Accepted Conference Talks
This list represents the accepted conference talks that you can expect to hear at the conference. Thank you to all who submitted talks this year.
Wikidata the Nonintimidating Way
Research funding and tracking scholarship is becoming a priority in many higher education institutions. Some universities are investing significant monies to track output demonstrating their contributions to the research ecosystem, but many cannot afford these costly solutions.
Wikidata, the “free and open knowledge base,” is becoming an important... more information about the talk Wikidata the Nonintimidating Way
Wikidata for libraries: the case of the National Library of Sweden
Wikidata, one of Wikipedia’s sister projects, is a free and open database of structured data. With its over 91 million linked data entities and a community of thousands of volunteers, it is occupying a unique position in the Open Knowledge landscape. The platform has attracted the attention of researchers in... more information about the talk Wikidata for libraries: the case of the National Library of Sweden
Where to Start? Developing a Metadata Management Lifecycle
Metadata management–the process of establishing policies and processes to ensure metadata can be integrated, accessed, shared, linked, analyzed, and maintained–is essential for supporting our users, as well as our own institutional needs. With so many tools available to catalogers and metadata workers, it can be difficult to keep up, or... more information about the talk Where to Start? Developing a Metadata Management Lifecycle
Visually exploring current events and social justice patterns in WorldCat records data
Machine learning, data science and advanced data visualization techniques have made huge strides and are now more widely available than ever. This talk focuses on showing how machine learning algorithms and data visualizations can showcase ways in which the data stored in OCLC's WorldCat records relates to current events. I... more information about the talk Visually exploring current events and social justice patterns in WorldCat records data
Thinking Beyond the Basics of Accessibility
We spend a lot of time discussing the basics of disability access: image alt text, headings, semantic markup, etc. I have made a career of teaching and advocating about library accessibility. We need these conversations because we admittedly fail at basic accessibility too much and too often. Addressing meeting WCAG... more information about the talk Thinking Beyond the Basics of Accessibility
Replacing Worldcat with a GitHub Repo
In October of 2020, the "Free-Programming-Books" repo on GitHub processed over 1,300 pull requests, expanding its coverage to over 3,770 free books, 1,254 free courses, and 822 other resources in a total of 35 spoken languages. The repo, managed by the Free Ebook Foundation, received contributions (additions, deletions, corrections and... more information about the talk Replacing Worldcat with a GitHub Repo
Per My Last Email: Communication Online vs AFK
With Covid-19 forcing many institutions to remote work in March 2019, the way that we work and communicate shifted as well. Those from a technical background are familiar with communication methods online with anything from Slack to Discord to Messenger. Collaborative tools like Confluence, Jira, and Trello are the norm... more information about the talk Per My Last Email: Communication Online vs AFK
Not just for "those" students: assistive technology for users with & without disabilities
How do assistive technologies intersect with diversity initiatives? How can libraries use and promote assistive technology to create inclusive environments? How can we use assistive technology to facilitate the reading and writing needs of our patrons? Two librarians from California State University-Dominguez Hills will share tips for launching and marketing... more information about the talk Not just for "those" students: assistive technology for users with & without disabilities
Navigating without a map: discovery in a world beyond subject access
What do you do when your library has a unique collection, like ETDs -- but it unfortunately does not have high-quality subject metadata? How can you make that content discoverable and (dare I say) engaging?
