Keystone staff attended and facilitated a KLAS Users' Meeting for library for the blind and print disabled (LBPD) staff who use KLAS on Thursday, September 12 during the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled Biennial Conference in Washington, D.C. The session was presented in a hybrid, webinar format and recorded for those who could not attend live / wanted to review the session later.

09/12/2024 KLAS LBPD Users' Meeting Slidedeck & Recording

Below are the PowerPoint slides and the recording of this session.

• 2024_NLS_KLAS_Users_Group_Meeting_2024-09-12.pptx

Below is the recording for our October 2023 KLAS Users' Meeting at the APH Annual Conference.

Slide deck: KLAS IRC Users at APH2023 - pptx

References:

• New feature discussion thread
• Font Size / Boldness adjustment instructions

Below is the recording for our October 2022 KLAS Users' Meeting at the APH Annual Conference.

Slide deck: KLAS IRC Users at APH2022 - pptx

Per the recent KLAS Users' Group Meeting, please meet your candidates for the open Users' Group Vice President position. A link to vote will soon be sent to each KLAS organization / library's designated representative. 

KLAS Users' Group Vice President Candidates

Crystal Grimes, Customer Service Coordinator, Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library

Biography: Crystal Grimes is the Customer Service Coordinator for the Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library at the State Library of Oregon. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from Western Oregon University and a Masters in Library Science from Emporia State University. Crystal has been at the Talking Book Library since 2012 where she started as a Circulation Technician and has had her current position since 2018. Her current position at the library is defined by customer service, reader’s advisory, and setting up new patron accounts. Crystal is currently serving on two Keystone committees, the Programming Committee and the KLAS Development Advisory Committee (KDAC). In her spare time Crystal loves to read (fantasy is a favorite but she will read anything) and play video games.

Statement of Goals: I’m very excited to work with Keystone and the User group as Vice-President. A goal that I have is to encourage KLAS users to be active in their own learning and experience using KLAS. I want to promote learning and active participation in the KLAS conferences and on the KLASusers web forum. Since I am on the programming committee, I can also bring forward learning ideas from users and help to bring them into creation. I want to be an active listener to the users because this group has a lot of experience and ingenuity, and it deserves to be shared and recognized.

Sam Lundberg, Reader Advisor, New Mexico State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled

Biography: I have been in libraries for nearly a decade now. I cut my teeth on the reference desk in Tippecanoe County Indiana in 2012, before moving to the night shift at Purdue's Library of Engineering and Science. In 2018 I began working at the New Mexico Library for the Blind and Print Disabled as a Reader Advisor and never looked back. I have served on the KLAS Development Advisory Committee since 2019, taking over the KDAC presidency in 2021.

Statement of Goals: The users group should be proactive in encouraging absolutely everyone to ask questions, experiment with new ideas, and participate in the greater discussion. We've opened up so many new avenues for participation with remote conferences and online conversations and I want to expand upon that progress.

In May of 2022, we held the first KLASUsers' Mini-Conference to provide space and time for Keystone Staff and KLAS Users' to connect and learn from one another as well as share / discuss Keystone company updates and KLAS new features, tips & tricks, and new development suggestions. 2024's Mini-Conference will offer all of that and MORE! 

The 2024 KLASUsers' Mini-Conference will be a free, online event accessible via Zoom held:

• Tuesday, May 14 - 1:00-5:00 PM Eastern Time / 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Pacific
• Wednesday, May 15 - 1:00-5:00 PM Eastern Time / 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Pacific

Add the event to your calendar now, then review the initial schedule, and submit your registration form. If you use the below "Add to Calendar" button, the day / time of the conference as well as relevant Zoom connection info will be included.

Zoom

We will use one Zoom meeting link with 3 breakout rooms during the Mini-Conference. Attendees will be able to navigate between breakout rooms as they like.

• Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89346254714?pwd=eHFpQmdlU2d3elVadldTNVMwSWlVUT09
• Dial-in for Audio: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kd4eiKdpib
  • Meeting ID: 893 4625 4714
  • Passcode: 769337

To move between breakout rooms:

1. Select Breakout Rooms  in your meeting controls.
2. This will display the list of open breakout rooms including: Glenwood, Raleigh, & Pinecrest
3. Select the number to the right of breakout room you wish to join, select Join, then confirm selecting Join.
4. Repeat as necessary to join other breakout rooms.

