The Internet Conference
and Exhibition for Librarians and Information Managers
PostConference Workshops
Thursday, November 11th
See
registration
form for pricing information. All PostConference workshops include
lunch.
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Corporate & Enterprise Information
Portals
Howard McQueen &
Jean DeMatteo, McQueen Consulting
This workshop sets the
framework for understanding information portals. Most organizations have
out-of-control intranets devoted to publishing. Portals are destined to
provide the content management features necessary to tame out-of-control
intranets and rescue users from info glut. We will look at the components
of portals: integration of heterogeneous information sources; categorization
scheme and engine; search engine support for structured and unstructured
data; end-user publishing and metadata management, content personalization;
collaboration and knowledge-sharing functions; user-defined display and
alerting functions; developments in surrogate technologies that “suggest”
through learning. Key portal vendors and their products will be identified.
Cost estimates to implement a portal will be provided, along with realistic
costs for on-going maintenance. We’ll also look at several organizations
that have built their own portals and talk about both the technical and
cultural obstacles to portal adoption. We’ll conclude with a look at where
portals are headed, i.e., to support customer service, e-commerce and other
vertical applications.
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Design and Development of Intranet
Solutions
Gregory P. Gerdy, Director
of Product Marketing, Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC
Tim Raines, Director,
Editorial Consulting, Dow Jones Interactive
Appropriate for all those
responsible for the design and development of corporate intranets, this
half-day workshop discusses and debates the tried and true methods for
creating intranets that satisfy the technological, aesthetic and budgetary
needs of both intranet designers and developers. Participants will learn
what works, what doesn’t and why; how to make their intranet satisfy differing
user needs; how to best control the flow of internal and external content;
how to measure intranet success; and what makes some corporate intranet
systems stand out from the rest.
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
From Information Service to Business
Process: Using the Intranet/Web Presence as an Executive Suite Door Opener
Jerry Mansfield, Head
of Public Services, Corporate Library, US Postal Service
Robert F. Gardner,
Corporate Librarian, US Postal Service
Ulla de Stricker,
President, de Stricker Associates
Information professionals
are undergoing a shift from “serving users” to “participating in the organization’s
business process.” In order to make the transition fully, we must become
adept at communicating appropriately with (senior) decision makers. However,
many of us have felt the lack of a plausible reason to address executives,
especially if intranet and Web related projects take place in another organizational
unit. Because of their visibility and the attention they command, Internet
related activities provide a perfect opportunity to (a) position ourselves
as strategic leaders who leverage the value of IT investments and (b) open
a dialogue at the right levels and places in the organization. This workshop
focuses on strategies for communicating effectively with IT professionals
and with top executives.
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Appropriate Internet Technologies
Rich Wiggins, Michigan
State University and Producer, “Nothin’ But Net” TV show
Internet technology is
a double-edged sword: the goal is simplicity in publishing and consuming
content, but new technologies arrive at a dizzying pace. Bet on the wrong
technology, and you find yourself stuck in a technology trap. This interactive
half-day workshop gives a wide-ranging overview of connection technologies,
server technologies, and authoring and publishing technologies. It discusses
integration technologies such as Microsoft Office 2000 and concludes with
suggestions on how to make the right technological choices up front.
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Beyond Yahoo! Subject-Specific Sites
on Net
Margot Williams,
Metropolitan News Researcher & Internet Trainer, The Washington Post
Co-Author of Great
Scouts! Cyber Guides for Subject Searching on the Web
Yahoo! was the genesis,
the beginning of a noble attempt to organize the unruly Web. Years later,
Yahoo! is still the beginning point for many Web users. This subject-oriented
session, by an experienced expert, provides background and guidelines to
evaluating resources in specific subject areas, and gives users of subject-specific
resources some alternatives to Yahoo! when looking for the most comprehensive
and dependable sources of information on the Web.
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Interface Design Evaluation and Usability
Testing for Information Resources on the Web
Alison J. Head, author
of Design Wise: A Guide for Evaluating the Interface Design of Information
Resources
If the Web is the ultimate
information resource, why can it be so incredibly frustrating to use? What
tools can be applied for evaluating the effectiveness of interface design
and information retrieval sites on the Web? Covering findings from the
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field and from formal usability testing,
this interactive workshop illuminates how well users will interact with
information resources on the Web. It starts with a three step methodology
for evaluating how the interface design of information resources is defined
and applied. It then moves to the basics of usability testing and includes
examples of how usability testing is conducted. This workshop has applicability
for a wide range of information professionals — those who choose Web resources
for their settings or those who are involved with building information
management resources on the Web.
