Training & Networking

James, Katy, and I hosted a KLAS Users' Group Meeting at the 2025 Northern-Western Conference for Talking Book Libraries. on Tuesday, August 5 to share updates about Keystone and KLAS, future development, allow attendees to ask questions and provide feedback to Keystone staff as well as connect with other LBPD KLAS users.

Below you will find the Presentation we shared as well as the Recording of this session:

• KLAS Users at NLS NW Regional 2025-08 (PPT)
• KLAS Users at NLS NW Regional 2025-08 (PDF)

The KLAS Users' Program Committee is planning for the 2026 free, online KLAS Users' MiniConference slated to be held via Zoom during afternoons the week of May 11-15, 2026.

Previous MiniConferences offered sessions such as: KLAS New Features, Keystone Updates, informal open forum / birds-of-a-feather sessions, and more! In preparation for this year's MiniConference, we're asking you what topics you want to hear about, and what you'd like to share.

Take a minute to ruminate, brainstorm, consider, and think about it... and then let us know!

Topic Suggestion & Session Submission Deadline = Friday, January 23, 2026

During this session, Katy Patrick discussed features and functionality in KLAS, including machine management and duplication workflows, as well as tips & tricks to help KLAS libraries prepare for and / or better manage their e-Braille Circulation.

The recording from 3/14/2024 is now available:

Are you looking forward to circulating electronic braille for your patrons? Curious about braille Duplication but not sure where to start?

On  April 13, James Gleason, Deputy Director, Perkins Library, and Katy Patrick, Technical Writer, Keystone Systems, discussed some cleanup you may want to work on, settings to check on or think about, and the setup Keystone can do for you.

Below are the slide deck in PowerPoint and PDF format, chat transcript, and webinar recording:

• Preparing for eBraille.pptx
• Preparing for eBraille.pdf
• Preparing for eBraille Chat Transcript.txt 

Below is the recording and chat transcript for our KLAS Users' Roundtable: Duplication on Demand Tips & Tricks for Serving Patrons that was held on Thursday, May 20, 2021. (57:24 Run Time)

Chat Transcript

On Wednesday, June 21 at 3:00 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific we held our most recent KLAS Users' Roundtable: KDAC Q&A.

During this online session KLAS Users had opportunity to meet KLAS Development Advisory Committee (KDAC) representatives, ask them questions about being on the committee and / or how it operates, share ideas for improvements to KLAS, and more!

Current KDAC Members include:

• Dan Malosh, Committee Chair, Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library
• Traci Timmons, KLAS Users' Group Officers' Liaison, Washington Talking Book and Braille Library
• Barnaby Camp, Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled
• Christina Quintana, Arizona Instructional Resource Center
• Donald Salvato, Xavier Society for the Blind
• Dorothy Hughes, Maryland School for the Blind
• Jesse McGarity, Virginia Beach Public Library, Accessible Resources and Services
• Pepper Watson, Oklahoma Accessible Instructional Materials Center
• Sally Shreck, Maryland Instructional Resource Center
• Sarah Smedley, Palm Beach County Library Talking Books
• Zoelinna Schar, Nevada Talking Book Services

KLAS Users' Roundtable: KDAC Q&A Chat Transcript & Recording

• 06-21-2023_KDAC_Q&A_Chat_Transcript.txt

Follow-up notes from Katy: The instructions for changing font size in KLAS are now available in the Knowledge Base!

However, to add or remove stopwords, you must contact customer support so that the appropriate indexing can be done after the change. Additionally, we believe all libraries are set up with the usual stopwords (a, an, the)--if that does not seem to be the case for your library, please contact customer support with example screenshots.

Join us for an engaging panel discussion on the intricacies of managing local collections. The panelists will discuss the types of local collections held by their libraries, the frequency and significance of their usage within the community, and the lifecycle of managing these collections—from selecting new items to daily management and weeding practices. There will also be time for a Q&A session with the audience.

• What: KLAS Users' Roundtable: Managing Local Collections
• When: 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific, Wednesday, August 20
• Where; Zoom!
  • Meeting Link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85715838990?pwd=9q4KtHjR8c8FWxkcYwYm7hTPc9aX4V.1
    
    • Meeting ID: 857 1583 8990
    • Passcode: 541822
  • Join Instructions: https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/85715838990/invitations?signature=NAaAmF99s3b_7BId0uqKO-s3Fhp1Q02IO9S3LFJ4Hj4

Add this session to your calendar:

The recording of our August 24, 2021 KLAS New Features webinar is now available. The webinar covers the features and functionality added to KLAS since the 2021 KLAS Users' Conference.

