WORKSHOP 1

Information Audit: A Strategic Tool
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates
Bonnie Burwell, Burwell Information Services

The information audit is a critical first step in any knowledge management initiative. The purpose of any audit is to determine what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s in place and what’s missing. A successful information audit provides these answers, plus addresses the questions about an organization’s information processes and is the basis for information and knowledge strategies and objectives. This workshop focuses on providing participants with:

• an understanding of the scope and critical issues in an information audit
• the role of an audit within the organization’s context
• the steps entailed in an information audit
• a framework to begin designing specific audit instruments for use in their own organizations

Advanced Web Searching
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Greg Notess, Reference Librarian, Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Webmaster of Search Engine Showdown, & author of Government Information on the Internet

Isn’t it amazing how quickly things change? Having a hard time keeping up? Join the creator of Search Engine Showdown, an experienced searcher and writer, and explore the latest and greatest search capabilities of the largest Web search engines in this full-day workshop. As the Web grows, search engines mature, their databases change, and effective Internet searching becomes increasingly complex. To enable efficient information retrieval on the Web, this workshop covers Web search strategies and compares major Web search engines in terms of their databases and specifics on advanced search techniques. It includes what you need to know about Boolean, adjacency, and field searching; limits, customization and sorts; and other special features. The primary focus is on the largest Web search engines: Fast, Google, Inktomi partners, AltaVista, Lycos, Northern Light, with lesser coverage of Excite, Go, and any new and upcoming search engines. In addition, the workshop looks at the constraints of the search engines: inconsistent results, lack of overlap, and the significant hidden Web that they fail to cover.

Cost-Effective Online Research 
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Amelia Kassel, President, MarketingBase 

Cost-effective online research requires a keen knowledge and understanding of vendor and publisher pricing. Moreover, professional searchers must have more than a casual knowledge of features that enhance productivity and save money. Time is of the essence and searchers must be able to formulate targeted search strategies using the best sources possible, whether Web-based or commercial databases. Since many database producers distribute through various channels, it’s necessary to know the differences in both pricing and content when there is more than one choice. This half-day workshop by a business researcher specializing in market research, competitive intelligence, and worldwide business information since 1984 presents the latest in cost-effective and power searching—including strategies, techniques, tips, and sources that cover the best approach for achieving results. Kassel explains the pros and cons of free Web versus fee-based database research and why it’s important to use commercial sources for certain types of projects in order not to sacrifice confidentiality or privacy for price, while also covering her own expert searcher’s secrets for using both the Web and commercial databases. 

Teaching Technology, Inside and Out
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

D. Scott Brandt, Purdue University Libraries 

We are way past the point where teaching the Internet is a novelty. Now we need to make sure that we are effective in what we teach and how we do it. For those who have a short amount of time in which to teach both novice and experienced users, a systematic approach to staying on target is essential. This new and improved workshop shows you how to apply instructional systems design (ISD) to almost any information instruction setting. It focuses on how to identify important objectives to cover; integrate learning objectives and instructional strategies; incorporate conceptual understanding; build a learner-centered module of instruction; and determine how and when to include experiential learning exercises. Such an approach is useful for classroom settings, but is also a critical (and often overlooked) element of online delivery for distance learners or Internet/intranet-delivered training. Participants need not have experience in training or instruction, but possess a willingness to explore a structured way of thinking and working! Brandt, a.k.a. techman, is an award winning and internationally renowned presenter. 

Indexing: Open, Closed and for the Web
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Susan Klement, Partner, In a Nutshell, & Past President, Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada (IASC)

Today, indexing is one of an information professional’s most valued skills. Both novice and experienced indexers and other information professionals can benefit from a thorough understanding of the differences between and benefits of the two main systems of indexing, both of which can be used in Web applications. Open-system indexing is often called periodical indexing, while closed-system indexing is most closely aligned with book indexing, although the terms are not completely synonymous. Compare and contrast these systems in depth to broaden the scope of indexing projects you undertake in the future and to gather tips for applying these techniques to the Web. Participants will review specific examples and case studies and will take away a comparative chart and bibliography.

