Here is how the LITA Board would like to proceed.

1. The LITA Strategic Plan has been posted to ALA Connect http://connect.ala.org/node/105818. Members are encouraged to review the new LITA Strategic Plan and post your feedback to ALA Connect by Friday, June 25th.

2. The last 45-60 minutes of the Saturday LITA Board Meeting will be devoted to the LITA Strategic Plan. The Strategic Planning session of the LITA Board Meeting will be held in the Convention Center room 204A, Saturday, June 26 at approximately 11:30-12:15.  The LITA Board welcomes LITA members to the meeting if they wish to provide feedback in person (if you can’t make the meeting please provide feedback in ALA Connect http://connect.ala.org/node/105818). During the Strategic Planning session at the LITA Board meeting we will also identify which strategies we want to tackle in the next 18 months and assign those strategies to the appropriate committees, interest groups and task forces. The LITA Board will then work with the committees, interest groups and task forces to create action plans on how those groups plan to accomplish the strategy.

3. The LITA Board has asked the committees and interest groups to fill out and submit their completed Action Plans and submit them to the LITA Board two weeks prior to the Midwinter Meeting in January 2011. Board members will be available to assist the committees, interest groups and task forces in the completion of the Action Plans.

4. During the LITA Board session at the ALA Midwinter Meeting 2011, the LITA Board will review the submitted Action Plans to make sure all strategies that were identified as priorities in next 18 months are accounted for and if not how to proceed.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Michelle Frisque
President, Library & Information Technology Association

This will be an expansion of LITA’s current standards initiatives which includes the work of the Standards Interest Group and the Standard’s Coordinator.

Charge:
To explore and recommend strategies and initiatives LITA can implement to become more active in the creation and adoption of new technology related standards that align with the library community. Propose an organizational structure that will support and sustain LITA’s increased involvement in the standards arena both within ALA and beyond.

To summarize the task force needs to determine:

• which standard organizations LITA should participate in examples include NISO, ISO, W3C, etc.
• how LITA can become actively involved in each of the identified organizations
• what kind of support LITA members would need to increase their involvement in standards creation
• how this new initiative can be sustained in the LITA organizational structure

Time Frame:
The task force should submit their final report before the ALA Midwinter Meeting in 2011.  A preliminary report should be submitted to the LITA Executive Board by October 15th, 2010.

Members:
A big thank you to the following members who have agreed to serve on this Task Force. They are:

• Yan Han, Chair
• Todd Carpenter
• Margaret Hazel
• Janel White
• George Fray
• Jennifer Hawkins
• Diane Hillman, LITA Standards Coordinator
• Colby Riggs, LITA OITP Representative
• David Nutty, current chair LITA Technology and Access
• Elena Soltau, incoming chair LITA Technology and Access
• Judy Jeng, co-chair Standards Interest Group
• Mona Couts, LITA Board Liaison

At today’s LITA Town Meeting we are going to review the the existing strategies and identifying missing strategies. During the Town Meeting we will break out into groups and each group will review one section. Each group will then perform the following tasks for their assigned section:

1. add possible strategies that are missing
2. identify which strategies are worth developing and incorporating into the future strategic plan and give them a time frame (can be complete in 1 year, 2-3 years or 3+ years)
3. identify the possible strategies that are essential to the future of LITA

The groups will reconvene and share the results of their discussion. The rest of the board can provide their thoughts as well.

You can also follow us via Twitter using #litath.

The draft strategic plan is on ALA Connect.

The EL program kicks off with a daylong session during the ALA Midwinter Meeting. Afterward, it grows and develops in an online learning and networking environment for six months. The program culminates with a poster session presentation to display the results of the project planning work of each group at the ALA Annual Conference.

LITA will sponsor 2 Emerging Leaders this year. LITA will contribute $1000 towards expenses ($500 for each conference). The LITA sponsored EL’s will also be paired with the LITA Vice President and will be appointed to a LITA Committee once they complete the EL program. Those interested in being sponsored by LITA, should check the LITA box on their application.

Sponsorship is not required for participation in the program. Anyone who is selected to participate in the program but not sponsored, will be expected to pay their own expenses.

Apply now for the 2010 class of Emerging Leaders. Deadline for submission of online application and all references is EXTENDED to AUGUST 7, 2009

You can find more information including requirements at the ALA Emerging Leader Program website.

