Thank you for attending the 2021 Online KLAS Users' Conference. Whether you were a speaker and / or attended sessions, this event was a success because of your presence. Now the KLAS Users' Group Officers' and Planning Committees ask you to please take some time to share your thoughts and feedback about the event including the content, the platform, etc. Your responses will help shape future conferences and other ongoing KLAS Users' content.

Response Deadline = Friday, July 9

The 2021 KLAS Users’ Conference is over... but if you didn’t get to all the sessions you hoped to (or if you just miss us already) the online event portal is still open!

You can revisit any session page to view the recording. Also, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the session page to download the chat transcript, slide deck, and any other handouts. The chat features are still live as well, if you have any Private Messages you haven’t answered yet or want to ask additional questions of our presenters. If you aren’t ready to put your headphones back on yet or need a month’s break from PowerPoint before you can stand to look at another slide, that’s fine too—the event portal will be there for you until March 2022.

In addition to reviewing the conference content, keep an eye on your inboxes for a follow-up survey. This information will be especially valuable this year, since this was our first-ever online conference, and since the Users' Group will be considering whether to hold virtual conferences again in the future. 

In the meantime...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! to everyone who attended the conference, and especially to those who presented a session, moderated a roundtable, or just joined in the discussions. Your contributions are so valuable, both to the KLAS Users’ community as a whole, and to us as well. In the final count, we had 261 attendees and 44 speakers (including Keystone staff) for our 38 conference session. 

I hope you came away from the conference with new ideas and a better understanding of KLAS. On Keystone’s side, we have a long to-do list and a ton of excitement from hearing how you use KLAS, where we can make things better, and what your priorities are.

While I’m sorry I didn’t get to grab dinner or drinks with any of you, or gather around the coffee dispenser to rev up for the day, I’ve still come away from the conference with the renewed enthusiasm stemming from really seeing how your work impacts others. You are all out there doing amazing things, and I’m so glad we get to be a part of and help support it.

Finally, if you have questions or need assistance with anything you learned at the conference, don't hesitate to use the Support button and let us know! We know you all had a ton of new info thrown your way, and we're happy to help make sense of it all wherever needed.

All attendees of the 2021 Online KLAS Users' Conference will access the conference via PheedLoop's Virtual Event Portal. Here, you will find opportunities to network with speakers and other attendees, browse, search, and add sessions to your personal schedule, access all sessions and their related resources such as PowerPoint presentations, handouts, etc., and more!

Lobby

First, let's take a look at the Lobby area. Here you will find the public and private chat functions, recent event announcements, our virtual photo booth, and more.

The page is organized into four columns:

• Main menu: use this to navigate the conference
• Social area: the Event Feed will display social media posts that tag #KLASUC2021. Need a great selfie for that conference post? Launch the photo booth for a fun background - it's not quite the same as travel photos, but we hope it'll make you smile.
  Finally, the Private Chats widget is hanging out at the bottom of the column. You can use the Private Chats feature to follow up with peers after a session, reach out to a new attendee to introduce yourself, or otherwise get to know each other. The widget will stay in place as you navigate the site, so you can use it from anywhere. Start new Private Chats from the recipient's speaker or attendee profile.
• Announcements: watch this area for any posts as things come up during the conference.
• Lobby Chat: Get that "around the coffee station" feeling by chatting with all your fellow attendees here (you'll need to supply your own coffee or tea though). Also, don't miss those icons right above the lobby chat!

Finally, there a couple important things in the top corner. In the upper right of the screen, you will find notifications, language features, accessibility controls, and a count of total attendees currently online. Use the accessibility icon (a circle with a person's silhouette) to bring up the accessibility menu, where you will find preset profiles and a bunch individual controls.

Backstage (speakers only)

Next on the main menu, speakers will find the "Backstage" menu option. If you are presenting a session using PheedLoop's Meet & Stream, go here to start the session. If you're presenting in Zoom or using a pre-recorded session, there's no need to use the backstage. Make sure you schedule a dress rehearsal / practice session so you know where to present your session from, and you're comfortable with all the back-end "stuff." 

Sessions

The sessions area displays a list of all the conference sessions, with an expanded view of the selected session to the right, then finally the session chat.

Session list: You can search for sessions or use any of the preset filters (including day, track, speaker, personal schedule, and live now) to browse the list. Use the calendar icon to access the advanced schedule views. As you find sessions that interest you, add them to your personal schedule by selecting the plus sign next to the session title. 

Session Details: This is where you will attend the session when it goes live! You can also share it via social media or email, or add it to your digital calendar (Outlook, etc). 

Session Chat: The session chat box has the same look and feel of the lobby chat, but is specific to that session. The chat will remain in place for as long as the event portal is live, not just during the session - so you can ask questions ahead of time or refer back to information shared there even after the session is over. 

Speakers

The Speakers area is just like Sessions--but for people. You can browse or search the list of conference presenters, see their bio and other info, review the sessions they're presenting, and even start a chat with them.

Networking

Networking is a great place to connect with other attendees. Here, you can find all conference attendees' profiles. There are also options to join in or create a group chat around a specific topic. Finally, you can send a private message to any fellow attendee (which you can both view and reply to in the Private Chats widget).

Account

You can view attendee profiles in Networking--but where do they come from? From the attendees themselves! Go to the Account menu item, and here you will be able to edit and add all the info you need to - your profile picture, everything other attendees see when they access your profile, and files you want to share. There's also controls for how you receive event notifications and the option to change your password.

Please take the time to fill in your profile, so your fellow KLAS users can get to know you!

Don't feel pressured to share any info that you don't want to, but some things to consider adding: your pronouns, what your role is at your organization, how long you've been using KLAS, and links to social media you use professionally. Finally, as you can see, the photos are never shown very large, and it can be very helpful to put a face to the name. A simple headshot is best! However, if you decide not to share a real photo, a pet or something iconically "you" will still help other attendees recognize and remember your profile. 

