AALL Annual Meeting and Conference

Exhibit Hall Breakfast Break

Professor James A. Serpell will discuss the development of human attitudes to animals and animal - assisted therapeutic interventions.

Target Audience: Information technology librarians, technical services librarians, administrators interested in the next generation library management system

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will identify at least three advantages and disadvantages of cloud-based solutions and three types of cloud computing- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)-to lower the total cost of ownership.
2. Participants will be able to evaluate the library management functionality in OCLC's Web-Scale Management Services (WMS), a cloud computing interface, and the efficiency of OCLC's WorldCat Grid Services.

Libraries are on the forefront of migrating their data and services to the "cloud." Cloud computing is emerging as a key way for libraries to implement new services. Presenters will discuss how cloud computing can be implemented to leverage library end-user satisfaction and build the necessary interoperability. OCLC member institutions have been contributing to the idea of cloud computing through the centralized MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC) records services. Now, OCLC's WMS promises less complexity in its library management system to create a more independent discovery and delivery platform. Panelists will also give a critical analysis on the trend of proliferated cloud computing services to demystify questions about privacy, security, and reliability that cloud computing often raises.

While subject headings describe what an item is ABOUT, genre/form terms describe what an item IS. Genre/form terms in the OPAC help users target or limit their searches to specific types of materials like law reviews or court decisions and opinions. The program will describe how the LC law genre/form terms were developed and how to implement and utilize these terms in your library.

TS-SIS Cataloging and Classification Roundtable

GenX/Gen Y Caucus Meeting

Target Audience: Directors, public services librarians, IT professionals, and non-catalogers in technical services in all types of libraries

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to understand RDA's new approach to relationships between authors and works, how this new approach needs to be accommodated, and how it can be utilized by public services librarians.
2. Participants will be able to assess RDA's new approach to dealing with publishing patterns and resolving challenges posed by diversification of electronic and online media, and how this approach can be utilized by acquisitions and serial librarians.

Resource Description and Access (RDA), the new cataloging code published in June 2010, is based on a recently formalized philosophy for providing access to materials. It is written with the international world of computers and online access strongly in mind along with the relationships of information elements. Librarians, other than catalogers, may not know much about this new code, nor may they know how these new standards for metadata creation will affect public services and technical services areas other than cataloging. Most may also not be aware of its possible applications outside of integrated library systems. "RDA for Everyone" will bring together a respected law cataloger/RDA tester, a well-known associate director/professor of legal research, and a reference and technology librarian (who is also the Chair of the Education Committee of the CS-SIS), to relate a brief history and description of RDA, explaining how it affects discovery and use of information, and how it has potential use outside the traditional library catalog.

Target Audience: Librarians interested in blogging and publishing

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will gain skills to craft postings that could be used to present the librarian community in a professional manner through other publishing mediums.
2. Participants will learn how to use law library/blogger community views and input to better hone their writing style and tone.

Greg Lambert, a prolific blogger and tweeter in the library community, routinely imparts his views and knowledge on a variety of cutting-edge topics that help keep the busy librarian informed. A frequent contributor to 3 Geeks and a Law blog, Mark Gediman is known for his thoughtful commentary sure to provoke discussion on posted topics. Their presentation will use the example of an August 2009 cost recovery blog post being turned into a March 2010 AALL Spectrum article by Gediman. The presenters will explain their experiences of turning what started as a simple posting into an article for publication and beyond.

Target Audience: Librarians who work with metadata, metadata frameworks, and controlled vocabularies

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to assess various sources for authority control of elements and vocabularies in the world beyond the MARC format and OCLC authority files.
2. Participants will be able to judge which vocabularies fit their library's needs for metadata organization.

Barbara Tillett and John Mark Ockerbloom will explore the real potential behind linked library data by providing an informative overview of acronyms like RDF, LCSH/SKOS , VIAF and the RDA Registry and by highlighting how the linked data from id.loc.gov is being used to power searches in the Online Books Page and the main library catalog, Franklin, at the University of Pennsylvania.

Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break (sponsored by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Target Audience: Administrators; technical, public, and access services staff

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to explain alternative options to traditional library management systems and factors to consider when planning a migration.
2. Participants will be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the systems described and how these alternatives interact with systems already in place.

The web-based OPAC, and the more recent "discovery layer" craze, has had a positive effect on how people find resources in libraries. But has there been a corresponding change updating library operations? What will future library management systems offer in terms of the "back-end" staff interface relied upon so heavily to manage and deliver collections? Pressure to improve workflows, increase efficiency, and cut costs continues, but staff can only do so much with the tools they have. Will the next generation of library management systems finally break away from the traditional card catalog and print-based workflows? This session will examine the Open Library Environment (OLE) project and Ex Libris' Unified Resource Management (URM) framework, as well as explore the future of the library system staff interface.

Regardless of how widely it is adopted, the newly-developed cataloging code, Resource Description and Access, will affect all of us in libraries profoundly - even if we’re not responsible for cataloging materials. Please join Jean Pajerek and Pat Sayre-McCoy as they lead a lively discussion on the recent information from the three U.S. national libraries, the decisions libraries need to make about RDA, and the impact of the new code on our institutions - especially in the area of library technical services.

Target Audience: All law librarians

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will analyze e-book licensing models, focusing on implications for alternative pricing, digital rights management, license negotiation, and usability.
2. Participants will be able to discuss how e-books will impact the future of law libraries.

The future of e-books in law libraries is still unclear, despite the surging popularity of dedicated e-book readers such as the Kindle. Legal publishers have taken a cautious approach in developing e-books to date. In addition, e-book licensing, particularly in economically difficult times, will provide new challenges to law librarians. Representatives from leading legal publishers and e-book vendors will discuss what they see as the future of e-books and how it will change law libraries.

Target Audience: Librarians who want to focus their library services to best meet the needs of their patrons

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to identify and assess the issues to be addressed in a patron satisfaction survey.
2. Participants will be able to create and distribute a satisfaction survey and analyze the results to identify the best services and delivery methods for their patrons.

Librarians provide a multitude of services for patrons, but it’s not always easy to know how—or if—these services are being used, or whether they’re even of value to patrons. Do patrons consult the web pages you create? Do the handouts and pathfinders help patrons, or do they even know these are available? What resources—including those beyond your library’s—are patrons consulting? Is most of their current awareness via social media? What do you do with this information? These issues directly affect what to deliver and how to deliver it using methods most beneficial to patrons. But how do you determine the “what” and the “how”? To learn how to better survey library patrons, the Student Services Committee of ALL-SIS is undertaking a project to collect and compile student satisfaction surveys from member libraries. The result will be a compilation of the contributed surveys and a sample “best” survey culled from the responses, which can be used as a blueprint for your library surveys. This program will examine the benefits of a satisfaction survey, how to determine what information you want to ascertain, the best way to ask the questions to get those answers, the sample “best” survey, and what to do with the results. Although based on information from ALL-SIS members, the results will be of value to those in all library settings.

Join us as we look forward to the 2012 Annual Meeting in Boston with themed snacks and soft drinks. As attendees visit with exhibitors before the closing of the exhibit hall, there will be an opportunity to "meet the candidates” on the Executive Board ballot, view the Boston welcome video, win fabulous prizes and witness the passing of the gavel to our new president, Darcy Kirk.

Registered attendees with badges are welcome at this event.

Target Audience: Technical services librarians, public services librarians, library managers

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will become acquainted with ways to utilize staff in more creative ways.
2. Participants will be introduced to new initiatives that can benefit their libraries and generate increased appreciation for technical services staff skills.

Shrinking library budgets often require reductions in materials and staffing, even as demands for library services continue to grow. Some libraries deal with this dilemma by bridging the previously well-defined distinctions between technical services and public services. Initiatives and projects on public services department "wish lists" can often be readily accomplished when goals are realigned to utilize the expertise and specialized skill sets of technical services staff. This program will explore techniques for building cooperative partnerships between the two departments. Managerial tips, best practices, ways of fostering innovation and creativity, and initiatives at various law libraries will be discussed.