• Identify the types of programs that are presented and which are most appropriate for online posting
• Identify other organizations such as ACRL, PLA, WebJunction, etc, who are currently providing this service to learn about their experiences
• How should the content be delivered online i.e. live webcast, produced in a studio, screencast, etc.
• Identify, evaluate, and analyze available systems
• Identify which systems are best for delivering each type of program
• Determine who should have access to what types of programs and how. This should include:
  • Identifying the appropriate delivery method
  • Who should have access. Should it be available to all LITA members, available to everyone, etc.?,
  • Should access be different for different user communities?
  • Should their be a registration fee for certain types of programming

• LITA Program Planning Committee
• LITA National Forum Committee 2009
• LITA National Forum Committee 2010
• LITA Web Coordinating Committee
• LITA Education Committee
• LITA BIGWIG

Thanks to the following people for agreeing to serve on this task force:

• Aaron Dobbs, chair
• Melissa Shepard
• Anne Graham
• Cody Hanson
• Michael Witt
• Jenny Emanuel
• Kristine Feery
• David Ward

Charge:
To explore the possibilities for providing technical support to committees which need to include absent members using Internet connectivity.  To develop an implementation plan for the 2009 Annual Conference.

• Identify levels of support needed and appropriate tool for each level;
• Identify existing tools and develop new tools as needed;
• Identify services that might be needed;
• Determine best ways of providing tools and services.

Task Force:
Thanks to the following people for agreeing to serve on this task force:

• David Lee King, Chair
• Cindi Trainor
• Lauren Pressley
• Derik Badman
• Andreas Orphanides
• Barbara Blummer

Charge: 
In support of implementing a centralized system to gather, evaluate and select programs, the LITA Program Process System Task Force will identify systems to determine the most appropriate systems and recommend what they determine to be the best choice(s). 

• Gather system requirements
• Identify common elements for all committees as well as unique elements for each committee
• Identify, evaluate, and analyze available systems

Task Force Members:
Thanks to the following people for agreeing to serve on this task force:

• Ranti Junus, Chair (LITA Program Planning Committee)
• Dale Poulter (LITA Program Planning Committee)
• Zoe Steward-Marshall (LITA National Forum Committee 2009)
• Jennifer Reiswig  (LITA National Forum Committee 2010)
• Lauren Pressley  (LITA Web Coordinating Committee)
• Danielle Plumer  (LITA Education Committee)
• Paul Bracke  (LITA Publications Committee)

Check out the LITA WIKI for updates from the task force.

Here are the questions we asked during the breakout session:

1. What makes LITA unique inside ALA and in the greater community?
2. Who else is filling the same role as LITA right now?
3. What areas of IT are not be addressed in the community?
4. How do other organizations see LITA?
5. How can LITA work with other organizations?
6. What can LITA learn from peer organizations?

We had 12 tables in the room so 2 tables discussed each question. I posted pictures of the notes from each table and they can be found on Flickr.

I want to thank the following guests for coming to this event and participating in the discussion:

• ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries): Susan Kroll
• ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services): Dina Giambi and Mary Case
• ASIS&T: Nancy Roderer (Past-President)
• BCR (Bibliographical Center for Research): Regan Harper
• Digital Library Federation (DLF): Barrie Howard
• RUSA (Reference and User Services Association): Neal Wyatt
• Taigi: Tom Wilson (Board Member)
• OCLC/WebJunction: Beth Gutsche

I would also like to thank the Twitter table for getting a feed going on the spot! I really enjoyed reading it after the fact and I know those who could not attend enjoyed participating from wherever they were.

Finally, I would like to thank Matt Barnes from R2 Consulting for volunteering his time and facilitating the discussion.

While the session took place at Midwinter the work began in December via email. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions. Those questions included:

• Please think about the environment in which you live and work and what is happening in those areas that could have the potential to impact you and your business.
• As you look to the future, what are the issues and trends that you think could have some effect, either positive or negative, on you and your workplace? In other words, what is going on in the environment that you will need to respond to or plan for—today AND in the future?
• In order to track trends in library information technology that impacts professionals in the field, what data should be gathered and analyzed on a regular basis for benchmarking and trend tracking purposes?
• In order to track trends as well as the health and welfare of LITA as an association, what data should be gathered and analyzed on a regular basis for benchmarking and trend tracking purposes?

The email discussion and meeting helped us to clarify the range of potential issues that LITA and its members are likely to face in the foreseeable future. As Robin stated “by carefully identifying ALL of the issues, we can establish priorities for information gathering that will help LITA be better prepared to respond with information and knowledge rather than with the opinion and anecdotes from individuals.”

Based on the email discussion, Robin created a list of the top issues in field for our members:
1. Re-invention of library’s traditional space
2. New and increasing funding requirements
3. Increased need for training
4. Changing role of the “librarian”/impeding leadership crisis
5. Changing expectations about access to information
6. Information glut
7. Changes in the nature of social interaction
8. Increased privacy concerns
9. Need for new tools, customization and user-friendly interfaces.

