A session of enhanced and equitable user experiences. From ‘signing’ books for the hearing impaired, to using tech to help achieve equitable access, and creating reciprocal communication processes, hear how libraries are using cutting-edge tech to get closer to users and how they are planning to move forward.
Interactive tools offer engaging opportunities. In the USA, a college empowers ESOL and inclusion students and enables others to interact with student ideas. The British Library working with the University of Lancaster and the Alan Turing Institute used the Minecraft platform to encourage young people to engage with literature in a fun and interactive way. Libraries around the world are collaborating to provide live reference services beyond their library walls.
Susana and Indira share their insights about how the business process review helped to unlock change in the ILO Library, by removing inefficiencies, resolving the root causes of operational problems and increasing the quality of services. Amy shares her data driven decisions toolkit which gives practical tools for data planning, collection analysis and service mapping.
The liberated library movement aims to diversify library collections and encourages participation and collaboration between library staff, academics and students. Many people are involved with the liberation work at Goldsmiths Library including students, subject librarians and academic skills lecturers. In this session Marilyn Clarke describes the work and presents filmed conversations with a number of people from the ‘Liberate our Library Working Group’ all of whom are striving towards impactful social change.
Following this session, UKeiG will present the Jason Farradane Award, given to an individual or a group of people in recognition of outstanding contribution to the information profession.
The search world continues to evolve. Innovations driven by machine learning, predictive analytics and other artificial intelligence technologies happen with astonishing speed. It's the responsibility of librarians to stay current with changes in search, both for teaching purposes and in our own research endeavours. Marydee and Arthur share their top takeaway tips. Innovation occurred at the University of Portsmouth Library with the development of a mobile-friendly web-based book finding tool that sends users a bitmapped image with a custom URL showing the highlighted shelving section(s) where the desired book or subject should be shelved. Responsive web design means that the images display clearly on smartphones, allowing users to carry a visual guide to finding the book or subject with them as they navigate the library.