We hope this brief tour of the KLAS UC 2021 Virtual Event Portal will help you get acclimated and have the best experience possible during our very first fully online conference! We're so excited to see you all there!

With the Duplication on Demand KLAS Users' Roundtable occurring this afternoon and the upcoming 2021 KLAS Users' Conference, we feel it's an excellent time to update you on the status of duplication equipment installation at various KLAS libraries. So, let's take a look at which libraries already have their equipment and who is pending for each system.

Scribe Installations and Status

First, we're excited to share that we've resolved the issue that was holding up the production of new Scribes! The solution is in final testing and we expect to resume shipping out Scribe systems very soon. If you are not yet listed below, please contact James Burts () or Keystone's Customer Support Team () to inquire about and / or order your Scribe.

Gutenberg Installations and Status

While the plan to roll out Gutenberg implementations to two NLS network libraries per month beginning in February 2020 was delayed due to COVID, Gutenberg Installations are back underway, so let's take a look at where things stand now. If you have questions about any of the below information and / or if you're interested in getting on the schedule for future KLAS+Gutenberg deployments, contact David Perrotta (, Steve Prine (), and Keystone's Customer Support Team ().

As directed and defined by the most recent update of the 2019 KLAS Users' Group Bylaws Update, an election to select a new Vice President and Secretary needs to occur. Therefore, current KLAS Users' Group Officers met to discuss and determine a timeline for such. Below are the relevant dates as approved:

• May 20 = KLAS Users' Group Vice President / Secretary Nomination Period Opens
• June 1 = KLAS Users' Group Nomination Period Closes
• June 4 = Nominee Bios & Headshots due
• June 7 = Nominee Bios Published
• June 10 = If only one candidate is nominated for an office the election will proceed at the Users' Group Business Meeting. If more than one nominee for an office, an online election will occur within 30 days after the conference.
• July 28 = KLAS Users' Group Officers' Transition Meeting
• August 1 = Official Installation of new KLAS Users' Group Secretary and Vice President

The duties and terms of office of the Secretary and Vice President as defined in "Article VI. Officers" of the KLAS Users Group Bylaws include:

Duties:

Secretary: The Secretary shall take minutes for the Users’ Group business and administrator’s meetings as well as those for other committees unless otherwise provided. The Secretary shall also serve on at least one committee outlined in Article VII.

Vice-President: The Vice-President shall serve in a mentoring and leadership capacity to learn about the responsibilities of the Users’ Group, and shall assist the President with designated duties. May be required to perform President’s duties if the President is unavailable. The Vice-President shall also serve on at least one committee outlined in Article VII. The Vice-President assumes the office of President at the end of the term of the standing President in office.

Terms of Office:

The Vice President is an elected position that serves a term of one year and then becomes the President

The Secretary is an elected position that serves a term of two years and can stand for re-election at the end of their first two-year term.

All names for nominees or questions about the process should be sent to Jen Buzolich (), President, KLAS Users' Group, and Michael Lang (), Vice President, KLAS Users Group.

KLAS v7.8 is coming!

After two years of small updates, we’re really close to bidding farewell to KLAS v7.7 and rolling over to v7.8. This will not be a big change at all from your perspective, but I want to give you a heads-up about what’s coming and why.

The first KLAS v7.8 release will likely include other fixes and improvements, but the update triggering the version change should be completely invisible. That update is to Open Edge (OE), the framework and programming language we use to build the KLAS interface. The new version of OE will provide us access to new options for programming KLAS, keep us up to date and allow us to get any bug fixes on that end of things. However, nothing should change to the look and feel of KLAS. How it runs, what is available for users, and how we support it will all remain the same.

To make sure the update to the back-end doesn’t introduce any problems on the front-end, we’ll be doing a lot of rigorous testing. We’ll also rely on feedback from our Early Release customers even more than usual so we can be sure we haven’t missed anything. Fortunately, we do not anticipate any changes or problems. This won’t be a major conversion (like the one from 7.6 to 7.7), just a big update. 

So, in short, v7.8 will be an update for us, but not any different for you. Don’t worry, we’ll keep those bi-weekly small updates coming with all the bug fixes, improvements, and new features we can squeeze into them.

So... whatever happened to v.8?

If you attended the 2018 KLAS Users’ Conference in Idaho, you probably remember testing our prototype user interface for the web-based KLAS v.8. It’s something that we and you were really excited about, so it makes sense that we get questions about it on occasion.

For quite a while, we didn’t have much to say. That’s because, right after the 2018 conference, we realized just how big the need was to get Duplication on Demand up and running at full scale ASAP. We shifted gears pretty hard, switching our attention to: taking Scribe from a proof-of-concept to a fully-realized appliance capable of supporting a library’s full circulation; getting Gutenberg integration in place; and building screens, workflows, and features to support this whole new approach to service.

Additionally, we needed to keep up with the development needs of our IRC/IMC customers, bring new customers online, and keep everything else running. That “keep everything else running” was complicated by the deployment of 7.7 and all the development needed to support it, and a massive server crash that prompted our migration to all cloud hosting.

Unfortunately, the pivot to duplication ate up the time and resources we’d hoped to devote to KLAS v.8. But there’s is good news! With Duplication on Demand finally getting to be as robust and fully-featured as we envisioned, and the needs of our IRC / IMCs lining up with some things we needed to do anyways... we’re finally able to provide an update: we are at work on the foundations of v.8!

