Webcast by Library Journal: Self-service

The next webcast by Library Journal is: "Self-Service in Libraries: Lessons to Be Learned from the Retail World"
(SPONSORED BY: NCR and Integrated Technology Group, and Library Journal
Thursday, February 17, 2011– 12:00 PM EST – 60 minutes)

To register, visit http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/toolswebcast/888885-388/self-service_in_libraries_lessons_to.html.csp

NCR, the world leader in self-service technologies has helped more than 150 retailers in over 25 countries achieve cost efficiencies and improved customer service through self check-out. Company experts will share valuable lessons learned from studies done in retail environments covering:

• Customer Experience: Human Interaction and Reaction
• Optimized Placement and Configuration
• Target Utilization
• Dashboard Metrics to Measure Success

Panelists:

Monica Hachem, Solution Marketing, NCR Corporation
Monica has worked exclusively with self-service technologies for the last 13 year. She will discuss consumer trends and their impact on self-service adoption as well as share experiences in self-service from multiple industries.

Jennie Johnson, Human Factors Engineering, NCR Corporation
An expert in optimizing the consumer experience and operationalizing self-service for several industries, Jennie will focus on Best Practices for a successful self-service implementation.

Moderator:
Shai Robkin, President and CEO, ITG
Co-author of the “Radio Frequency Identification Handbook for Librarians“(Libraries Unlimited, 2007), and an early identifier of the power of RFID technology for libraries.

Special Guest Submission: Lydia Spotts

Make time for conferences

Just a few notes on two conferences I attended this winter:

2010 Indiana Library Federation (ILF) Annual Conference (November 15-17, 2010, Indianapolis):
“Libraries Rock!”

ILF http://www.ilfonline.org/

What luck to have the conference here in Indianapolis, just a brisk walk east of campus. No travel or lodging expenses, and by volunteering, your ALISS president and I were able to pay just half of the normal student conference rate.

The ILF conference was a great opportunity to see what’s important to Indiana libraries, what challenges they face, and what practicing professionals are sharing and discussing. An ideal conference to attend when you are nearing graduation and looking for an in-state job, but also excellent if you’re not sure which path to take in the field. It is a great way to learn about different aspects of working in a library and chat with librarians with diverse experience. Many SLIS-Indy faculty were in attendance and several IUPUI University Library professionals gave presentations.

A sampling of sessions:

“Libraries in the Age of iTunes: What Are We Losing?”
-Head of the Music Library at Northwestern University presented challenges facing libraries as increasingly more recordings are being issued exclusively as digital downloads, with licenses that restrict purchasing and lending; more and more music is unavailable to library users (like the “Up” soundtrack), and this isn’t just about music (think i-Tunes only released videos, e-book only novels like Stephen King’s Ur); how will libraries continue to be able to develop and preserve unique recording collections? Several possible approaches were presented; The First Sale Doctrine and implications of Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc. were discussed.

“Google Book Search and the Google Book Settlement: What’s Coming and What’s Not”
-Overview on the Google Book Settlement and GB Search impact on library collections and services; “legal niceties and intellectual freedom implications of the deal for privacy and access along with the threat of a little corporate censorship.” Check out this “What If” Options Flow Chart and these additional resources:
Google site: http://books.google.com/googlebooks/legal.html
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Book_Settlement
ALA main GBS page: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/copyright/googlebooks/index.cfm

“Be a Rock for New Immigrants: Outreach to Spanish Speakers”
-tips on programming and outreach, building a Spanish language collection, staff awareness/training, and making the library environment navigable and welcoming to non-English speakers

“Lean on Me: Using a Peer-to-Peer Teaching Exchange to Carry on Classroom Instruction”
-how IUPUI academic librarians benefitted from collaborating, observing each other when providing classroom instruction, and providing feedback to improve teaching

“What ‘Accidental Marketers’ Need to Know”
-basic marketing skills as well as advanced tactics for librarians who find themselves doing PR and marketing as part of the job, but never had formal training

“Your Library on Twitter: Opportunities & Advantages for Outreach & Instruction”
-using Twitter not just to promote services, programs, and resources but also to “listen” to and better serve patrons- what books, movies, and activities are they Tweeting about?

