Thanks again for awarding me a continuing education grant to help fund my attending last month’s Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER & L) Conference in Austin, TX.

The conference took place April 3-6, 2016, and consisted of a number of sessions on a variety of topics, including: managing e-resources and licensing; user experience with e-resources; emerging technologies and trends; and collection development and assessment. Some of the sessions that were of particular interest for me concerned making data-informed decisions in digital resources, implementing data-driven approaches to electronic resource management, and exploring data visualization tools to more effectively present statistical information to constituents. These, and other sessions complemented many of the responsibilities I currently have in regards to collection development and electronic resource management, and initiatives underway to highlight data-driven decision making in light of increasingly tight materials budgets.

In my own presentation, “When Numbers Don’t Lie: Telling Not-So-Good Assessment Stories to Faculty and Administrators,” I discussed methodologies in presenting and discussing budgetary and statistical matters pertaining to electronic resources with faculty and administrators, including matters that highlight fiscal challenges. The presentation was well-received, and provided me with a lot of useful feedback to explore the topic further.

Richard Wisneski, TEDSIG Co-Chair, Cleveland State University