PowerPoint & Chat Transcript

• 8/24/2021 KLAS New Features PowerPoint - 9.7 MB
• 8/24/2021 KLAS New Features Chat Transcript - 21 KB

Below is the recording from our August 25, 2022 KLAS LBPD Users' Roundtable on Talking Book Topics.

Description: With the recent loss of the physical Large Print Talking Book Topics from our Reader Advisory Tool Box, libraries are crafting new strategies to keep readers informed about new titles being added to the collection. Our August roundtable explored how other libraries are addressing these changes and share your own successes in addressing the changes with TBT. 

Host: Michael Lang, Kansas Talking Books Service

Panelists:

• Maureen Dorosinki, Florida Braille & Talking Book Libraries
• Crystal Grimes, Oregon Talking Book & Braille Library

Chat Transcript: 08-25-2022_KLAS_Roundtable_Chat.txt

Below is the recording from our September 22, 2022 Keystone-presented webinar on the WebOPAC Revamp.

Description: You've probably heard the good news about an upcoming revamp of the WebOPAC for LBPH. Ready for more info and a first look at our prototype? Take a look at what we have so far and provide feedback to help shape the future OPAC!

Presenter: Katy Patrick, Keystone Systems

Chat Transcript: 09-22-2022_WebOPAC_Revamp_Chat.txt

During this session for Library for the Blind and Print Disabled KLAS Users, Katy shared information about your end-of-year reporting process, including updates to Mitake's "Circulation Summary" spreadsheets, the new report for NLS's officially requested statistics, queries for Referral Source and Inactive Reasons, and a brief look at Batch Patron Status Review (BPSR) and how it helps keep your database clean and your statistics accurate.

Slides:

• EOY Reporting 2025 (PPT)
• Note: these slides have been updated to include (tested and verified) example queries. I believe the queries that did not work during the session were due to an error on the Basic Tab. 

Recording:

Hopefully you all know that we routinely offer Administrator’s Training sessions. But what actually happens at these sessions? How can you justify the travel and registration costs? This week, I’m aiming answer some of those questions!

What is it?

A two-day intensive training course, offered here at our offices in Raleigh, NC. You can read up on details, download the registration form, and check the currently scheduled session dates here.

In addition to the scheduled course topics, Admin Training is a great time to get into all of those nitty-gritty administration and policy questions, both with your trainer here at Keystone and your fellow attendees. Class sizes are small, capped at a maximum of just six attendees, so there’s lots of individualized answers and attention to your situation.

Best of all, you will be training on your own database! Not the Users’ Conference database or another mock-up with fake data and semi-arbitrary settings—your very own (live or training, depending on how brave you are) database, with your own settings, your own data, and your own patrons.

What can I expect?

Your training will take place in our dedicated Training room, which (as you know, if you’ve been following this blog or our social media) will soon be freshly renovated. You will be on a workstation set up with remote access to your own database. Your trainer—probably Nancy—will also have a workstation and a projector, so you can see how it’s done, follow along, and make changes yourself as desired.

The schedule is pretty packed! You’ll be covering a lot of ground in relatively little time. The aim is more for you to understand your options, to know the various controls and information available to you, than for you to learn and remember exactly how to use everything. The small class size allows you to delve deeper into areas that are useful to you, while breezing through areas that you either already have a good handle on, or just don’t have much use for.

North Carolina Talking Books is just a short drive away, so if you’re interested in a field trip, we can usually set something up. And of course, you’ll have opportunity to try some of Raleigh’s amazing cuisine and to meet the Keystone staff.

What will I learn?

You can download the list of course topics from the info article, but here are some highlights with a bit more information:

• Nightly Configuration

This is always a popular Users’ Conference topic, but tackling it at Administrator’s Training will let you address your own settings as they are, and really get into the options available to make it work just right for your library. Fine-tuning your Nightly Configuration can help increase your circulation and even make the process more efficient.

