By Kirsten on July 16, 2024
While we haven't stopped dreaming about that amazing San Diego weather (beautiful sunny days with a cool ocean breeze?! Yes, please!), we've mostly returned to reality after the wonderful whirlwind weekend of ALA 2024. The exhibit hall buzzed with excitement around the latest innovations in library technology, literature, and educational resources - plus there was a ton of really great swag. However, the highlight for us was the incredible guest presentations at the Springy booth.
If you didn't manage to catch the guest presentations (or Springshare's flash presentations), never fear! We've rounded up the recordings of these live presentations just for you. All videos are available on Springshare's Facebook page. Don't have a Facebook account? You can still watch! Just ignore any prompts to sign in or create an account.
Guest Speaker Presentations - Recordings Available
If I can do it, you can do it! Transitioning to LibCal
Round Rock Public Library recently launched LibCal study rooms, meeting rooms, and event calendars. Michelle Cervantes, Library Director, was responsible for migrating the meeting rooms for the team. Michelle was able to train a temporary administrative assistant while migrating their rooms. If she can do it, you can too! Let Michelle show you how easy it was to transition from one platform to LibCal.
Not at the Mercy of the Algorithm: Control Your Own Content with Email
Your most powerful marketing tool is the one you have the most control over: email. Unlike social media, email is not at the mercy of an algorithm. Use it to your advantage to increase your return on investment! Spokane Public Library has leveled up their email marketing by building their lists, segmenting their audiences, and promoting services and collections in notices - and circulation and website traffic have increased. This session will cover both general tips and specific features the presenters love in Patron Point.
Leveraging LibAnswers to Improve User Experience with Digital Collections
In this presentation, Shelley Barba and Ian Barba, Librarians at Texas Tech University, discuss why and how they did a systematic review of six years of reference questions related to the library's electronic thesis and dissertation collection using Springshare's LibAnswers. Shelley and Ian outline the history of the collection, their evaluation methodology, the trends over time, unexpected realizations discovered, and how others can apply a similar method at their institutions.
Why an LMS is not enough for a Library's Online Presence
Due to drastic budget cuts in the wake of the 2007/2008 financial crisis, Wendy DeGroat, Librarian at Maggie L. Walker Governor's School, made the difficult decision to cancel LibGuides and adjust to the library's online presence being inside the school's learning management system. Increasingly frustrated by the way this limits the library's visibility and complicates workflows that LibGuides streamlines, Wendy is excited to once again be a LibGuides customer for 2024-2025.
LibInsight & Ref. Analytics: Capturing the right data across service locations
Do you handle virtual and in-person services? Are you facing challenges in gathering statistics from these different locations for comparative analysis? In this presentation, Colleen Garcia and Casey Macolino will explore how the Customer Experience Unit at UC San Diego effectively utilizes LibInsight and Ref. Analytics within LibAnswers to streamline the collection of statistics for in-person, telephone, email, and SMS user support. While there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution yet, leveraging tools from the same suite enables seamless cross-analysis and provides a consistent user experience for staff.
Chatbot: From Development to Assessment
Join Laura Thompson, Jamie Diermier, and Meghan Salsbury (National University) as they delve into an innovative collaboration between two university departments to revolutionize library patron support. In this session, they will explore developing, implementing, and assessing a LibAnswers Chatbot designed to triage patron inquiries and manage after-hours chats effectively. Attendees will leave equipped with practical strategies and best practices for initiating similar initiatives within their own library settings. Whether you're looking to streamline patron interactions or explore innovative ways to extend service hours, this session promises actionable insights to propel your library service offerings forward.
From Pathfinder to Pedagogical Guides: A Research-Backed Strategy to Improve LibGuides
In this presentation, Katherine Howell, Librarian at North Carolina A&T State University, will describe a project in which she evaluated LibGuides, created best practices based on user experience studies, and developed a comprehensive template for use by colleagues in an effort to make subject guides more pedagogical. The presentation will include information on the process and best practices developed, as well as images of the template and an example guide that resulted.
Springy Flash Presentations
LibGuides: New Multi A-Z, Sublists, & More!
LibGuides A-Z has tons of new features that we're excited to share with you! From the brand new Sublists to Multi A-Z functionality, we'll be taking a look at these new features that are sure to make your LibGuides experience even better.
New Printable Flyers From LibCal
Coming soon, we're bringing you the ability to generate customizable, printable flyers for your upcoming events from directly within LibCal. You'll be able to design flyers to promote your events with just the click of a button (or two!).
Coming Soon: LibCal's New Equipment Booking UI
LibCal's Equipment Booking Module is getting a search-based UI refresh that will be more mobile-friendly and accessible. Explore what this updated user interface will look like.
LibAnswers: Streamline Workflows for Tickets
Explore LibAnswers' new functionality to streamline ticket workflows and save time! Assign priority levels to tickets to help staff triage and answer questions with greater efficiency. Use the new automation functionality to automatically tag tickets based on keywords or phrases. Plus, Workflows for Tickets can be created to assign tickets to priority levels or work in conjunction with automated ticket tagging to ensure tickets are efficiently prioritized.
Find Your Way With LibMaps
We're expanding our existing library mapping functionality to include easy stack wayfinding capabilities for any library. These latest and greatest features will make it easy to pinpoint where in the library - or across multiple libraries - a volume is held. We'll be exploring all of the flexible interactive mapping features LibMaps has to offer.
Learn more about LibMaps.
Where Will Springshare Be Next?
IGeLU Conference, September 9 - 12
Springshare is heading abroad to Copenhagen, Denmark for the 2024 IGeLU Conference!
ARSL Annual Conference, September 11 - 14
We're off to Springfield, MA for the Association for Rural and Small Libraries Annual Conference. Come say hi!
PaLA Annual Conference, October 7 - 8
We'll be in Harrisburg, PA for the Pennsylvania Library Association Annual Conference.
View our conference schedule to see a full list of everywhere we're going to be in 2024!