility of link resolvers, authentication systems, proxy services, and other systems essential to libraries. Sharpen up your skills (and your mind) to help keep your library site accessible. Deschenes looks at custom development of a new tool for sharing information about Simmons College library collections and services with patrons and stakeholders. Many libraries are focusing on measurement and assessment and Deschenes used Zoho Creator as a statistics management tool to share library data. She illustrates a lightweight, dynamic online dashboard built to visualize data stored in a Google spreadsheet using Sheetsee.js. Not only will you have a chance to see the dashboard, you’ll get the steps to create one for your library.

Join us under the big top! Mix and mingle with other attendees and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere while visiting with our extensive hall of exhibitors.

On May 19, 20, and 31, 2013, tornadoes tore through central Oklahoma, tearing a path of destruction through urban and rural Cleveland, McClain, and Pottawatomie counties. This three county area is also the service area of the Pioneer Library System. The PLS physical buildings escaped the path of the storms by a matter of blocks. But the PLS services, such as electricity and internet, were impacted for several days after the storms hit. This session looks at the virtual library's immediate response to the storms, steps taken in the following days, and finally what steps were implemented to address future severe weather the system could face.With these lessons and those of your colleagues, spend some time discussing disruption and disaster plans!

This session begins by looking at several brainstorming techniques, including role-storming, opposites, the long list, and brand-storming. Participants use these techniques to brainstorm new innovative services, technology uses, and training tactics for their libraries. The results of the brainstorms will be documented and posted online for the larger CIL community.

Computers in Libraries conferences are full of great ideas to help libraries innovate. However, moving ideas to reality is complicated: Librarians must balance strategic priorities, patron needs and (most of all) time constraints. Leveraging theories from the Lean Startup and Agile Development, Liebhardt shows that libraries can build sustainably innovative organizations through constant learning. Rather than writing plans or holding whiteboard sessions, try building a simple, basic product or service and measure if it solves patrons' problems. Once the prototype is in front of people, get customer insights to make adjustments. Liebhardt shares project management tools that show librarians the discipline to be honest about measuring progress, setting up milestones and prioritizing work. Stephens, who was at last year’s CIL, left, like a lot of others did, with a glowing need to use Raspberry Pis in his library. But, when faced with actually doing something practical and getting the library administration on board, he was stumped. He shares some of the ideas he came up with, discusses how he sold the ideas to the higher-ups, and then helps start a discussion of ideas that other attendees have tried—whether they were successes or not! Computers in Libraries is full of cutting-edge ideas, use tips, and tools from speakers and colleagues to help you move them to the real world.

The Pew Research Center’s next report on public libraries in the digital age is being released in March—an in-depth analysis of library users and non-users’s habits and attitudes. Zickuhr explains the findings and their implications for libraries as they plan for the future. The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) recently talked to key players (including Pew Internet Director Lee Rainie) in the information and technology industries and came up with key trends. Hear about the report as well as other trends our industry watchers see things we need to pay attention to as we plan for our communities in the future. Includes discussion time with colleagues about what they see as well and what it means for libraries and their strategies going forward.

Join us under the big top! Mix and mingle with other attendees and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere while visiting with our extensive hall of exhibitors.

This session highlights a collaboration between ILEAD USA, ALA and Instructables (http://www.instructables.com/), to create Make It @ Your Library which brings the best maker projects from Instructables to librarians in order to further the adoption and adaption of maker culture into library culture. Make It @ Your Library is a searchable database of Instructables projects that have been specially selected and tested for use in maker programming at libraries of all kinds. Addition- al metadata, including cost, age appropriateness, time, tools, and space requirements, have been added. Learn how to use and contribute to the website (www.makeitatyourlibrary.org) and also how to promote the processes of exploration, creation, and hands-on learning in your communities.

While makerspaces have taken off in public libraries, the movement is expanding to the academic environment. Colegrove talks about the programs in his library: 24-hour hackathons, WordPress bootcamps, whiteboard walls, lockpicking workshops, 3D printing, robotics toolkits, and more! There are different pressures and concerns. Iglesias discusses building community and establishing partnerships, required competencies and skillsets for staff, and practical concerns in the physical plant.