In this talk, we'll show a machine learning approach that situates a collection within... more information about the talk Navigating without a map: discovery in a world beyond subject access
Mapping Metadata: Cleaning and controlling fields to improve migrations
Repository migrations are challenging and one thing is clear: it’s never too early to start working on your metadata. In September 2020 work began on the IMLS-funded Fedora Migration Paths and Tools project, and Whitman College participated as one of two pilot partners. However, the Whitman team began work on... more information about the talk Mapping Metadata: Cleaning and controlling fields to improve migrations
Machine Learning Apps for Non-programmers
Machine learning is demonstrating increasing usefulness as a tool in varied library applications. However, because machine learning is still an emerging technology in libraries, related commercial apps are of limited availability. This means that the benefits of using this technology are often limited to librarians with coding skill or with... more information about the talk Machine Learning Apps for Non-programmers
Looking Beyond the List: Enhancing Search with Interactive Visualizations
The size and scope of library databases have changed much since the 1970s, but the primary mode of displaying results remains the sorted list. While lists work well for providing access to the first several results of a search, they do little to provide context. A list does not convey... more information about the talk Looking Beyond the List: Enhancing Search with Interactive Visualizations
It’s all about perspective! Rethinking how we work with an API-first mindset
APIs have evolved from being viewed as just pieces of software to strategic tools that enable library innovation through an “API-first” mindset. In this session, a research university library and organization will explore the benefits of having an API-first mindset and recommend how attendees can use APIs to achieve library... more information about the talk It’s all about perspective! Rethinking how we work with an API-first mindset
How to measure Diversity of Search Results
Traditionally search has been all about "how do I find the one (or five) documents that answer my question?". However, what about when I want to encourage serendipity and discovery (common in research use cases)? In those cases, I care about increasing the diversity of my search results, while still... more information about the talk How to measure Diversity of Search Results
Hello, Goodbye: Starting/Leaving Library Technology Jobs
Starting a new job is an exciting time full of new people, technologies, and projects; leaving a job is an often bittersweet time of trying to wrap up projects, saying goodbye to people, and trying to document technology. This talk will explore both sides of this equation of stepping into... more information about the talk Hello, Goodbye: Starting/Leaving Library Technology Jobs
Green Digital Libraries: Progressive Web Apps, Sustainable Design, and Coding for the Greener Good
How would you measure the carbon footprint of your app or this website? What if you could use these measures to improve user experience and your own coding practices while supporting a greener web? In this session, we’ll look at efforts to understand how our websites and applications consume energy... more information about the talk Green Digital Libraries: Progressive Web Apps, Sustainable Design, and Coding for the Greener Good
Everyday Linked Data
The concept of linked data is now several decades old but is still often treated as a special case by many people working in libraries and archives. This talk will address the benefits of adopting linked data for day to day work; this includes both the advantages of gaining familiarity... more information about the talk Everyday Linked Data
Ethics of AI algorithms: looking into PubMed’s “Best Match” Algorithm
Artificial intelligence is in our everyday lives; whether it’s through our google searches, Netflix recommendations, or self-driven cars; it is nudging our behaviours or opinions in a certain direction. Discussions about how algorithms reinforce stereotypes or how biases are included in the programming of algorithms are essential to bring awareness... more information about the talk Ethics of AI algorithms: looking into PubMed’s “Best Match” Algorithm
Ethics in web design
Accessibility creates a better web experience for everyone. Optimizations likewise impacts marginalized groups of people, such as those experiencing reduced access to the Internet for socio-economic issues or geographic disparities in infrastructure services. Security and privacy standards can help those that are less familiar with the Internet. Mindfulness puts human... more information about the talk Ethics in web design
Digging In Our Collective Crate of Sounds
In hip hop there is a term called “crate digging” where DJs and producers “dig” through stacks of crates in the basements of record shops and thrift stores searching for the most obscure and rare sonic gems. The DJ’s reputation and craft are built on how large and diverse their... more information about the talk Digging In Our Collective Crate of Sounds
Data Interoperability via Persistent Identifiers: Libraries Leading the Way
Academic research institutions are increasingly looking for ways to “connect the dots” between their researchers, funding, activities, and research contributions in order to measure impact and meet reporting requirements while also streamlining workflows to reduce administrative burden. Persistent identifiers (PIDs), such as DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) for publications, datasets, and... more information about the talk Data Interoperability via Persistent Identifiers: Libraries Leading the Way
Code that Lasts: Sustainable And Usable Open Source Code
I have realized that the open source projects I am most proud of are a few that have existed for years now, increasing in popularity, with very little maintenance required. Including traject and bento_search. While community aspects matter for open source sustainability, the task gets so much easier when the... more information about the talk Code that Lasts: Sustainable And Usable Open Source Code
Backlog Monster! Or, The Virtue of Muddling Through
There is something big lurking in your backlog, something that darkens your every work day. Maybe it’s remediation you’ve been putting off for years, or unfinished business from a big migration. Nothing depends on taming the monster, but life would be easier if you did.
In our case... more information about the talk Backlog Monster! Or, The Virtue of Muddling Through
An LIS Student’s Intro to Open Source Frictionless Data Tools
I’ve been a Frictionless Data Reproducible Research Fellow at Open Knowledge Foundation (http://okfn.org) for six months. Throughout the fellowship, I’ve been learning and using open source frictionless tools which have broad applications in the library environment. The Frictionless Data (https://frictionlessdata.io/) initiative at Open Knowledge Foundation aims to reduce friction in... more information about the talk An LIS Student’s Intro to Open Source Frictionless Data Tools
A serverless journey: How we develop reliable, resilient and scalable Library services
In this talk, we share our experience in building well-architected serverless applications to enable reliable, resilient, and scalable Library services. Serverless computing allows us to focus on business logic instead of managing and operating infrastructure. We benefit from the serverless programming model, which is a simpler, more cost-effective way of... more information about the talk A serverless journey: How we develop reliable, resilient and scalable Library services