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Information Architecture Design
Lon Rosenfeld, President,
Argus Associates & author of Information Architecture for the World
Wide Web
The fields of information
science and librarianship offer valuable insights into the design of Web
sites and intranets. This session explores the principles of information
architecture and their application towards the design of usable information
environments that support efficient content management and continuous growth.
Special attention is given to the design of organization, navigation, searching
and indexing systems. Examples and case studies drawn from experience with
a variety of Fortune 500 corporations are interwoven to provide a balance
between theory and practice.
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Getting Smarter: Managing Enterprise
Knowledge
Joe Helfer, Co-Founder,
KMRS
The knowledge management
project leader and cross-functional team should possess the skills, techniques
and tools to successfully undertake a KM effort. From establishing a common
language to economic valuation of KM alternatives, this is a workshop for
the practitioner. It clearly addresses the issue of mapping business challenges
and initiatives into the KM system and offers proven and practical methods
for immediate implementation. Upon completing the workshop, participants
should be able to construct an enterprise knowledge map, identify missing
data, information, knowledge and wisdom, link business processes and problems
to knowledge sources that supply missing information, and architect KM
and IT solutions that deliver results. The six most common errors in KM
efforts and what to do about them are covered as well as the 16 classic
problems in KM architecture. From process trigger points and workflow analysis
to deriving knowledge from the data warehouse, this session clearly shows
how to ask the right questions and answer them. It includes many exercises
and examples around which a team leader could build a shared understanding.
Extremely useful for knowledge workers of all persuasions who are involved
in a KM project, it provides tools and techniques to deal with the expectations
of top management and offers alternatives of choice and implementation
approach that address variations in corporate culture and attitudes towards
worker empowerment.
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Untangling the Web: Web Management
for the Non-Technical Manager/Librarian
Darlene Fichter,
Coordinator, Data Library Services, University of Saskatchewan
What should the libraries’
Web site be doing? Who is in charge? What is the purpose? This half-day
workshop is aimed at non-technical librarians who are involved in Web planning
and content development. Primary discussion include: goal definition/objectives/audiences
for your Web site; the context in which to place Web planning; how to measure
the success of your Web site — are hits enough?; and planning tools to
use after the course.
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Search Engines: Boolean & Beyond
Ev Brenner, Information
Consultant & Author of Information Insights: The Road to Knoware
and Beyond Boolean — New Approaches to Information Retrieval
Sue Feldman, Datasearch,
Author & 1998 Winner, UMI Excellence in Writing Award
Expert users of information
systems need to know how their tools work if they want to get the most
out of them. We explore all kinds of search engines, from early Boolean
days to the present, and even into the next millennium. We trace the development
of each kind of search engine—traditional Boolean, Web (or statistical)
and advanced natural language processing. What problems was each developed
to solve? What does each one do, and how does it do it? What are their
strengths and limitations? What technologies are just over the horizon?
This half-day workshop is for professionals who are planning and implementing
intranet systems, and need to know what goes on behind the query box, as
well as for information professionals who are tired of throwing their questions
at a mysterious black box. It describes, in non-technical terms, each kind
of technology. Particular emphasis will be placed on the interface problems
between databases and users; what special considerations are necessary
for end user searching, and what are the hopes and promises for intuitive
information systems in the future.
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Creating Web-Enabled Databases with
DB/TextWorks and WebPublisher from Inmagic, Inc.
Marshall Breeding,
Vanderbilt University
Creating Web sites based
totally on static Web pages is becoming increasingly untenable as Web sites
expand to include larger amounts of information. Data must be managed and
organized, and not simply listed. It is important to be able to manage
information in a database environment, yet provide easy access to that
information through the Web. DB/Textworks is one of the most popular database
products used in libraries, and is widely used in corporate and other special
libraries. Through Inmagic’s WebPublisher application, information in DB/TextWorks
can easily be published on the Web. This presentation will demonstrate
a number of Web-enabled databases created with these products for the library
environment. Examples will include: a resource of electronic journals,
a problem tracking system for a library computer support department, a
directory of library catalogs, an online catalog of bibliographic information.
This presentation will take an objective approach to these products from
a library user’s perspective and is not a promotional demonstration from
a vendor.
• PreConference • Monday
• Tuesday • Wednesday
• Internet@Schools
