The 1997 Computers in Libraries Conference was held in Crystal City, Virginia, March 10-12.
"With over one hundred dynamic speakers participating in four simultaneous tracks, plus workshops, Computers in Libraries caters to all interests and all levels of knowledge. Tracks focusing on the Internet and World Wide Web provide practical examples of how this new technology is being integrated into library platforms. Case studies and creative applications of information delivery, library systems, intranets, web publishing, multimedia and CD-ROMs provide many ideas to employ in your own organization" -- from the Computers in Libraries '97 web page: http://www.infotoday.com/cil97/cil97.htm.
Overall the conference was very well worth attending, and I have many new ideas and solutions for web page maintenance and development. I would highly recommend this conference for any librarian who directly deals with electronic information creation, dissemination, or maintenance. For web administrators, it is a must!
If you have any questions regarding the conference, please do not hesitate to contact me at crr@conterra.com.
The following are notes from a few of the sessions I attended at the conference.
3/10 9 a.m.
Searching the Net with Popular Search Engines.
Walt Howe, Delphi; Hope Tillman, Babson College Library; Sue LaChance, Infoseek Product Manager.
Infoseek Ultra technology -- four parts of a search engine at Infoseek are the spider, index, directory, and collections that run the engine. Offer a webkit for building your own web site. Learned that you can search fields such as title, URL, etc.
AltaVista -- learned about the Live Visual Topics, which is wonderful for creating a visual graph for searching web sites. Unfortunately, our version of Netscape at SCSL does not support Java so we can not utilize it for searching or demos. The Live Visual Java also allows for language specific tagging.
Excite -- learned that the "[more like this]" tag at the end of each item found in a search raises relevancy and simply moves related topics to the top of the list for the search you've input.
Lycos - pull down the pictures menu and you have a library of clip art at your fingertips.
3/10 2:00 p.m.
The HTML Monster: Is It Really Necessary to Learn?
Rebecca Jackson , George Washington University;
Hope Tillman, Babson College Library.
Discussed HTML editors and that since many editors are now WYSIWYG it is still very important to get something such as FrontPage 97 that incorporates WYSIWYG web page creation technology and basic HTML editor functionality with regard to tagging.
It was also mentioned that in an academic and special setting, it is a good idea for each librarian to have his or her own brief home page describing individual functions, specialties in the collection, etc.
Hope Tillman's discussion of what librarians need to learn about HTML was quite informative! She stated that librarians should at least know enough about HTML to make one basic web page using a very basic HTML editor. Also discussed the importance of web link-checker software to maintain the credibility of a library's site.
3/10 3:00 p.m.
Web Pages: Graphic Design Principles and Navigation.
Walt Howe, Delphi.
The best thing to have learned here is the difference between GIF and JPEG image files for web pages. Save images as .GIF for solid colors, line art, etc., but save images as .JPEG (or .JPG if on a PC) for photos with gradations in color. Always save image files, JPEGs esp., as low quality and 72 dpi should be about the highest setting for GIFs. Also, LView Pro and similar software can convert bitmap (.BMP) images to GIF or JPEG for web site graphics.
3/10 4:15 p.m.
The Librarian as Website Developer.
Joan Gervino, American Banking Association;
Jan Zauka, Gregg Notess, Montana State University -Bozeman.
Joan discussed how important it is for the librarian as a website developer to be able to work closely with the MIS department of the organization. Advertisements, sponsorships, budgetary, authority, and other sources of funding should be emphasized.
Jan's talk on "Websites: Visions and Nightmares" emphasized the importance of web teams and their communication with administration.
Management realities and considerations were Gregg Notess's main emphasis. He also made the important statement that a web site is quicker to build than maintain!
3/12 9:00 a.m.
Virtually Changing: The Virtual Library Today.
Laverna Saunders-McMaster, Dean, Salem State College Library
Content is the most important facet of a web page -- Lynx-friendly sites were emphasized. Try to use very little images! She got into some philosophical issues dealing with searching the Internet and mentioned the March 1997 Scientific American article which related to her talk. Emphasized that libraries and librarians will always be needed. The library has not only maintained its status as a storehouse for information, but also as a gateway. "The virtual library is a metaphor for the 'networked' library," was a memorable quote of hers.