NJLA Annual Conference Events


Check out these fabulous programs sponsored or co-sponsored by the Reference Section!

 

MONDAY

Preconference

1:00-4:30pm 

Making Sense of Business Reference 

Speaker:  Celia Ross, MIS, Stratham Research www.strathamresearch.com

 

Do you wish you felt more confident when faced with a business reference question?  This workshop will help familiarize you with sources and strategies for tackling questions on companies, industries, the stock market, consumer demographics and more.  

 

Part business reference therapy, part business reference source class, this workshop will leave you with a better understanding of the business reference process and provide you with a framework for building your business reference expertise. 

 

Celia Ross has been teaching "Business Reference 101" for RUSA to sold-out crowds since March of 2006. She is the Chair of RUSA's BRASS division. She is working on a book, "Making Sense of Business Reference" which is forthcoming from ALA Editions.

Moderator:  Lisa Coats, Monmouth University Library

Reference Section

 

TUESDAY

9:00-9:50am 

What's a Database Anyway?  Promoting E-Resources

Today's libraries are faster, easier and more convenient to use than ever thanks to Web sites that are open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Find out how to use basic marketing and communications techniques to promote your library’s virtual services: Web sites, databases, online reference and e-books.  Participants will learn how to develop a plan and strategies for delivering your message.

Peggy Barber, Library Communication Strategies and former Associate Executive Director for Communication for the American Library Association;

Moderator: Sue Lipstein, Hillside Public Library

Reference Section and Public Relations Committee

 

11:00-11:50am 

Helping Your Patrons Understand the Global Financial Crisis:  Looming Economic Meltdown or Useful Teaching and Marketing Tool?

You don't have to be Warren Buffet to help your patrons find useful resources that will help them (and you!) understand what's going on with the global economy.  This workshop will highlight a number of useful tools and strategies for helping public and academic library patrons find information on the financial crisis.  Also included will be ideas for using this topic to market your library's services and resources to students, faculty, small businesses and community members.

Celia Ross, Stratham Research

Moderator: Cathy Prince, Summit Free Public Library

Reference Section

 

1:30-2:20pm 

Surviving a Genealogy Reference Interview

Genealogists can be a challenge for reference librarians.  They can pin you down with lengthy stories of their great-granduncle’s Civil War service, befuddle you with arcane questions about probate records, and jam your printers with census records.  But genealogy reference work can also be very rewarding for both librarians and patrons.  Learn the basic tools and strategies for helping family historians.

Jack Simpson, Curator of Local and Family History, the Newberry Library, Chicago

Moderator: Jenny Lichtenwalner, Scotch Plains Public Library

Reference Section and History and Preservation Section

 

3:30-4:20pm 

Reference Excellence Challenges:  Realities & Possibilities

We all know that library budgets are really tight and users have high expectations for reference service.  Coping with constant change, technology upgrades, and multiple demands on our time threaten our professional equilibrium.  Despite these realities, this program challenges you to consider the possibility of outstanding and personalized service to every library user.  Come to this engaging and provocative presentation to be inspired and to reaffirm excellent service as a core library value.

Marie L. Radford, Ph.D., Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies Moderator: Lisa Florio, Springfield Public Library

Reference Section

 

4:30-5:20pm 

Radical Reference

This is an online reference service provided by volunteer library workers in a collaborative virtual setting using free/open source technology.  Come learn more about how you can use this model to deliver services in your own communities (social, political, familial, spiritual, etc.).  Presenters will share the five year history of the group and discuss how it collaborates, as well as give an accessible history of free/open source software.

Julie Crawford Tozer, Ocean County Library, Toms River Branch; Eric Goldhagen, Senior Partner at Openflows Community Technology Lab

Moderator: Lisa Coats, Monmouth University Library

Reference Section

 

WEDNESDAY

9:00-9:50am 

Tweet What!?  6 Sweet Ways to Connect with Your Customers in 140 Characters or Less

Two top twitterers will show you how to use this popular application to connect with your customers for reference, customer service, and more!  Tweet your way to a network of customers and colleagues, reach new users, and get 24/7 personal and professional development using “Twitterbrarians.”  Learn how to start tweeting and connecting with those who use their computers and mobile devices to send and receive updates using this simple tool.

Julie Strange, Statewide Coordinator of Maryland AskUsNow!; Amy Kearns, CJRLC

Moderator: Michael Maziekien, Nutley Public Library

Reference Section and Information Technologies Section

 

9:00-9:50am 

One is Silver and the Other Gold:  Harmonizing Iconic and Iconoclastic Librarianship

How can traditional and iconoclastic "2.0" librarians learn to work together when their definitions of the profession seem so different?  Our speaker will use examples of reference encounters to analyze the shift from system-centered librarianship to user-centered librarianship -- and beyond.

Hannah Kwon, Ph.D. student, Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies; Moderator: Leslie Kahn, Newark Public Library

Administration and Management Section, Information Technologies Section and Reference Section

 

11:30am-12:20pm

To De-wey or Not to De-wey

The buzz among libraries around the country has been the recent development of the Dewey-less library: arranging books based on words rather than numbers.  The speaker will talk about steps to consider when planning such a change, as well as discussing the various Dewey-less library models from around the U.S. and Canada.

Allan M. Kleiman, Library Consultant

Moderator: Ilene Lefkowitz, Denville Public Library

Reference Section and Reader's Advisory Roundtable

 

2:30-3:20pm

The Year's Best Graphic Novels 2008

Update your library's graphic novel collection with suggestions from librarians around the state.  Hear about the best graphic novels published during 2008 in adult, young adult, and children's categories.

Karla Ivarson, Ocean County Library; David Lisa, NJ State Library; Laverne Mann, Mercer County Library; Tyler Rousseau, Ocean County Library

Moderator: David Lisa, NJ State Library

Reference Section and Reader's Advisory Roundtable

 

3:30-4:20pm 

Future Reference Visions:  Getting There from Here

Through increasingly sophisticated chat tools and services, full immersion in virtual worlds, board slamming, application embedding on toolbars or in courseware, and a variety of other means, reference librarians are working hard to make their high-touch presence felt and valued in a high-tech information world.  What future should we build for reference services, and how might we chart our course?  Our distinguished panel will address these questions and invite your thoughts.  Bring your compass!

Jim Rettig, President, American Library Association; Michael Maziekien, Nutley Public Library; Marie L. Radford, Ph.D., Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies; Moderator: Trevor A. Dawes, Princeton University Libraries

College and University Section/ACRL-NJ and Reference Section