• Maintenance and Control Files

KLAS allows an incredible amount of control over your own policy settings, so much that it can be hard to know or even for us to list all the things you can adjust. Your trainer can take you through it and help identify areas you may want to examine or reconsider. Take charge of your settings to enforce your federal, state, and agency policies, and to provide the high level of service your patrons rely on.

• Reports

Learn how to use the various reports available to you, and how to most effectively get at the information you need. By better understanding reports, you can provide more telling information about the work you do to your funding agencies. I will be providing more Key Notes posts about various reports, but again, nothing can compare to the value of seeing it work live and being able to test different setups on your own database.

Attendee Feedback

In September 2020, we conducted our first online KLAS Administrator's Training session. It was very much a trial run intended to make sure it met the goals we set out for it. So how’d it go?

We asked the attendees for their feedback, and here are a few of their comments...

“I really learned a lot from all of the sessions. I have this problem of not knowing where to start searches and Mitake took care of some of that. I am glad you asked everyone if we could record it. I have gone back a couple of times to see something that I had missed.

I am also glad that there are takeaway lessons and the manual for future reference.”  Shawn Lemieux

“I would like to first say thank you for providing the training for us, it really helped me understand many processes of KLAS that I had heard about from John, but now I have an actual context and understanding of them.

I really liked the presentations as a whole; if I had two monitors it would have been perfect because I could follow along and go through the motions along with the demonstration, so for people with access to two monitors it would be even better! I found them easy to follow along as well, especially considering my background is not in libraries or library science, I was afraid it might have a hard time, but I managed fairly well. I would definitely recommend this training to others, and if I am in a management position in the future here I would definitely make sure to have employees attend the training as well.”  Adam Smith

The above screen shot of the training session shows Nancy, Mitake, and two of our attendees, Adam and Tony. Everyone is smiling and having a good time.

In short, it was was a success, and we now regularly offer Online KLAS Administrator’s Training sessions for both library for the blind and print disabled and instructional resource center staff.

Future Online Administrator Training Sessions

Check out the "Online Administrator's Training" article for upcoming dates!

If you need further notice out, or have a particularly tight schedule, please let us know. While we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide training on a requested date, but we will do our utmost to work with you to schedule something you can attend.

And as always, if you have additional questions, please ask! We’re here to help.

The KLAS Users Program Committee and Keystone are excited to share details about our next two online training and networking opportunities. Please let us know if you have any questions about either, or any other training opportunities (such as KLAS Administrator Training).

Keystone-Presented April Webinar

What resources are available to help new users get up-to-speed on KLAS, and what is still needed? Come find out what's on offer and provide your suggestions and requests for future offerings at our April Keystone-presented webinar.

• Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
• Time: 3:00 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific

As usual, the Zoom link and dial-in number for audio will be provided in the KLASusers Knowledge Base approximately one week prior.

May KLAS Users' Online Mini-Conference

The KLAS Users' Group Program Committee is excited to announce the dates and planned schedule for the 2022 KLAS Users Online Mini-Conference to be held May 3-4. Tuesday's sessions will be presented by Keystone staff and Wednesday's will be presented by various KLAS Users.

We aimed to include topics that will appeal to all aspects of the KLAS Users' Community, so be sure to mark your calendar now and don't miss this fantastic online training and networking opportunity!

• Dates: Tuesday, May 3 - Wednesday, May 4, 2022
• Time: 1:00-5:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Pacific

Mini-Conference Agenda:

Keystone staff will share new KLAS features & functionality as well as Keystone services. Also, we invite you to network with other KLAS Users' during a business meeting & user-led Birds of a Feather sessions.

Tuesday, May 3

1:00-2:15 PM ET - KLAS Updates for LBPDs

2:30-3:30 PM ET - General Keystone Updates

3:45-5:00 PM ET - KLAS Updates for IRCs

Wednesday, May 4

1:00-2:15 PM ET - KLAS Users' Group Business Meeting

2:30-3:30 PM ET - Birds of a Feather Sessions

• APH Integration
• Circulation
• KLAS Administrator

3:45-5:00 PM ET - Birds of a Feather Sessions

• IRC Queries & Reports
• Reader Advisor
• Tech Services & Equipment

Registration:

Registration is not required, but it will give us an idea of how many attendees plan to attend. Also, persons who register will receive an email approximately one week before the mini-conference with all the agenda, Zoom links, and dial-in for audio numbers.

