Moderator: Mary Ellen Bates, Principal, Bates Information Service

Faculty: Gary Price, Co-Author, The Invisible Web, Creator of Price's List of Lists & Direct Search
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.
• Practical Research Tips and Techniques.
• 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 2 – Web Managers Academy
 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (FULL DAY)

Moderator: Darlene Fichter, Data Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan

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. It requires a range of technical and management skills 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
• Demystifying Web site standards and jargon
• Solid tips for creating usable Web designs

Workshop 3 – Digital Library Collections & Services: Landscape & Strategies
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Roy Tennant, Web & Services Design Manager, eScholarship Initiative, California Digital Library

Are you trying to cope with both paper and electronic worlds? Who isn't? Join the crowd. By attending Roy Tennant's workshop, you will:

• Get a quick overview of the current landscape for electronic information
• Spot trends that will help you prepare for the future
• Learn survival strategies for your library and its information services.

Workshop 4 – Information Architecture & Content Management: Two Sides of the Same Coin
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Peter Morville, President, Semantic Studios

So, your company now has both an information architect and a content manager. How can the two of you effectively work together to get the job done? Peter Morville provides the answer in this provocative workshop. Information architects design search and navigation systems to power the user experience and content managers integrate tools and processes to drive the publisher experience. This workshop will help you identify your common ground. Both sides of your house need to be concerned with content definition, quality, structure, and metadata. Using case studies and examples, Morville will show you how information architects and content managers can exploit common business goals, strategies, practices, and governance models for mutual advantage. He explores the links between XML schema and navigation, and the role that content management systems such as Interwoven and Epicentric play in defining solutions for access and personalization.
 

Workshop 5 – Strategies for Improving the Business Value of Your Intranet
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting
Jean E. DeMatteo, McQueen Consulting

This half-day workshop is a case study on how an international consulting firm of 5,000 employees used the balancing perspectives of governance, information, and technology to drive improvements in business value on its intranet. The workshop discusses the methodology used, the objectives, and the recommendations, which focus on information management, information architecture, human resources, change management, and the adoption of communities of practice. The workshop also suggests a user-centric implementation plan that addresses the bottoms-up approach to generating user buy-in. Attendees who work for business units and/or enterprise teams that are seeking to improve the value of their intranets will find this interactive course highly valuable.
 

Workshop 6 – Information Audit: Getting Started
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

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

The information audit is a critical first step in any needs assessment or 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 will provide these answers, plus address questions about an organization's information processes, becoming the basis for information and knowledge strategies and objectives. This half-day workshop provides participants with a brief overview of the steps involved in an audit, as well as:

• An understanding of the scope and critical issues in an information audit
• The role of an audit within an organizational context
• A starting point for initiating an audit within your organization

Workshop 7 – Virtual Reference 101: A Planning Primer
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Steve Coffman, VP, Product Development, Library Systems and Services LLC
Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates

Virtual reference services—live, real-time reference services over the Internet—are hot topics and hot projects for the library profession. However, planning and implementing these services require much more effort than just selecting a software package. This workshop suggests a framework for using in working through the entire process of designing, implementing, and operating a virtual reference service. The workshop covers:

• An overview of virtual reference services
• Elements to consider when designing a virtual reference service, including software, staffing, and policies
• Lessons from real-world examples

Workshop 8 – Information Architecture from Mental Models
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Peter Merholz, Partner, Adaptive Path

How do we organize sites so users can be more effective and productive? It requires research and more research, but there are few tools for making the leap from user research into the design process. This half-day workshop presents one such method—a visual model of users' tasks that leads directly to the derivation of an information architecture. Peter Merholz, a practicing professional, has employed this process for a number of organizations and will provide examples from actual case studies. Topics covered include:

• Common problems in information architecture
• How to conduct quick, effective user research
• Visualizing this research as a mental model
• Deriving a top-down information architecture from that model.

Workshop 9 – Information Portals & Content Management Strategies
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Howard McQueen, CEO, McQueen Consulting
Jean E. DeMatteo, McQueen Consulting

This half-day workshop covers content management from A to Z and features McQueen's Six Functional layers to unlocking the value of content management. Containing top-down and bottom-up information architecture strategies and weighted equally between internal and external content enhancement strategies, this course defines "content infrastructure" investments that must be made in order for horizontal and vertical (vortal) information portals to be successful. Filled with case studies and compelling applications, this intermediate, non-engineer/developer course, led by an intranet domain expert, prepares attendees to be effective content managers or consultants.
 

Workshop 10 – Teaching Web Searching
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Greg Notess, Reference Librarian, Montana State University, & Creator, Search Engine Showdown

With the constantly changing nature of the Web, search engine features, and the search engines themselves, how do we best teach our users to search the Web? Learn a variety of techniques for teaching newcomers to Web searching, as well as those who think they know everything about the Web. Explore the latest changes among the search engines and their impact on instruction. Discover how other instructors manage the complexities of teaching Web searching. This workshop covers advantages, disadvantages, and techniques for hands-on training, demonstration sessions, and online, self-paced guides for use in teaching others to search more effectively.