Disaster Summit: Report
2 days ago
Friday, February 27, 2009
Miss Something?
Were there presentations you did not get to see at this years conference? Too busy networking and miss something? We now have most of the presentations on our website. Check them out, see what you missed, and get a refresher on what you did see.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What you are saying
Are you posting about your Online Northwest experience? Tell us about it and we will link to you. So far Sam Wallin has shared a video presentation of his experience, and Nicholas Schiller has posted about his experience.
Comment here and we will link to your post.
Comment here and we will link to your post.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thanks for Guest Bloggers
Thank you to all our guest bloggers who did live blogging and some not as live blogging below. If you haven't gotten the chance to read their posts please take a moment to do so. Comment back and tell them what you think.
Many people were also tweeting the conference via their twitter accounts. Search #ONW09 to see all the buzz.
Good to see so many people in attendance.
Many people were also tweeting the conference via their twitter accounts. Search #ONW09 to see all the buzz.
Good to see so many people in attendance.
FYE: a committee point of view
Just a bit of background to start. I grew up on the west coast, received a bachelors degree from Linfield college in McMinnville, and moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to get my MLIS. I worked at Middleton Library while I was getting the degree, then I moved to Florida. I stayed in Florida working primarily in library administration for 5 years. Last February I moved back to Oregon to be the Portland Operations Librarian for OIT (Oregon Institute of Technology).
Shortly after starting I was asked if I wanted to represent the OIT Libraries on the Online Northwest planning committee. My answer went something like, "Uh, sure. What's that?" I learned what Online Northwest was pretty quickly after that when the committee met in the spring. For those that don't know, Online Northwest is a kickin' conference with a tech focus in the Northwest US.
The committee is made up of representatives from The Oregon University System libraries. Each committee member takes on a few tasks in the planning and execution of the conference. The tasks I took on were advertising and putting out a call for proposals. Then, last friday (2/13) was the conference.
Remember what my answer was when I was asked if I wanted to be on the committee? Well, Not only was this my first year on the planning committee, but it was also the first time I had attended an Online Northwest conference. I really did not know what to expect, but I liked what I saw.
I was the room monitor to room 114, so I got to see all the presentations in that room. I also got to troubleshoot some interesting computer issues, and deal with the curtains when the sun was too bright to see the presentations. Overall, I think it was a positve experience. I got to hear some great presentations (see some not so great pictures below.) And I got to meet some people that I would not have gotten to meet otherwise.
Cass Kvenild talks with a session attendee while cleaning up after her presentation on Library Services for Distance Learners
Sam Wallin gets animated during his presentation on Using Video to Enhance Library Service.
Anna Johnson laughs with a session attender during the break after her presentation 2, 4, 6, Great: Handouts They'll Appreciate.
Diana Wakimoto shows what not to do when making accessible web pages during Preventing a Digital Divide: Accessibility and Online Learning.
Kate Gronemyer, Planning Committee chair gives a general welcome and some brief announcements before the keynote.
So, Overall, my first year experience (FYE) at Online Northwest was a good one, and I hope to have more bad pictures for you next year.
Shortly after starting I was asked if I wanted to represent the OIT Libraries on the Online Northwest planning committee. My answer went something like, "Uh, sure. What's that?" I learned what Online Northwest was pretty quickly after that when the committee met in the spring. For those that don't know, Online Northwest is a kickin' conference with a tech focus in the Northwest US.
The committee is made up of representatives from The Oregon University System libraries. Each committee member takes on a few tasks in the planning and execution of the conference. The tasks I took on were advertising and putting out a call for proposals. Then, last friday (2/13) was the conference.
Remember what my answer was when I was asked if I wanted to be on the committee? Well, Not only was this my first year on the planning committee, but it was also the first time I had attended an Online Northwest conference. I really did not know what to expect, but I liked what I saw.
I was the room monitor to room 114, so I got to see all the presentations in that room. I also got to troubleshoot some interesting computer issues, and deal with the curtains when the sun was too bright to see the presentations. Overall, I think it was a positve experience. I got to hear some great presentations (see some not so great pictures below.) And I got to meet some people that I would not have gotten to meet otherwise.