To be clear, it’s still a very long road ahead. Building an entirely new UI (informed by the prototypes and user testing from 2018, and everything new we’ve added to KLAS since) is a huge undertaking requiring a lot of development resources. However, the other major task will be the need for the UI to communicate with the database storing all of your information by way of APIs. Finally, the APIs needed to be built and implemented so that they allow existing programs in KLAS to function alongside any user interface we build moving forward—we know from painful experience that we can’t rebuild all of KLAS at once and release an entirely new interface with everything you need ready and working on day 1.

We’re excited to say this key building block, the suite of APIs that will provide the machine-to-machine communications needed for v.8 to function, is now underway!

You may have noticed these APIs cropping up in Release Lists this year, and more are coming. For now, IRCs that maintain student data, orders, and catalog info in more than one system are using and will be using these APIs to integrate with third party systems, but the beauty of APIs is that once they are in place, any compatible system can use them.  The programming we’re doing now to integrate with other systems will be the thing that allows us to integrate with the browser-based KLAS v.8 in the future (while still allowing the v.7 interface to be used during the transition).

How long will this take? It’s really hard to say. It ultimately depends on what other development is needed, what new needs crop up which we haven’t anticipated, and what resources open up for us to take this on. But getting the APIs in place is incredibly important foundational work, and we’re really excited to finally get them on the front burner and in progress.

Keystone Systems wishes to recognize the support that volunteers and staff provide to their organizations. We do so with the Julie Klauber Award. Each organization may nominate one staff member or volunteer. Please use the Julie Klauber Award Nomination form to do so.

Nomination Deadline: Friday, May 21

Award nominees should:

• Work with KLAS in their daily job functions
• Show an outstanding service to their organization and / or their community in the spirit of Julie Klauber during his / her time with the library.

The Julie Klauber Award Recipient will be honored as part of an online award ceremony held Tuesday, June 7 during the 2021 KLAS Users’ Conference and receive a personalized plaque to commemorate their achievement. For 2021, we especially wish to recognize someone who went above and beyond during the last year’s challenges.

Award finalists will be selected from all nominated individuals by a selection committee¹. James Burts, Keystone Systems, will determine this year's recipient after consulting all the finalists' supervisors.

Printable flyer and online award nomination link:

• 2021JulieKlauberAward.pdf
• Julie Klauber Award Nomination Form

Who was Julie Klauber and why is this award named after her?

Valerie Lewis sent the below text in an email to the klasusers listserv on January 24, 2011:

It has been more than eight years since Julie passed away. Her name comes up every day.....truly, it does. I work with 5 other people who worked with Julie for many years. I sit in the office that was once hers. Her husband and sons are often in my home. I work with her husband Avery, to continue the important work that she and he started many years before I was lucky enough to meet them.

Julie was a librarian, but more she was the truest advocate for access to library programs, services and materials for all, particularly people with disabilities.

In addition to being the librarian for the sub-regional library that served Long Island, NY, Julie and her husband established a non-profit organization that provided information and referral resources for librarians, service providers and individuals living with disabilities.......long before and into the earlier days....of the internet.

Julie spent truly all of her time making sure that people with disabilities had access to information.....all information. She created partnerships with local and national corporations that brought assistive technology to local libraries. She created library resources in alternative formats and worked with libraries and librarians across the country, to promote accessible library services.

It has been my honor to be a member of the Julie Klauber Award Committee. It has given me the opportunity to read about lbph staff and volunteers who create new and innovative ways of making library materials, services and programs accessible to their patrons. Something still so difficult to do, even in these technologically advanced times.

You may think that the daily practices and procedures of operating a library for the blind and physically disabled are hum-drum and nothing out of the ordinary, but think again. It is through the work and creativity of each and every member or your organization, that people with disabilities have access to information....something we treasure so dearly and take so for granted.

On that note, we encourage you to think about how the wheels of your organization turn and who are the people turning it.

With warm regards,

Valerie Lewis, Director
Long Island Talking Book Library

 2021 Julie Klauber Award Committee Members include:

• Teresa Kalber, Colorado Talking Book Library
• Lisa Nelson - Utah State Library Program for the Blind and Disabled
• Chandra Thornton, Palm Beach County Library System
• Kimberly Tomlinson, Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library
• Pepper Watson - Oklahoma Library for the Blind, Accessible Instructional Materials Center
• Andrea Ewing Callicutt - Keystone Systems, Inc.

As announced yesterday (and clearly visible from visiting the site) KLASUsers.com has undergone a pretty big redesign and refresh. We've added new features and functionality, but also reassessed how we organize content to make it easier to find and use. Some of the most important things to know about the redesign are:

1. The new Knowledge Base & KLAS News menu items
2. Logged-in users can now comment on articles
3. Using article tags to find what you need
4. The site's enhanced search functionality
5. The log-in function is now available from every page, and won't redirect you from whatever you are currently viewing
6. A Support button on all pages gives you a quick shortcut to contact Keystone Customer Support anytime you need help

Today I want to talk about the first four on the list... 

Knowledge Base & KLAS News

All still-relevant articles from the old klasusers.com are still available, but the old menu items have been collected under the new overarching categories of Knowledge Base and KLAS News.  This simplifies the Main Menu, and should keep you from needing to guess whether the info you need is in a document or a recording.

The main page for each of the new menu items will display the most recent articles in that general category, and a link to the related subcategories can be found at the bottom of the page.

Under Knowledge Base, you will find two subcategories:

1. Recordings, including general and customer specific training and webinars
2. Documents, including MARC Record Updates, Release Lists, and quick reference

KLAS News' subcategories include:

1. Key Notes Blog posts
2. Events
3. KLAS Users' Group info

The five most recently added or updated articles in each category are also listed in the site's footer, so you can easily jump to the new content from any page. We hope this reorganization will help you get to the content you want quicker and easier, without needing to remember where things are filed away.

Article Commenting

We're excited to see how this new feature adds to our site! Logged in users now have the ability to comment on any article on KLASUsers.com.