We split out into 3 groups, and each group was assigned several topics to discuss. Each group brainstormed and shared their results. The results of the brainstorming session were photographed.

Here is what was identified as priorities for LITA:

Re-invention of library’s space: (issue 1)

• What is the value of our space both traditional and virtual; is it a success?
• Where are members going beyond LITA?

Money/Budget (issue 2)

• How do we (LITA) share our value/worth?
• How do we optimize staff and volunteers
• How much to put into new stuff such as research and development?
• When do we decide to stop doing something?

Increased need for training (issue 3)

• Value of training
• Preferred models of training? f2f, online, webcast, etc
• Why do people participate in training i.e. to learn, network, required, etc.

Changing role of the librarian …. (issue 4)

• Focus on membership like what are the true demographics
• What is role / expectation in say 5 years

Social Interaction (issue 7):

• How are they used by members
• what are their preferences
• where do they use them (this related to both social tools as well as portable devices)

Increased privacy concerns issue 8 – included both LITA members as well as those we serve at our home institutions

• What concerns do our users really have?
• What do our users think is private; what do they want/expect to be private

Need for new tools….. (issue 9)

• What are people using, how do they keep current, why they stop using a particular tool
• Vendor relations – what is the role of LITA in working with vendors; more vendors used to be members, why is this membership group declining?

The session was also covered in Cognotes, Saturday, January 12, 2008, page 20.

While much was accomplished there is still more to do. Work will continue via email. Look for more updates via the blog in the near future.

Although there is no pay associated with the position, the person will receive a stipend of $1500/year or will be reimbursed for travel and lodging expenses up to $1500/year, and receive free press registration for attending the ALA Midwinter meeting and Annual Conference.

The applications review begins August 15, 2007. The complete job description can be found on the LITA website.

The participants as of December 1 are:
Michelle Boule
Cathleen Bourdon
Lynne Bradley
Linda Braun
Andy Bridges
Leslie Burger
Rob Carlson
Frank Cervone
John Chrastka
Nancy Davenport
Mary Ellen Davis
Keith Michael Fiels
Sam Florio
Michelle Frisque
Mary Ghikas
Judith Gibbons
Paul Keith
Leonard Kniffel
Jenny Levine
Olivia Madison
John McDonald
Sara McLaughlin
Karen Muller
Jim Rettig
Loriene Roy
Sherri Vanyek

On a somewhat related note if you want to keep up on what ALA ITTS (Information Technology and Telecommunication Services) is working on take a look at their blog, the ALA ITTS Update.

In the 1990’s most of the Charlotte & Mecklenburg County branch libraries hired Automated Support Coordinators to handle public computer problems so the rest of the library staff did not have to answer those types of questions. The Coordinators were hired by and reported to the branch libraries, not central IT. A new director came on board and wanted to centralize computing support, reduce the number of IT staff, increase the technical skills of all library staff, standardize procedures, and improve communication between IT and the rest of the library. The solution, create a mobile front line support team. Instead of having Coordinators in each library, Level 1 support was responsible for several branches and would go where needed at the time of need. They created Level 2 support teams which were more specialized and had little public interaction. Level 2’s specialized in one of the following areas: network, servers and workstations, ILS, and special projects. An online helpdesk system was implemented to help track requests and projects.

Now that there was no longer a Coordinator in each library it was also decided to create a list of core technical competencies that each staff member should have. Some of those skills included: what is in your library, basic hardware knowledge, basic printer troubleshooting, OS system knowledge, browser familiarity, etc. On the Intranet a core competencies checklist was created for each staff member. That checklist was also monitored by the supervisor. (A screen shot of some of the competencies was projected but I could not catch them because the type was small. Kevin said he would post his presentation along with a more detailed list of the competencies on the LITA Web site. As of this posting they still aren’t there yet.) The competencies were tied to performance evaluations. To get staff excited prizes were given to branches and individuals.

Results included empowering staff, reduced calls to help desk, increased up time, and it reduced the technology gap among staff.

Michelle Robertson, Systems and Web Librarian, Anne Arundel Community College

Michelle’s talk focused more on what type of skills/competencies a Systems Librarian should have or what she called “Survival skills for the lone systems librarian.” Some of the tips she listed included: learn about your patrons, work a desk so you can see the problem in action, hang out and walk around the public areas because you will see problems that no one has reported, and make time for usability testing. She also mentioned some of the staff challenges you may face including: some staff are technically challenged, change averse, the self-taught expert who does too much on their own, mother’s helper, afraid to bother you because you are too busy, etc. Important skills of the lone systems librarian include: good negotiating skills, agitate for change but pick your battles wisely, provide the staff with the tools they need to do their job, communicate across all levels and at the appropriate level for each audience, LISTEN, continue learning, act as a mediator between the Library and IT, keep IT informed and include them when possible on what’s going on.

