Jumpstart Your Conference with Preconference Programs from ALCTS

CHICAGO—The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) will host a virtual preconference and two in-person preconferences before the 2018 ALA Conference & Exposition in New Orleans, La. The virtual preconference “The Road to Electronic Information Accessibility: How Do We Increase Student Success?” will be held on Tuesday, June 5 and Wednesday, June 6, while the in-person preconferences “Hacking Acq: Tools and Apps for Better Acquisitions Workflows” and “Technical Services Assessment: Tools and Techniques that Demonstrate Value” will be offered on Friday, June 22 at 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The two-day virtual preconference “The Road to Electronic Information Accessibility: How Do We Increase Student Success?” will provide attendees with a holistic view on how the many parts of an organization can work together to meet both the legal requirements and the students’ requirements for success. Perspectives, challenges and recommendations will be shared to assist libraries in providing equal opportunities for all their users.

Session 1, Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 1 p.m. CDT
“Institutional Compliance: Responding to Online Accessibility Legal Issues”

• “University EIT Accessibility Compliance: Southern New Hampshire University’s Action Plan for Electronic Information Technology Accessibility”
• “Accessibility: What Is Happening Now Online, On Campus, and Within the Marketplace”

Session 2, Wednesday, June 6 at 1 p.m. CDT
“Accessibility: What Is Happening Now Online, On Campus, and Within the Marketplace”

• “What’s in a Name? The Online Accessibility Center”
• “Enabling Campus Student Success: Bridging the gap between IT and Disability Services”
• “Striving for Accessible Content: It Takes a Village"

In-person preconference events will be held on Friday, June 22 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in New Orleans. “Hacking Acq: Tools and Apps for Better Acquisitions Workflows” will provide attendees with a hands-on look at tools for data analysis, project management, workflow hacks and troubleshooting using Trello, MS Access, Excel and some locally developed tools. The full-day program will offer demos and give attendees a toolkit of applications to try at their libraries.

“Technical Services Assessment: Tools and Techniques that Demonstrate Value” will share technical services colleagues' insights on how to successfully collect, format and present data and information in a way that allows us to both leverage this data to inform internal decisions as well as highlight key achievements and successes to those outside of the department to demonstrate value. The program will also include a hands-on session where participants will explore several types of easy, free plug and play data visualization software.

Registration for the virtual preconference is $69 for ALCTS members for both sessions or $43 for one session; $95 for non-ALCTS members for both sessions or $59 for one session; and $206 for groups for both sessions or $129 for one session. Fees include access to the live presentation as well as unlimited access to the recorded presentation.

Registration rates for the in-person preconference events are $219 for ALCTS members; $269 for ALA for members; and $319 for non-members.

For more details on 2018 ALA Annual ALCTS preconferences, including how to register, please visit www.ala.org/alcts/events/ac.  

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats. ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.