Theme Descriptions

Cast A Net
Casting a net is a traditional method for gathering and capturing resources—including food and ideas. We "cast a net" in academic and research libraries for new ideas to expand our resource base and to extend our impact. In libraries we also use many "nets" to attract and engage current and new users—nets woven from our work in outreach, marketing, collaborating, and partnering. The entrepreneurial and energetic culture of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest provide a "net" that gathers individual innovations into a wider convergence, creating the opportunity for new and exciting developments. The city and the region can serve as a test-bed for library initiatives that also "cast a net." We invite you to bring your experiences with the cutting-edge challenges facing our libraries—issues such as global research, e-science, scholarly communication, and technology transfer—to our "net." Areas of possible presentation include, but are not limited to:

Networking and networks
International students and faculty
Inclusion and diversity
Collaboration and partnerships
Marketing
Outreach
Global reach, local touch
Global research
E-science
Open access
Scholarly communication
Technology transfer

Feel the Buzz
What's the buzz in your library or on your campus? What are the trends in librarianship or in higher education that get you as excited as an undergraduate student who has just drained a high-octane drink at your coffee bar? When something is "buzz-worthy," how do you learn about it, share it with your colleagues, and get your campus buzzing about it? Academic libraries are not only the site of the best coffee bars and "third spaces" on campus, they are at the nexus of trends shaping teaching and research in higher education. They are the places where traditional boundaries between disciplines are crossed, and where traditional ideas about academic professions are being challenged, revised, and renewed. Whether you're thinking about how to re-envision your daily grind, to sample the daily special, or to get a tip on that new brew that everyone is going to be talking about soon, Seattle will be the place to get your buzz on! Programs selected for this theme could include, but are not limited to, the following:

Emerging trends in librarianship, information technology, or higher education
New professions in the academic library
New positions in the academic library
New roles for librarians on campus
Blurring boundaries between public services, technical services, and information technology
Assessment and accountability
New visions for the library as place or for collaborative spaces on campus
Gaming in libraries
Public engagement
Continuing professional education and "keeping up"

Get It to Go
As our information technology-rich society grows and matures, library users expect librarians, library resources, and services to be offered at the point of need via cutting-edge tools such as mobile devices upon user demand. College and research librarians of all flavors are faced with keeping up with new and emerging media and technologies as well as implementing and shifting access, preservation, and delivery of information to such new ever-changing models of service. This theme seeks to unpack and examine these innovations in technology that shift traditional modes of information access, service and delivery, and alter core functions of college and research libraries. For example, how do we find adequate resources to implement and train staff on new and emerging technologies? What kind of user experience is generated through synchronous or asynchronous mobile communications with librarians and library resources? How do we know which technologies and trends will stick around to invest resources in? What do our users expect from us in terms of adopting new technologies and modes of information delivery? What does increased or on-demand remote access mean for the library as place? What are the challenges involved in implementing "on the go" resources/services in a college or research library? How do these newer models of information dissemination and delivery effect information seeking or user behaviors? How do we prepare and educate future librarians for these emerging modes of information access and delivery? What new methods of research might emerge from the use of such tools? Programs in this theme will explore these questions and more by grappling with the challenges, issues, and implications of our fast-changing, technologically advanced methods of communication and information sharing and storage. Areas of possible presentation include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

New technologies and/or new media - standards, developments, collecting, cataloging, acquiring, implementing, utilizing, experimenting, etc.
Services and/or resources on demand (at the point of need) – remote access, document delivery/interlibrary loan, streaming media, instruction, reference, licensing, implementing, sustaining, etc.
Mobile technologies and the delivery of services/resources – digital resources, reference and instruction, implementing and/or managing mobile services/resources, metadata and cataloging, etc.
Training and/or professional development to keep up with emerging technologies and user demand
Emerging/mobile technologies, users, and the flow of information, services, and resources
User-generated content - as information sources, marketing tools, information conduits, etc.
Usability and/or information-seeking behaviors
Collaborating with campus or other stakeholders to develop, implement, and deliver "on the go" services or resources
Organization, cataloging, metadata, and access implications of resources delivered on demand through new and emerging technologies and/or campus partnerships and collaborations

Harvest and Sustain
Careful stewardship and cultivation of our cultural and financial resources are familiar territory for academic and research libraries. As the world around us changes at an ever-increasing pace, we are becoming more aware of the need to conserve our environmental resources, as well. Sustainability—of our collections as well as of our buildings and work processes—has become more important than ever. How do we ensure that future generations will have access to increasingly digitized and licensed collections? How do we make our collections accessible to the widest possible user group? How do we pursue these goals, and all the other work we do in our libraries, with an eye to reducing our environmental footprint, and preserving resources for the future? As we tend to our growing array of library services and resources, how can we use our experience and knowledge to plan for green and fruitful libraries well into the next century? Possible topics for this theme include, but are not limited to, the following:

Projects addressing the environmental footprint of libraries
LEED and libraries
Sustainable library programs
Greening the resource base: innovative fundraising and new partnerships
Persistent metadata and sustainable access
Preservation of materials and collections
Electronic resource management: Will you still be there tomorrow?
Acquiring and preserving out-of-print works
Developing print-on-demand projects
The effects of mass digitization projects
Digital preservation in libraries
Traditional preservation and conservation (physical)
E-journals and e-resources (including LOCKSS)

Scale the Heights
Where do you want to go in your career? How high can you climb in your own professional development, and what can you do to help your colleagues soar? How do we inspire others to pursue excellence while seeking excellence in ourselves? How do we mentor, teach, organize, and motivate our colleagues and students while we scale the heights of our own career? Academic libraries are complex environments in which members of different generations, diverse communities, and varied scholarly "tribes" interact. Whether you are a "boomer" or "millennial," a traditionalist or a champion of all things "2.0," a librarian or a "feral professional," you are increasingly surrounded by a variety of "others." How do we differentiate among this diversity in our teaching and service styles? How do we make certain that our collections, services, and technology meet the needs of such a complex community? How do you know when you are ready to make a try for the summit? Is your current position all that you hoped it would be? If not, how can you make it better? Stop trudging upward and position yourself to climb to the top! Programs in this theme will look at management and leadership styles, re-envisioning the organization, alternatives to hierarchy, fundraising and grant writing, and working with an increasingly diverse group of staff and patrons against a background of personal and career development. Areas of possible presentation include, but are not limited to, the following:

Leadership and management
Multiple generations in the workplace
Serving multiple generations of students and faculty
Career and personal development
"Work life" and "Life life" balance
Emotional Intelligence
Motivation and rewards
Problem-solving style and change management
Organization development
Continuing professional education