If you aren't logged in, you can still view any posted comments, but to add a comment you will need to log in, either from the comments section or the link at the top of the page. All comments can be viewed from the article page itself, or in the forum, so it's easy to find the latest discussion! New comments are visible right away with no approval necessary, although our site administrators can moderate comments if needed.

We hope you will find this a great new way to ask for more information or provide feedback--we'd truly love to hear when you find an article interesting or useful, or if there's something you'd like to add to the discussion. We challenge you to make this the first article you comment on!

Article Tags

You will now see subject Tags listed on all article previews and at the top of all full articles. These words or phrases are ways of categorizing articles and such with similar content. For, example you can select the "duplication on demand" tag to see a list of all articles with that tag applied.

We have actually been tagging articles all along, but the new site puts them "front and center" so you can easily spot them or quickly click through to a category you want to browse more of. We've also reviewed the tags we used previously to streamline them and make sure we're using the feature in the most useful way. If you find examples of misapplied or missing tags, please let us know. Also, don't be afraid to speak up if you feel we need to add a new tag!

Enhanced Search Capabilities

This might be the thing I am most excited about (unless it's article comments... we're really excited about the comments). I love when I can easily create and execute a search to find just what I'm looking without any muss or fuss. The search bar allows you to seamlessly search for anything from anywhere with a simple keyword search.

You can also choose to employ additional Search Options such as looking for all (or any) instances of the word or the exact phrase as typed to narrow down the results to exactly what you want to see. You can also choose how you want your results displayed. Options include: Newest or oldest first, most popular, alphabetical, etc. If you only want to look in a certain area of the site, there's also options to limit your search that way. Finally, you can also control how many results you see on each page using the "Display #" drop-down.

We know y'all are busy, so the faster and easier it is to find what you need, the better. We hope the new site search will allow you to jump right to the info you need.

Final Notes

We've put a lot of thought and effort into the refresh, but with increasing "technical difficulties" from the old site, we went live before we had the chance to test the site as well as we would have liked. If you encounter any problems with the new site or spot something we missed! In particular, if something is not accessible, please let us know! The reorganization and the big changes to the look and feel of the site may take a little getting used to, but we hope you'll all agree that this is a big step forward for KLASUsers.com.

As announced on the e-list yesterday, registration is now OPEN for the 2021 KLAS Users’ Conference! The deadline to register is 8:00 PM Eastern / 5:00 PM Pacific Friday, June 4.

To make this year's process easier than ever, we chose to use the PheedLoop platform to handle registration and even credit card payments. Yes, you can pay via a credit card this year! If you prefer or need to still pay by check, you can also download an invoice directly from the registration page. 

• $25 for individual attendee tickets
• $50 for small group tickets (2-5 persons)
• $100 for large group tickets (6-10 persons)

Group Ticket Purchases: If you're purchasing more than an individual attendee ticket, one person from your organization can register, select the combination of the tickets needed, and include each individual attendee's name and contact info. Each listed attendee will be emailed their ticket info separately. An organization can purchase whatever combination of individual, small, and large group tickets makes sense for the number of staff they want to attend.

Example: To purchase one Large Group Ticket for 10 people, select 1 "Large Group Ticket" with your name listed as the "Attendee". Then proceed through the payment and checkout options and then add the other 9 persons as "complimentary ticket" holders when prompted to do so.

Follow this link to begin your 2021 KLAS Users' Conference attendee registration or read on for more information about the registration platform.

1. Registration Category

Begin the registration process by selecting “Attendee” – since our conference does not have sponsors or exhibitors, this is the only registration category that will be listed.

2. First Attendee Info

You will then need to fill in details for the first person registering for your library. If you will be purchasing for a group, there is an option to add additional attendees’ information later on as complimentary ticket holders. For now, just enter your own information, or pick someone from the group that will be attending, then proceed to checkout.

There is an optional field if you would like to give us a heads-up about any accessibility requirements. One reason we chose the PheedLoop platform to host the conference was its extensive suite of accessibility options, but don’t hesitate to let us know what you may need. We want everyone to have full access to the conference!

On the second page, please select what pronouns your fellow attendees should use for you during the conference. You can select multiple options if desired (for example, if you are comfortable being called either “she” or “they” and want people to use both options for you).

3. Ticket Selection

Next up is the ticket page, where you can select the ticket or tickets you are purchasing for your organization. For example, if you want to register a total of 5 people for the conference, add 1 “Small Group” ticket (which will cover your registration, plus up to 4 additional individuals, listed as complimentary ticket holders). For 15 people, select 1 Small Group ticket and 1 Large Group ticket then proceed to checkout. And of course, if it’s just one person, scroll down to “Individual.” 

Once you have added at least one ticket, fields will be added to designate the Ticket Owner--just leave the info that is brought in with your own details. There will be a place later in the process to add the info for the additional people you will be registering under a group ticket.

4. Payment

You can pay by credit card, or select “Other Payment Method” to generate an invoice and pay by check. You can download once your registration is submitted, and it will be emailed to you as an attachment as well. The invoice will include information on where payment should be sent, and what information to include with it. 

When you have selected all desired tickets and your payment type, use the Checkout button to proceed.

5. Success Page

Congrats, you are not officially registered! If you selected "Other Payment Method," your registration will be pending until payment has been received.

If you've included any group tickets in your registration, the success page will allow you to register the additional attendees included in the ticket price. It does not collect as much info for them as it does for the original ticket holder, but they can fill in additional info in their profile later on. 

Note that the fields include "Dietary Restrictions" by default, but since this is a virtual conference, we don't need to know that! Feel free to use that field to report any Accessibility Requirements instead.

Be sure to use the Update Ticket button for each ticket once you've assigned it to the proper individual. You do not need to assign any of the complimentary tickets to the person whose info you already filled in--that person is already registered.