Cass Kvenild talks with a session attendee while cleaning up after her presentation on Library Services for Distance Learners
Sam Wallin gets animated during his presentation on Using Video to Enhance Library Service.
Anna Johnson laughs with a session attender during the break after her presentation 2, 4, 6, Great: Handouts They'll Appreciate.
Diana Wakimoto shows what not to do when making accessible web pages during Preventing a Digital Divide: Accessibility and Online Learning.
Kate Gronemyer, Planning Committee chair gives a general welcome and some brief announcements before the keynote.
So, Overall, my first year experience (FYE) at Online Northwest was a good one, and I hope to have more bad pictures for you next year.
Friday, February 13, 2009
2, 4, 6, Great: Handouts they'll appreciate (Lisa T. blogging)
Anna based her thoughts on handouts on the work of Edward Tufte.
The key point I took away from this session was that the presentation is a summary of the handout. The handout is not a summary of the presentation. When you only have 1 hour (or less) to present something, it's good to have something information-rich for students to take away and read and refer to afterward. Handouts allow active learning - they don't summarize the content of the presentation, but rather give students the content.
People think that students don't read handouts because they're too long, but Tufte believes that to clarify, add detail. We often use bullet points and lots of graphics on handouts, but we shouldn't be using web design principles for the design of printed documents. In the same way, print handouts shouldn't be lists of links - paper documents need to stand alone, and should make sense 2 years from now, even if the links change.
To make great handouts, use tables to align the content, make everything look good in black and white (we don't usually print in colour), use grey lines rather than hard black ones. Insert hyperlinks into the Word doc, but don't type out the URLs you link to.
Once you convert your Word files to PDF, the hyperlinks will become clickable when the PDF gets posted online.
Fit content onto 2, 4 or 6 pages - no wasted space, no wasted paper. Print 4 pages booklet style on 11x17 paper, fold it in half.
Using colour paper is more cost effective than colour ink.
If your content makes sense in a sentence, leave out the image. Images compete with content for space.
Examples of Anna's handouts
The key point I took away from this session was that the presentation is a summary of the handout. The handout is not a summary of the presentation. When you only have 1 hour (or less) to present something, it's good to have something information-rich for students to take away and read and refer to afterward. Handouts allow active learning - they don't summarize the content of the presentation, but rather give students the content.
People think that students don't read handouts because they're too long, but Tufte believes that to clarify, add detail. We often use bullet points and lots of graphics on handouts, but we shouldn't be using web design principles for the design of printed documents. In the same way, print handouts shouldn't be lists of links - paper documents need to stand alone, and should make sense 2 years from now, even if the links change.
To make great handouts, use tables to align the content, make everything look good in black and white (we don't usually print in colour), use grey lines rather than hard black ones. Insert hyperlinks into the Word doc, but don't type out the URLs you link to.
Once you convert your Word files to PDF, the hyperlinks will become clickable when the PDF gets posted online.
Fit content onto 2, 4 or 6 pages - no wasted space, no wasted paper. Print 4 pages booklet style on 11x17 paper, fold it in half.
Using colour paper is more cost effective than colour ink.
If your content makes sense in a sentence, leave out the image. Images compete with content for space.
Examples of Anna's handouts
Library Blogs: Guidelines, Policies and First Amendment Rights (Lisa T. blogging)
According to a Pew study, 32% of adults are blog readers. Portland has the second highest number of blog readers and contributors in the country. What people like about blogs: the material is always new and fresh, they foster community, they're interactive.
What Multnomah County Library (MCL) learned from early tries with blogging:
How to get the public what they want without getting the library into trouble? There are rules for behaviour in the library, those could be extended to library blogs.
The three major policy issues related to allowing public comment on blogs are:
Post a purpose statement on the blog that defines the limited public forum. Write a social software policy for the library and post disclaimers on the blog as well. Comment guidelines also appear directly where users would post their comments to the blog.
Comment moderation helps avoid spam. There are two reasons to reject a comment - if it's unlawful, or off-topic (this is where it's important to have a purpose statement to help define what is on-topic or not). Keep any comments you don't post, in case of a legal challenge.
