DJ’s

Speaker:  Barrett Jones, Joint IMF World Bank Library

The session started with Barrett saying, "Librarians and the IT department should be friends!"  Barrett said he's worked at 10+ libraries and has never experienced librarians and IT staff working in perfect harmony.  He urged people to leave this session and start anew.

Barrett urged librarians to go to IT meetings to see what's happening in their world.  He spoke of IT departments bringing down systems with no notice – no change control communication.  If librarians go to IT meetings, they will finally know about scheduled outages.

He also urged librarians to stop the out of control emails and invite IT staff to a meeting. AND, think about dynamics when asking an IT staff member to a meeting.  It's an "our turf/your turf" mentality.  If you really, really want something, it's probably best to go to IT's location (dynamics are important)

When you go to an IT meeting, take notes – then when the meeting is over email your notes to everyone that was present at the meeting.

Barret stated that the reason for CIL is so librarians "can learn about technology, so they can go back and talk to their IT staff."

It was recommended that librarians know the basics – what's a server?  where is the IL server located?  Learning technologies will help you have a better relationship with IT staff

Also mentioned was the benefit of knowing the structure of your IT staff, be sparing about calling IT staff (take care of smaller trouble calls yourself), and subtract emotion when you call IT

I will also say that the words "working with IT staff can be sketchy" were used

My thoughts:  I just couldn't relate to this.  I have never worked in an IT position where I didn't have a good relationship with my clients.  I would hope that if any of these feelings exist at PPLD, please please let my director know, so it can be resolved!  Please!

Speaker:  Frank Cervone, Northwestern University

 I'll hit the highlights of the session -

Myths of Disaster Recovery Planning: 1) one recovery plan meets all scenarios, 2) testing the IT component is enough, 3) longer distance between sites means better disaster protection

Objectives of Disaster Recovery Planning: 1) ensure safety, 2) coordinate recovery activities, 3) recover critical business functions, 4) limit disaster related damages, 5) mitigate financial losses and legal liabilities, 6) minimize costs of recovery operations

Here are some questions Mr. Cervone asked us:  How prepared are you? Can you accurately say how quickly you could recover from a disaster? Do you have a remote backup site? If you lost your computer room, could you have it back up by tomorrow?  Do you know what one day of downtime would cost?  Do you know you recovery point objective?  Your time objective?  Do you have the luxery of being down a week?  A day? What are the systems? Where is the data?  What are the security threats?  What is our maximum recovery response time? What is the minimum we could move forward with? What is the highest priority? The difference between disaster recovery planning and business continuity planning was discussed. DRP is the recovery of IT systems. BCP is the process of getting the entire organization back on its feet. Can the plan be implemented? Is management really on board?  Do we have the people and resources we need?

**I'd like to point out that Mr. Cervone made note that a disaster is not always physical. A threat could be technical. It could also be human error – in fact that is usually the most common. They are often accidents.

Don't forget Crisis Communication in DRP. Identify a spokesperson in advance

My thoughts:  Disaster Recovery Planning is an ongoing task.  It does not end when one plan is formulated, tested, and documented.  Systems and resources change, and the plan should be tested again and again as our environment changes.

Speaker: Cynthia Hsieh, Head of Technical Services, University Library/University of the Pacific

Cynthia's lecture was titled "Learning from Our Mistakes, so that You Can Avoid Them"

Work Environment: 3 campuses, Cynthia was at the main campus with 4,500 students, the library systems staff consisted of one systems librarian and one part-time person. 

Objective: To migrate to a new ILS

They evaluated a few systems and selected Ex Libris because of its impressive 'side products'

Problems encountered: ExLibris was a fairly new vendor in North America (most clients were European), Pacific was one of the first libraries to migrate to ExLibris' new software version – they were the guinea pig, training was performed too early before their migration, didn't have enough resources, their IT department was not much help (it was pointed out that IT people tend to be hard to work with because many are arrogant)

My thoughts:  Though I thought the case study itself was somewhat interesting, I was expecting to learn project management plans with discussions about resource allocation, milestones, contingency planning, conflict and change management, and communication. 

Speaker:  Bill Helling, Crawfordsville District Public Library

They moved from a Carnegie library to a new library 3 times the size without adding staff.

There many challenges included: More floor space to cover, increased demand for computing access, increased circulation, larger area to light/heat/cool….

They now have an automated HVAC system that adjusts heating/cooling/lighting based on days/times

They standardized their PC builds. It sounded to me like they had different PC models with different software for patron use

*I appreciated the fact that the speaker recommended not just adding PCs with no strategy – AND, when purchasing software to select products with adequate vendor support*

They designed their new building to be as WiFi friendly as possible (lower shelving), and they now offer WiFi to patrons. Suggest staff training to assist with WiFi questions

VOIP phones are now used, but no benefits could be reported at this time

IM is now used as a communication tool instead of notes/stickies, since staff are more spread out in a larger building.  They used the introduction of IM usage to implement IM Reference.  They did have some staff that were hesitant to use the technology especially for Reference.  Mr. Helling suggests letting move savvy tech users be the mentor for other staff.  Let tech savvy staff use new technology first and show the successes in order to get buy-in from the rest of the staff.

Patrons can now find out which items are new via an RSS Feed.  Staff was compiling lists, but now the ILS vendor provides this information via an rss feed.