Instructional Resource / Materials Center staff who use KLAS were invited to attend the KLAS IRC Users' Meeting on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 prior to the start of the 2025 American Printing House for the Blind Annual Meeting.

Slides:

• KLAS_Users_at_APH_2025 (PPT)

Recording:

In collaboration with the KLAS Users' Group Program Committee, we're excited to announce the next two upcoming KLAS Users' Programs. In August, there will be a roundtable for staff of libraries for the blind and print disabled and in September Katy will be hosting a webinar for all KLAS Users' who want a preview of the new KLAS WebOPAC. Mark your calendars now for one or both of these events and join us! More details about each are below.

8/25/2022 KLAS LBPD Roundtable: Talking Book Topics

Date: Thursday, August 25

Time: 3:30 PM Eastern / 12:30 PM Pacific

Description: With the recent loss of the physical Large Print Talking Book Topics from our Reader Advisory Tool Box, libraries are crafting new strategies to keep readers informed about new titles being added to the collection. Attend our August roundtable to hear how other libraries are addressing these changes and share your own successes in addressing the changes with TBT. 

Hosts:

• Michael Lang, Kansas Talking Books Service
• Maureen Dorosinki, Florida Braille & Talking Book Libraries
• Crystal Grimes, Oregon Talking Book & Braille Library

Recording:

• 8/25/2022 LBPD KLAS Roundtable: Talking Book Topics

9/22/2022 Keystone Webinar: WebOPAC Revamp

This webinar will be recorded and posted to klasusers.com for later review.

Date: Thursday, September 22

Time: 3:00 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific

Description: You've probably heard the good news about an upcoming revamp of the WebOPAC for LBPH. Ready for more info and a first look at our prototype? Take a look at what we have so far and provide feedback to help shape the future OPAC!

Presenter: Katy Patrick, Keystone Systems

Zoom Link & Audio Dial-in Info:

• Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88585822893?pwd=VUFabU1NYTBVcmpNRERxem9EQnd3QT09
• Find your local number to dial-in for audio: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdA5mXTjhQ 
• Meeting ID: 885 8582 2893
• Passcode: 137231
  
  

NLS is interested in tracking cartridge availability and use system-wide, and may be contacting you for some statistics.

Duplication Cartridge Use

The cartridge use statistics NLS is requesting are:

• Number of unique cartridges that have been put into circulation to date
• Number of cartridges currently checked out to patrons
• Number of cartridges marked lost

The easiest way to retrieve those numbers in KLAS is to check the catalog records for your cartridges: DB-CART, BR-CART (if duplicating braille), and any other duplication media, such as DS-CART.

For each cartridge record, check the Statistics tab, and set the Holding to your branch. 

• "Unique cartridges that have been put into circulation to date" is your combined Total cartridge counts.
• "Cartridges currently checked out to patrons" is your combined Out cartridge counts.
• "Cartridges marked lost" is the combined NAC - Lost count.

 Single-Title Cartridge Inventory

To get the current number of pre-recorded, one-title per cartridge items still in your system, you will need to run the Holding Summary Report twice.

1. In the Catalog module, select Reports - Holding Summary.
2. Select your Library ID, set Rec Type to Monograph, and Run the report.
3. Note the #Items Available for DB.
4. Add Begin KLAS ID: DB-CARTand End KLAS ID: DB-CART, and Run the report again.
5. Subtract the Available DB-CART count from the total Available Monograph count to get the number of available cartridges in your system (that are not DB-CARTs).

If you need assistance or have questions about any of these statistics, please let us know!

Items, Copies, and Consumables (oh my!)

Do you know the difference between the Item Tab and the Item List Tab, between Tracked and Consumables titles, and between a Copy and an Item? Do you know how to use Batch Add Items for tracked titles and consumables?

If you maintain physical, non copy-specific inventory at your library (that is, inventory where all copies are interchangeable), this reference is for you!

Contents

• Tab Overview
• Tracked vs Consumable
• Copy vs Item: What is the difference?
• Add a Holding
• Batch Add Items - Tracked titles
• Consumables Inventory

Download

Please log in to view available downloads. Thank you!

Remember: You are always welcome to call or email Keystone Customer Support with questions! 

"Duplication" is the word of the day / week / month / year for National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled network libraries. Whether you've already made the fundamental shift to providing duplication on demand materials for your patrons or are still trying to make decisions about how to shift your library to a duplication on demand service model, there's many questions, decisions, and challenges faced during the process.