The 2011 ILF conference will be in Fort Wayne.

2011 Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Annual Conference (January 4-7, 2011, San Diego): “Competitiveness & Innovation”

ALISE http://www.alise.org

What is ALISE? “… a non-profit organization that serves as the intellectual home of university faculty in graduate programs in library and information science in North America. Its mission is to promote excellence in research, teaching, and service and to provide an understanding of the values and ethos of library and information science. ALISE serves 500 individual members and more than 60 institutional members, primarily in the United States and Canada.”

Doctoral student poster session: this more informal session was an opportunity for doctoral students to display works in progress and get feedback, as well as a great opportunity to network and see what others are researching.

Keynote Session: “Big, Complex, Demanding, and Competitive: The Road to Library and Information Science Education in the 21^st Century,” Jorge Reina Schement, Rutgers University

-this speaker had some great points about how to create a sustainable LIS future. A brief summary: the university is no longer a quiet place to research, it is big, complex, demanding, and competitive. We have to create an effective business model for our programs because the historic public commitment to supporting higher education is at risk. Demand is up and support is down. Cost of university is up and income of students is down. There is an influx of diversity in the student body, while the faculty remains more static. LIS is an aging, white profession, and we need to change for the future with aggressive recruiting, marketing, and by developing independent financial profiles. We must fund ourselves instead of relying on traditional models or playing the “victim.” We must craft and project a narrative of value, service, and leadership.

Example sessions:

“Using Technology to Prepare LIS Students for an Increasing Collaborative Workplace”
-techniques for using collaborative technologies in online and f2f courses, what works and what was learned from what didn’t (Dr. Copeland co-presented with Denise Agosto of Drexel)

“Electronic Portfolios for Program-Level Learning Outcomes Assessment”
-the results of an e-portfolio pilot study at IU-Indy; using an e-portfolio system to “assess student-learning outcomes for program-level evaluation” (Dr. Applegate and Dr. Irwin)

“Innovating Approaches to Archival History: Bureau of Archives and U.S. Colonialism in the Philippines, 1989-1916”
-presented the analysis and chronicles development of Bureau of Archives in the Philippines; suggests how historical episodes can inform training of archivists

“Archival Representation in the Digital Environment: The Relevance of the Principle of Original Order”
-how archivists can be innovative in representing digital archives for access and stay competitive

“Cultural Heritage Preservation Education: Innovating the Past; Competing for Identity”
-an eight person panel to review current efforts to make cultural heritage preservation training part of LIS curriculum at multiple institutions

“WHADDYA MEAN, THIS ISN’T RESEARCH?” Implications for Teaching Research Methodologies to MLIS Students”
-challenges encountered in teaching LIS research methods to mater’s students and implications for IS curriculum

“Impact of the Evergreen Library Automation System on Public Library Users” (Albee and Chen)

“The Public Library Catalogue as a Social Space: A Case Study of Social Discovery Systems in Two Canadian Public Libraries”

The 2012 conference will be in Dallas, Texas.

I’d be happy to talk to anyone interested in attending conferences or hearing more about those I have attended thus far.

Lydia Spotts lcspotts@iupui.edu

Library Journal Webcast

Library Journal hosts webcasts. The last one in the series was about Readers Advisory. The first two speakers provided some nice, concrete ways to improve readers advisory services for users, particularly in a public library setting.

Libraries are Essential: Providing Core Services for Readers Webcast
Sponsored by EBSCO/NoveList
The original event was broadcast on:
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM EST
Duration: 60-minutes
http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=274042&s=1&k=BDD9BF00446DBEC434A1BF9706713473
You can view the event archive at the link provided above.

Additional information about their webcasts -- upcoming and archived -- can be found at http://www.libraryjournal.com/csp/cms/sites/LJ/Tools/Webcast/index.csp