Saturday, April 28
6:45 a.m.-8:15 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. Registration Desk open
E1 8:45 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Keynote speaker - Jian Ghomeshi
10:00 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Exhibits open
10:00 a.m.-10:45 a.m. Coffee break
10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Registration Desk open
10:45 a.m.-12:00 noon Conference Sessions
F1. Harvesting the Western Canadian Web: Using Web Archiving to Create the Collections of the Future -Debbie Feisst and Sean Luyk
Websites come and go; it is the nature of the Internet. What do you do when the content of these sites are of social, cultural or educational significance to your current and future users? This session discusses the use of web archiving as a proactive approach to collection development in a digital age.
F2. QR Tags; the Smart Phone Library Connection - Shannon Vossepoel and Jim Dunbar
For smart phone users, QR Codes are a fast way to connect to information and services. For libraries, they're a powerful way to link patrons to diverse resources easily and inexpensively. QR Codes are also amazing ways to partner and broaden the reach of library resources.
F3. Memories Shared: A Partnership of Seniors, Teens, Schools and Libraries - Kathleen Troppmann
To commemorate the City of St. Albert's 150th birthday, St. Albert Public Library designed a project that would capture some of the city's history by having teens interview local seniors about their lives. The resulting documentary is a legacy of our past and a celebration of our youth. Funded by a New Horizons for Seniors Grant, the project was led by local seniors and involved three school boards and the Library.
F4. Make It Fun!: A New Day for Library Service - Cathy Freer-Leszczynski and Pilar Martinez
Creativity and play have an ever-increasing role in the design of meaningful library experiences for both staff and customers, as Library landscapes become more dynamic and complex. In a highly competitive environment, libraries are challenged to develop new models of service to delight and inspire customers. Come play with Cathy Freer-Leszczynski,Calgary Public Library, and Pilar Martinez, Edmonton Public Library, who will demonstrate in their presentation how FUN fits into emerging models of customer service.
F5. Candy Everybody Wants – Play as a Means of Feedback and Systems Design - Leeanne Morrow and Susan Beatty
From two projects aimed at soliciting feedback about systems design, we learned that everybody really just wants to have fun. Come and learn how to inject some original thinking, entertainment, and joy into the feedback you receive. Our discussion is perfect for anyone encountering apathy or negativity when it come to feedback and idea generation.
F6. Finding Out What Library Customers Want! - Holly Arnason
Learn about Edmonton Public Library's daring study of customer questions - on the desk, by phone, and electronically. Do common public library service models and systems unwittingly create situations where customers get stuck? And what did EPL do about it?
F7. Finding Friends with Megaphones: Library Marketing from Social Media to the News Media - Gail Hulnick
How do public libraries get their news in front of mainstream media reporters using Facebook, YouTube and Twitter? What works and what is ignored? In this seminar, Communications Consultant Gail Hulnick explores the most recent information about the connections between the mainstream news media and social networks, with a focus on the ways that library marketing and public relations efforts can benefit from a strategy that embraces both.
F8. Rebuilding the Slave Lake Library: Surviving Tragedy and Lessons Learned - Linda Duplessis, Deborah Kendze, Marilyn Cavanagh and Diana Davidson
When wildfires swept through Slave Lake in May, 2011, the Rotary Club of Slave Lake Public Library burned to the ground. Despite the devastation, mechanisms kicked in quickly to help the library begin the long process of rebuilding. The experiences and perspectives of the library manager, new board chair, regional library system, and Public Library Services Branch will be shared, along with recommendations to help libraries prepare for disaster.
F9. Leadership Through Learning -Toby Rabinovitz
In an environment of growing service demands, tighter budgets and complex challenges, libraries need top-notch leaders to navigate challenges and sustain their operations. This session will explore the attitudes, skills and knowledge (A.S.K) required to be an effective leader within the library community. Individuals will have the opportunity to assess their own leadership capacity and identify their own learning opportunities.
F10. Rural Libraries: Service Off the Beaten Path - Deborah Cryderman
This presentation explores the inequities and challenges in library service faced by rural libraries, including funding, education and training for staff, access to reliable technology, and more. The presentation will conclude with an overview of the Rural Library Manifesto developed as part of a School of Library and Information Studies class at the University of Alberta.