With this in mind, the KLAS Users' Group Program Committee is providing another opportunity for KLAS Users' to come together in a session focused on this topic. Go ahead and mark your calendar now for the upcoming KLAS Users' Roundtable: Duplication on Demand to be held on Tuesday, December 15 at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific.

Note: We expect this session to last two hours rather than the usual one. Also, we plan to record this roundtable and post it to klasusers.com for later reference.

During this roundtable, three representatives of libraries using Gutenberg and three representatives of libraries using Scribe will each discuss their experience implementing duplication equipment, decisions regarding policy and staff changes, and more! After each shares a brief description of their process, there will be an opportunity to ask questions, discuss issues they've brought up, etc.

Gutenberg Panellists:

• Hope Williams, Nevada Talking Book Services
• Elke Bruton, Oregon Talking Book & Braille Library
• Ricardo Cisneros, San Francsico Public Library - Talking Book and Braille Center

Scribe Panellists:

• Connie Sullivan, South Dakota Braille & Talking Book Library
• Angela Fisher Hall, Alabama Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Nancy Holt, Idaho Talking Book Library

Before the roundtable...

To help you prepare for this roundtable we encourage you to review Duplication Info Quick Reference page where you will find articles, quick tips, how-to documents, and more related to using either Gutenberg or Scribe. Several of the documents have just been updated to reflect changes in recent versions of KLAS, so make sure to check those dates to make sure you have the most current info!

You can also help our panellists prepare for this session by posting questions to this KLASUsers Discussion Forum post. Of course, day-of questions are also welcome, but posting your questions ahead of time will ensure that we get to them (even if you can't make the session itself) and that the panellists will be able to consider their answers.

Access Info:

Tuesday, 12/15/2020 @ 3pm Eastern Time / Noon Pacific

To connect:
Google Meet Link: meet.google.com/rmv-fgvs-eba

Dial-in audio option:
‪US‬ ‪+1 575-459-0037‬
PIN: ‪950 920 249#‬‪

Headings are used to ensure that author, narrator, series and subject entries are consistent from one bibliographic record to the next. Heading Maintenance allows you to add, merge and delete heading authority records.

Note: This function is intended for catalogers and KLAS admins. If you are not sure whether you have the authority to make these types of changes for your library, please clarify with a supervisor before making any changes in Headings Maintenance.

This document includes instructions on: 

• Finding Heading Maintenance
• Adding a new Author or Narrator Heading
• Adding a new Series or Subject Heading
• Modify a Heading
• Merge Headings
• Delete Headings
• Adding MARC Data
• Dewey Decimal Mapping

How do you use Headings Maintenance? Share your tips in the comments--or let us know if you have questions!

Keystone is offering a two-day in-depth training, round-table, and user feedback opportunity for KLAS Instructional Resource Center / Instructional Materials Center Users. An agenda with full details of each day's activities will be available soon.

Note: Keystone reserves the right to cancel or reschedule.

Prerequisites for attendance:

• Attendee must have a KLAS Administrator role in their local system
• Attendee has authority to change records and policies for their KLAS system

KLAS IRC Symposium Dates & Times:

• Tuesday, October 29 - Wednesday, October 30, 2019
• Each day's sessions will run from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

KLAS IRC Symposium Agenda

IRC Symposium agenda updated as of October 14, 2019. Also, you must be logged-in to klasusers.com to access these documents.

• KLAS v7 IRC Symposium UPDATED Agenda - MS Word
• KLAS v7 IRC Symposium UPDATED Agenda - PDF

Cost:

• $300 for the two-day symposium
• Please make checks payable to Keystone Systems, Inc

Hotels & Airport Transportation Information:

• Travel Information - MS Word
• Travel Information - PDF

Transportation:

Please contact your hotel to arrange shuttle service to and from the airport.
Local transportation to and from the hotel to Keystone's offices will be provided.

Please contact Tracey Fye if you have any difficulty making reservations, or have any questions about accommodations.

Tracey Fye
Keystone Systems, Inc.
Email:
Phone: 1-919-782-1143 or 1-800-222-9711

Registration:

Please use the below Training Registration Form to indicate that you would like to attend.

To reserve your space please register before September 30, 2019.