NISO Professional Development Events, April and May 2020

April 2020

Free NISO Webinar:

Teaching and Learning Online: Innovation Under Pressure
Friday, April 3, 2020, 12:00 pm Noon - 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)

In the last month, many academic institutions have managed to shift their classroom instruction to an online learning environment. Such rapid adaptation of pedagogy and delivery offers both opportunities for innovation as well as logistical challenges for faculty and their libraries alike. This roundtable event draws together administrators from a range of roles and institution types to discuss some of the lessons learned, how they are managing, what has been involved in moving to online instruction with little advance notice, and to share useful techniques for navigating the inevitable constraints as well as potential strategies for success. 

NOTE: This event is being provided as a public service at no cost to the NISO community and to the broader information community.

NFAIS Forethought Webinar:

Artificial Intelligence #1 – Planning for Implementation
Wednesday, April 8, 2020, 1:00 - 2:30 pm (Eastern Time)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an all-encompassing umbrella term for varying sets and combinations of algorithms simulating human intelligence processes. Such implementations are used by a computer system to rapidly perform a specific set of functional tasks, saving the time and labor of human workers. 

While in many ways, artificial intelligence is still in nascent form, many information providers are exploring the implications of AI for their businesses and services. How might AI allow information companies to enhance their products and services? How best to strategically approach the technological needs for doing so? What costs may be incurred? What balance should there be between customization and privacy?

Confirmed speakers include: Ray Abruzzi, Wiley, Neal Blair Christensen, Cactus Communications, Ann Gabriel & Jessica Cox, Elsevier, Sam Herbert, 67 Bricks, Peter Ciufetti of Coherent Digital, and a representative from Digital Science. 

NOTE: ALL members of NISO automatically receive sign-on credentials for this event as a member benefit. There is no need to register separately. Check your institutional membership status here.

May 2020

NISO Virtual Conference: 

Making Content Accessible: How Can Publishers and Libraries Better Satisfy the Obligation?
Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 12:00 pm Noon - 4:00 pm (Eastern Time)

Institutions of higher education (IHEs) have a legal and moral obligation to support the information needs of those in their community -- whether student or faculty -- to provide access to content regardless of individual ability or need for accommodation. They are required to provide access to information resources that are as close as possible to those resources provided to individuals who do not experience those impairments. But what goes into making an ebook, a textbook, or other course materials fully accessible? This event will bring together stakeholders to discuss current efforts made to ensure that all content is accessible and the challenges still to be overcome.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Violaine Iglesias, CEO & Co-founder, Cadmore Media
  • Jamie Axelrod, Director, Disability Resources, Northern Arizona University
  • Kara Kroes Li, Director of Product Management, EBSCO
  • Rachel Comerford, Senior Director of Content Standards and Accessibility, Macmillan Learning
  • George Kerscher, Chief Innovations Officer, DAISY Consortium
  • Michael Johnson, Director, Content Partnerships, Benetech

NISO Training Series:

Agile Product and Project Management for Information Products and Services
Thursday, May 14, 2020 - July 2, 2020, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm (Eastern Time)

The past decade has seen a transformation in the way that information products and services are built with the shift to agile development methodologies. Agile approaches advocate incremental development driven by cross-functional, self-directed teams. Unlike more traditional waterfall methodologies, Agile allows teams to learn and adapt their approach along the way, validating that what they are building actually meets user needs. However, adopting agile does not mean doing away with planning all together and scaling agile to larger projects can be a challenge. Discipline and good practices are still required to ensure that resources are used wisely and overall project goals are met.

This training course is aimed at early-to-mid career professionals developing information products and services in the publishing, library technology and scholarly communications communities. Whether developing free, open-source services for the community or more traditional paid-for services, attendees will hear about key aspects of agile product development and project management for seasoned practitioners who have gained hard-won experience about what works and what doesn’t. 

By the end of the course, attendees will have a good understanding of:

  • The stages of agile product development

  • Techniques for planning, managing and tracking agile projects  

  • The distinct roles that make up an agile team

  • The key behaviors and processes which are important for success

Course Objective

The past decade has seen a transformation in the way that information products and services are built with the shift to agile development methodologies. Agile approaches advocate incremental development driven by cross-functional, self-directed teams. Unlike more traditional waterfall methodologies, Agile allows teams to learn and adapt their approach along the way, validating that what they are building actually meets user needs. However, adopting agile does not mean doing away with planning all together and scaling agile to larger projects can be a challenge. Discipline and good practices are still required to ensure that resources are used wisely and overall project goals are met.

This training course is aimed at early-to-mid career professionals developing information products and services in the publishing, library technology and scholarly communications communities. Whether developing free, open-source services for the community or more traditional paid-for services, attendees will hear about key aspects of agile product development and project management for seasoned practitioners who have gained hard-won experience about what works and what doesn’t. 

By the end of the course, attendees will have a good understanding of:

  • The stages of agile product development

  • Techniques for planning, managing and tracking agile projects  

  • The distinct roles that make up an agile team

  • The key behaviors and processes which are important for success

Course Moderator

Chris Shillum, Principal, Swiss House Information, will be serving as course moderator. 

With more than 25 years of experience in product and platform development in scholarly communications and STM publishing, Chris Shillum is now helping industry groups formulate product and technology strategy in a time of rapidly changing business models, new technology, and increasing expectations from users and customers.

Chris previously held a number of leadership positions at Elsevier where he touched many parts of the organization. Early in his career, he was asked to join the launch team working on what became ScienceDirect, one of the industry’s leading online platforms. During subsequent years, he gained broad experience by leading change programs for most of the major components of digital information platforms, including content management, search, identity and access management, big-data and personalized recommendation systems.

Chris has also played a significant role in the broader STM industry and is a strong believer in the power of community-wide collaboration to solve tough problems and drive progress. He was a co-author of the original paper which led to the use of DOIs for reference linking, going on to spend 20 years working with Crossref, including 10 years as a board member. He was a founder member of the ORCID board, helping that organization grow from start-up to become a sustainable part of the scholarly infrastructure landscape. Chris was part of the committee which oversaw the NISO/NFAIS integration, and he continues to serve on the NISO Board. Over the past few years, Chris has devoted much time to solving the access problem in research information, co-chairing the RA21 project, and building a coalition of industry organizations to operationalize those recommendations as SeamlessAccess.org.

Chris holds a Masters in Electronic Systems Engineering from the University of York in the UK. 

Course Duration and Dates

Thursday, May 14, 2020 – Thursday, July 2, 2020. The series consists of eight (8) segments, one per week and each lasting approximately 60-90 minutes. Each segment is intended to cover a Thursday lunch period (11:00am - 12:30pm, US. Eastern).

Guest lecturers will be featured in specific segments, as the course moderator deems appropriate. 

Each session will be recorded and links to that archived recording will be disseminated to course registrants within 2 business days of the close of the specific session.

NFAIS Forethought:

NFAIS Forethought: Artificial Intelligence #2 – Processes for Media Analysis and Extraction
Wednesday, May 20, 2020, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm (Eastern Time)

In order to implement artificial intelligence in a meaningful way, organizations with large collections of data must ensure that they have the support they need for processing, analyzing, and extracting meaningful data. Typically, this involves working with a technology provider with AI expertise. But what do you need to know before engaging their services? This event will help you answer this question by  learning from the experience of others, as speakers from a variety of backgrounds address the practical needs, barriers, and benefits of embarking upon this process.

NOTE: ALL members of NISO automatically receive sign-on credentials for this event as a member benefit. There is no need to register separately. Check your institutional membership status here.