Finally, the success page also includes the option to download your invoice (if you selected Other Payment Method) or your receipt (if you paid by credit card).

Questions?

If you have any problems with or questions about the registration process, please let us know at ! The occasional wrinkle is inevitable, with this being our first-ever online conference, but we will do everything we can to make it a smooth and easy experience for our attendees.

Thanks for your patience as we get this all worked out!

We just released a new feature to help Duplication-on-Demand libraries keep their catalogs up to date!

From the 7.7.50 Release List:

You can now choose to have titles automatically updated to an Active status when you add an eDoc, just as you can have titles make themselves Active when you add the first physical item.

But let’s talk a little bit more about what this can do, and who will want to use it.

We expect this will be primarily for libraries using Duplication on Demand, and especially the ones who are (or will soon) be going collectionless. If you don’t have physical copies of anything or have very few physical copies, it only makes sense to make everything you can duplicate “Active.”

Even if you still have a physical collection, if most of your patrons are getting DoD will they be confused that some titles are listed as Active and some are Download Only? Once you zero out your copy allotment, do you want new titles to linger in “In Process” status long after you start duplicating them for patrons?

If any of the above has you thinking, “yes, I want to use this feature!” here’s what to think about...

• What title statuses should update when they get an eDoc?
• What status should they update to?
• What about the back catalog?

What title statuses should update when they get an eDoc?

Open up the catalog and look at the list of Title Statuses. Are there ones that shouldn’t be over-written, like Withdrawn? If there are titles you purposefully removed from your collection (Ex: outdated medical information or obsolete guides to the internet) we don’t want to accidentally resurrect them.

If you have a Special Order Only or similar status, do you want to keep those titles segregated? Or if you’re duplicating at full steam, are you ready to fold the ones you can duplicate back into Active?

When you’re ready, send us the list of statuses that should be updated by this feature.

What status should they update to?

I mostly talked about the feature updating duplication-ready titles to Active, but that isn’t your only option. Any status other than Withdrawn can be duplicated, so it won’t cause problems if you do want to keep these titles under a different status. You could do an “Active – Duplication” or “Active for Digital” title status. Or,  you can put them under “Download Only” if you have that labeled clearly for your OPAC (something like “Available for Download or Books on Demand”). And, of course, if you’re changing things to Download Only, that shouldn’t also be in your list of statuses to be updated.

Figure out what makes the most sense for your collection and your patrons, and tell us what status titles getting their first eDoc should update to. You can also let us know if you want to set up a new title status or re-label any of the existing ones on your OPAC.

What about the back catalog?

Once you’ve set both your statuses to be updated and the status to update them to, those rules will automatically apply whenever a title gets its first eDoc. But what about any titles that already have an eDoc but are lingering in a no-longer-accurate status?

We have a program we can run through your batch manager to clean those up! We’ll want to run it sometime when you aren’t doing anything in the catalog module, to avoid any conflicting record locks. Most likely, we’ll run it overnight or early in the morning before you get to work.

Just bear in mind that it can be messy to try to undo this kind of thing, so do your best to be sure about the changes you are making before telling us to run the cleanup.

Below you will find the latest udpated about the 2021 ONLINE KLAS Users' Conference. Please let us know if you have any questions or need additional information.

2021 KLAS Users' Conference Website & Attendee Portal:

• 2021 KLAS Users' Conference Website
• 2021 KLAS Users' Conference Virtual Attendee Portal

Theme: Challenges, Changes & Creativity

Overview Schedule:

• KLAS UC 2021 Overview Schedule with Sessions - PDF
• Overview schedule in spreadsheet format on Keystone's Google Drive.

Format:

To give our attendees the best experience possible, we will be using the PheedLoop online event platform. The Planning Committees and Users' Group Officers had an opportunity to see the event participant side of the platform and were impressed with the features for networking, session scheduling and access, and extensive accessibility options.  

Using this platform, conference attendees will be able to attend sessions live or review the recordings later on, message each other privately or in subject groups, and even share files with their fellow users. While it can't fully replicate the feeling of all sitting around the same table, we hope that this format will allow us to bring as much of the full conference experience as possible.

Registration:

Go here to begin your 2021 KLAS Users' Conference attendee registration. 

The deadline to register is 8:00 PM Eastern / 5:00 PM Pacific Friday, June 4. If you have any questions about the group registration process, check out this step-by-step for a detailed explanation with screenshots.

Conference Registration is now open! To make this year's process easier than ever, we chose to use the PheedLoop platform to handle registration and even credit card payments. Yes, you can pay via a credit card this year! If you prefer or need to still pay by check, you can also download an invoice directly from the registration page.

• $25 for individual attendee tickets
• $50 for small group tickets (2-5 persons)
• $100 for large group tickets (6-10 persons)

Group Ticket Purchases: Example: To purchase one Large Group Ticket for 10 people, select 1 "Large Group Ticket" with your name listed as the "Attendee". Then proceed through the payment and checkout options and then add the other 9 persons as "complimentary ticket" holders when prompted to do so. Each listed attendee will be emailed their ticket info separately. An organization can purchase whatever combination of individual, small, and large group tickets makes sense for the number of staff they want to attend. For example, a library can purchase one small group and one large group ticket for a total of $150 to cover up to 15 attendees.

Registration fees go towards the conference platform and video streaming services. This is not intended to be a profit-generating event! That said, the math on this kind of thing is difficult. The per-attendee cost of the event will vary significantly based on how many attendees we have, and while we have a lot of experience budgeting for and operating an in-person conference, an online conference is new to us. If we find that we undershot on the registration fees, Keystone will cover the additional costs. If we end up generating a little extra, it will be used towards the next conference.

We have an important update about KLAS UC 2021: finalized registration costs are now available! Our first online KLAS Users' Conference will occur June 7-10, 2021. Check out the "2021 KLAS Users' Conference Take 2 blog post for the proposed conference schedule.

