“Discovery” services, a single and unified index of a library’s holdings across multiple media, are becoming the primary online face of library services, and library websites have evolved with them. This cybertour shares one library’s experience with a discovery service, EBSCO’s EDS, and its effects on the library website. It also compares these changes to those made by other academic libraries, and talks about best practices in the industry.

Join our globe-trotting information industry watcher and hear some of the latest strategies and directions that public libraries are taking. From small to large libraries, you are sure to take away some insights and ideas for your library!

With the information evolving in new and different ways, our spaces also have to evolve. Hear our creative and sought after space creator, share tips and insights for planning your spaces!

Sometimes technology is about opportunities and sometimes it is about implications. Murphy discusses three tech areas that provide opportunities for library service and implications for the library environment: Mobile Messaging apps, wearable technologies -- the extension of the smart devices, and the Internet of everything. Learn about what these technologies mean for libraries and reveal about the near future.

Online privacy is a frequently discussed topic not only by librarians but now by the media and the general public. Price shares several tools that can help keep your work and what you do online as private as possible. Alerting library users about online privacy and teaching them about tools that can assist in making what they do more private, is a passion for Price. The tools, web resources, and tips make for an excellent presentation to share with your colleagues and the general public.

The entire education field is in the beginning stages of dramatic transformations and academic libraries are starting to evolve in new and different ways. Hear some exciting strategies that academic libraries are beginning to pursue as they transform their models and services.

Make space and make use of space to entice, encourage and envelop your staff colleagues as well as your user community. Finding new homes for content no longer needed or not appropriate for current and future needs (can we say weeding?!) is a good thing to help make that space even when there is no money to go digital big time. Get some tips and ideas!

A virtual idea board is a tool intended to capture ideas that anyone working in the library, including assistants, have access to anytime and anywhere. This cybertour discusses the process for developing the virtual idea board, its structure and capabilities, as well as the management processes involved from idea generation to potential implementation. Best practices and helpful features based on a pilot are shared to you can build your own tool and encourage an innovative library workplace.

Digital storytelling has been used often for educational purposes, as well as for presenting public or personal events or even biographies. Short storytelling has a great potential for advertising purposes of many services or resources in the libraries. This cybertour shares ideas that have been utilized in library digital stories, and discusses other uses of digital stories in the library world.

Systems and IT specialist for libraries, Cervone shares the six technologies that will affect your library this year.

This cybertour discusses the changing results from studies of academic library practitioners. The first in 2007 found that user characteristics and learnability were the top two Web usability attributes. The follow-up study in 2011 showed library practitioners’ emphasis on Web usability had changed to interface/design and effectiveness. Get practical strategies and methods on how libraries can address Web usability with mobile and innovative devices, and useful techniques for thoughtful Web design and quality Web usability testing.

Collaborating with scholars or colleagues, or to manage a project, requires infrastructure. This cybertour presents an overview of current popular collaboration tools and their advanced features, especially those which are free or open source meaning they are readily available: Google Docs, Draft, Primarypad, My Simple Surface, Titanpad, and more. Filled with lots of tips and tricks.

Today’s digital “gathering places” include popular hangouts like Facebook and Twitter, and many libraries are there, too. King discusses why libraries use those sites, which sites are important, how much time should be spent there, and what strategies can be used to turn them from an interesting toy to useful tool.

Library staff face a constant stream of new technologies to explore and evaluate. Get a refresher on how to learn a new technology or tool, and how to take what you’ve learned and pass it on to the public and other staff. Filled with lots of tips!

Learn what personas are and why they are important for improving your website and your services. It’s all about understanding users, their values, motivations and relationships. Hear how you can use them in your community.

This cybertour provides a look at the rapidly growing landscape of subscription-based or free all you can read, listen, view, etc. content providers. It discusses what it might mean for libraries going forward as they curate the collections they make available to users.