Re: public records retention - this is one reason why it's better to host the blog on your own server, rather than having it hosted by another site.
Re: liability - make sure staff have clear guidelines for writing posts, think about having a social software policy especially for staff, and make sure it's clear how to deal with copyrighted material. It's really easy to post images and video that may be under copyright.
Presentation materials online
What Multnomah County Library (MCL) learned from early tries with blogging:
- be afraid
- you must moderate comments
- only let people comment for a specific period of time
How to get the public what they want without getting the library into trouble? There are rules for behaviour in the library, those could be extended to library blogs.
The three major policy issues related to allowing public comment on blogs are:
- 1st Amendment rights and responsibilities of the public and library staff
- Public records retention
- Liability - copyright infringement, libel, etc.
Post a purpose statement on the blog that defines the limited public forum. Write a social software policy for the library and post disclaimers on the blog as well. Comment guidelines also appear directly where users would post their comments to the blog.
Comment moderation helps avoid spam. There are two reasons to reject a comment - if it's unlawful, or off-topic (this is where it's important to have a purpose statement to help define what is on-topic or not). Keep any comments you don't post, in case of a legal challenge.
Re: public records retention - this is one reason why it's better to host the blog on your own server, rather than having it hosted by another site.
Re: liability - make sure staff have clear guidelines for writing posts, think about having a social software policy especially for staff, and make sure it's clear how to deal with copyrighted material. It's really easy to post images and video that may be under copyright.
Presentation materials online
Keynote - BJ Fogg (Lisa T. blogging)
I decided not to blog as the sessions were going on, for fear that it would make no sense to anyone... so instead here's a summary of my notes from the keynote session presented by BJ Fogg.
BJ talked about persuasive technology - the use of technology to change people's behaviours. He emphasized especially the persuasive power of video. He argues that the web is a platform for persuasion – if you’re setting up a site you have a persuasive goal. Why else would you put effort into creating a site unless you wanted to persuade someone of something?
While technology always changes, human psychology remains pretty constant.
There are three components to changing human behaviour (i.e. persuading) - motivation, simplicity and a trigger.
There are 3 core motivators of human behaviour, which can be used to persuade:
In addition to motivation and ability, there also needs to be a trigger present to persuade someone to change their behaviour. A trigger could be a call to action, a prompt, a reminder. A good way to do this is find a routine that someone already has (ritual computing), and build the trigger into that.
It's better to start with a small idea and refine it through many iterations, rather than starting with a big and lofty project. Once you have something small that works, you can expand on its success.
This summary doesn't capture all the great examples and videos that BJ used to convey his point. His presentation was particularly effective because he used these persuasive methods to persuade us that these persuasive methods work. It was great to see him demonstrating his techniques as he explained them.
You can find more info about BJ Fogg's work at the site for his lab at Stanford.
BJ talked about persuasive technology - the use of technology to change people's behaviours. He emphasized especially the persuasive power of video. He argues that the web is a platform for persuasion – if you’re setting up a site you have a persuasive goal. Why else would you put effort into creating a site unless you wanted to persuade someone of something?
While technology always changes, human psychology remains pretty constant.
There are three components to changing human behaviour (i.e. persuading) - motivation, simplicity and a trigger.
There are 3 core motivators of human behaviour, which can be used to persuade:
- pleasure / pain
- hope / fear
- acceptance / rejection
In addition to motivation and ability, there also needs to be a trigger present to persuade someone to change their behaviour. A trigger could be a call to action, a prompt, a reminder. A good way to do this is find a routine that someone already has (ritual computing), and build the trigger into that.
It's better to start with a small idea and refine it through many iterations, rather than starting with a big and lofty project. Once you have something small that works, you can expand on its success.
This summary doesn't capture all the great examples and videos that BJ used to convey his point. His presentation was particularly effective because he used these persuasive methods to persuade us that these persuasive methods work. It was great to see him demonstrating his techniques as he explained them.
You can find more info about BJ Fogg's work at the site for his lab at Stanford.
