• Applying the guidelines for designing Web pages to conducting heuristics tests
• Effective logfile analysis
• Developing card sort activities
• Basic principles of usability testing
• Understanding how to conduct user analysis (surveys & focus groups)
• Making the data useful

Workshop W6 — Searchers Academy
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (FULL DAY)
MODERATOR: Mary Ellen Bates, Principal, Bates Information Service
FACULTY:
Gary Price, Co-Author, The Invisible Web, Creator of ReferenceShelf.com
Chris Sherman, Co-Author, The Invisible Web, & Associate Editor, Search Engine Watch
Greg Notess, Creator of Search Engine Showdown
Mary Ellen Bates, Author, Super Searchers Cover the World & Super Searchers Do Business

Want to sharpen your skills? Learn from the experts? Join search veterans, authors, and columnists from Searcher, ONLINE, and EContent magazines and the “Super Searcher” series of books to learn the latest strategies and techniques for searching online. This day-long event introduces you to the experts who share their searching secrets and expertise as they focus on the most current practices in the field. Participants should have basic experience with Web searching, but even searchers with extensive Internet background will find tips to polish and advance their skills. Academy topics include:

• Search Engine Mechanics—Pop the hood and look into the mechanics of all types of search engines with our search engine grease monkey.
• Searching the Invisible Web—How to find the hidden troves of deep information on the Web.
• Cool Search Tools: The best of the best Web resources.
• Choosing the Right Search Engine: When to use which engine and when to use the invisible Web, plus the value of advanced search features.
• Ask an Expert—An interactive discussion including favorite tips, target Web sources, and advanced techniques from the faculty and a chance to ask questions.

Workshop W7 — Web Managers Academy
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (FULL DAY)
MODERATOR: Darlene Fichter, Data Library Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan & President, Northern Lights Internet Solutions Ltd.
FACULTY:
Frank Cervone, Assistant University Librarian for Information Technology, Northwestern University
Peter Morville, President, Semantic Studios
Marshall Breeding, Library Technology Officer, Vanderbilt University
Jeff Wisniewski, Web Services Librarian, University of Pittsburgh

Web development is challenging. A range of technical and management skills are required to develop a great Web site. No matter what type of library or information service you manage and support, this full-day workshop provides a good foundation in:

• How to develop or redesign a site.
• Key checkpoints in a Web project life cycle.
• How to develop a solid and sustainable site architecture.
• How to demystify Web site standards and jargon.
• Solid tips for creating usable Web designs.

This information-packed full-day seminar hits the high points of strategic and practical milestones in the planning process for Web development. Learn about new and popular tools and technologies and examine Web architecture, design considerations, and usability. Look at the mechanics common to all Web sites, plus user testing, visual design, and cool new tools. Taught by experienced experts, this workshop is a good, 1-day crash course for Web development managers at all levels.

Workshop W8 — Web Management Strategies [CANCELLED]
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting

This half-day workshop focuses on 10 strategies for driving the management of a business unit or enterprise (private or government sector) intranet, extranet and/or Internet. These 10 strategies have universal applicability to Web management and include a number of examples of best practices from both the federal government and private sector.

Workshop W9 — Current Awareness Delivery Options
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Gary Price, Co-Author, The Invisible Web, Creator of Resourceshelf.com
Genie Tyburski, Web Manager, The Virtual Chase, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP

Electronic current awareness services are critical for users of all types of libraries and information services. This practical half-day workshop provides an overview of the many options for delivering specialized current information. Nationally known experts Price & Tyburski examine current awareness needs and choices from start to finish, look at strategies, tools, and resources for gathering new information, and investigate delivery technologies. Learn about the pros and cons of initiating such services via e-mail and Web-based newsletters, Weblogs, k-logs, and RSS/XML news feeds. Get up to speed on the latest techniques and thinking on this crucial topic.

Workshop W10 — Meaningful Measures: Defining & Doing
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates
Susan E. Whitehead, Associate Director, Competitive & Technical Information (CTI), Genzyme Corp.

Measures focus attention on what is being measured. Are you measuring what you want management to focus on? Is management’s attention on your value? Or on your costs, or your activities? This course helps you to define what you want to measure and focus on and to develop a framework as well as implementation strategies for an effective measurement system.