Conference registration costs are:

• $25 for Individual attendees
• $50 for small groups (2-5 persons)
• $100 for large groups (6-10)

An organization can purchase whatever combination of individual, small, and large group registrations makes sense for the number of staff they want to attend. For example, a library could purchase one small group and one large group registration for a total of $150 to cover up to 15 attendees.

Conference registration fees will go towards the conference platform and video streaming services. This is not intended to be a profit-generating event! That said, the math on this kind of thing is difficult. The per-attendee cost of the event will vary significantly based on how many attendees we have, and while we have a lot of experience budgeting for and operating an in-person conference, an online conference is new to us. If we find that we undershot on the registration fees, Keystone will cover the additional costs. If we end up generating a little extra, it will be used towards the next conference.

We have been working hard to plan an online conference just as worthwhile as an in-person one, with convenience and a lower cost to make up for a lack of local cuisine and charming wildlife (I’m not the only who misses those lizards that were all over Palm Beach...right?). These registration costs will cover the technology needed to make attending sessions, presenting, and networking with your fellow attendees easy. And the group rates will hopefully allow libraries to take full advantage of the absence of travel costs and allow more staff members than ever to attend. 

Call for Session Proposals

If the low registration costs and/or group rates do open the door for you... please consider not just attending, but presenting as well!

Now that the registration costs are finalized, we have reopened the Call for Session Proposals until Friday, March 26.

Anyone is welcome to present, so don’t feel like first-time attendees or KLAS rookies need to sit it out. Everyone has something they can share with their fellow users!

Presenting online has its own challenges, but it has its benefits as well. You can use own equipment that you are already comfortable with. You don't have to project across a loud room or struggle with jet lag, and you can even have your dog, cat, or spouse handy for moral support.

We will provide all presenters with an optional template for PowerPoint, information and training on the conference platform, and practice sessions if you want to test your connection. You also have the option of pre-recording your session if you prefer! If you’d rather not be on-the-spot, you can record your presentation in any video editing software, and send us the recording to “broadcast” during the scheduled time. Attendees will be able to view the pre-recorded session together, with you answering questions or joining the discussion in the text chat.

You are welcome to ask a friend to present with you, gather a few coworkers for a group discussion, or request Keystone provide a “KLAS Expert” to back you up. You could also facilitate a discussion during a Birds of a Feather session on anything from Reader Advisory Services to the APH Census. It’s okay if you don’t know all the details of your presentation yet: proposals can be as vague or specific as you’d like. Our excellent Programming Committee can always work with you to fine-tune things as needed.

This year’s Programming Committee chair Erin Pawlus says: “Presenting has been a positive experience for me – I enjoy sharing tips and tricks on my favorite KLAS functions like the Reader Services Queue, and I often learn a thing or two from the other attendees. It’s very collaborative. Since we are going virtual this year, those who typically are unable to attend the in-person conferences will also be able to share their stories and successes, and make valuable connections with others in the KLAS community at the same time!”

If you have any questions or concerns about presenting, please feel free to contact Erin Pawlus () or me ().

No need to be shy! If there’s something you’d like to share with your fellow users, please fill out the Session Proposal form.

It's March 2021. By mid-month last year, all of Keystone's staff started working remotely full time for an undetermined amount of time. Personally, I never thought I'd still be working in my home office across the desk from my husband a full year later! We made changes to how we met as a staff, set expectations for communications and interactions with our coworkers and customers, and started writing blog posts with tips & tricks about remote work with KLAS and how users might continue to serve patrons.

We initially thought we'd be back sometime early that summer. When that no longer seemed likely, we began making adjustments to how we offer KLAS Admin Training, helped more libraries move to Duplication on Demand, and shared a blog series from libraries about the impact of COVID on their operations. Check out the COVD-19 Keynotes Blog Posts to Date from July 2020 to see the initial ones we wrote and those authored by KLAS Users.

Then it seemed sometime in the fall might be possible, but positive numbers and hospitalizations started going up again and we chose to continue working from home. We attended the 2020 APH and NLS conferences online and eventually decided (in conversation with the planning committees) that our own 2021 KLAS Users' Conference will also occur virtually. Even with the choice to continue working remotely, we still had staff who contracted the virus--fortunately, not being in the office kept the rest of us safe and healthy. After his recovery, a January 2021 Key Notes blog post shared John Owen's decision and experience donating plasma with COVID antibodies to try and help others.

After this tumultuous year, some of our customers are back working in an office, others are still working remotely, and plenty have some mix or balance between the two. Here at Keystone, we're still working to support all of our users' efforts to continue serving their patrons no matter where they are. In fact, in just the past couple of weeks, we've gotten some great questions and tips from KLAS Users that we thought might benefit others in similar situations.

Erin from CA IRC is a JAWS user who shared her experience using KLAS on her laptop. She says, "I have discovered that working on a personal laptop at home is not always conducive to things working like they do at work. My laptop has function keys that share the F keys at the top of my keyboard. While using the F11 and F12 keys when I was attempting to set up Supertabs (in order to correct where my cursor will originate in my find screens), it would raise and lower the screen brightness. However, I found that the Supertabs were still set up after this happened. I just thought if anyone else thought their laptop wouldn't work because of this, it indeed might!" We're relieved that the extra functions sharing her F keys didn't keep Erin from using Supertabs and navigating KLAS with JAWS.

David from Minnesota's Machine Lending Agency sent an inquiry to Keystone Customer support wanting to know "if it is possible to use KLAS to track the computers we loan volunteers for in-home recording. We have 75, so a little cumbersome for a spreadsheet." The answer is YES it is! To do so, Nancy set up with a Patron Type for the volunteers and an Equipment record for the recording computers, and sent along workflow instructions to keep the volunteer records out of PIMMS.

