WiLSWorld 2016 Conference Program

David Bendekovic, Founder, The B. A. David Company

As many of Wisconsin’s best-of-the-best people converge on WiLSWorld2016 to discuss new technology and innovation projects, it’s important to remember that it’s great people who make great libraries.

The sheer speed and volume of technological advances and the changing way individuals gain access to information has deeply impacted the ongoing evolution of libraries.  Yet, despite the constant need to modernize and adapt to the digital age, people at many libraries are doing well in changing with the needs of their communities, universities, and schools, transforming their libraries into technological spaces designed for information sharing, learning, and community engagement – even amidst tight fiscal times.

Based on ten years of field research, this keynote will provide insights for leading your “evolution revolution”: Thinking in a more powerful way about your library, yourself, the people around you, and the work you want to get done. What You Do Makes A Difference. You Just Have To Figure Out What Kind Of Difference You Want To Make.

Read more about David Bendekovic.

Melissa Bernasek, Director of Information Services, Gail Borden Public Library District
Monica Dombrowski, Technology Education Manager, Gail Borden Public Library District
Phil Schneider, Digital Services Librarian, Gail Borden Public Library

With the increasing demand for digital literacy classes in public libraries, librarians are finding themselves having to create and deliver content with little training on how to do it. Come and learn how Gail Borden Public Library staff have implemented best practices from the training industry to design high-quality technology classes that you can use to provide digital literacy instruction at your library in this session.

Terri Muraski, Information Systems Librarian, UW-Stevens Point
Dana Franco, Library Media Specialist, Ripon Area School District
Michael Spellman, Supervisor, Central Library Public Services, Madison Public Library

A panel of presenters, one each from a K-12, academic, and public library, who have recently built or renovated their library spaces will share their experiences and lessons learned from their projects. What were the challenges? What innovative things did they do with their space? How did they learn how the space should be designed for use?

Kimberly Arnold, Evaluation Consultant, UW-Madison

Learning analytics has recently burst onto the educational scene.  A process that helps optimize the teaching and learning environment for students, educators, and administrators, learning analytics has proven it is more than a passing trend.  This session will offer a primer on learning analytics and share examples of how libraries are getting involved.

Half lightning presentations and half hands-on demonstrations, this afternoon plenary will provide you with the opportunity to learn more about new technologies and tools library staff are using in their work. Hear from members of the library community as they show how they are applying these new technologies and get up close and personal with a demonstration of those that you’re interested in learning more about.

Omar Poler, Outreach Specialist, School of Library and Information Studies, Continuing Education Services, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Erin FH Hughes, Graduate Student

Our communities have always been culturally diverse places. And that’s truer every year. But does our library technology adequately respect, reflect, and encode those differences? Does it serve all our users equally? Join Omar Poler and Erin FH Hughes for a discussion of the UW-Madison SLIS Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums Project and recent international efforts to reconceptualize, to “indigenize,” digital collections software for American Indian communities. Learn how technology made for the spectacular diversity of Indigenous peoples around the world can give us insights for serving our patrons closer to home.

Jeff Penka, Vice President of Product Management, Zepheira

This is your chance to provide a vendor with feedback about new products or project they’re working on.  In this session, give Zepheira feedback about The Library.Link Network.

Libraries, museums and archives all have stories to tell, which reflect and connect with their communities. The Web needs structured data to understand and connect with these stories. The Library.Link Network provides a participating library with locally-branded, scaled infrastructure for Linked Data transformation, publishing, and linking of the library’s data including the catalog, special collections, events, and locations. The Network uses consistent and shared Linked Data vocabularies and linking across Network libraries to amplify localized, comprehensive, connection-rich stories in a networked context. Libraries interested in becoming more visible on the Web and connecting with the Library.Link Network can do so through solutions like SirsiDynix’s BLUEcloud Visibility, Innovative Linked Data, NoveList’s Linked Library Service and Atlas Systems’ Linked Data for Archives and Special Collections.

