WILIUG Spring Conference – June 7, 2024 at Gateway Technical College (Racine, WI)

Registration is now open for the WILIUG 2024 Spring Conference. The conference will be held at Gateway Technical College’s Racine Campus Conference Center. Parking will be available on site.

Register here

Registration Cost
(Continental breakfast, lunch, snacks/beverages included)

  • $30 members
  • $40 non-members 

Verify your membership here.

Register by May 31!

Conference Schedule: Friday, June 7

Registration and continental breakfast: 9:00am-9:30am
Conference: 9:30am-3:00pm

Sessions and Events

9:30-10:45Opening Session
WILIUG Business Meeting
Innovative Corporate Update
Hear about the exciting new announcements from Innovative and see some of the development that’s been happening with Sierra, Polaris, and Vega! There will be an update on the larger Clarivate Corporate direction and how that’s enabling Innovative to provide more resources for support and development. 

Presenter: Dean Cooper, Innovative
10:45-11:00Break
11:00-11:50Breakout Session 1
10 Leap Tricks
The session will go over tips and tricks particular to Polaris Leap! Help your staff feel more comfortable using Leap by learning ways that make Leap work for them!

Presenter: Brittany Smith (Pinnacle Library Cooperative)
Audience: Polaris
Update your Circ Notices with LX Starter
For Sierra and Polaris libraries there is a modern tool for email circulation notices and more. It’s included with your current ILS license and called LX Starter. Hear firsthand about implementation and lessons learned from Deerfield Public Library (Sierra). You’ll also learn about Innovative’s plans to further develop LX Starter to include online patron registration and more.

Presenters: Pam Skittino (Deerfield Public Library), Dean Cooper (Innovative)
Audience: General
Not Who But How: Creating a Solution Centered Team
Using examples from her real-life experiences, Michelle shares some of her life and work philosophy in the context of the different ways staff members work differently and how they can work together to better serve patrons and each other.

Presenter: Michelle Petersen (Helen Plum Library)
Audience: General
11:50-1:00Lunch
1:00-1:50Breakout Session 2
Diversity Audit Idea Exchange
Is your library considering a diversity audit? Are you currently planning for one and are feeling stuck? Join us for a presentation and idea exchange! Hear from Carly Thompson of Palatine Public Library (IL) and Rachel Fischer of Cooperative Computer Services (IL) about diversity audit projects at their organizations, and then discuss plans, details, and questions from your own diversity audits.

Presenters: Presenter: Carly Thompson (Palatine Library District), Rachel Fischer (Cooperative Computer Services)
Audience: General
Exploring Aspen Discovery
Two public libraries discuss their experiences implementing hosted Aspen Discovery. We’ll start with the selection process, through the data loading (and side loads), configuration, and staff and patron training. Learn what indexing and searching benefits you’ll gain, FRBRized record grouping, and what work-around processes you’ll be able to stop. Hear about the magic of APIs connections and vendors that work/play well with Aspen, and the included mobile app, Aspen LiDA.

Presenter: Pam Skittino , Tim Mayse-Lillig (Helen Plum Library), Alex Vancina (Helen Plum Library)
Audience: General
Ramping Up Security with Individual Logins in Sierra
Cybersecurity issues are common, even in libraries. Using departmental logins can lead to security issues. This session will describe how Naperville Public Library moved from having 13 departmental logins to almost 200 staff logins. They will share their project plan including how to use SQL queries to gather information, becoming familiar with the options and settings in the authorizations menu, and how they rolled out the new logins.

Presenter: Anne Bultman (Naperville Public Library)
Audience: Sierra
1:50-2:00Break
2:00-3:00Breakout Session 3
Polaris ILS Forum
A general discussion forum for all Polaris users. Come and learn more about the ILS with
other WILIUG members.
Sierra ILS Forum
A general discussion forum for all Sierra users. Come and learn more about the ILS with
other WILIUG members.

Questions? Email the Steering Committee at wiliugorg@gmail.com.

WILIUG Spring 2024 Conference – Save The Date & Call For Presenters

June 7 at Gateway Technical College, Racine, WI

The 2024 WILIUG Spring Conference will be held on Friday, June 7, at Gateway Technical College in Racine, WI. The full agenda, as well as registration information, will be available in April. Watch your inbox and or the WILIUG website for updates! 

Call for Presenters

We invite you to submit a program proposal for the Spring Conference! Presenting is a great opportunity to build your resume and public speaking skills. Sessions are 50 minutes, including Q&A time. The conference registration fee will be waived for presenters. 

Is there something unique your library is doing? Are you really good at a certain aspect of using your ILS? Are you working on a special project? If you said yes to any of these, we would love to hear about it! Other suggestions for topics include reporting and data, user experience studies, print templates, using Leap, or SQL queries. Both Sierra and Polaris topics are encouraged.