Surfacing Your Value: Are You a Value-Added Info Pro? 
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Mary Ellen Bates, Bates Information Services

We all know how much value information professionals bring to our organizations, but how do we make that value obvious to upper management? In this half-day workshop, Mary Ellen Bates will cover topics such as providing analysis and synthesis of information in order to enhance its usefulness to patrons, post-processing research results to enhance their value, using the reference interview as a marketing opportunity, and developing day-to-day strategies that demonstrate the value of info pros to our patrons and clients. 

Content Acquisition Strategies: Licensing and Negotiating for Success 
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Gail Dykstra, Dykstra Research
Corilee Christou, Director, Online and New Media Licensing and Development, Cahners Business Information 

The challenge of external content budgets, as well as the number of users of that content in many different types of organizations, demands a realignment of traditional library content acquisition strategies. Designed to cover the basics, this half-day workshop, given by two of the industry’s leading content licensing experts, provides an overview of the process and practical examples of how to be more effective content managers. The workshop focuses on aligning user needs with the right content and right products at the right price, including the content evaluation process (users, applications, sources, delivery media, vendors), setting objectives to guide the content licensing process (i.e., value to users, user support, interoperability, price, licensing tips and guidelines) creating a win-win partnership for vendor and user, especially understanding vendor needs, finding a strategic partner vs. a “vendor,” and negotiating skills. 

Blogging: Creating Instant Content for the Web
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Peter Scott, Internet Projects Manager, University of Saskatchewan

A blog or Weblog is a Web page containing brief, chronologically arranged items of information. A blog can take the form of a diary, journal, what’s new page, or links to other Web sites.

Collaboration is possible, so blogs can also be used on intranets and extranets. Attendees are shown examples of outstanding library-related blogs and are walked through the process of setting up their own blogs. Related concepts are discussed, i.e., how to upload files to servers via FTP, and how to embed their blog into other files. A Web page will be made available for permanent reference, containing links to online blogging services and tools. The presenter is an expert blogger, having created a number of services in both the library and commercial world.

Web Research Buffet
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Gary Price, Librarian, Gary Price Research and Internet Consulting, & Information Consultant, George Washington University
Chris Sherman, Associate Editor, SearchEngineWatch.com, & President, Searchwise

Join the authors of The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can’t See for a fast-paced workshop full of new ideas, new sites, new tools and concepts which will assist in making the Web a more valuable research tool. They begin the buffet with an appetizer of current awareness strategies and tools, then move on to a discussion of “future search” technologies, including what’s new with the Invisible Web. For the main course, they share “an around the Web” in 80 sites tour. Side dishes and dessert feature a round of “favorite tools.” Join the fun and have a full serving useful information, tips, and tricks from the experts!

WORKSHOP 11

Searcher’s Academy
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Host: Mary Ellen Bates, Bates Information Services

Faculty: Gary Price, Librarian, Gary Price Research
Richard Geiger, San Francisco Chronicle
Cindy L. Chick, Library Technology Coordinator, Latham & Watkins, & Co-Publisher LLRX.com
Doris Helfer, Technical Services and Science Librarian, California State University, Northridge
Irene McDermott, Reference Librarian/Systems Manager, San Marino Public Library
Sheri Lanza, President, Global InfoResources Inc. 
Bill Spence, CTO/Webmaster, Information Today, Inc.
Amelia Kassel, President, MarketingBase 
 

Want to sharpen your skills? Learn from the experts? Join search veterans, authors, and columnists from Searcher Magazine and the “Super Searcher” series of books to learn the latest strategies and techniques for searching online. Offered for the first time, this day-long event introduces you to the experts who share their searching secrets and expertise. Participants should have basic experience with Web searching, but even searchers with extensive Internet background will find something to polish and advance their skills. The morning covers

• General Web Search Engines: How to use them, when to use which, the value of advanced search features, trends in their development and stability.
• Browser Basics and Beyond: Tired of living under the Pareto rule – 20% of features get 80% of the usage? Find out what all those other browser features can do for you, the ones you barely know exist. Discover what plug-ins could really improve your productivity.
• The Right Results from the Right Sources in the Right Package: You’ve found what looks like an answer to your question. Now what do you do? Double-check the source using critiquing techniques taught in the Academy. Process results on the fly for efficient transformation into answer packages for e-mailing to clients.

