ISLMA partnered with RAILS, IHLS, and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) in collaboration with American Library Association’s Office for Library Advocacy (OLA) and the ALA Washington Office to offer a comprehensive workshop on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). AASL leaders facilitated the session. The workshop will: • Provide the most current information on developments at the Federal level and work through the sections of ESSA that can be directly linked to the school librarian/library program. • Connect ESSA language to the school librarian’s role. • Discuss current state work with recommendations for opportunities at state and local levels to ensure the effective school library program’s language in ESSA.  This hands-on session will aid in identifying stakeholders, building coalitions, message crafting and elevator speech development. While the content will be directly related to ESSA, the tools and exercise portion is advocacy for positioning school librarians in general as leaders for teaching and learning. The recording is approximately 2 1/2 hours in length and was originally broadcast on September 24, 2016. 

If you don't tell your story, someone else will tell it for you. At a time where libraries are constantly facing budget cuts, it is imperative that librarians effectively communicate the value and benefits of libraries in the community. This 90-min workshop will walk you through the steps to make marketing and sharing your message attainable and sustainable. Topics: -Storytelling: what it is, what it is not, and where libraries fit in -Social media: the do's, the dont's, templates, and strategic plans -Developing a SWOT analysis of your library -How, when, and where to network and make it count -The power of language in marketing materials, newsletters, flyers, and websites Desired Outcomes: -Tell library's story pitch and tailor it to specific stakeholders and community leaders -Create and implement an actionable and effective social media and marketing plan that gets attention -Understand how to use technology in a way that is effective and not burdensome -Identify the library's strengths and weaknesses and create a strategy to close gaps -Access templates and fill-in-the-blank resources provided in the webinar -Know when and where to network in a way that makes the library memorable -Access templates and fill-in-the-blank resources provided in the handout   This webinar was recorded on October 9th and is approximately 90 mins long.     

Is your data sitting around in spreadsheets, dusty, unused, and forgotten about? Your data deserves to be out in the world: utilized, actionable, talked about. Visualizing data through charts, tables, and diagrams helps you deliver bite-sized information that viewers can understand at a glance and retain for the long run. You’ll learn how to move beyond overused charts like pies and bars and how to format your new chart so that your message stands out.   Topics -Analyze Your Audience - Choose the Right Chart - Declutter - Clarify Your Message with Color - Clarify Your Message with Text - Before/After Makeovers Learning Objectives After this webinar, participants will be able to: - weigh the pros and cons of presenting data through various chart types; - declutter visualizations by removing unnecessary ink; - emphasize key findings with dark/light contrast; and - write titles, subtitles, and annotations that explain key findings. Intended Audience: Staff who produce graphs for reports, slideshows, or dashboards. This webinar was recorded on June 20, 2019, and runs approximately 90 minutes.

Libraries spend much of their collection budget on electronic resources and want to ensure they are being used by patrons. Tactics like displays, in-house and online advertising, social media app integration and print materials can help put your new collections on the map and increase the use of existing collections. Come hear about trends and ideas for marketing your electronic collections in this informative webinar.This webinar was presented by Melissa Ziel and Monica Dombrowski of the Gail Borden Public Library.  The webinar lasts approximately 55 minutes.  Please note that due to audio difficulties a very small portion of the broadcast was cut around the 47 minute mark.

Are you worried that your important numbers are hidden inside a Dusty Shelf Report? In this webinar, we'll focus on practical techniques for getting your data out of lengthy reports and into real-world conversations. You'll see examples of the 30-3-1 Approach to Reporting from organizations like yours, and you'll learn how chapter dividers, color-coding, icons, and text hierarchies can break your important content into manageable chunks. Topics - The 30-3-1 Approach to Reporting - 6 techniques that help you soar beyond the Dusty Shelf Report (minimal content, well-designed visuals, a variety of visuals, divider pages, color-coding by section, and a text hierarchy) - Real-life before/after report makeovers Learning Objectives After this webinar, participants will be able to: - discuss how the 30-3-1 approach to reporting could be applied to their projects; - name 6 practical strategies for making reports more digestible for busy readers; and - critique "before" reports and explain how to transform those documents into "after" reports. Prerequisites Staff who write reports about quantitative or qualitative data   This webinar is presented by Ann K. Emery, a sought-after speaker who is determined to get your data out of spreadsheets and into stakeholders’ hands. Each year, she leads more than 50 workshops, webinars, and keynotes for thousands of people with the aim of equipping organizations to visualize data more effectively. Ann's design consultancy also overhauls graphs, publications, and slideshows with the goal of making technical information easier to understand for non-technical audiences. This webinar was recorded on June 27, 2019, and is approximately 90 minutes long.

Effective data analysis can support much decision-making in the library, however, it can be challenging to ensure that you’ve captured all the data you need. At the same time, it is possible to collect too much data that ultimately can overwhelm those tasked with analysis. This presentation will discuss how to create a strategy for gathering and reporting analytics in three parts: framing the questions that are important to answer, auditing all potential points where data is collected, and evaluating which data should ultimately be considered for analysis and visualization. This webinar was presented by Suzanna Conrad, head of library information systems in the University Library at California State University Sacramento. Her research interests include human-computer interaction, scholarly communication and ethics in librarianship.  The webinar was held on May 9, 2019 and is approximately 80 minutes long.