The Campus and Community Relations (CCR) department recently conducted a user survey regarding the InfoForums, Emory Libraries’ employee information seminar. As a result of the outstanding feedback we received, the InfoForums are being re-introduced this month with a new look and feel.

Re-envisioned as a part of an overarching LITS-wide communication plan, the InfoForums will now partner with the IT Briefings with similar formats. The IT Briefing will continue to provide informative updates to Emory partners outside of LITS while the InfoForums will continue to be an internal forum for LITS employees.

IT Briefing attendees engage in active Q&A with speakers.

The major change is that the InfoForums will feature the opportunity for shorter, multiple presentations similar to the IT Briefing model, which consists of 15-minute presentations with 5 minutes of audience questions. This will allow for 3-4 different groups to present each month.

Longer presentations will still be available; however, the forum will not require a single person or department to cover an entire hour.

This change will allow the InfoForum to offer a broader diversity of topics from across LITS, as well as having speakers from outside the division as well.

Additional changes to the meeting include:

• Being scheduled by a coordinator
• Being run by a moderator
• Live-streaming and rebroadcasting via AdobeConnect
• Providing catered refreshments
• Hosting one InfoForum a month (instead of two)
• Alternating days and time of day for the meeting to be held (so that it doesn’t always clash with standing meetings)

Additionally, the InfoForum and IT Briefing will fall on different weeks and allow for presentations to be presented from either or both venues based on the topic.

The first opportunity to enjoy the new configuration will be next week on April 12, in the Jones Room from 10-11 am. The InfoForum will feature the International Area Studies team, who will be delivering a variety of presentations about their recent travels to acquire books from China, Japan, India and various Latin countries. This effort marked the strong support from Emory leadership to create a global presence for Emory’s collections.

The presenters will be Guo-Hua Wang, Ellen Ambrosone, Phil MacLeod, and Lawrence Hamblin.

Thanks again for your support of the InfoForums, and we look forward to seeing you next week.