12:00 noon-1:15 p.m.Lunch
1:15 p.m. Exhibits close
1:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Conference Sessions
G1. Standards and Best Practices, Plans of Service and Statistics: iPlanning for the Future - Patricia McNamee, Kerry Anderson and Ken Feser
Do you know how your library is serving the community? Do you know if your library is meeting the community's needs? Do you know what you are going to do to provide library service over the next few years? Library consultants from Public Library Services Branch will provide you with a "Management Toolkit" which covers best practices, planning, and service monitoring, to help you deliver the best possible public library services to your community. This session is designed for trustees, library managers and staff.
G2. Challenged! How to Handle a Request for Reconsideration - Deborah Cryderman and Sharon Thompson
All libraries need to be prepared to handle a book challenge. Large public libraries often have well-established policies and procedures in place, but small public libraries and school libraries are sometimes caught off-guard when a challenge occurs. We intend to discuss the kinds of challenges that are most common, the policies and procedures that need to be in place, request for reconsideration forms, and how you actually handle a challenge. As well, we will discuss dealing with the press and offer resources and contacts to help library staff and boards through this process. Last year, our Naughty, Nice, or Nixed session discussed censorship and book challenges in a more philosophical sense. This year we want to give participants the tools they need to deal with a challenge should it ever occur in their library.
G3. If You Build It, They will Come: Growing our OverDrive Collection - Beth Norris and Terra Plato
Two years after establishing the first completely shared collection within the system, Chinook Arch librarians will recap their journey into the world of e-books, audiobooks, and OverDrive. The session will cover how we have approached collection building and challenges in a regional library system environment, customer service and education, and how we plan to chart a successful, sustainable future with these new formats.
G4. Going Mobile: 7 Things You Should Know About Mobile Service Provision in Libraries - Robyn Hall and Anne Marie Watson
From text message reference services to QR codes and mobile-friendly resources and tools, both public and academic libraries are striving to integrate mobile technologies into currently-offered services to better meet user needs. Although these initiatives are largely beneficial to users, they are not always easy to implement and maintain. This session will address a number of things library staff need to know about ‘going mobile’ in their libraries, based on the experiences of the presenters and a broad review of Canadian public and academic libraries’ mobile offerings.
G5. Patron Driven Acquisitions @ MacEwan - Richard Hayman and Sandy Stift
In this session, the presenters will share the many successes and challenges experienced in implementing and delivering Patron Driven Acquisitions (PDA) as part of MacEwan's e-book collections procedures. The greatest impact of the project to date is that we are now purchasing e-books that we know are actually used by our patrons. We will also highlight the statistics collected as part of PDA and our analysis of titles purchased. MacEwan has learned many lessons that will benefit other libraries considering these types of initiatives, so please join us as we consider next steps and the future of e-book patron selection at MacEwan.
G6. The Digital Closet: How Internet Filtering Technologies Suppress Access to Information by, for, and about Sexual and Gender Minorities - Alvin Schrader (Lorne MacRae Intellectual Freedom Lecture)
Web filtering software in libraries and schools is common, yet product performance is poorly tested and evaluated. This lack of due diligence by institutional managers is evident in the treatment of digital information by, for, and about sexual and gender minorities. Many Internet filters are engineered to discriminate deliberately, and often secretly, against the online information needs of LGBTQ communities and their allies, even though such digital content is constitutionally protected. This is perhaps not surprising, given the conservative biases of some software owners, with political agendas designed to control and suppress “objectionable” content and images on the Internet. Censorware critics often focus on the design defects of these products, because filters both overblock and underblock. However, a far more powerful explanation of their shortcomings is found in the very nature of human language and how language is indexed for retrieval. This session examines the censorware phenomenon and the ways in which the politics of fear and the brute force of technology trump access to LGBTQ voices on the Internet.
G7. In the Spotlight: Designating and Training your Media Spokesperson - Gail Hulnick
Even in a Facebook and YouTube world, mainstream media coverage can bring your library attention and credibility that will turbo-charge your efforts to serve your community, raise funds, or deliver your message. Join Communications Consultant Gail Hulnick in this interactive session that will help you learn how to choose the best media spokesperson for your library and how to give him or her the skills and strategies needed to build relationships with the media and the community.
G8. Alberta Education School Library Services Initiative Update - Judith Sykes Fact Sheet
Find out what's new with Alberta Education’s School Library Policy/Guidelines development and the subsequent development of digital and networked support resources for implementation: licensing, access models, and in-services.
