Marketing a New Brand
  Jim Fisk, Librarian and Coordinator of Student Academic Support Services at Morningside College

Fisk showcased the results of local student course projects analyzing and strategizing marketing efforts for the Learning Center.  Morningside's Learning Center is the result of a merger of the Library and the Academic Support Services Center, housed in a single facility and supporting student learning in a variety of ways.  While the activities meshed together well, awareness of the new Learning Center and its services was slower to catch on.  Jim Fisk worked with Dr. Pamela Mickelson, Professor of Economics and Business, to have students in two of her advertising classes study student and faculty perceptions of the Learning Center and come up with options for marketing to these two groups.

The Summer 2008 class focused on student perceptions of the Learning Center for a survey research portion of the course, contacting students through email and Facebook. Although summer proved to be a tricky time to seek student feedback, results indicated an interest in additional programs to be held in the Learning Center.  The marketing plan based on survey results also presented a new Learning Center logo and recommended using giveaways or "flair" with the logo and the Learning Center name.

The Fall 2008 project assessed faculty views of the Learning Center and included a survey and focus groups.  Faculty proved to be very attached to the "library" concept and brand, but did provide some usable suggestions for improvement such as additional online resources and more discipline-specific tutoring.  New services and initiatives that came out of both projects include the addition of JSTOR collections, a noon performing arts series, additions to staff in Student Learning Services, and summer tech camps.  Some student internships are planned involving further cooperation between the Learning Center and the Business Department.

   Photo and Report by Kris Stacy-Bates

Academic Library/IT Department Relations: IT Professionals Speak
Panelists:

• Thom Neith, Director, Communication & Information Systems, Hawkeye Community College
• Gary Wipperman, Director of Information Technology Services, Wartburg College
• John Wynstra, Library Information Systems Specialist & Associate Professor, UNI

Moderators:

• Jan Dellinger, Library Directory, Hawkeye Community College
• Jean Donham, College Librarian & Professor, Wartburg College

The panelists in this informative session are all IT professionals who work closely with libraries and librarians in their respective institutions and understand the importance of IT infrastructure to libraries. Responding both to questions submitted to them before the conference and questions from the audience, they shared their insights and perspectives on how to make the important relationships between librarians and IT folks work smoothly and effectively. Rather than quote from individuals who frequently agreed with each other, here are my interpretations of their major themes.

Both IT and library staff need to have a clear understanding of what we're talking about. Explain acronyms or use language that both parties understand.

• Spend some time building relationships with the other department so you understand the pressures they are under and what their expectations are.
• Establish a good working relationship in non-critical times makes it easier to communicate and effectively work together in crises.
• Just as librarians need to do a reference interview to find out what our patrons really need, IT professionals often need to do a reference interview with librarians to solve the real problems. Try to provide helpful information about the problem and only classify things as critical when they really are critical.
• Philosophy of IT is different from the philosophy of library. IT wants to protect networks and make sure information and equipment stays safe. Libraries want to make things available as easily as possible. We need both philosophies.

Things to look for in the future: All panelists agreed that we'll see smaller budgets, higher demand for services and an increased need for bandwidth. They also agreed that the library catalog would undergo some fundamental changes, but agreed they didn't know yet what that would be.

  Photo and Report by Dan Gall

Confronting the Gathering Cloud
  Rachel Fleming, Collection Development Librarian at Central College

Fleming, through an overview of the history of library architecture, showed us that the library of today is more that a just a repository of resources (print and online), but is a space that brings people together. People come to the libraries with different informational needs.  She also introduced the concept of "cloud computing" and how this new concept is caching the way knowledge is being created.

Users are not just coming to the libraries to find the information they need, but they are also using collaborative software to create new knowledge with the information they gathered in the library. Librarians should be aware of these changes when designing or redesigning library spaces. If collaboration is to be achieved, attention should be taken when design learning/collaborative spaces in the library. If this is overlooked libraries can become outdated.

  Reported by Germano Streese

Futurecasting Libraries: Instant Messaging: A study in culture, technology, and services
  Dan Coffey, Reference and Instruction Librarian and Instant Messaging Coordinator at Iowa State University Library; and Sarah Passonneau, Assistant to the Dean and Assessment Librarian at Iowa State University Library.

The central feature of Coffey and Passonneau's presentation on the use of Meebo, a browser based instant messaging program, as a next-generation reference tool was a rich collection and in-depth analysis of data.

Passonneau started with existing Meebo electronic reference usage statistics and, through a painstaking process of segmenting and coding, produced a set of data that will be used to validate the continued use of IM as a viable reference service and to justify a move toward campus-wide promotion of the service.

Coffey presented on the implementation and use of the service and explained that Meebo was selected as the electronic reference tool of choice because it supports multiple IM services and is capable of receiving and sending text messages from/to patron cell phones.

  Photo and Report by Leslie Ross