Plotting Futures - Amigos Member Conference - 2012 - Schedule

As we move through the 21st century, the trajectory of libraries will unfold against a backdrop of the major trends swirling around us. Leading global futurist Warren Evans will kick off the future-themed 2012 Amigos Member Conference with his examination of emerging trends. His presentation, "Where in the World is the World Going?" will touch on macro trends – technical, political, social, economic, educational, and demographic influences – and describe how their interactions will impact the environment in which libraries operate.

Economists probe statistics, demographers analyze populations, and techno-gurus deliver the next ‘Oh Wow!’ thing. The reality is that none of these things happens in isolation. With fresh analysis and practical insights, Evans will explain how they interact with each other.

Macro trends will transform marketplaces and the nature of work. Recognizing opportunities that await libraries depends on how well we understand the full set of external influences and possible scenarios setting the future context for library services.

Librarians and archivists are experiencing massive changes to the ways they describe and provide access to resources in their collections. AACR2 will be replaced by RDA; EAD will be replaced by a newer version and supplemented with the Encoded Archival Context Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families, and MARC will eventually be replaced by a new carrier for bibliographic information. What’s behind these changes? One of the drivers is the quest for the Semantic Web.

This session will explain the Semantic Web and provide examples of how this technology is influencing the changes in metadata experienced by the entire spectrum of information professionals from librarians to archivists and beyond.

This program will appeal to all types of libraries.

Join George Needham and Anne Prestamo in a conversation about world views that can help us “envision the landscape and chart the roadmap” for libraries. The 2011 OCLC report, Libraries at Webscale, provides the starting point for fast-paced discussion about the world views of social entrepreneurs, futurists, and thought leaders in education, technology, the information industry, and libraries. We will look to you to join the conversation with your thoughts, comments, and questions. Read ahead and submit your questions for our master conversationalists to consider in advance. Be prepared to participate live as well.

This program will appeal to all types of libraries.

The "Eat Local" movement encourages people to purchase and consume food that is harvested within the community. This movement gives consumers an opportunity to discover a unique community bounty, and re-establishes the connection between the consumer and the grower. In the spirit of the Eat Local movement, the Scottsdale Public Library piloted a LOCAL Collection to showcase the emerging literary, film, and musical efforts of its community, introduce library users to unique homegrown talent that is not yet nationally known, and give local authors, filmmakers and musicians a tangible way to connect with an Arizona audience.

This program will discuss the process for developing and implementing this collection as well as the results. There will also be a discussion on trends in the explosive growth of new publishing alternatives, including self-publishing authorship, print-on-demand (POD) book production, and digital materials, and how these relate to library collection practices.

This program will appeal to public libraries.

Technology, a big driver for the future of library services, is constantly changing – so much so that it is difficult to keep up. What did you miss during the past year? Find out – we’ll discuss what’s new, what’s different . . . and what’s surprising!

This program will appeal to all types of libraries.

In February 2007, voters of the Municipal Library District of Cape Girardeau, Missouri voted to fund the building and equipping a new state-of-the-art "destination" library. Dedicated in May 2009, the 39,000-square-foot library is a destination for all generations of library users, whether they want quiet or group activity space, self-service or face-to-face contact, WiFi or books, children’s area or community meeting rooms. The library includes a genealogy room, computer lab, three study rooms, areas for teenagers and children, two community rooms, an automated check-in/ultrasort system, and self-checkout stations. Taking visual elements from the Mississippi River and built with environmental sustainability, the building is designed to keep the library flowing with the needs of the Cape Girardeau community. Find out how this building project capitalized on trends and future thought to create a community showcase and destination.

This program will appeal to public libraries.

The future is hard to predict. Looking at many futures provides organizations with flexibility to develop strategies and plans that take into account a myriad of possibilities. Scenario planning provides a framework to examine all those possible futures. In this session, Laura will provide an overview of the history and development of scenario planning, a look at how it has and is being used in libraries, and a review of resources available for further investigation of this planning method.

This program will appeal to all types of libraries.

Capitalizing on connections and technology trends, librarians at Texas Tech University recently launched two projects to create new service points, providing assistance to students beyond the confines of the reference desk and even beyond the library walls.

First, they began traveling around campus, providing “roving reference” at the beginning of each semester. Roving reference allows librarians to step out of the library and provide needed guidance to new people on campus. Using laptops, iPads, and the campus’s wireless internet connection, these roving librarians connect students to the information they need simply by supplying directions or an in-depth look at the libraries’ resources.

Second, they installed new signage around the library that uses QR codes to direct patrons to materials, services, and online video tutorials. In such a large library, it’s more convenient for students to be able to get help without returning to a service desk. Through these projects, librarians are reaching users by making the most of the latest technologies and thinking outside the box to overcome challenges along the way.

This program will appeal to academic libraries.

A robot and new information commons are the eye-catching transformations at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Miller Nichols Library, but the makeover is much more than buildings and equipment. As the multi-part renovation project proceeds, the library is transforming the building beyond previous recognition and is also transforming services. This makeover is a service-driven project that is positioning the Miller Nichols Library for the future.

This program will appeal to academic libraries.

Profound challenges lie ahead for U.S. higher education. Population analysis shows us that shifting student demographics may prove to be the most formidable change ever for American colleges and universities. Millennials, America’s newest generation, are the most ethnically and racially diverse cohort of youth in the nation’s history. Called “digital natives,” they are the first generation in human history to regard behaviors like texting, along with mobile phones and social media usage, not as extraordinary inventions of the modern era but as everyday parts of their lives. Who are our future college students? How do we tailor library services to meet their needs?

This program will appeal to academic libraries.

Drawing on two strategies that are gaining traction in higher education, Learning Communities and the Inverted Classroom, the Southern Nazarene University Library in Oklahoma has implemented a new model for information literacy.

Learning Communities offer incoming freshmen a chance to take general education courses grouped around common themes like Arts & Culture and Sustainability & Resilience. This learning environment also impacts the way the library and the professors work together. Professors work closely with each other and with the librarian liaison to fully integrate information literacy with specific composition, technological, and speech objectives. This gives librarians space to move beyond library tours and bibliographic “one-shot” sessions and teach information literacy to a broad range of students from the beginning of their academic careers.

Also, within these Learning Communities, SNU librarians have been experimenting with using the Inverted Classroom model to facilitate student learning and success during the research process. The Inverted Classroom turns around the traditional model – lectures in class and homework to solve problems or work on projects – into reviewing pertinent material as homework and using classroom time to solve problems and work on projects.

This session will investigate both Learning Communities and the Inverted Classroom model and will illustrate their impact on teaching and learning.

This program will appeal to academic libraries.

When pondering the future of libraries, the factors that will affect the sustainability of library collections are important to consider. As collections change, how will their preservation be impacted? How will the increase in digital collections and the use of physical collections change preservation? This session will examine the future of preservation, including sociological and economic issues that will need to be addressed when planning for the future.

This program will appeal to all types of libraries.

Join ACRL Senior Strategist for Special Initiatives Kara Malenfant as she discusses the foundations of futures research. She'll focus on how futurists create scenarios and how scenarios can help librarians make sense of the myriad possibilities emerging in the many systems of which we are part. She will introduce for discussion a few scenarios from the ACRL report "Futures Thinking for Academic Librarians: Higher Education in 2025" http://www.acrl.org/futures, which considers trends that may have an effect on libraries over the next 15 years. We hope this session will challenge your mental models and provide a stimulus for thinking about and managing change differently.

This program will focus on academic libraries; other types of libraries may benefit from this specific discussion of scenario planning.