Each library conference has a different feel, which is usually determined by the number of attendees. The bigger the conference, the broader the discussions and less detailed the presentations. Recently, two OhioLINK co-workers and I attended the Innovative Users Group (IUG) conference in Detroit, MI. Even with the size of 1000+ attendees, topics focused on workflows, processes, and system implications of proposed changes, and many presentations took a walkthrough approach.
Why is IUG unique in this regard? Since all attendees are on an Innovative integrated library system (ILS), the topics at the conference delve deeper into how to use the ILS and what improvements it needs to be better for librarians and their library users. Libraries use an ILS to manage information about the items they own and how users can access them, so a sophisticated yet easy-to-use, reliable ILS is crucial to librarians and the various aspects of work they do to provide resources to users. Also, since IUG is run by the members themselves, they are very active and invested in not only the conference but the system development and suggestions and feedback for it. While Innovative staff attends, this is truly a member-run group that drives the conversations throughout the year as well as at the conference, which is not the case for most library conferences.
Due to the degree of detail and full schedule of the sessions, I learned about a multitude of topics including a variety of Google Analytics reports and how to set them up for capturing library catalog statistics, various ways to find and clean up 
metadata in library records with scripts, workarounds, and within the ILS, and the many upcoming enhancements and new services to the Innovative ILS.
The best part of the IUG conference was the time for discussion and questions at the end of each session because attendees had much to say and ask, many of the concerns and inquiries in-depth. Hearing feedback and what is important to other librarians and their libraries is a great learning opportunity as much as their workflows and problem solving. Plus, a few other consortiums attended IUG and shared their experiences, which provides new perspectives and ways to approach similar OhioLINK issues and topics.
At IUG this year, OhioLINK attended sessions, networked with librarians from around the U.S. and OhioLINK members, and met with Innovative staff. Anita Cook, who also went to IUG 2014, served as the first IUG Chair when the conference originally began and also planned the second one; this was her 16th IUG conference and last year she earned her Crystal Attendee Award for having attended 15 IUG conferences.
If you want to know more about the IUG conference, including information about the sessions that I attended, please visit my professional blog at www.readwritelib.com
