PreConference Workshops
Monday, May 13, 2002
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InfoToday
2002: The Global Conference and Exhibition on Electronic Information &
Knowledge Management
PreConference Workshops Monday, May 13, 2002 |
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Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates Mary Lee Kennedy, Microsoft Corp. The transformation of information into knowledge is a critical process for any organization, in any part of the globe. It involves a blend of content, information, technology, processes, and people. Some organizations find that the transformation process is most effective for them when the technology component is emphasized, while others have better results maximizing the people or content components. This workshop reviews key success strategies for different types of models and then involves participants in a discussion of how to apply these strategies in their own environments. The workshop is designed to help participants answer these questions: • What content, information, and knowledge are critical in my organization? • How does information become knowledge in my organization? • What differences can be made to increase their value? • What systems exist (organizational, cultural, technological) that can be leveraged? • What have other organizations learned about this transformation from which I can benefit? • What should I start with?
Steve Barth, author of “The Power of One,” KMWorld “Personal Toolkit” columnist, & former editor-at-large for Knowledge Management magazine This intensive half-day workshop is about personal knowledge management. What are the critical competencies every knowledge worker needs in order to survive and thrive in the new economy? Collaboration and teamwork are more important factors in value creation than ever before, but the dynamic nature of today’s professional networks requires new abilities and responsibilities at the individual level. While KM cannot succeed unless every knowledge worker takes personal responsibility for what he or she knows and doesn’t know, management has to take responsibility for cultivating an atmosphere in which everyone has reason to share while building an infrastructure that makes it easy to share. This interactive session explores the new information skills and new social skills that must go hand in hand.
Margie Hlava, President, Access Innovations The “information glut” can creep into your intranet before you know it. Putting content on your intranet with a flexible, effective, and easy-to-use interface that will provide users with the data they want and won’t give them the data they don’t want, requires a strong metadata set. Metadata can allow for precise, accurate, and complete search results, but only if it is implemented appropriately. Metadata has evolved quickly over the last several years and the available options can be confusing and complicated. This half-day seminar will teach you how standards affect the quality and performance of your intranet, as well as your other related data systems; what metadata is, and just as important, what metadata is not; what metadata can do for you and your intranet; when the use of metadata is appropriate and when you really don’t need it; and why you should invest the time and expense of creating metadata for your intranet. Hlava will help you bridge the gap between theory and application of metadata.
Marydee Ojala, Editor, ONLINE Magazine Roberta Brody, Assistant Professor, Queens College, City University of New York, School of Library & Information Studies Several top practitioners in the business and finance research world share their strategies and tactics for performing high-quality online research. Finding relevant and timely information on companies, industries, markets, and the economy is always challenging and has been made more so by the increasing number of places to look. The transient nature of Web sites, overlapping information sources, confusing pricing mechanisms, the movement of free Net resources to fee-based, the necessity to use complex search strategies in heavily fielded databases, and end-user reliance on general search engines all make the business and finance research process both fascinating and demanding. Learn from the experts how to master the nuances of this type of online research.
Ran Hock, Online Strategies Most information professionals cite the Top 5 search engines as Google, WiseNut, AlltheWeb, AltaVista, and Northern Light. Although this may change, knowing the intricacies of these search engines and how they differ from each other will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your searches. The emphasis of this workshop is on understanding all the details that are relevant when searching with these engines. Techniques and features that are common to all will be examined and compared. Unique features (often found in the “nooks and crannies” or even undocumented) will be examined in terms of how and why these features are used. Attendees should come with at least a little experience in using Web search engines and will leave with an enhanced understanding of which search engines to choose for a particular task, what is possible with the major search engines, and how to use the engines’ capabilities to their fullest.
Robert I. Patt-Corner, Senior Principal Scientist, Mitretek Systems This half-day workshop lays out a comprehensive layered architecture for tacit and explicit KM systems, orienting each layer to both technical and business functions. Existing commercial and in-house developed offerings are mapped to the various layers so that a clear picture of ross-vendor integration possibilities is available. Issues in technical implementation, cultural barriers and opportunities as well as case studies are presented to illustrate the overall framework.
Barbie Keiser, BEK Associates To succeed as an information professional, you need to value your content, your services, and yourself. A valuation assessment frequently revolves around some big C words — content, customers, competition. Putting up a Web site, whether it’s on your organization’s intranet or the public Internet, is not enough. You need to understand the basics of marketing, the true needs of your user base, and the special skills you bring to your organization. In this workshop, you will learn what decisions need to be made, in terms of content and form, the skills you will require to effectively execute plans, the tools that will help make your vision a reality, and the economics that drive information services within your organization. Let this top lecturer on information management show you how it’s done.
Steve Coffman, Virtual Reference Services Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates Virtual reference services — live, real-time reference services over the Internet — is both a hot topic and a hot project for the library profession. The problem is that up until now, libraries that wanted to start a virtual reference service were pretty much left to their own devices. Planning and implementing these services is much more than selecting a software package. This workshop provides a framework to help work through the entire process of designing, implementing and operating a virtual reference service. The workshop covers: • An overview of virtual reference services (VRS): today & tomorrow • Elements to consider in designing VRS: software, staffing, policies, etc. • Lessons from real-world examples
Margie Hlava, President, Access Innovations Putting content on an intranet or Internet site with a flexible, effective, and easy-to-use interface requires a strong metadata set and accompanying taxonomy or taxonomies. The taxonomy is the component that allows for quick, easy navigation and excellent search results. When taxonomies are linked to well-formed data, they create the basis of successful sites. Taxonomy management deals with the core concern of content developers and disseminators, which is how to quickly convey the meaning of a record or document so that it can be found precisely and accurately. Ambiguity is the ever-present enemy of clarity. Thesaurus design and control provide tools and techniques for disambiguation. In this workshop, you will learn techniques for building and managing vocabularies. Hlava will demonstrate a Java XML Taxonomy solution as an example of how these new standards can work together for an effective outcome.
Greg R. Notess, Reference Librarian, Montana State University and Creator of Search Engine Showdown Learn from the preeminent name in search engine research about what’s new, what works, and what doesn’t. Creator of the Search Engine Showdown Web site, columnist for ONLINE magazine, and frequent speaker at international conferences, Notess will cover a wide range of search engine issues. Learn about the current size and scope of the search engine databases. Compare how recently the databases have been updated. Explore the range of material covered by Google, AllTheWeb, and the other remaining search engines, along with what is still not covered. Investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the various search engines along with recent changes. Conclude with consideration of the impact that all of this has on how to teach our users about search engines. Be sure to come prepared with you own questions about search engines.
Frank Cervone, Northwestern University Leading a project is a challenging task. Many of us never received formal project management training and have picked up techniques wherever we could. This workshop discusses how to plan and carry out your project to ensure its success. Learn about the art and technique of setting clear project requirements, preparing budget and cost estimates, defining critical paths, selecting development methodology, leading diverse project teams, creating project documentation, and enabling reporting and communication. Learn how to plan and carry out your project to ensure its success from the information professional perspective.
Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting Join Howard McQueen, international consultant and author of numerous articles on content management and on adding business value to intranets and extranets, for this full-day seminar. If you are interested in how content management, knowledge sharing, and portal strategies fit together, this is the place for you. By attending this seminar, you will: • Gain a deep understanding of Web content management, from A to Z. • Learn how to map critical business processes to create information architecture and content management strategies, which define the specifications for content management systems and successful tactical implementation strategies. • Become skilled at promoting knowledge sharing and content contributions, all within the framework of highly usable applications. McQueen will review “best-practice” interfaces that support customization, personalization, and advanced navigational systems. |
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