Your Name and Title: Laura Warren, Coordinator 

Library, School, or Organization Name: Libraries Thriving 

Co-Presenter Name(s): N/A

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Richmond, Virginia, USA

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Librarians looking to learn more about online collaborative opportunities, librarians interested in sharing their online collaboration experience, librarians interested in improving online collaborative spaces

Short Session Description (one line): If you know your library work would benefit from outside perspectives but can’t afford to travel to conferences or enroll in costly continuing education courses, join this conversation about the pros and cons to online collaborative spaces. 

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): While budgetary restraints are severely limiting the opportunity for librarians to spend the time and money required to attend physical conferences, librarians remain motivated by their core value of professionalism and refuse to let their skillset stagnate. This engaging session will focus on an often underused resource that can be used to address this concern—online collaborative spaces. The Coordinator of Libraries Thriving, an online community dedicated to information literacy promotion and e-resource innovation, will share the best practices and experiences of some information professionals who have previously benefited from active participation in these spaces.

Though the positive experiences from active participation are numerous, that’s not to say that online communities are the answer to all of a librarian's commonly faced issues. As touched upon by use of the adjective “underused,” there are still some improvements to be made to online spaces in order for librarians as a whole to get the most out of them. Session attendees will have the chance to engage in a discussion about what they expect from these spaces and compare it to what they’ve actually gotten. If you have previous experience, come ready to share it with your colleagues. If you’re new to this technological way to extend your network, learn more about taking advantage of free resources available to you from the comfort of your desk. 

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: http://www.librariesthriving.org