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LACUNY Emerging Technologies Committee

The LACUNY Emerging Technologies Committee is dedicated to collaborative exploration of technologies that further the CUNY libraries’ missions. Through workshops, hack days, demoes, and other meetings, CUNY librarians learn new skills from each other and cultivate a community of openness, sharing, and encouragement.

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CUNY IT Conference 2017

  • Posted by Junior Tidal on June 22, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    Hi all,

    Would anyone be interested in proposing another panel discussion to show off CUNY Librarians’ tech projects?

    Best,
    Junior

    On behalf of the IT Steering Committee, I am inviting your contributions to the 16th Annual CUNY IT Conference, scheduled for the end of the Fall 2017 semester. As has been the case for the past seven years, the conference takes place over two days — the first Thursday and Friday after Thanksgiving — or November 30 and December 1, 2017. The theme this year is “Instructional/Information Technology in CUNY: Opening Access.” Please review the call for proposals below. I look forward to your continued participation in this very successful gathering to share perspectives and best practices in IT in CUNY.

    CALL FOR PROPOSALS
    CUNY’s 16th Annual IT Conference
    Thursday and Friday, November 30 and December 1
    @ John Jay College of Criminal Justice

    Instructional/Information Technology in CUNY: Opening Access

    The escalating costs of higher education—both tuition and the collateral expenses of textbooks and course materials—have widespread effects. With the announcement of the Excelsior Scholarship and new funding to develop Open Educational Resources, CUNY is poised to ease financial barriers to college for even more students than we already serve. And yet “access” to higher education is a complex issue that extends far beyond the mere costs of attendance to adequately meeting student needs. “Access” includes ADA compliance, access to course materials and devices used for digital materials, Internet access, access to campus spaces and services, access to faculty and community, and more. CUNY’s 16th Annual IT Conference will examine the complex and evolving relationship between technology and manifold issues of access to higher education.

    As has been the case since its inception, the conference will be held at John Jay College, offering overviews of the University and colleges’ key IT initiatives, discussions of how technology can support and advance teaching, scholarship, and administration, and a chance to meet with vendors. As always, proposals for presentations are invited from the CUNY community, particularly on how we can foster access and success.

    Proposals are invited for panels or presentations as well as roundtables, workshops, or other interactions. Each proposal should include a title, an abstract of no more than 200 words, and the name and affiliation of each participant. Proposals from individuals are welcome, but panel proposals from groups that can present varied perspectives on a subject are particularly welcome. The theme of “Opening Access,” includes:

    1. What does “access” mean for CUNY, and what does it mean to make higher education accessible using technology? What barriers to access can technology mitigate? What barriers might technology create?

    2. What technological and pedagogical challenges and opportunities do we face in expanding access to programs and learning materials? How do CUNY’s scale and mission affect our approach?

    3. How can we enhance student experiences and outcomes by sharing materials and best practices across departments, programs, campuses, and between faculty and administration?

    Proposals must be submitted using the form at cunyitconference.commons.gc.cuny.edu

    Proposals are due September 15, 2017 at 5:00 pm. Acceptances will be announced by the end of that month.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Stephen Klein
    Member
    June 22, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    Possibly. Let’s talk

    From: Junior Tidal [mailto:noreply@gc.cuny.edu]
    Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2017 12:50 PM
    To: Klein, Stephen <SKlein@gc.cuny.edu>
    Subject: (LACUNY Emerging Technologies Committee) Topic – CUNY IT Conference 2017

    Robin Camille Davis
    Participant
    June 29, 2017 at 5:25 pm

    I’m also interested! I don’t have anything in mind yet, but the conference theme is a perfect fit for libraries.

    Junior Tidal
    Participant
    August 2, 2017 at 9:42 am

    Since the theme of this year’s conference is Opening Access, I was thinking maybe we could do a presentation on accessibility/usability? Last week I had to change a lot of the forms on our website to conform with WC3 standards for accessibility. I thought this was a done deal since Bootstrap, the framework we use at City Tech and that is used in LibGuides 2.0, is inherently accessible.

    I assumed that CUNY wanted to make sites within the cuny.edu domain more accessible due to this recent article – http://www.chronicle.com/article/One-Activist-Has-Hundreds-of/240551 – where complaints were made against several SUNY schools.

    Has anyone else had to make similar changes to their site?

    Robin Camille Davis
    Participant
    August 2, 2017 at 10:55 am

    Great idea, Junior! I’m into it.

    Yes, I’ve had to do the same thing, essentially making sure that the library website doesn’t get red flags with the WAVE tool.

    There have been an unusual number of accessibility events in the past year (or so it seems to me). So this topic is extra on-trend and could also benefit from specific perspectives.

    Stephen Klein
    Member
    August 2, 2017 at 10:57 am

    Yes, I concur. Should we plan on convening in September and discuss a possible collaborative approach?

    From: Robin Camille Davis [mailto:noreply@gc.cuny.edu]
    Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2017 10:56 AM
    To: Klein, Stephen <SKlein@gc.cuny.edu>
    Subject: (LACUNY Emerging Technologies Committee) Re: Topic – CUNY IT Conference 2017

    Robin Camille Davis
    Participant
    August 2, 2017 at 11:07 am

    Sure. Would Friday 9/1 be a good day to meet, either in person or by video chat?

    (Deadline is 9/15)

    Stephen Klein
    Member
    August 2, 2017 at 11:09 am

    I prefer after Labor Day.

    Mark Eaton
    Participant
    August 2, 2017 at 4:15 pm

    This is an interesting idea! Thanks for getting this going, Junior!

    At Kingsborough, we’ve been doing usability testing with some home-grown testing tools. The goal is that the data we gather will move the conversation about usability and accessibility forward at our campus.

    Anyhow, if this is of interest, I would be glad to participate!

    Building usability testing tools

     

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

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