I presented once before at Internet Librarian and twice for its east coast counterpart, Computers in Libraries but these upcoming presentations will be different because I have only presented solo at these conferences before. The two proposals that were accepted were ones that I submitted with someone else. The conference planners grouped us together with other speakers, most of whom I know. I am rather excited to be presenting with these colleagues and am looking forward to meeting the couple of people who I haven’t met before.

Bobbi Newman, of Librarian by Day fame, and I sent in a proposal about cloud computing. We have been added to a session with Rachel Vacek, Web Services Coordinator, University of Houston and Anna Creech, Electronic Resources Librarian, University of Richmond. We are slated for Monday, October 26th at 3:15pm.  The session is Collaborating in the Clouds: Selecting Tools:

Do you collaborate on documents within committees that are made up of members scattered around the world or your institution? Are you looking for alternatives to mail discussion groups that will push your content out to committees and beyond? And, most importantly, are you interested in tools that manage documents which can easily be transferred as staff and committee rosters change? The first presentation discusses the pros and cons of some of the best online and open source tools for simultaneous creation, sharing, and management of content. Newman covers a variety of cloud productivity tools including word processing, spread sheets, wikis, presentation, calendars, task managers and other free applications. Ipri discusses how the move away from desktop applications is influencing academic libraries. Many libraries are investing time and money in restructuring their public areas into collaborative learning spaces. Will the move to cloud computing assist or undermine these efforts?

Jason Griffey, of Pattern Recognition, and I submitted a proposal about using mobile devices in libraries. We will be presenting in a double session with R. Toby Greenwalt, Adult Services Librarian, Skokie Public Library; Jason Clark, Digital Initiatives Librarian, Montana State University (MSU); Matt Benzing, Information Technology Librarian, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Michael Sauers & Christa Burns, Nebraska Library Commission. We are slated for 10:30 – 12:15 on Tuesday, October 27th. The session is Dreaming, Designing & Using Mobile Library Platforms:

Ipri & Griffey start this double session by explaining why you can’t just replicate your existing web site for mobile users – needs and technologies are different in the mobile world. They discuss how libraries must rethink their services and go with completely new models in light of ubiquitous computing and connectivity. Greenwalt discusses the specific Skokie Public Library’s “going mobile” LSTA grant project to develop a suite of mobile tools, including a mobile website, catalog, text messaging alerts, and mobile reference service. Clark talks about delivering video and images through optimized web sites that work with the next generation of smartphones and mobile devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry Storm, Palm Pre, Google Android). He discusses challenges and advantages of developing mobile sites, the debate between native smartphone apps versus mobile web apps, best practices for mobile web design, and the lessons learned in development processes. Benzing discusses creating alternative versions of a website for mobile users, utilizing needs information of users from surveys, focus groups, and usability testing. The last segment of the session looks at mobile reference, where Sauers and Burns look at the basics of using the Internet on regular cell phones as well as smartphones.