You can also participate in a panel discussion! If you have experience in any of these areas, we’ll try to connect you with other interested WILIUG members for a moderated discussion:

  • Collection Diversity Audits
  • Catalog Cleanup Projects
  • Tips for Presenting Data to Stakeholders (circulation, programming, etc.)

Click here to submit a proposal. Proposals may be submitted through Monday, April 15. Applicants will be notified before the end of April.

Thank you for supporting the Wisconsin-Illinois Innovative Users Group. We look forward to seeing you in June!

— The WILIUG Steering Committee

Birds of a Feather Lunch at IUG 2024

Sign up to attend the WILIUG Birds of a Feather Lunch at this year’s IUG in Detroit! A great opportunity to mingle informally with fellow WILIUG members. Hope to see you there!  Please register by end of day Monday, March 18, 2024.

Click Here to Register

This event is for WILIUG (Wisconsin Illinois Innovative Users Group) members. Not a member yet? Apply or check membership status on the Membership page.

Here are the details:

When
Monday, March 25, 2024
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

Where
The Old Shillelagh
349 Monroe St
Detroit, MI 48226

Details

Vegan and vegetarian offerings are available. There will be no cost to members – lunch will be covered by WILIUG. 

Registration open for the 2023 WILIUG Fall Meeting!

The WILIUG Steering Committee invites you to register for the 2023 WILIUG Fall meeting.  This virtual meeting will take place on Friday, October 13th, from 9:30 AM to 12:45 PM.

The half-day meeting will include updates from Innovative staff and ILS-agnostic sessions on gathering, presenting, and using data in your library. End the day with a presentation from Innovative on the new Idea Exchange enhancement request platform and III product roadmaps. All sessions will be live and recorded for later viewing.

Registration is free for both WILIUG members and non-members from other Innovative libraries!

Non-members are encouraged to consider joining WILIUG to be eligible for future members-only events including our in-person Spring Conference. Please visit our Membership page to check your library’s membership status or for information about joining.

Please register by Thursday, October 12.

Register Here

Agenda

9:30 – 9:40 AMWelcome and WILIUG Business Meeting
9:40 – 10:00 AMInnovative Corporate Update
Presented by Dean Cooper and Dennis Carter
10:00 – 10:45 AMSurvey Savvy: Turning Data into Discover
Presented by Sara Keister Armstrong – SKA + Associates

This presentation will build on our knowledge of how to build and distribute a survey to provide insights into how to use your survey data. We’ll explore how to effectively interpret and harness survey data to enhance services, engage your community, and make data-driven decisions. Learn practical tips and strategies for turning survey responses into actionable insights that can help your library thrive.
10:45 – 11:00 AMBreak
11:00 – 11:45 AMBeyond Core Stats: Deeper Look into Common Library Data
Presented by Grant Halter – RAILS

With all the data libraries have it can be challenging to sift through the mass to uncover useful insights about how your library is performing and how it compares to peers. Common library statistics like circulation, registered cards, and interlibrary loans, are commonly used by libraries to assess performance. Only reviewing these raw numbers may neglect insights that are vital to effectively analyzing the trends and patterns of library usage. During this presentation, you will learn a few simple tricks to transform basic library data into useful stats and see examples of how to compare libraries.
11:45 AM – 12:00 PMBreak
12:00 – 12:45 PMIdea Exchange and Product Roadmaps
Presented by Martha Sanders and Dean Cooper – Innovative

Innovative staff will introduce the new Idea Exchange platform for enhancement requests, discuss elements of an actionable idea, and the voting process. The roadmaps for Sierra, Polaris, and other products will also be reviewed.

WILIUG Fall 2023 Meeting – Save the Date & Call for Presenters

Save the Date! WILIUG 2023 Fall Meeting
The WILIUG Fall Meeting will take place on Friday, October 13.  This virtual meeting will feature live sessions, ILS-specific forums, and a presentation from Innovative. Registration is free for WILIUG members! Click here to check your membership status or to become a member. 

The full agenda, as well as registration, will be available in September. Watch your inbox for updates! Agenda and registration links will also be available on the WILIUG website.

Call for Presenters
We invite you to submit a program proposal for the Fall Meeting on Friday, October 13. Sessions are 50 minutes, including Q&A time, and will be presented via Zoom.

Is there something unique your library is doing? Are you really good at a certain aspect of using your ILS? Are you working on a special project? If you said yes to any of these, we would love to hear about it! Other suggestions for topics include: reporting and data, user experience studies, print templates, using Leap, or SQL queries. Both Sierra and Polaris topics are encouraged.

Click here to submit your proposal. Proposals are open until August 14.

Thank you for supporting the Wisconsin-Illinois Innovative Users Group. We look forward to seeing you this October!

— The WILIUG Steering Committee