Intranet Taxonomies and Metadata: Creating Them, Using Them 
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Marjorie Hlava, President, Access Innovations, Inc. 

Putting content on the Internet with a flexible, effective and easy-to-use interface requires a strong metadata set and accompanying taxonomy or taxonomies. Metadata and taxonomies are the two major components that allow for quick, easy navigation and excellent search results, and when they are linked to well-formed data, create the basis of successful sites. Several standards are in the process of being set, and many techniques have evolved to help achieve these goals. Learn about the Dublin Core Metadata, the INDECS data dictionary, the EPICS project, the latest BISAC initiatives, the RDF from W3C, and other metadata projects that can be used in your own Internet or intranet development projects. Taxonomy management deals with the core concern of content developers and disseminators—how to quickly convey meaning of a record or document so that it can be found precisely and accurately. Ambiguity is the ever-present enemy of clarity. Thesaurus (taxonomy) design and control provide tools and techniques for disambiguation. As a designer and developer of databases for over 20 years, the presenter discusses techniques for building and managing vocabularies and metadata and defines the various types of word control, including rules for distinguishing among different word control formats. Hlava also demonstrates an XML RDF solution for text management as an example of how these new standards can work together for an effective outcome. 

The eBook: Today and Tomorrow 
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Hope Tillman, Director of Libraries, Babson College, & President, Special Libraries Association 
Walt Howe, Internet Consultant, Delphi.com Forums 

As a technology the electronic book will evolve and morph, but it is inevitable that the eBook of today and its successors will change how people read, learn, and interact with information in this century. This half-day workshop covers the technology of the eBook, both as device and software, and the barriers and keys to its acceptance today. It looks at early library adopters and how they are providing access to eBooks. Companies providing current eBook solutions present their products and strategies. Whether it replaces the book bag, book stacks, or the book at the beach, the eBook is here. Join us for an exploration of the concept and the reality. 

Basics of Web Usability 
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Phil Goddard, Chief of Training, Development, and Delivery, Human Factors International 

Access and reuse of knowledge are at the core of KM, making usability a key contributor to success. This half-day workshop covers the essentials of Web usability — the science and art of making Web sites intuitive and easy to use. By the end of the workshop you’ll be able to: 

• organize content and function so users will find them 
• select the right site and page navigation model for your users 
• write text that is easy to scan or read online 
• add depth to your design using good color principles 
• choose a standard to increase design consistency 

A Librarian’s Primer on XML and Other “MLs”: Coping with the New Acronym Jungle as a Librarian Content Manager 
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Darlene Fichter, Data Library Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan
Frank Cervone, Director of the Office of Instructional Technology Development, DePaul University Libraries

Just when you have a good understanding of one type of document structure, along come some new ones. This primer brings you up to speed with the new formats and terminology and focuses on the practical applications of XML. This half-day workshop helps you find out what XML is and isn’t and how it relates to HTML and SGML; learn about XML markup, DTDs, schemas, namespaces, and stylesheets; understand the XML document life cycle, including marking up the document, parsing the document, processing, and transformations; examine XML applications such as SMIL, RDF, CDF, RSS, and DDI and learn about the implications for libraries; choose your XML site building tools: XMLNotepad, XML Pro, MSXML etc.; cut through the hype about XML and find out how this new language will (or will not) help with document creation, storage and retrieval.