Joshua Klingbeil, IT Director, Wisconsin Valley Library Service
Dan Jacobson, System Administrator/Innovator, South Central Library System

Wisconsin libraries are embarking on mobile hotspot lending to their communities. A need has been identified to provide these tools that use cellular signals to connect to the internet for those that do not have internet access. Libraries will discuss the research, creation and implementation of their local projects.

Francis Beaumier, IT Specialist, Brown County Library

Our public computer setup is fairly typical: Windows computers kept off of the private network and thus disconnected from any central management.  We runfreezing software to keep the machines at a known state and keep software updates off because they wouldn’t stick anyway.  Fast forward a few months and Firefox, Flash, and Java are all several versions out of date.  And the customers are starting to notice: Facebook requires a newer version of Flash for the new selfie cam feature, Java refuses to run code on an assessment site because it knows it’s outdated, and Gmail kindly points out that the version of Firefox in use is now no longer supported.  Learn how we put an end to this madness by creating a simple patch management system built on PowerShell, PHP, MAKEMSI, Orca, and a little bit of AutoIt, VB, and Batch file scripting.  You will see how we progressed from sharing four updates to seven machines to serving half a GB of updates (including Acrobat Reader, Adobe Air, Firefox, Flash, Java, Paint.NET, Shockwave, Skype and more) in six different update “channels” county-wide, all on a $0 budget.  All of our source code will be made available to you and discussed in enough detail during the presentation that you’ll be able to get up and running quickly at your own library.  We’ll discuss our approach to dealing with small hard drives and fickle Internet connections.  You’ll learn some of our missteps along the way.  You’ll get to know our current system’s quirks and limitations.  Finally, I’ll discuss some techniques and workarounds for getting even the most stubborn patches installed.

Kris Wilson, Digital Learning Content Editor, Fox Valley Technical College Learning Innovations

Have you ever helped someone log onto a computer? How about attached a document to an email? Or uploaded a resume and cover letter to a job application? As an increasing number of libraries offer free Wi-Fi, Librarians often find themselves helping job seekers use computers, access the Internet, and fill out online job applications. Instead of spending time one-on-one with each user, you could direct them to the Basic Computer Skills course instead. This free resource provides basic information technology literacy and skills training for people with limited computer experience. It was created by FVTC in conjunction with the Wisconsin Technical College System. After completing the full course, learners will be better prepared to operate computer devices, create documents, use email, manage files, use the Internet and social media, and safely manage personal data. Each module consists of digital learning objects including videos and games specifically designed to promote learning through hands-on interaction. This session will introduce you to the modules, provide you with flexible options, and discuss the possibilities for your visitors.

Scott Bernier, Senior Vice President, Marketing, EBSCO
Neil Block, Vice President of Discovery Innovation, Academic Libraries, EBSCO

This is your chance to provide a vendor with feedback about new products or projects they’re working on. In this session, give EBSCO feedback about FOLIO.

FOLIO is a collaborative effort between libraries, vendors, developers and consortia to develop an open source library services platform (LSP). The open source LSP, which will include traditional ILS functionality, leverages library expertise as well as vendor capacity and velocity, to move libraries forward, build on the services they provide and redefine the role libraries play within their institution. FOLIO also levels the playing field and makes open source technology available to all institutions regardless of size or staffing. By bringing vendors together to innovate and host services for customers, FOLIO introduces open source as a service to libraries and extends the library into new areas such as research administration, campus ERP, and more. “

Join us for a tour of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, including the Field Day Lab!  The Field Day Lab is an interdisciplinary team of educational researchers, software engineers, artists, and storytellers, exploring the intersection of contemporary learning science and media design, specializing in mobile media, video games, and simulation. The Field Day lab philosophy of learning through making, while keeping their tools free and open source inspires collaborative grassroots user communities and a robust network of educators and students iterating on one another’s designs. At the lab there is constant innovation, play, and risk taking.