Conferences & Events Calendar

Study room spaces have become a critical resource offered in large academic libraries, yet their standard configuration and policies may not be serving the diverse needs of all patrons. To address this, we conducted an assessment project at a large, land-grant university to gather data on study room usage and user preferences. This presentation will share the results from our study and discuss how we applied these insights to enhance the study room experience, including promoting our “Library of Things” collection as study room resources.

Registration is now open for the highly anticipated PLA 2026 Conference, April 1–3, in Minneapolis Minnesota!

This webinar outlines lean thinking management philosophy for an academic library setting as well as the strategic change management to embed lean thinking into an academic library’s organizational culture.

Where can I find child support guidelines? What are the laws in Nevada on gun ownership? How do I copyright my name? Any librarian who serves the public is apt to get such questions. With no legal training, however, many librarians find such question daunting. This course will rectify that situation, offering proven techniques to turn anyone into an Accidental Law Librarian.

Do you want to take your library’s customer service to the next level? If so, this session is for you. We’ll share a step-by-step overview of how libraries have overhauled their customer service philosophy and elevated the patron experience from questioning and conflict to collaboration and coming to a consensus to find solutions. We’ll dig into how we created staff-driven library service success via innovation and leadership to pursue customer service excellence. In addition to sharing our own experiences, we’ll share our best tips for gaining buy-in from trustees, staff, patrons, and even those “responsibility warriors”!

A 60-webinar on using resources to create advisory materials

A 60- minute webinar on using online resources for creation of advisory materials at little to no cost to the library.

Description: Over the past two years, the Collection Services department of our library faced numerous staff impacts including retirements, staff shortages, hiring freezes and potential budget cuts. To maintain access to library materials for our nearly 60,000 students, faculty and staff the department engaged in a collaborative approach.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to streamline metadata workflows and increase the capacity of cataloging operations. Interest in the promise of AI has accelerated since the release of ChatGPT in 2022. Metadata practitioners have conducted many case studies using AI processes, such as machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP).

Documenting the cultural heritage and unique experiences of your community members provides a more inclusive archival record. This presentation covers the steps needed to establish relationships and work with community members through participatory archives. This presentation will provide an overview of the basic structure of how to conduct oral histories and working with communities.