Two Illinois librarians, both from the University of Chicago, will present at this year’s Academic Library Association of Ohio Annual Conference. John Jung, Programmer Analyst, and Kathy Zadrozny, Web Developer and Graphic Design Specialist, will give a workshop titled “Using Design Fiction to Explore Near-Future User Experiences in Libraries”. Design fiction is a form of storytelling that is similar to science fiction, in that it examines the cultural, social, and ethical impact of technological change. The session will explore how librarians can use design fiction to craft believable scenarios of changes that could occur in the near future, while determining how best to adapt to those changes.
The 2016 ALAO Annual Conference will take place on Friday, October 28, at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington. The theme of this year’s event is “User Experience: Exceeding Expectations by Design”. The keynote speaker will be Aaron Schmidt, who is a principal library design consultant with Influx Library User Experience Consulting and a 2005 Library Journal “Mover and Shaker”. In addition to the regular sessions, there will be two preconference workshops, both on Thursday October 27. One, led by Schmidt, will focus on applying user experience (UX) design to libraries. The other preconference, given by ADA compliance officer L. Scott Lissner of The Ohio State University, will discuss ways that libraries can use universal design to accommodate users with disabilities better.
The early-bird registration deadline for the conference is Friday, September 16. For more information on the conference, including the full list of presenters, go here.