Do you have something you've found that makes working from remote easier, were there changes to your library's policies and procedures to help continue service over the past year, or do you have questions about how KLAS can help you better adapt to a new situation, such as tracking equipment lent to volunteers? We'd love to answer questions, host discussion on the forums, or share info in a blog post. We've all had to get creative, and asking questions and sharing information has helped us all adapt and overcome to the best of our abilities.

We're still doing all we can to try to provide our customers with quality software and service, though how we do so has definitely changed. I think we've all made some positive changes and learned a lot in the past twelve months. At this point, I'm very excited that we now have three vaccines available and the pace of immunizations is picking up, but there's still no clear timeline or picture of what Keystone staff's work environment will look like in the next year. One thing that's sure: we'll still be here (wherever "here" is) to help!

The Duplication Service model opens up a ton of new possibilities for serving patrons, and with that comes a whole host of new edge-cases, problems, opportunities, and workflow questions. Today, let’s look into one of those new workflow questions: what do you do when a Title is Withdrawn?

First up, what exactly do I mean by “Withdrawn? For this post, I’m referring to Titles NLS has recalled due to Quality Control or other concerns as well as Titles with a status of “W / Withdrawn” in the KLAS Catalog. Most points will be the same or pretty close for NLS recalls, Locally Produced titles you have withdrawn for quality or timeliness (such as a corrupted file or a voting guide from a previous election), or for NLS titles you have decided to no longer offer (such as computer “how-to” guides from the early 90s).

What happens in KLAS?

For Gutenberg libraries, when NLS recalls a title the file is pulled from the Gutenberg hardware. Overnight the e-Doc sync in KLAS will spot the missing file and report the e-Doc as “stale” in the PCC Load Summary. (If you want to keep an eye on your e-Doc sync and do not yet get a daily PCC Load Summary email, let us know!) The title can still be added to patron Service Queues or included in a Duplication Order—however, it cannot be duplicated, because Gutenberg no longer has the file! So when NLS notifies you that a title is being recalled, it’s important to go into your KLAS Catalog and either make the title status Withdrawn or delete the e-Doc. That will prevent KLAS from letting the title onto any Dup Orders.

For titles you chose to withdraw on your own, you can proceed as below.

For Scribe libraries (or Gutenberg libraries doing a voluntary recall), you have more choice about how to proceed. The file is not automatically pulled so, as long as you leave the record in an active status, you can continue to duplicate the title as you decide how to proceed. When you are ready to stop all duplication, you should update the catalog record to make the title status W / Withdrawn. At that point the title may still be on some patron’s Service Queues, but it can no longer be added to any new ones or included in a Duplication Order. The Sanitize Queue function then removes the title from patron Service Queues during its next routine sweep.

So, what are your options?

You can always immediately shut down duplication of a title by changing the title status to W / Withdrawn. However, if you want a little wiggle room, you do have other options.

For a voluntary recall (or if using Scribe) you may leave a sub-par but functional title active, add the No Autoselect (NAS) subject heading to the record, and include a cautionary note in the title field. This is a good option for reissued titles you want to provide to patrons with a strong Narrator preference, but don’t otherwise want to send. This won’t fully withdraw the title, but will keep it from being sent by Subject preference, and guide Reader Advisors to which version of the title they should send.

You may also use the NAS option as a stop-gap for titles in the process of being re-recorded. For example, NLS recently pulled A DB 100980, Time for Mercy by John Grisham, in favor of replacing it with the unabridged version. If you want to offer your patrons the option of getting the Abridged version instead of waiting for the replacement (and if you have a Scribe, since the file was pulled from Gutenbergs automatically), you can add NAS to the Local Subjects, and add “Abridged version” to the title.

However, you probably also want to either pull it from patron’s Service Queues where it’s been auto-selected, and/or contact patrons to see if they want to wait for the Unabridged version.

Patrons with Queued Title Report

This is where a brand-new report comes in: Patrons with Queued Title. This report (which will be included in KLAS v7.7.47, our next update), will fetch a list of every patron with a particular title on their Service Queue and/or in a Duplication Order.

Use this report to remove the withdrawn title from queues where it was automatically selected, then reach out to patrons who requested it ask if they want the current version, or want to wait for a re-record.

Or, when browsing the report results, you might find few to no patrons actually requested the title, and decide to update the title status to fully Withdraw it right away.

Always feel free to ask!

Whew... this was a long one. I hope it helps you understand how Withdrawn titles affect Duplication Service, what happens automatically in KLAS, and your options for handling them. However, feel free to ask us any time a situation like this comes up, and you aren’t quite sure what will happen or how to proceed. After all, this is still a relatively new approach to patron service! We’re here to share the technical details and help you determine your best course of action.

And, of course, we hope the new report comes in handy!

Today was Day One of the KLAS IRC Symposium being held at Keystone's office in Raleigh, NC. There are eight IRC / IMC staff members from five different states attending the Symposium with the goal of learning more about using and administrating KLAS from Keystone trainers, helping to provide feedback on future KLAS features and funcitonality, and networking with other IRC KLAS users to share tips and tricks.

Scenes from our first IRC Sympoisum:

Our small training room is set up waiting for attendees to arrive.

We also set up a lab area with access to all our attendees' databases so they can practice what they learn from our instructors.

Nancy starts the day talking about KLAS WebOPAC and WebOrdering.

Great questions being asked and discussion happening as Nancy instructs our attendees.

 As always, Keystone will feed you into submission.

After a full morning of learning, you need to take a break. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together at Relish where we took in the gorgeous autumn weather and got some more time to chat and learn from one another.

Here's looking forward to the rest of the IRC Symposium!