Cool Tools – Personalized Search Portals and Metasearch Engines for Invisible Web Sites
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Péter Jacsó, Chair, Library & Information Science Program, Department of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Hawaii, & columnist for Information Today

The latest software tools allow the creation of vertical portals (vortals) that combine the convenience of predefined sites with the appeal of adding searchable Web sites of your own choice. The personalization—that does not require even HTML coding knowledge— allows the creation of launch pads that allow you to jumpstart searching different Web sites from a single page and view results side by side. This is particularly important when results from different databases must be compared. One step beyond are the customizable metasearch engines that now offer to search Web sites that are invisible to the spider programs of most Web-wide search engines, and run a query simultaneously across Web sites chosen from predefined subject categories. The ultimate in personalization is when you can define your own portals and metasearch tools to search Web databases that are not accessed by the common Web portals, search engines and metasearch engines. The workshop demonstrates the use of these sources using ready-reference sources, as well as indexing/abstracting, full-text and page image databases in library and information science and technology.

TechStorm: Technology Brainstorm and Environmental Scan – A Strategic Planning Facilitated Workshop
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Stephen Abram, Vice President, IHS Group/Micromedia Limited 
Jane Dysart, Principal, Dysart & Jones Associates

Does your team have trouble delivering one of the key building blocks of your strategic plan? When your group gets together to do the technology scan of your environment, do you worry that you’re only pooling your lack of knowledge about what’s coming down the pipe? Do you wish for a far-ranging but structured discussion with your colleagues to narrow the band of options? This interactive half-day workshop presents short sketches of key future technologies as well as facilitated discussion about each technology and its potential impact on libraries and information center operations. The quality of the discussion should be high—given that your fellow participants are committed to the objective. And, you get a potentially unique deliverable as the workshop leaders capture the discussions and produce a document to arrive in your hands after the conference that can serve as an environmental scan—virtually ready to insert in your strategic plan document and process. In order to deliver the personal and participatory nature of this workshop, space is limited to 30 participants.

Evidence Based Redesigns: Usability Testing and Evaluation Methods
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Darlene Fichter, Data Library Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan 
Frank Cervone, DePaul University Libraries 

Your library Web site needs to be redesigned. Where do you start? Start by finding out the strengths and weaknesses of your current system. Learn how to test out proposed revisions early and often so that the new design doesn’t just “look” better but also “works better” for users. Learn about techniques and tests that you can carry out to develop a better site, such as log file/usage analysis, to remote Web-based user testing, surveys and focus groups and to task-based testing. Gain experience with task-based testing by participating in the task-based testing exercise. Get up to speed on the latest findings from other library usability studies and studies of sites similar to libraries. Pack your toolbox and take home tips, techniques and samples of tests that you can immediately put to use to improve your library site day to day or put in place during a major site redesign.

How to Teach the Internet 
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Irene E. McDermott, Reference Librarian/System Manager, San Marino Public Library 

Most Internet-savvy librarians cringe when they see how their end users search for information on the Web. But how do you teach end users the skills and Web resources best suited to users’ needs and abilities? If you are faced with the prospect of teaching your users to search smarter, this course is for you. You’ll learn how to plan and deliver an effective Internet competency training program, together with tips and tricks that experienced trainers use to help learning stick after the class is over. Topics discussed include understanding the basics of adult learning styles, the Internet needs assessment, methods for planning effective content to meet training goals, getting the timing right and other areas of instruction. 

Free and Inexpensive Alternatives to Commercial Databases
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Péter Jacsó, Chair, Library & Information Science Program, Department of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Hawaii, & columnist for Information Today

Much of the content of many traditional fee-based abstracting and full-text databases can be substituted by free databases and aggregator services that provide the abstracts and often the full-text documents at no charge, while levying a much lower fee for the source documents than the traditional information providers. Many of the free resources deliver the documents in HTML and/or PDF format that in turn offer enhanced options such as charts, tables, photos, often in color and/or enlargeable graphic format that the traditional services often omit, as well as hot links to related documents and Web sites with additional information that the plain text digital versions and the print versions cannot offer. Innovative aggregators also provide enhanced links to the cited and even successive citing sources in the document collection and to dynamically updated external information resources. The workshop will demonstrate the variety of free and inexpensive scholarly and professional databases that can enrich the services offered by Internet-savvy information professionals for free or at much reduced costs.