2013 NEOS MINICONFERENCE

The 2013 NEOS Miniconference was held Friday, June 7 at the Robbins Health Learning Centre, Grant MacEwan University City Centre Campus, 109 Street and 104 Avenue. Program details and links to presentations are available below.

Keynote: Reminiscence: Ernie Ingles, Vice-Provost, and Director, School of Library and Information Studies

Integrated Library System Update: Sharon Marshall, Bibliographic Services Coordinator, University of Alberta Libraries

1A: Sirsi Booking Module: Whys & Hows of Use (9-215): Louisa Robison and Teresa Bendall, Alberta Government Library
A brief history/orientation to the circulating AV collection, starting with the clunky and out of date DOS based booking system and why it was so desperately in need of being changed will be presented. We will talk about our decision to acquire the Sirsi Materials Booking module and how we implemented it. We will finish with a live demonstration of how the booking module works in conjunction with the circulation and cataloguing modules, showing how to make bookings, check them out, check them in and what the reports look like.

1B: Information Literacy Research: Experiences and Results (9-217): Various including Darel Bennedbaek, Jorden Smith, Lisa Shamchuk, Anna Opryshko and Dana Ouellette
Former Research Assistants will share anecdotes of their experience working on a longitudinal research study about high school students’ readiness for post-secondary information literacy skills and expectations. Results will also be shared.

1C: Visualizations and GIS Application in U of A’s Digital Initiatives (9-218): Larry Laliberte and Peter Binkley, University of Alberta
After more than ten years of digitization, Peel’s Prairie Provinces has a wealth of digital content and rich metadata. We have a few projects in the works to present this content to our users in new and more engaging ways, using modern online tools. This session will showcase a few of these projects in the areas of data visualizations and geographical information systems, and outline some of our plans and hopes for future development.

2A: The Social Media Ringmaster: Managing the Library Message Across Platforms in the Social Media Circus (9-215): Hanne Pearce, University of Alberta, and Sarah Polkinghorne, University of Alberta
In less than a decade social media has become a mainstay in modern communications and libraries have taken it up enthusiastically. With multiple platforms now in wide use by the public, the work of maintaining a balanced message through social media is challenging work and at times it can feel like you’re the ringmaster at a circus! This session will explore some of the strategies being used by the Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences social media team to communicate with students and engage our users through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. I will share real-life examples of our successes and some thoughts on our “less-than successes”.

2B: Edutainment: Engaging Students Through Library Events (9-217): Kirsten Ng, University of Alberta
This past winter the Education Library at the University of Alberta collaborated with faculty in a series of art and technology events that created dynamic, active learning experiences for students. Find out how an art exhibit in the library space engaged students in active learning, how by hosting a life stories event by an Elder from the Arctic in the library students were given the opportunity to make personal connections to real life experiences rather than textbook content, and how an all-day technology event showcased visually compelling e-resources to support learning and teaching.

2C: You want to load those records now? Ebooks in the NEOS Consortium…(9-218): Mariana Paredes-Olea and Michael Betmanis, University of Alberta, and Sandy Stift, MacEwan University
The panel will discuss e-books (packages, single purchases, and free) from collections / acquisition through cataloguing / providing access through the NEOS catalogue.

3A: You’ve Gotta Fight for your Right to a Good Website (9-215): Dana Ouellette, Concordia University College
Often the most challenging part of any web-redesign project is not the technical work of redesigning your website, but rather getting permission to build the website that you know will best serve your users. I will talk about two different web redesign projects, discussing the essential skills you will need in order to successfully advocate for your library’s website. These will include the importance of information architecture to provide a clear vision of your web project, knowledge of web usability to provide an evidence-based case for your vision, as well as having the technical skills to develop a proof of concept to show what the execution of your vision will look like. Finally, I will tie the above skills together with some concrete and practical tips on how to use them in order to build important relationship with the decision makers of your organization and with your IT staff.

3B: It’s OK to Say “No” ( 9-217): Karen Hildebrandt, Concordia University College and Bonita Bjornson, King’s University College
“Laundry – separate the whites from colours”, “No you may not borrow a Kleenex, you can have one”….How do you determine when you’ve done all you can to answer a patron request? When is it ok to end the transaction? This session will provide tips to deal with the non-traditional service desk requests. Join Bonita, Karen and friends for an interactive session.

3C: Mired in Shades of Grey: Copyright Issues in Libraries (9-218): Eva Revitt and Scott Day, Grant MacEwan University
This session will examine the landmark copyright developments in 2012 and the opportunity it presents for re-examining copyright approaches in academic institutions and libraries. This session will look at user rights and the expanded options for educational use of copyrighted works. The effect of these changes on areas such as interlibrary loans, reserves, eReserve licensing, public performance rights, streaming video and ongoing conflicts between fair dealing and database contract terms will be discussed.

Maps and Information about MacEwan City Centre Campus:

Robbins Health Learning Centre
Parking at City Centre Campus
City Centre Campus site map
Information about MacEwan City Centre Campus
Location of MacEwan City Centre Campus

For more information, please contact a member of the NEOS Continuing Education Committee.