G9. What Do Henry and Martha Think of the Public Library?: Albertans’ Perceptions of the Public Library - Ernie Ingles and Tami Oliphant
Each year researchers at the Population Research Laboratory at the University of Alberta conduct a public opinion survey of Albertans on behalf of university and policy researchers. In the 2011 Alberta Survey, the School of Library and Information Studies and the Alberta Public Library Service Branch co-sponsored survey questions about Albertans’ perceptions of public libraries and library services. The purpose of this session is to share the results of this survey with the broader library community and to generate discussion about what Albertans think library workers are doing well and ways to improve programs and services.
G10. The Library Experience - Carmel Gatt
This session will explore what turns library buildings into library experiences. Find out how physical space can go beyond the utilitarian, even with tight budgets, and how the physical environment can be manipulated to give identity, generate a sense of place, and help create community.
2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Coffee break
3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Conference Sessions
H1. iSchool Library: Great Apps for Students, Teachers, and Librarians - Mary Medinsky
With the flood of mobile devices found in schools around the province, teachers and librarians are looking for apps that "work" in an educational environment. Hear about great apps for education, and examples of how they are being used in school settings to improve productivity, mobile literacy, and fun in the classroom!
H2. iSelect – Developing E-Collections That Make Patrons Want to Run Out and Buy a Reader - Lori Krupa, Jocelyn Badley and Tricia Prosser
You’re in charge of your e-collection. Don’t go it alone! Strathcona County Library’s e-selection team will share strategies that will have staff and patrons excitedly checking in, and actively checking. E-reader Petting Zoo included.
H3. iU&me: Digital Citizenship - Gerald Logan and Marian Logan
What is digital citizenship? What are the implications of a digital world for your patrons? In this session, you will learn about the components of digital citizenship and some practical programs that you can use to prepare your patrons.
H4. iPad Apps for Learning - What You Should Know - SESSION CANCELLED
Attendees who had chosen this session may attend another session of their choice.
H5. Meeting Users in Their Space: Expanding Library Services into Social Media - Kristian McInnis
The SAIT Library is striving to meet users in their space, wherever they are and however they choose to reach us. Emphasizing free or low-cost options, Jim and Kristian will touch on a variety of resources, from major networks we all know to niche players you'll want to learn about, for integrating social media with your library services. Participants will gain an understanding of the social media landscape and how to effectively integrate and manage content for a variety of media platforms.
H6. Reflect, Revitalize, Re-Energize: Lessons in Renewal for Library Boards - Carol Suddards and Brent McDonough
Is your Board lacking vitality or running on minimal energy? Are you experiencing difficulty recruiting volunteers or in need of renewed energy and enthusiasm? If so, this is the session for you and your fellow trustees. Learn about generative governance, effective meetings, recruitment and orientation techniques, and ways to measure your successes. You will take away ideas, tools and strategies to assess where you are at today, what needs to be done, and how you can bring new life to the work of the board. Come as an individual, a group or a whole board!
H7. Advocacy is the Name of the Game - Mary O'Neill
This session will help you find out what you are advocating for, figure out to whom you should be advocating, know when is the best time for advocacy, discover where you should be advocating, and calculate when you should "just do it!"
H8. Public Library Services Branch Update - Diana Davidson, Bonnie Gray and Grant Tolley
Diana Davidson, Bonnie Gray and Grant Tolley will update you on initiatives underway at the provincial Public Library Services Branch. PLSB is involved in a number of initiatives, including working with APLEN to implement a provincial technology plan and leading development of an integrated library policy focused on achieving seamless access to library resources for all Albertans. Come hear about these initiatives as well as ongoing work the branch does to fund and support the provincial library network!
H9. Human Resource Management in your Library - Jay Archibald
There are key steps required to effectively manage your staff; this session will cover the do's and do not's of all things human resources that will affect your library. From hiring the right employee to performance reviews and compensation to employee discipline and termination, the importance of understanding and preemptively acting on the risks associated with employee management is key to ensuring that your library is legally protected when it comes to employee matters.
H10. Building Community Through Inclusive Learning - Outreach in a Library Setting - Virginia Clevette, Marian Enow and Jared Tkachuk
This session will discuss the development of the “Building a Safer Community through Inclusive Learning” project and the partnership with the Boyle Street Community Service, including an outline of the strategic plan and outcomes to date. Finally, a portion of the presentation will include a presentation of the experiences of an outreach worker involved in the project.
6:00 p.m. Closing Dinner and Social
L1 8:00 p.m. Author Talk: Marina Endicott
L2 8:00 p.m. Wine Tasting
L3 9:00 p.m. Dance
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