Heck with Hal (Repplinger Blog)
Dale Vidmar presented on Google's Custom Search Engine (CSE). A Google Account is required before setting up a Google CSE. Reasons to use a CSE: Focuses on specific sites, specific info, quality of info can be maintained, and a search box can be placed within hard to search sites. You can drop it onto any web page.
(PowerPoint available online: http://www.sou.edu/~vidmar/onlinenw2009/vidmar.ppt)
There are nine steps to getting started:
1. Setup a Google account (if you don't have one already) and login
2. Go to your account & click on more options at bottom of page.
3. Click on Custom Search.
4. Select the sites & urls you want.
5. Create URL pattern to search (truncate url with * such as oregon.gov/*).
6. List what you want to search (only web sites or all Internet).
7. Go through the terms of service.
8. Create your CSE & make it either public or private.
9. Test it & modify your search.
(Tips: Keep your search simple & url trunk short).
Questions from audience about this program:
Are there ways to determine bad links?
Answer: Not known, but probably not
Can you use CSE with your library databases?
Answer: No because it would have do deal with local codes & technology that doesn't work with Google.
How much does the custom search cost for professional businesses?
Answer: Varies from business, contact Google?
How do you push it to students?
Anwser: Individually gives url to people or a handout or post it online on subject guides.
Idea: Create links for tax time. State taxing agency.
Answer: If you create a tax search function, make it available to the general public.
Can you direct people to deep web sites (places Google can't go)?
Answer: Some of the Deep Web that Google counted as lost a few years ago included Word Docs, PowerPoint Docs, etc. Google can now search these, so the Deep Web isn't as deep as once was.
How about GIS documents?
(PowerPoint available online: http://www.sou.edu/~vidmar/onlinenw2009/vidmar.ppt)
There are nine steps to getting started:
1. Setup a Google account (if you don't have one already) and login
2. Go to your account & click on more options at bottom of page.
3. Click on Custom Search.
4. Select the sites & urls you want.
5. Create URL pattern to search (truncate url with * such as oregon.gov/*).
6. List what you want to search (only web sites or all Internet).
7. Go through the terms of service.
8. Create your CSE & make it either public or private.
9. Test it & modify your search.
(Tips: Keep your search simple & url trunk short).
Questions from audience about this program:
Are there ways to determine bad links?
Answer: Not known, but probably not
Can you use CSE with your library databases?
Answer: No because it would have do deal with local codes & technology that doesn't work with Google.
How much does the custom search cost for professional businesses?
Answer: Varies from business, contact Google?
How do you push it to students?
Anwser: Individually gives url to people or a handout or post it online on subject guides.
Idea: Create links for tax time. State taxing agency.
Answer: If you create a tax search function, make it available to the general public.
Can you direct people to deep web sites (places Google can't go)?
Answer: Some of the Deep Web that Google counted as lost a few years ago included Word Docs, PowerPoint Docs, etc. Google can now search these, so the Deep Web isn't as deep as once was.
How about GIS documents?
read the Online NW tweets!
it's pretty fun to read all the tweeting going on during the conference! http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23onw09
Soapbox, Echo Chamber & Salon (Repplinger Blog)
This presentation talked about civic engagement from three metaphors: soapboxes, echo chambers, & Salons. How are people affected by social media in terms of civic engagement?
(Notes from the presenters are posted online at http://command-f.info/)
SOAPBOX (able to publicly say your opinions & beliefs)
From the "street corner," you can make your opinions known as well as stand up for voiceless populace. Anyone can post anything. Historical examples given were the Stamp Act & when the telegraph (new technology)
ECHO CHAMBERS (surrounded by like-minded people & beliefs)
These are naturally formed communities. People seek out opinions & beliefs similar to what they believe in, but don't necessarily avoid or shutout others with opposing opinions. The Selective Exposure Theory was mentioned. There have been a recent study on where people get exposed the most to different perspectives; the main stream media was the overwhelming source.
