The 2017 NASIG Annual Conference is offering six exciting preconferences with expert speakers! Terry Reese (Ohio State, and creator of MarcEdit) and Shana McDanold (Georgetown) will present an all day session on MarcEdit basics, as well as a half day session focused on more advanced tools and techniques for working with metadata. Cheryl Thompson will share research data management best practices, a focus of her PhD research at Illinois. Maria Collins and Kristen Wilson from NCSU will talk about revamping technical services with agile workflows, while Genya O'Gara and Madeline Kelly (George Mason) will take a deep dive into collections assessment. Also, Amber Billey and Robert Rendall from Columbia will tell us about linked data for serialists.

 

See below for additional preconference information.

 

A Beginner’s Guide to MARCEdit 

By Terry Reese, Ohio State University, and Shana McDanold, Georgetown University

 

Wednesday, June 7th - 8 am to 5 pm

http://sched.co/9gC9

 

Whether you are just hearing about MarcEdit, or are currently using the tool, but would like to know more – this preconference will provide you with the broad overview that you need to take your MarcEdit wizardry to the next level.  Over the course of this event, the presenters will use common questions and cataloging problems to look at strategies and tools for doing basic editing and “macro” creation within the MarcEditor.  The preconference will also highlight handy tools like MARCJoin, MARCSplit, Characterset Detection and Conversion – as well as demonstrate how to generate MARC records from non-MARC data like XML or Excel files.  Finally, the preconference will look at ways in which MarcEdit is providing integrations with OCLC to simplify working with WorldCat, generating call numbers, or FAST headings to your records. This program is a reprise of last year’s successful and popular workshop.

 

Extending Library Services to Research Data: Practical Strategies for RDMS Design

By Cheryl Thompson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Wednesday, June 7th - 8 am to noon

http://sched.co/9gHn

 

Whether you are new to or working in research data management, this workshop will help take your data service model to the next level. First, the workshop will provide an overview of different service models and linking services to campus needs. Thompson will highlight organizational approaches to building and supporting data services. Finally, the workshop will discuss service implementation. Using practical exercises, participants will explore their current and/or future data services identifying goals, resources, expertise, best practices, and potential challenges.

 

An Agile Approach to Tech Services

By Maria Collins and Kristen Wilson, North Carolina State University Libraries

 

Wednesday, June 7th - 1 pm to 5 pm

http://sched.co/9gHT

 

The Acquisitions & Discovery Department at North Carolina State University Libraries has used agile-inspired techniques to help create a culture that is strategic, iterative, and innovative. In this workshop, the presenters will use their experience in this environment to introduce attendees to the foundations of an agile tech services organization, including project planning, project management, and workflow analysis. The workshop will include a mix of instruction and hands-on activities that encourage reflection on and application of the content.

 

Collections Assessment: Developing Sustainable Programs and Projects

By Genya O’Gara, VIVA Associate Director, George Mason University, and Madeline Kelly, George Mason University

 

Wednesday, June 7 - 1 pm to 5 pm

http://sched.co/9gHU

 

Making collections decisions within the constraints of tightening budgets and an ever-expanding universe of materials means that today’s libraries are constantly searching for more informed ways to manage resources. Demands for physical space, shifting information needs, and urgent financial considerations all compete for priority; and now more than ever, libraries are challenged to articulate the value of their diverse collections to their institutions, funding bodies, and state agencies. Ensuring that data-informed analysis directly links collections decisions to the priorities of the institution and its users is crucial to these efforts.

 

Whether you are new to collections assessment and analysis or are a long-time practitioner looking for new approaches, this hands-on workshop is for you. During the session, participants will get a broad overview of the current collections assessment landscape, including how to develop coherent, sustainable, and holistic evaluation strategies at their home institutions.

 

Specifically, the preconference session will: review commonly used data sources, techniques, and tools; examine the appropriate uses of qualitative and quantitative data; demonstrate how to map assessment goals to data sources and tools; and develop strategies for clearly communicating results of collections analysis to stakeholders. At the end of the workshop participants will leave with a project plan for an assessment project of their choosing.

 

Foundations in Linked Data for Serialists

By Amber Billey and Robert Rendall, Columbia University Libraries

 

Thursday, June 8th - 8 am to noon

http://sched.co/9gHu

 

Are you baffled by BIBFRAME? Overwhelmed by ontologies? Or feeling turmoil about Turtle? Then this workshop is for you. Learn the practical foundations of Linked Data with a particular focus on serials in this half-day workshop. The presenters will go beyond just talking about RDF triples and actually break down linked data technology and how its application can be utilized for serials. Topics to be covered:

*Linked Data 101

*Ontology Basics

*Turtle Tutorials

*BIBGRAME 2.0 Introduction and The CONSER Mapping

 

Attendees are strongly encouraged to bring a laptop. The presenters will be demonstrating linked data tools such as Protege, Vitro, and the LC BIBFRAME Editor (hopefully ready for BF 2.0). Attendees will have the opportunity to try the software along with the demonstration.  

 

Beyond the Editor: Advanced Tools and Techniques for Working With Metadata

By Terry Reese, Ohio State University, and Shana McDanold, Georgetown University

 

Thursday, June 8th - 8 am to noon

http://sched.co/9gHw

 

Are you ready to expand your MARC editing toolbox? This presentation will look at a variety of advanced MARC editing tools, libraries, and techniques to give you more options when wrangling your institution’s MARC data. Over the preconference, we will look at advance MarcEdit functions, like working with Regular expressions, automatic record harvesting and XML data conversions, as well as examine the new toolkit, MARCNext, designed to let catalogers explore adding linked data concepts within your MARC data. We’ll look at OpenRefine, and how uses can make use of OpenRefine and MarcEdit to perform powerful editing tasks that use to be hard to imagine without writing code. And speaking of coding – yes, there will be code. From MarcEdit’s Script Maker to tools you can find on Github, the speakers will endeavor to provide attendees with the information that they will need to address even the most difficult MARC editing project. This program is a reprise of last year’s successful and popular workshop.