Promotion is very important. A new library is an expensive and often contraversial project. Blogging and RssFeeds area great ways to promote your library, and a great way to offer new technology before its demanded by patrons.

Podcasts are available for storytimes. Benefits: more than one person can listen at a time, stories can be downloaded

Mr. Helling also stressed that staff and public education is important

My thoughts:  Good session with good information. I enjoyed hearing a case study in which so much new technology was used – talk about a lot of challenges.  I'm interested in using IM as a collaboration tool (as long as the correct security measures are implemented) and using podcasts for a variety of things: Storytelling, poetry readings, oral histories – the possiblities are endless

 Speaker: Janie Hassard Hermann, Technology Instruction Librarian, Princeton Public Library 

"Reaching and Teaching a Tech-Savvy Public"

**The sound was very muddled in this session, so some info is missing – I just couldn't hear**

They have a "gadget garage" in their new library with things like digital cameras, mp3 players

They offer open "tech time" when people can come in and need help with software or hardware issues.  Maybe they're having a problem with Dreamweaver and need help – they come to Tech Time

They have monthly programs called DataBytes that appeal to a more advanced techie crowd. Their speakers are local techies

They also offer 1-2 advanced classes a month and have found they're very popular

How to get started? 

Create a Training Plan – include as much detail as possible

Write a Lesson Plan  – create a template, don't be afraid to borrow, create support materials for classes.  Lesson plan sources:  webjunction.org, learnthenet.com, seniornet.org

Train Staff or Volunteers – hire staff or recruit volunteers to help, train the trainer is essential, have practice sessions before going live

Recommended class size: 12-15 if hand-on computer class, 6-8 if gadget class

Promote! Promote! Promote! – create calendars, have press releases, appear in newsletters, network with computer clubs, negotiate for frontpage space on the library's website

! They now train 200 people a month – they teach PhotoShop to the public with a waiting list of 50 !

Ask for Feedback and Evalutations – and listen to your students

Compile stats!  Document testimonials!

Some classes they offer: PhotoShop, Sharing Photos Online, Downloading Audiobooks

My thoughts:  Great session – Janie is so enthusiastic about her work that it's contagious. She did make me think of the opportunities we have to train staff and public. She did say that this is a time-consuming process and takes years to build.  I'd like to see more staff and public courses.  The speaker's library didn't seem to have any limitations about when they could and could not use the computer labs for training.  I think evening classes would be a great way to reach patrons who work during the day. 

Speaker: Jeanne Holba Paucz

The speaker talked about ways in which librarians could expand their technology skills. Here's a list:  formal class or workshop, learn to teach technology workshops, read, ask friends, learn while heping a patron research technology-related questions, network, talk to vendors, play with hardware and software (look at help files!), ask for free trials, ask vendors if anyone local is using their software and if so talk to them

Remember: to filter – you don't have to know everything, to focus on what you think would be most helpful, to take initiative

Speaker: Lynn Westbrook, Assistant Professor, University of Texas

Ms. Westbrook began by talking about Second Generation Training for Digital Reference: It "draws on research in adult learning theory, digital communication, cognitive psychology, human-computer interaction, and social network theory"

some of the overarching quidelines discussed:  Quality ("develop a shared understanding via scaffolding"), Engagement (connect with the individual not the question), Instruction

Stages of the Reference Question were then discussed at length: Opening, establish information need, confirm and clarify question, conduct research, answer question, make sense of answer, close interview

I found the information very interesting, but it was information that I don't use on a daily basis. 

The first speaker had some good ideas about different ways to learn about technology – especially when $$ is a big issue. 

Speaker: Brian Pomeroy, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, http://futurewire.blogspot.com/

I felt this session distinguished between sustaining and disruptive technologies – focusing on disruptive technologies and the future of technology in general.  Sustaining technology was defined as steady – a linear improvement of existing technology. An example is a software upgrade.  Disruptive technology serves a unique service or function.  Examples are the telephone, printing press.

Present technologies that are being used: Digital music downloads, podcasts, satellite radio – instead of - listening to AM/FM radio, purchasing CDs, reading newspapers

*I could barely hear the speaker – the room was full and the sound was horrible. 

Brian breifly mentioned the future of pervasive technology in which everything is a computer and interacts with sensors and monitors everywhere.

The speaker also mentioned the Long Tail concept which is the idea that through technology we have moved away from mass-market hits and popular items and now have choices of items that are not so popular or are from a particular niche.  An example would be ability to purchasing music from a garage band instead of a mass-marketed CD, or ability purchasing an obscure book.  There some good info about the Long Tail at http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/opt/article.php/3498441 - good links to additional reading, too

Speaker: Marshall Breeding, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University, http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding/

This sessions was basically a wireless network basics discussion.  It was a great session, however, since this was not new information for me, I went to another session in progress.  Mr. Breeding's site is interesting. Definitely take a look.

Keynote speaker: Megan Fox, Web & Electronic Resources Librarian, Simmons College

Please check out: http://web.simmons.edu/~fox/pda/cil_06_fox_with_talking_points.pdf

All information discussed is in the pdf I linked to above.  I highly recommend reading it….some very good information.

Thoughts: having a website that is 'stripped down' for use with smart phones, using SMS text messaging as a virtual reference tool or to notify patrons of overdues, using RSS to alerts patrons of events or special messages, innovative use of podcasts for storytelling, poetry readings, lectures, panel discussions.