SALONS
These represent neutral public spaces that were removed from institutions & political parties. The example--women were present, so men had to learn how to converse politely in front of others. Internet behaviors show similar characteristics in that each place has different expectations & norms. The last election showed 40% of adults watched videos, and 40% searched for primary information that was not filtered.
The big part of civic engagement is caring, and the echo chambers play an important part; they show that people do care about the issues.
(Notes from the presenters are posted online at http://command-f.info/)
SOAPBOX (able to publicly say your opinions & beliefs)
From the "street corner," you can make your opinions known as well as stand up for voiceless populace. Anyone can post anything. Historical examples given were the Stamp Act & when the telegraph (new technology)
ECHO CHAMBERS (surrounded by like-minded people & beliefs)
These are naturally formed communities. People seek out opinions & beliefs similar to what they believe in, but don't necessarily avoid or shutout others with opposing opinions. The Selective Exposure Theory was mentioned. There have been a recent study on where people get exposed the most to different perspectives; the main stream media was the overwhelming source.
SALONS
These represent neutral public spaces that were removed from institutions & political parties. The example--women were present, so men had to learn how to converse politely in front of others. Internet behaviors show similar characteristics in that each place has different expectations & norms. The last election showed 40% of adults watched videos, and 40% searched for primary information that was not filtered.
The big part of civic engagement is caring, and the echo chambers play an important part; they show that people do care about the issues.
Preventing a Digital Divide (Alison blogging)
presentation by Diana Wakimoto, Online Literacy/Public Services Librarian at CSU East Bay
The podcast, official notes, more links, etc. will be available on Diana's blog:
http://thewakilibrarian.wordpress.com/
Accessible Design does not have to be boring!
Section 508 - ADA: all government websites must be accessible
Measuring accessibility
Firefox Accessibility Toolbar for validating page for accessibility (html, styles), generating reports, test navigation, etc.
Google fails in 4 points of accessibility according to FAE rule set! Validator tells what needs fixing.
Vischeck - colorblind simulations
Word works better with JAWS (screenreaders) than some .pdfs
Webanywhere - from UW: web-based screen reader - free!
Overstream - for captioning videos: pulls in YouTube videos! Not as robust as other tutorial software - ie, can't change fonts, but you have captions
All of the above are good for retrofitting existing resources... here are tips for creating new accessible resources.
Adobe Captivate - fee-based video creating software. Adobe does a good job with accessibility.
Voicethread - audio and text over an online presentation (upload PowerPoint) - not completely 508 compliant yet but getting there. Others can comment on your voice thread! Cool!
Wordpress - 508 compliant blog platform, robust enough to function as a website (ie CSU library). Diana uses it as courseware. http://library1210.wordpress.com/
AxsJAX from Google labs - for accessible javascript
SurveyMonkey - 508 compliant
The podcast, official notes, more links, etc. will be available on Diana's blog:
http://thewakilibrarian.wordpress.com/
Accessible Design does not have to be boring!
Section 508 - ADA: all government websites must be accessible
Measuring accessibility
- FAE rule set - from UIUC - functional accessibility evaluator
- beta rule set from above
- html validation
- navigation - try it without a mouse
Firefox Accessibility Toolbar for validating page for accessibility (html, styles), generating reports, test navigation, etc.
Google fails in 4 points of accessibility according to FAE rule set! Validator tells what needs fixing.
Vischeck - colorblind simulations
Word works better with JAWS (screenreaders) than some .pdfs
Webanywhere - from UW: web-based screen reader - free!
Overstream - for captioning videos: pulls in YouTube videos! Not as robust as other tutorial software - ie, can't change fonts, but you have captions
All of the above are good for retrofitting existing resources... here are tips for creating new accessible resources.
Adobe Captivate - fee-based video creating software. Adobe does a good job with accessibility.
Voicethread - audio and text over an online presentation (upload PowerPoint) - not completely 508 compliant yet but getting there. Others can comment on your voice thread! Cool!
Wordpress - 508 compliant blog platform, robust enough to function as a website (ie CSU library). Diana uses it as courseware. http://library1210.wordpress.com/
AxsJAX from Google labs - for accessible javascript
SurveyMonkey - 508 compliant
keynote (Phoebe blogging)
Persuasive Technology- CaptologyDr. Fogg has a pretty interesting book coming out soon called The Psychology of Facebook. ("The #1 persuasive technology of all time.") He's pointed out how quickly users adapt FB apps, such as iLike.
