The 2009 NEOS Mini-Conference was held June 13, 2009. In honour of NEOS’ 15th birthday, the theme for this mini-conference was NEOS: Past, Present, and Future. The conference was held in the 105 Street Building at Grant MacEwan College’s City Centre Campus.
An update of the integrated library system was hosted by Sandra Shores from the University of Alberta.
The Plenary Session: NEOS: Back to the Future was hosted by Dan Mirau, Concordia University College, and Kenton Good, University of Alberta
Map It! was hosted by Virginia Pow, University of Alberta, and Martina King, University of Alberta. A map can be worth a thousand words. This session explored ways to create maps or to display geographic data, without expensive GIS software.
Top Ten Tips on Leadership was presented by Bob Graves, MacEwan. This session contained suggestions for enhancing leadership skills.
Roving Reference: The MacEwan Experience in Three Acts by Sandy Stift, MacEwan, and Jessica Knoch, MacEwan. In keeping with a changing philosophy towards proactive reference service, roving reference was chosen as a way to revitalize reference provision at Grant MacEwan College Library. Staff examined the MacEwan College Library Roving Reference Experience.
Service and Access with the Symphony Upgrade by Shelley Brown, University of Alberta, and Lilla Lesko from the University of Alberta. This session provided an overview of what was different after the symphony upgrade, what new features were now available and what glitches from the old version were fixed.
The Effect of Misspellings on Information Retrieval in an Online Public Access Catalogue: Students’ Experience with the NEOS Catalogue by Becky Willson, MacEwan. University of Alberta students were asked to search the NEOS catalogue for easy- or difficult-to-spell topics. Students were then interviewed. The spelling difficulty affected student search behaviours, as well as the number misspellings and unsuccessful searches. Results indicate that students search the catalogue like they do the Internet. The results obtained had implications for cataloguing and catalogue design.
A Rough Guide to LibGuides by Sona Kothari, Red Deer College, and Nadine Anderson, Red Deer College. Red Deer College Library uses LibGuides, a web content management and information sharing system designed specifically for Libraries. Their session provided information on how to use LibGuides to collaboratively create web-based subject guides for students and instructors. These guides are perfect for use at the reference desk or in library instruction classes.
Tips and Tricks for Cataloguing in Symphony by Jane Starr, Alberta Government Libraries, and Sharon Marshall, University of Alberta. “Java Tips & Tricks” sharing session for NEOS cataloguers. This was an opportunity for cataloguers to share tips, toolbar customizations and shortcuts they have developed using the Java client for their cataloguing work.
Crossing Over: The Synergy of Working in both Public and Academic Libraries by Katherine Koch, MacEwan, and Jennifer Cameron, MacEwan. Katherine and Jennifer discussed their experiences of working in both Public and Academic libraries. Discussion included how librarians experience the transition from one context to another and how these diverse working experiences can enriched professional lives.
How Can I Help You? : Assessing Library Services for Persons with Disabilities by Karen Hildebrandt, Concordia University College. Academic Libraries strive to give the best possible service to all patrons but do they meet the needs of persons with disabilities? This session showed the process the library staff of Concordia University College of Alberta went through to assess their library services, implement changes and plan for future improvements.