Zoom Accessibility:

We will have captions enabled, and Zoom provides an extensive list of hotkeys and keyboard shortcuts to help users navigate meetings.

Sessions

This year will again feature sessions with topics of interest for all KLAS Users, as well as more specific Instructional Resource Center (IRC) and Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD) sessions. New for 2024 will be two sessions featuring updates from staff of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS). 

Session Types:

General sessions will share information and updates relevant to  all KLAS Users, and no conflicting sessions will be scheduled at the same time they are offered. During these sessions, there will limited time for questions and answers.

Workshop sessions are presented by Keystone staff member or a guest speaker. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions throughout the session. These in-depth presentations share information via different tools such as slides, live examples, and / or user experiences.

Birds-of-a-Feather (BoaF) sessions give participants the opportunity to exchange ideas in a group discussion setting. All KLAS Users are invited to participate in the BoaF sessions they feel are relevant to them. However, we do indicate for each session whether an IRC or LBPD audience might find it more applicable. Topics range from making the most of KLAS features to exploring broader service-related ideas. These sessions are not formal presentations with slides or software demonstrations. Instead, the format is casual and open. Moderators launch the discussion and keep the conversation on topic; participants are asked to come prepared to share and learn.

Tuesday, May 14

This is an initial schedule, and sessions are subject to change. Want to get more involved with the Users' group? Volunteering to moderate a BoaF session is a great way to get started!

Wednesday, May 15 

Registration

Registration is not required, but doing so helps us know approximately how many persons to plan on for each session. You will automatically be emailed a copy of your registration upon submission.

We'd like to introduce you to our 2025 Julie Klauber Award winner, Natalia Renfro, Kansas State Library Talking Books, and thought the best way to do so is by sharing the nomination we received for her. Maggie Witte, Kansas State Library Talking Books, described Natalia (Nataly) as "a hard, consistent worker who works well with the library team dedicated to making sure all of our patrons have access to the players and materials they need for a fulfilling informed and personalized reading experience."

Keystone Systems is honored to provide Nataly a trip to the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference, where she will be recognized during Monday's opening general session. An official press release will be published just before the award ceremony.

Nataly's Nomination for the 2025 Julie Klauber Award:

How do you know the nominee? Have you worked with them? If so, in what capacity?

Nataly started working for Kansas Talking Books in 2016 as one of our circulation clerks working closely with all of the staff and working as our machine for the last few years. I have worked with her in ensuring all of the books are found, creating No Due Date titles such as the Bible, helping patrons figure out issues with their DTBMs, and just as a team to ensure everyone has access to what they need.

What service(s) has the nominee done in the spirit of Julie Klauber?

Nataly ensures that patrons have access to our services by carefully managing the checking in and out, storage, and upkeep of the digital talking book players so patrons have as little disruption in their reading experience as possible. She is patient and supportive when patrons call with player issues, helping them check for errors if they can and/or getting replacement players in the mail as quickly as possible. When mail issues arise, she calmly works with patrons, other Kansas Talking Books (KTB) staff, and even the post office to see if the issue can be determined or to find a solution, if possible. She also helps patrons get access to audio-described movies, advocating for the addition of movies that meet their needs, circulating those movies when the patrons request, and making sure they are ready for the next patron. It is through her efforts that our patrons have access to informational and recreational materials and the playback equipment to access those items. She is also bilingual and assists our Spanish-only patrons to find and check out the books they like or adjust their accounts accordingly.

How do they affect your library/community and/or the KLAS Users’ Community?

She is always supportive of all the efforts of staff, assisting in any way she can. She is compassionate towards patrons, caring for their point of view. She helps the library circulation run smoothly with her efforts.

What are the nominees job responsibilities and how do they relate to KLAS?