Upcoming Webinars & Roundtables

New Webinar & Roundtable Platform: In an effort to provide a better experience for online training, webinar, and roundtable participants we are moving from join.me to Google Meet. You will NOT need a Google account to join a Keystone hosted Google Meet. We hope this change will address some of the bandwidth and other issues we know some attendees have experienced with join.me. As an additional bonus, Google Meet offers auto closed captioning.

2/18/2021 KLAS New Features with Katy

3 PM ET / Noon Pacific Thursday, Feburary 18

During this session, she will describe and demonstrate new features and functionality added to KLAS. If there's something specific you wish her to discuss or demonstrate, feel free to email your question to  

Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/rwk-bpmz-oco
Join by phone: +1 314-226-1417‬ PIN: ‪769 402 631‬#‪

Previously Held Webinars & Roundtables

Recordings and / or PowerPoints from the below previously held webinars and KLAS Users' Roundtables are available. You must be logged into klasusers.com to access any of these articles.

• 12/15/2020 KLAS Users' Roundtable: Duplication on Demand Updates
• 11/19/2020 Keystone Webinar: Reports
• 10/22/2020 KLAS IRC Users' Roundtable
• 09/17/2020 KLAS Users' Roundtable: Virtual Programming
• 8/12/2020 KLAS New Features Update
• 05/19/2020 KLAS Online KLAS Users' Group Meetings
• 4/23/2020 KLAS IRC Users' Roundtable
• 03/19/2020 KLAS Users' Roundtable: Duplication on Demand
• 02/20/2020 KLAS Q&A with Katy

First, we want to thank everyone who responded to our 2021 KLAS Users' Conference Planning Survey. We heard you, and we're moving forward based on your input.

The Program and Logistics Committees, the KLAS Users' Group Officers', and Keystone staff have been working diligently to figure out how to shift the conference to an online event. We're really embracing our conference theme of "Challenges, Changes & Creativity"! In the past few weeks, we've shifted our planning timeline and had discussions about dates, schedule, event management software and services, registration costs, session proposals, and more.

Today, we're excited to share that the 2021 KLAS Users' Conference will be June 7-10, 2021 with the below proposed schedule for each day:

To give all our attendees the best experience possible, we're planning to use an online event platform. We've evaluated a number of different ones and currently plan to use PheedLoop. Last week, the Planning Committees and Users' Group Officers had an opportunity to see the event participant side of the platform and were impressed with their available features for networking, session scheduling and access, and extensive accessibility options.

Using this platform, conference attendees will be able to attend sessions live or review the recordings later on, message each other privately or in subject groups, and even share files with their fellow users. While it can't fully replicate the feeling of all sitting around the same table, we hope that this format will allow us to bring as much of the full conference experience as possible.

Individual and group registration rates are still being finalized and will be announced soon.

We're hoping more KLAS Users will be able to participate in this year's conference than ever before, since there is no travel required! See you there!

There were days that cast it into doubt, but some good things did happen in 2020! Let's have a look at some of them from this very website (with lots of links to get caught up if you missed something in the tumult).

We had a very successful series of webinars, covering both LBPH and IRC topics of interest, and including Keystone-led, User-led, and roundtable formats. Additionally, we had the chance to meet with y'all at the APH online conference and at the NLS online conference. We also transitioned KLAS Administrator's Training to an online format with a renewed and refreshed curriculum to better meet the needs of our Admins.

Back in January, we introduced the Scribe Mini! This little guy can store the entire digital collection, can either run a full Scribe Tower, or be used as a stand-alone device at a front desk or outreach location. On the other side of the hardware aisle, Teresa Kalber of the Colorado Talking Book Library, one of the first KLAS libraries to implement Gutenberg, shared their experience in the Hot off the Press blog series.

Then Covid took over the news and turned our expectations for the year on end. Even when things were hard though, KLAS Users put in their time and effort to help each other, including by sharing their experiences, lessons, and strategies as we all adjusted to lock-downs and quarantines.

Despite the difficulties of the year, business continued as best it could, including the need to track and report on statistics. In Get to Know the Circulation Report, I shared some info to help you make friends with one of our most powerful reports.

Finally, we continued to refine and improve our Disaster Preparedness and Recovery processes, ensuring that we can respond to anything and keep you all up and running as best as possible.

Despite the uncertainty ahead our excellent user committees continued to plan the 2021 KLAS Users' Conference, balancing the need for flexibility with the planning timeline. Watch for the latest information and the results of the recent planning survey coming very soon!

Over on our other website, we re-launched KLAS.com with an all-new (and much improved) look and feel! We were so happy with the results, in fact, we're actively working to provide KLASUsers.com with a similar refresh.

Here's to 2021! This year is shaping up to be plenty weird and challenging in its own way, but we do we expect it to bring an easier-to-use and more modern KLASUsers.com, and plenty of new content to keep you all informed and empowered as users!

It was only a matter of time. In December one of our own, John Owen, contracted COVID-19 and spent two weeks off of work fighting it. Thankfully he recovered and has not experienced any of devastating or long-term side effects.

Troubled by the lack or therapeutics available to COVID patients John jumped at the chance to help one of the most vulnerable communities. As soon as he was able, he donated his plasma that now contains the antibodies that can help those who are critically ill have a better chance at recovery.

John said this about his plasma donation:

“I’ve done it once and found out that I can continue to donate plasma every seven days until my annual limit. One small needle prick and an hour in a recliner is nothing compared to the chance that my donations can help critically ill patients have a fighting chance at recovery. This disease is no joke, and I am so thankful that my wife and family have so far been spared.”

Some photos John took during the donation procedure and of his "badge of honor" stickers. 

Your KLAS Development Advisory Committee (KDAC) member-representatives want to hear if you have input for our next meeting to be held January 19, 2021. Therefore please complete this survey to share your input with us, and please know we sincerely appreciate your thoughts and feedback.