Netspeed

With so many software options available, it can be easy to overlook the tools library staff may already have at their disposal, such as office productivity software like G Suite. Google`s suite of applications (Google Apps) can, with some customization and a bit of coding know-how, create efficiencies for library technology environments ranging from the one-branch public library to the large, resource-rich academic library. These apps offer robust and flexible tools that can be used to accomplish a variety of library-related tasks, at no cost to individual users and at a low cost to institutions. This presentation will demonstrate how library staff can leverage Google Apps to increase accuracy and efficiency, streamline workflows, and manage data. While some prior coding knowledge is useful, we approach this topic from a self-taught and experimental perspective, using real-world examples from a public library (Strathcona County Library) and for an institutional repository at an academic library (the Education and Research Archive at University of Alberta Libraries).

Power Point covering history, design, scheduling, statistics, collections and capacity, and philosophy of service.
 

Tech help can be a tricky area of public library service. In our efforts to ensure the library  remains relevant to the public we embrace helping our users with technology. We point to this as success and evidence of the library’s relevance and empowering mission. But that goal of individual empowerment often comes at the cost of obscuring systemic complexity. What does that obfuscation cost us as a community? In this session we will explore this issue and discuss Strathcona County Library’s approach to creating room for the discussion of politics and ethics within our tech programs. 

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This presentation outlines the successful implementation of the Google CS First club in Olds, Alberta. The program is a partnership between the public and school libraries that introduces computer science to kids in a fun and interactive after school program that anyone can run in their own library. Teachers, parents, and librarians alike have used CS First. No computer science experience needed! Instructional videos guide students through each activity, allowing you to work with students individually and encouraging them to help each other. We will show you how to start your own program and outline best practices for a successful program.

Inspired by recent events at our own library in which some patrons have been challenging the additions of new technologies (especially those for children), this presentation aims to share practical ways in which libraries can defend their choice of tech to patrons, coworkers, management, investors, and the public in general, obliterating the simplified and outdated concept of libraries that prevails in the consciousness of many even today. Featuring engaging and humorous illustrations by the author to accompany each concept, this presentation will be impassioned, fun, and full of viable ideas for any library. Allocate! Advocate! Illuminate! Demonstrate! We must selectively allocate suitable tech in our libraries according to our physical space, our funds, and the various needs of the communities we serve. We must proactively advocate for our tech selection through policy, marketing, staff training, and mission statements. We must tactfully illuminate those who do not understand the valid addition of new technologies by educating them on the role libraries play in providing equal access to information and entertainment to all, and assuring them that technologies are not a threat to books- technologies are an addition to library offerings, not a subtraction. We must actively demonstrate the usefulness of technologies in our libraries to patrons and stakeholders in programming, 1 on 1, through written words and statistic keeping.

Three years ago, our library wanted to get involved with makerspaces, but we faced some unique challenges. How can a library have a makerspace when the majority of clients cannot access the physical library? What can the library do to excite our remote users about emerging technologies that can be used in their classrooms? Our solution was to create a different kind of makerspace – a space with no space, no place, no walls. Come and learn how we adapted the idea of a makerspace to meet our clients’ needs.

It's 2017, why doesn't everyone have email? Or aren't we post-email? Rural librarian and technologist Jessamyn West will talk about some of the intended and unintended consequences of the digital divide and discuss libraries' roles in helping mitigate them. Breakout session for more constructive discussions afterwards.
Jessamyn West is a librarian and community technologist. She writes a column for Computers in Libraries magazine and is the author of the book Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide. A born outreach librarian, she teaches a course entitled "Tools for Community Advocacy" for the University of Hawaii's Library School. She was a research fellow at Harvard University Library Innovation Lab for 2016-2017, and serves on the Advisory Board to the Wikimedia Foundation. She works with small libraries and businesses in Central Vermont to help them use technology to solve problems.

This session will cover how everyday technology is used by underprivileged groups, and what accessibility barriers are faced. You will learn how marginalized people use technology daily, how every day occurrences can impede usage, and useful tips on how to improve access to technology and programs for those most in need. Special attention will be paid to disability rights, with a focus on how libraries can make Assistive more Accessible. 

Public libraries are built on the idea of providing society-at-large with communal access to information. As information containers have expanded and evolved beyond the codex, libraries experiment with access strategies, loaning non-traditional items, and expanding their definition of “access.” EPL undertook one such experiment in 2016: loaning the internet! EPL acquired 40 hotspots with unlimited data connections and developed a 2-year pilot aimed at loaning devices to customers without home internet or who are socio-economically disadvantaged. This presentation will outline similar hotspot loaning projects that inspired EPL’s approach, the ins and outs of how the service operated in its first phase, the successes and setbacks of the initial pilot, and the adjustments made for the second pilot phase. 

Anxiety, frustration, and fear were barriers for many frontline staff in helping customers troubleshoot technology issues. To address this barrier, we developed a multi-stage online and in- person gamification approach to tech troubleshooting, buttressed by a self-paced e-collection learning plan. As staff progress through the training, even the most anxious and apprehensive became more participatory, testing what they’ve learned, and collaborating with colleagues to solve problems. This session will show our approach to digital literacy training and how it works to overcome these psychological barriers to improve staff technical competencies, build staff confidence, and provide customers with more consistently positive experiences when coming to the library for help with digital literacy questions.