Okay, ILLiad folks. It’s time to check the health of your system with your guide, John Brunswick. So here’s your challenge! Check the Atlas Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/atlassystems or Twitter feed @atlassystems every weekday in November (excluding Nov 24th & 25th) for a daily ILLiad check-up task and get your ILLiad system in shape for the new year. John and his Atlas colleagues will share tips for streamlining workflows, cleaning up errors, and adjusting configuration for peak efficiency. Join John to share your progress, best practices, and tips with your ILLiad colleagues by posting on the Atlas Facebook page or tweeting with #illiadchallenge. At the end of November, email us at training@atlas-sys.com to tell us what you did to complete the challenge and you’ll receive a 30-day free trial of the Video Training Library. Ready to get started? Mark your calendar now to follow John starting Tuesday, Nov. 1. Let the challenge begin!

The Ares Virtual Conference will be held Wednesday, November 9 and Thursday, November 10 from 1:00-4:00pm Eastern time each day. The conference is held exclusively online and there is no charge to attend.

As in the past, this online conference features presentations from users as well as updates from Atlas staff. Featured 2016 user presentations include:

The full conference program schedule is available at https://conference.atlas-sys.com/Ares/Schedule.

To register please visit the link above and click Register in the top menu. Be sure to register for both days. Questions about the conference? Please contact Angela Mott at amott@atlas-sys.com.

If you’re attending the conference (November 16-18, 2016 in Atlanta), please mark your calendar for Kerry Keegan’s presentation, When You’ve Got It, Flaunt It: Visualizing Resource Sharing Data, Friday, November 18, 10:15am - 11:00am.  Kerry is an Atlas Systems’ Training & Library Solutions Consultant.

During this presentation, audience members will learn about methods of organizing and assessing data. They will learn methods to quantify the stories that they wish to share and will be introduced to a variety of tools that can help explain complicated analysis through the use of visual aids.

Learn more about Kerry’s presentation and the Access Services Conference at
http://www.accessservicesconference.org/2016-schedule/

The OCLC Resource Sharing Conference (formerly the ILLiad Conference) will be held in Virginia Beach on March 14-16, 2017 at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront.   

OCLC plans to open early bird registration and the call for proposals in late October. Check back at the OCLC website for details. http://www.oclc.org/en-US/events/2017/ResourceSharingConf_2017-03-14.html

We know some of you have fiscal years that end with the calendar year. If you do, and if you have uncommitted funds that you don’t want to lose, consider investing in helping staff work faster and smarter. Atlas Systems offers three options for you to “park” that money for 2017.

1. A subscription to the Video Training Library starts as low as just $30 a month or $299 for the year and is the “gift that keeps on giving” all year long. The range of topics keeps expanding, making the Video Training Library an excellent resource for new as well as current staff. Visit https://training.atlas-sys.com/ and click on Subjects to see the breadth and depth of what’s in the Library.

2. The number of institutions subscribing to the Concierge Service continues to grow. Available for Access Services and Aeon, the Concierge Service can help you tackle projects you haven’t had the time or expertise to do. Concierge includes a Tune-up every other year, making it an even better investment.

3. Not sure you need the full Concierge Service? Consider a Tune-up. We receive comments all the time from libraries that have completed Tune-ups, telling us how valuable it was to have their workflow analyzed and how much time and money they anticipate saving. Want to know more about a Tune-Up? Watch our Ask Atlas video!