Workshop W11 — Make Learning Stick: Creating 5-Star User Centered Training & Instruction
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Michael Stephens, Librarian & Technology Trainer, St. Joseph Public Library & Blogger for Tame the Web
D. Scott Brandt, Professor & Technology Training Librarian, Purdue University & columnist for Computers in Libraries

This update of the poplar “Teaching the Internet in 60 Minutes” is taught by a dynamic duo representing both academic and public library backgrounds. It uses a building-block approach, emphasizing three methods to analyze and define user needs, a “sure fire” test to ensure measurable outcomes & objectives, simplified task analysis for breaking learning down into steps, a toolbox of strategies to make learning fun and interesting, and two approaches to demonstrate and reinforce learning. All examples used in the workshop come from successful Internet-related modules taught in both academic and public library settings. With theory made practical, demonstrations of real-world training and instruction, and in-class practice using these techniques, this workshop is not for the weak of heart—it’s energetic, fast-paced and highly interactive!

Workshop W12 — Professional Web Authoring XHTML & CSS
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Roy Tennant, Web and Services Design Manager, eScholarship Initiative, California Digital Library

This half-day workshop looks at the next logical step for Web-savvy folks on their journey to using XML. It provides a thorough grounding in XTHML tagging practices and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) so that attendees can immediately gain the advantages of separating structure from format, while providing a foundation for using XML in the future. The workshop is filled with examples, practical tips, and resources for launching you on your way to the future of the Web with a minimum of effort.

Workshop W13 — Web Team Best Practices [CANCELLED]
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting

In this interactive half-day workshop, the instructor sums up his experience working with Web teams over the last 8 years. Using real-world examples, he identifies six key challenges facing Web teams. He explores successful approaches to these challenges and engages the audience in a lively give and take on their successes and lessons learned.

Workshop W14 — RSS/Blogging 101
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Steven M. Cohen, Assistant Librarian, Rivkin Radler, LLP
Jenny Levine, Internet Development Specialist, Suburban Library System

Weblogs have exceeded all expectations for use in the library world, and RSS is sure to do the same. In this hands-on session, users not only learn the ins and outs of using Weblog software (i.e., Blogger, Radio, and Movable Type) and how to read RSS feeds via a news aggregator (i.e., Radio, Newzcrawler, and Syndirella), but have the opportunity to actually work with these products discussed! The instructors discuss how to set up a blog, review the positive and negative aspects of each blogging tool, and how to set up and use news aggregators in the easiest way possible. Please come with your questions and excitement as you get “ Bloggified” and “RSSified”!!!”


Workshop W15— Strategy, Architecture and the Future of Libraries
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Peter Morville, President, Semantic Studios

We can’t predict the future, but we can make better decisions today by engaging in strategic conversations that embrace the big here and the long now. In this highly interactive workshop, Peter Morville explains how lessons from business strategy and building architecture can inform the practice of librarianship, the design of Web sites, and the creation of agile organizations. We’ll take a close look at the latest research, trends, and technologies shaping libraries, information management, and the user experience. And we’ll engage in a scenario-planning exercise which draws upon the collective experience and insight of the workshop participants

Workshop W16 — New and Old: Finding the Latest News and Archived Web Pages
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Greg Notess, Creator, Search Engine Showdown

Efficient Web searching requires knowledge of both search engines and a variety of specialized sources. Two limitations of the general Web search engines are the lag time in getting recent information indexed and their inability to find pages as they used to appear. Fortunately, there are other tools and techniques for finding both the new and the old. Explore news search engines that cover traditional media, blogs, and RSS as well as the variety of tools and tricks for finding vanished Web pages using the Internet Archive or other tools.

Workshop W17 — Practical XML & XSLT
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Roy Tennant, Web and Services Design Manager, eScholarship Initiative, California Digital Library

This workshop turns up the heat on XML for those who are beyond an introduction and ready to learn how to do useful work with XML. Learn the basics about XSLT, the XML transformation engine, and how you can use it today to serve up XML-encoded information to standard Web clients in XHTML and CSS. You will learn about free software available to do these transformations, see demos of live applications, and come away with an understanding of the power and utility of XML and XSLT. This instructive half-day workshop illustrates the tools and techniques necessary to take advantage of XML in the library world.

Workshop W18 — Optimizing Web Sites for Search Engines [CANCELLED]
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Chris Sherman, Searchwise Inc.

Your library has a terrific Web site, yet it doesn't seem to get much traffic. Why not? With more than 8 billion Web pages, it's not enough simply to put your site on the Web and hope searchers will beat a path to your virtual door. It's crucial to apply search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to assure that your content has a
fighting chance of being found. This workshop introduces the basics of SEO, clearly delineating the differences between legitimate, ethical techniques and the shady tactics used by spammers to trick the engines. For those with limited time or budget, paid placement and paid inclusion programs are covered, as well as tips for selecting a SEO firm if you'd rather outsource the job to professionals.