The annual OCLC Workshop is taking place on Thursday 22 February, the day after the EMEA Regional Council Meeting, at The Principal Hotel, 19–21 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PB. This year’s event is going to take a more innovative format than previous years—it is going to be a series of interactive roundtable discussions with peers and OCLC staff.
The theme of this year’s OCLC Workshop will be “The Library in the Life of the Student”. Now that there are many ways and places that students can study, it is becoming ever more important that the library goes to where the student is, whether that is through authentication, providing more study space or just making things simpler no matter when and where they are working—all of this will be covered.
Therefore, we will be breaking this theme down into six key areas:
These six areas will provide the starting point for discussions which you will be contributing to. Every delegate wishing to attend will be assigned a topic for the morning session and then, you can pick another topic for the afternoon session.
If you are interested in taking part in this new version of the OCLC Workshop, then don’t forget to check the box on your EMEA Regional Council Meeting registration form. The programme will be in English and places are extremely limited. It’s important to emphasise that numbers are strictly limited so please only register if you are certain you can attend and you want to take part and contribute to the discussions.
Come ready to discuss how your library is integrating into the life of the student!
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 10:00 — 10:30 | Introduction Mary Sauer Games, Vice President, Global Product Management, OCLC Ken Chad, Ken Chad Consulting |
| 10:30 — 12:00 | Session One — Please go to assigned table New Forms of Engagement Simon Day, Product Manager, OCLC As more and more information and services are moving online, the role of the reference librarian and reference services are becoming more important. Students are working in a variety of places at all times of the day and night, meaning they expect the services they need to be there when they need them. The services libraries provide have moved from the traditional to the virtual meaning there is now an increased focus on providing guidance and help to students to find what they are looking for, but what does this mean for you and your library? Learner Analytics Fiona Leslie, EMEA Marketing Director, OCLC (am) Steve Taylor, EMEA Digital Marketing Manager, OCLC (pm) Students place importance on the teaching and the resources available at an institution when judging their student experience. In certain jurisdictions, teaching excellence is assessed as a governmental exercise. Learning analytics are therefore helping institutions create proof points around the standards they are adhering to. By gathering together and analysing library data on a student e.g. what books they take out or how many times they visit the library, libraries can contribute to this insight. Data Driven Decisions John McCullough, Senior Product Manager, OCLC In developing a library’s strategic direction, it is essential that evidence-based data be referenced to supplement the organisation’s rationale for decision-making. There is an expectation by stakeholders that libraries can generate reports and decisions based on aggregated data. Therefore, capturing, analysing and reporting decisions based on data are indispensable in today’s libraries. Technology and Mobile Strategy Scott Livingston, Executive Director, OCLC Libraries are impacted by the ways in which individuals engage with technology; how they seek, access, contribute, and use information; and how and why they demonstrate these behaviours and do what they do. When it comes to technology and mobile strategy, there are two perspectives to consider — libraries being where the students expected them to be and, areas that can make things easier for your staff. Whether it is developing apps, so that students can check their library account or making processes less cumbersome for staff, to providing technology that students would not usually have access to make for a more innovative and creative space and giving staff the technology to allow them to be where the students are — all of this helps to make the library smarter. User Experience Cathy King, Director, End User Services, OCLC It is no longer just about looking at the figures such as, footfall and how many books have been loaned, there is now an increasing focus on the user experience and especially from a digital standpoint. Nowadays, students are used to and understand the layout of search engines like Google and Yahoo and so it is important that the interfaces look familiar, are responsive and resemble popular sites, so it is easy to use with little or no training. Therefore, it is important that we get a better understanding of the student user, so that as libraries and library services develop, they are centred around the user and provide a positive impact. Collection Management Matt Barnes, Director, OCLC Sustainable Collection Services (SCS) As teaching methods and technologies change, so too do the needs, wants and behaviour of students. This means new demands on library space and priorities, but how can this be managed when libraries are full of stacks and their collections are just getting bigger? It means reducing physical collections so that there is room for collaborative spaces and allowing the library to be where the student wants to work. But how can this be done without being to the detriment of the resources available? |
| 12:00 — 13:00 | Lunch and Networking |
| 13:00 — 14:30 | Session Two — Please choose a table Abstracts same as the morning session |
| 14:30 — 15:00 | Break |
| 15:00 — 15:30 | Round Up Ken Chad, Ken Chad Consulting |