At 20 mins in, and he's given us a great example of an online fundraising experiment showcasing the power of 20 second, simple video presos. After not getting a single person to make a birthday donation through emails and a website, he tried a series of videos and had 82% rate of conversion from the people who watched the vids!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Belated Introduction
I'm really looking forward to this year's conference. I've been lucky enough to be able to attend for the past two years and have always come away with something really valuable to share and think about. Like many librarians, I'm interested in everything so I'm planning to attend sessions on information literacy, digital collections, and . . . some I haven't decided on yet.
I'm currently working as an on-call librarian for Portland Community College as well as lending my skills to numerous nonprofits in the area, including the North Portland computer lab of the Multnomah County Library and the Community Warehouse.
Hope to meet you in person at the conference.
Claire Rivers
I'm currently working as an on-call librarian for Portland Community College as well as lending my skills to numerous nonprofits in the area, including the North Portland computer lab of the Multnomah County Library and the Community Warehouse.
Hope to meet you in person at the conference.
Claire Rivers
Monday, February 9, 2009
Its almost here!
The conference is almost here, only 4 days away(Friday February 13th). If you haven't seen it yet the executive summaries are posted on our website Figure out which sessions you want to attend now so you have more time to socialize during registration and breakfast.
If you have not had the chance to register yet registration is still open, or you can register on site. We are at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center in Corvallis. Registration starts at 8am, so we hope to see you then.
Carpooling
(pic from flickr commons, State Library of Queensland’s collection)It was really nice to carpool to the conference from Portland in the past. Anyone interested this year? I figure we could use the comments to get something going, maybe?
I'll start- I'd love to carpool with someone from the NE PDX area- say near the Whole Foods on 15th & Fremont or Broadway or such. I can drive or you can drive?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
One More Guest Blogger Introduction
Hi! I'm Alison, Technology Outreach Coordinator for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region. It's a mouthful, I know! We are headquartered at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library in Seattle. Our mission to "enhance access to health information for health professionals and the public." We support medical librarians and other health information providers in a five state region - Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
This will be my second Online Northwest conference. The 25th Anniversary meeting was one of the most educational conferences I attended last year, so I am excited to be returning to Corvallis for year 26.
This will be my second Online Northwest conference. The 25th Anniversary meeting was one of the most educational conferences I attended last year, so I am excited to be returning to Corvallis for year 26.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Another guest blogger intro
Hi everyone, I'm Lisa, a reference librarian at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. I'm fairly new to this job, to Oregon, and to the US for that matter - we moved here in August. I'm originally from Vancouver, BC, where I graduated from the University of British Columbia with my MLIS in April 2007. I worked for a year at public and university libraries in Vancouver, before starting my job here in Corvallis.
This is my first Online NW conference - I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I'm glad to have the chance to attend. I'm also looking forward to meeting more Oregon librarians there. I'll be blogging during the conference and afterward.
This is my first Online NW conference - I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I'm glad to have the chance to attend. I'm also looking forward to meeting more Oregon librarians there. I'll be blogging during the conference and afterward.
Guest Blogger Introduction
I recently was awarded my MLS and Archives Studies Certificate from Emporia State University and have worked as an on-call librarian at Oregon State University for a little over a year. This is my first Online Northwest Conference. I am especially interested in reference and instruction and look forward to learning more about how technology can enhance students' experiences.
I found the Executive Summary page very useful to help me make some hard decisions about which sessions I wish to attend. I plan to blog at the conference as well as afterward and will also be sending tweets on Twitter. My updates are protected. Please send me a request and I'll be happy to add you. I am also on Facebook.
I found the Executive Summary page very useful to help me make some hard decisions about which sessions I wish to attend. I plan to blog at the conference as well as afterward and will also be sending tweets on Twitter. My updates are protected. Please send me a request and I'll be happy to add you. I am also on Facebook.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)