First, hear the experiences and tips from one library which has been offering youth maker programs, from e-fashion to printed circuits, in more than seven locations. Much of the philosophy behind making is mentoring youth in tinkering and experimentation; teaching them that the making process is one of inquiry and the inevitable failed attempts. This library is committed to spreading the gospel of why it’s important to fail, learn, and try again as it is integral to the making and learning process. It sees the library as the ideal comfortable and safe environment to mentor youth as they learn that it’s okay to fail, and a place where they can share their experiences and learnings. Denver PL launched the ideaLAB, a digital media lab for teens, and quickly learned that the traditional instructional model wouldn’t work with 13-year-olds. Staff read about HOMAGO, but what does it look like in practice, and how do you help teens move beyond just hanging out? Come learn from their mistakes: the turn from classes to project cards, creative programming, a badging system, and showcasing teen work. They share experiences and materials, talk about integrating ideaLAB programming into the library’s teen website, and highlight examples of teen work.

Hear lots of examples of library makerspace programs. Be inspired and gain insights and ideas from our practitioners. Uhlmann explores the current state of affordable 3D printers, including the necessary computer hardware and software for the printer, related peripherals such as 3D scanners and cameras needed to digitize 3D objects, as well as filament selection and environmental considerations. He shares technical and cost factors and more. The Bitters talk about The Raspberry Pi, a credit-card-sized computer that can be powered by a cellphone charger. Cheap ($35!) and simple, it can help introduce computer-shy users to the wonderful world of Linux and open-source coding. With a host of uses, from maker projects to minimalist computing, the Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, low-stress starting point for users of all ages to become more technologically savvy. She shares class curriculum and further resources for teaching patrons how to use the Raspberry Pi. Moore shares Darien Library’s experience with mini-makerspace for kids only, including programs and independent projects, and response to an environment where kids can learn, collaborate, create, and tinker. Lynce and Tripodis discuss developing a team of front-line staff to operate, develop, and promote the space and services using their TechCentral MakerSpace to illustrate both practical and nontraditional ideas that you can use to inspire the maker spirit in a diverse staff. Hoge and Diamond-Ortiz share best practices and success stories in developing maker-culture in libraries. de Boer describes FryskLab (http://www.frysklab.nl), a mobile FabLab, the first in Europe. It creates a healthy interest in technology and maker skills, stimulating digital literacy. In a community with a strong history in cultural craftsmanship, the mobile FryskLab had support in schools, small villages, and companies and has a strong collaboration with education. Hear more about their project and plans to organize an open product design session for librarians.

Join us under the big top! Mix and mingle with other attendees and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere while visiting with our extensive hall of exhibitors.

Minecraft, the building game that kids and teens are obsessed with, is a wonderful way to encourage collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills in the classroom. This presentation explains the basics of Minecraft (including why it’s a worldwide phenomenon), and then discuss ways in which it can be integrated into the curriculum, through an exploration of how educators are using Minecraft in multiple disciplines with students of all ages.

As students become more adept at using devices, and as schools invest more funds in technology, can students conduct their research projects on their iPads? The presenters created a program at their Lower School in which students brainstormed, questioned, took notes, and produced a final research project using iPads. In this presentation, they highlight and discuss the process used to take their students through the research process, and the apps used. They share their process in developing this research program, the steps of the program, and some of their students’ final projects.

This session presents key findings from a Rutgers Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries project that studied the research and writing processes of high school students engaged in group research tasks. It involved two classes of 9th grade English students engaged in a collaborative inquiry task. They worked in a wiki environment, negotiating the development of their research topics and working together to construct their products. Based on the findings, the session discusses lessons learned about designing collaborative digital learning spaces, strategies for developing and managing the group work in digital environments, and instructional strategies to support deep learning in groups.

Explore ways in which librarians use technology tools and web resources to flip the library experience for their users. Through websites, screencasts, blogs, and social media, the Albemarle High School library is flipping the idea of libraries. Join a discussion of resources, how to’s, challenges, and opportunities.

We live in an information age, which can be simultaneously energizing and bewildering. In order to keep our libraries relevant, we need to leverage the best of the new concepts for the benefit of our professional staff and, ultimately, our students. We examine some of the current education buzzwords with the goal of answering one key question: “How can I use this?”

Join us under the big top! Mix and mingle with other attendees and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere while visiting with our extensive hall of exhibitors.