Richard Wayne, Assistant Director, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Their library created a computer staff training program. The program started 8 years ago and it is on its 4th iteration. In order to provide the training they leveraged existing staff within the library to create a tech team. This team provides the training. When creating the program and when they re-evaluate the program they ask themselves the following questions: what are the basic skills needed, what are the biggest problem areas, what do staff think is important. They also did what he called the iterative method meaning they could change it is they went. Most of the instructors were from the library but they also did bring in people from other parts of the campus. Richard gave examples of what was covered in some of the sessions. There were 5 sessions and each lasted approx. 1 ½ hours. Part 1 covered: unit mission, responsibilities chart/customers responsibilities, their methodology, how to use the helpdesk, interpreting the on call schedule, overview of the technical liaison team, terminology, Q&A, and computer room tour. Part 2 covered: opening up a pc, introduction to the LAN (both library, student and campus), Internet and Internet 2, Windows OS tour, Q&A. Part 3 “the meat and potatoes section” included: how to add and remove a printer, adding shortcuts, network drive uses, accessing reference manager, Microsoft updates, loading software, etc. Part 4 focused on maintenance and troubleshooting including help and PDA’s. (It included more but the slide went by too quickly for me to write the rest down. Richard also said he would post his presentation on the LITA Web site. It was not up when I posted this entry.) Part 5 was devoted to special issues including VPN, burning CDs and DVDs etc. Items have been added and removed as the program evolved. Public computer issues, information security, SP2 have been added as the program evolved. With the newest iteration a new section has been added that focuses on technology issues specific to a department. They have done surveys to determine users needs and after each session they hand out evaluation forms. Each session is videotaped so staff who have missed a session can still see it.

The last part of Richard’s presentation was spent talking about creating the Technical Team. The team was created because sometimes the IT department needs a little help i.e. security emergencies, special projects, etc. The team needs to have a clear purpose. Priorities and responsibilities must be clear especially how this team fits into their “real” job responsibilities.

Report from the ALA Executive Board Liaison, Jim Rettig
Topics covered included how money from the dues increase will be used and conference attendance. Jim is ending his board liaison term; next year’s liaison will be Terry Kirk. WAC thanked Jim for his support and service to WAC.

Sherri Vanyek and Rob Carlson from ALA ITTS reviewed their web activities for the past six month, as well as sharing their action plan for the next six months. Here are some of the highlights:

ALA is in negotiations with a company for a comprehensive usability assessment of the ALA web site. The assessment will include: a user survey, an end-user task analysis, focus groups, heuristic analysis, and evaluation of feedback gathered through the web site (logs) and via email. Other web changes include a move to a new Content Management System. The conversion is currently on schedule. The LITA web site will be one of the first sites to migrate to the new system.

There are several blogs currently running on ALA’s b2evolution blog system including: AASL, ACRL, ALA Editions, ALA Membership, ALCTS, Green Kangaroo (Mary Ghikas), Hectic Pace (Andrew Pace), Horning In (ALSC President), ITTS Monthly Update (coming soon), OLOS, RUSA, and YALSA. They have also installed WIKI software at ALA. LITA is the first site on the WIKI. The new CMS will support syndication so the number of RSS feeds should increase once sites are migrated to the new CMS. A link to ALA Wiki’s, Blogs and RSS can be found on the ALA home page under the news section.

ALA ITTS has new staff. Jenny Levine, “The Shifted Librarian” and former Internet Development Specialist and Strategy Guide with the Metropolitan Library System (Chicago) will join the staff of ALA on July 31, 2006, with a half-time appointment in Publishing and a half-time appointment in ITTS. Louise Gruenberg is the new instructional designer for ALA. She started this winter.

Other topics that were covered include: Online Communities, WebCT, Library 2.0 bootcamp, JobLIST, mailing list software transition, Knowledge Management System, update on ALA Web Editorial Board activities, website statistics, committee appointment application, file upload application, bandwidth issues, and TrackIT. A detailed account of all these items will be posted to the WAC web site in the next couple of weeks.

WAC created its action plan for next 6 months. Items included in the action plan are: event planner memo, writing memo asking committees to develop policies for challenged content, create documentation on how to handle blogs, test the Joblist site, figure out how steps necessary to retire archive.ala.org

The meeting concluded at 12:16pm. This is the first time in the fours years I have been attending these meetings that we have finished early! I have enjoyed my time serving on WAC and have mixed feelings about not serving on the committee anymore. Good luck to the incoming chair, Stephanie Schmitt. I also want to thank all the members of WAC for all of their hard work over the last two years. I have enjoyed working with you.