Her job responsibilities are:

• maintaining the inventory of digital talking book players and check players in and out to patrons when they return them for maintenance or for other reasons using Equipment module;
  adding No Due Date materials, such as the Bible and other religious texts, using KLAS, ensuring there are always the religious texts patrons are interested available using the Circulation module;
• adding audio-described movie titles to the collection and maintaining that collection which she creates records for those titles in the collection and adds all the necessary metadata for them using the Catalog module;
• handles the readers advisory and circulation of audio-described movies to patrons who ask for them using the Patron module;
• assisting patrons with player issues or calling previous patrons or their family members to attempt to retrieve digital talking book players which she uses KLAS to look up accounts and make notes in the comments using the Patron and Equipment modules;
• assist Spanish-only patrons with their accounts by making changes to preferences or adding books to their service queues in the Patron module;
• assists in cataloging duties as available in the Catalog module.

On the morning of Thursday, March 20 a business meeting of the KLAS Users' Group was held at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis, IN as part of the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference. During the course of the meeting, KLAS Users' Group President Maureen Dorosinski presented proposed changes to the KLAS Users' Group Bylaws. The changes were then voted on and approved by those present. The documents below contain the most recently approved bylaws of the KLAS Users' Group as approved on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

• KLAS_User_Group_Bylaws_2025.docx
• KLAS_User_Group_Bylaws_2025.pdf

2020 and 2021 were a challenging time for many of us, including our KLAS Users' Group Program Committee. Many members joined the committee with the intention of helping to plan an in-person conference. Then COVID happened, and we all came together to plan and execute a fully online conference instead. This shift meant evaluating and learning new software, preparing presenters for the new format, rethinking the conference schedule, and more! I am more than grateful to those who did this work. Understandably, when it came time to start planning content for this year, all but one committee member was ready for a break and stepped down from the committee.

In the past few months we've assembled a new team to plan ongoing content for our KLAS Users! Yesterday afternoon they met for the first time. Four new faces who have never served on a KLAS Users' Group Committee before, a new Users' Group Officer who is beginning their first term, and one seasoned Officer / Program Committee member are coming together to help bring you new webinars, online roundtables, and more in the next year!

2022 Program Committee Members:

• Jared Leslie, KLAS Users' Group Vice President & Program Committee Chair, Arizona Instructional Resource Center
• Michael Lang, KLAS Users' Group President & Former Program Committee Chair, Kansas Talking Book Library
• Lori Brown, Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library (Missouri)
• Amanda Trawick, Alabama Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Kate Kosior, South Dakota Braille & Talking Book Library
• Crystal Grimes, Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library
• Katy Patrick, Keystone Systems
• Drea Callicutt, Keystone Systems

1/25/22 Cataloging for Duplication Webinar

As their first piece of business, your new Program Committee scheduled a Keystone-presented webinar for Tuesday, January 25 at 2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific. During this online training session, Katy Patrick will be discussing "Cataloging for Duplication" including handling withdrawn titles, updating new title records without physical copies coming in, and what eDocs are and where they come from. Mark your calendar now so you can join us Live! Connection information will be shared closer to the webinar.

What topics / presenters do you want?

Now, our newly reformed committee wants to ask: What kind of content you want? Is there a particular topic or presenter you'd like to hear about / from? Do you have something you'd like to present about, or are you willing to moderate a Roundtable or Birds of a Feather session? 

Comment on this post or send an email to any committee member to share your thoughts, requests, and input! 

The KLAS Users’ Group Program Committee is seeking new members and new ideas!

UC2023 is a wrap—so it’s time to roll over the committee, look ahead to creating new online content, and get back to work. This committee is a great starting point for folks wanting to get more involved in the Users’ Group, whether they’re new to using KLAS or an old hand. With just one meeting a month, this is a low-commitment volunteer opportunity.

Everyone is welcome, but we will especially welcome people from IRCs (Instructional Resource Centers) or other less-represented organizations.

Even if you aren’t ready to hop on board as a committee member, we’d still love to hear from you! Is there a KLAS topic you want to learn more about? A past webinar you think needs an encore performance with updated information? Or is there a roundtable or open discussion topic you think everyone could get together and dig into?

Don’t be shy! Leave a comment, or email , , or . The Users’ Group is for you, and this is a great way to help make sure you’re getting the most and best out of it.