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Organisation of the ELAG conference
Version 3.0 | 2024-08-09
The ELAG conference is an informal, low-cost, single-track conference aimed at professional practitioners in the area of library automation. In the period 2000 – 2020 an average of 113 people attended ELAG. Up to half of these were from the host country (this provides a way for other librarians to find out more about library automation).
However, there should be considerable growth potential as ELAG becomes more widely publicized and better known. The language of the conference is English. Usually the conference takes place every year in early spring (e.g. April) but conferences have sometimes been later (June) or earlier (March).
The Programme Committee is appointed 1 year in advance of the actual conference for which they will be organising the programme. The Programme Committee consists of 6 to 8 people and has a chair or two co-chairs. One of the co-chairs can take the leading role in organising the current conference to be succeeded by the other co-chair; this ensures continuity as well as a backup in case of illness or other personal problem.
An open meeting of anyone who is interested is held the Monday before the opening of the conference. This meeting is now known as the ELAG Open Planning Meeting (but was previously known as "The ELAG Board"). At this meeting, participants will discuss:
- Any remaining problems with the current year's conference
- Who will chair the different sessions
- {Optional} The theme of the following year's conference
- The topics and speakers for presentations
- The topics and presenters for workshops
- The topics and presenters for pre-conference boot camps
- Ways to publicize the conference
- The membership for the Programme Committee for the next conference.
- Ways to assist the Local Organising Committee as required
The Local Organising Committee is decided at least 10 months in advance of the conference (but preferably farther in advance). A number of members of the Local Organising Committee will usually work for the Host Organisation (including the chair of the Local Organising Committee). The Local Organising Committee is responsible for:
- Reserving meeting rooms with the host organisation
- Arranging for local hotels and discount rates (the reservations themselves will be made by individual participants)
- Contacting sponsors and make arrangements (this is an area where the Programme Committee could assist)
- Establishing and managing the web site for the conference (this is another area where the Programme Committee could assist)
- Suggesting and recommending local speakers
- Organising a conference dinner at a local restaurant or hotel
- Assisting the Programme Committee as required
- During the conference:
- Streaming presentations on the web (provided presenter’s written consent)
- Collecting presentations of speakers including those of lightning talks and publishing it on the web site (provided author’s written consent)
- Provide local information
- {Optional} Organising tours before or after the conference
The Host Organisation is decided usually 2 years in advance of the conference. By "Host Organisation" we mean the hosting library, the parent organisation of that library (e.g. a university) or the two working together.
The Host Organisation is responsible for:
- Providing meeting rooms and the appropriate facilities
- Financial aspects of running the conference (e.g. providing means of receiving and spending money in the form of bank accounts, payments in advance required by suppliers)
- Hosting the web site for the conference
- Providing catering services during the conference
- {Optional} Provide tours of the host library site or other local library sites (usually at the end of the first day of the conference)
The Programme Committee in conjunction with the Open ELAG Planning Meeting (formerly "ELAG board") will decide the Monday before the actual ELAG conference on the theme and venue of next year’s conference and already give suggestions for papers and workshops.
The Programme Committee will finalize the list of papers and workshop themes and will invite speakers and workshop leaders. So, normally, this is not a task of the local organizers. Speakers are expected to attend the conference, and to pay for travel, accommodation and registration fees themselves. (The fees are very low but as we invite more speakers who are unfamiliar with ELAG, it may be necessary to reconsider this policy and waive fees for speakers and workshop leaders, at least for the conference if not the conference dinner).
However with sufficient sponsorship, it has been possible in the past to pay all or part of the travel expenses of some speakers, particularly those coming from a great distance or particular experts in an area of great interest to participants. Local embassies may be a good source for this kind of sponsorship, whereby they pay for all or part of the travel costs of one of their nationals who is making a presentation or leading a workshop.
The programme committee decides who should chair the sessions.
Usually 1 or 2 papers have been provided by persons from the country where the meeting is being hosted. These can include a representative from the host organisation explaining some interesting service or people from other organisations talking about their automation projects. Alternatively this can be part of the library tour generally arranged at the end of the first day of the conference.
Lightning talks are brief presentations of no more than 5 minutes on a particular topic. Though they have been a feature of other technology-related conferences, these were tried for the first time at ELAG 2008 and judged a success. No speakers are invited for lightning talks—people just volunteer. While it can be possible for people to sign up in advance, it should also be possible for people to decide to do a presentation after they have arrived at the conference. A flip chart or similar device can be made available in a hallway with the various time slots so that participants can sign up before the conference or during coffee breaks.
Approximately two sessions of an hour each can be set aside for lightning talks. In general a PC with internet connection and data projector is required for this kind of presentation. Speakers should be encouraged to load their presentations on the PC in advance of the session where they will be speaking.
The programme committee decides who should chair the lightening talk sessions.
Workshops have been a unique feature of the ELAG Conference. They involve 5 to 50 people who indicate interest in a specific topic getting together with a workshop leader to discuss the subject, make recommendations, develop protocols, etc. If there are many participants in a workshop, the workshop has sometimes been split to allow for better discussions. It is then necessary to have an extra workshop leader and an extra room.
There are normally around 10 different workshops. Rooms must be arranged where the workshop participants can meet (usually with a blackboard, flip chart; sometimes a data projector and Internet connection have been required.) These rooms should ideally be close to the main meeting room. A final 1, 5 hours (10 minutes for each workshop) is reserved on the final day in the plenary session for reports from each of the workshops.
The overall workshop sessions duration should be 5 - 5 ½ hours, the allotted time should ideally be divided in two blocks 3 – 3 ½ hours each split in half by a coffee break in the afternoon of the first and second conference day following a strong 30 min paper after the lunch.
The workshops are run in parallel so each participant can only attend one workshop.
Workshop leaders are expected to attend the conference and pay for their own travel, accommodation and registration fees.
The workshop leader should prepare:
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- A short paragraph that outlines the topic of the workshop and/or the workshop goals. This needs to be attractive since it will be the basis on which people decide whether to sign up for one workshop or another.
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- A longer two or three page description of the topic, particularly highlighting the problems / issues that need to be discussed and addressed or listing the pros and the cons (or at least some of them) that can be the subject of a discussion and debate.
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- A short set of references to documents that would provide participants with background reading (not a long bibliography but 3 to 5 key documents).
During the workshop it is typical to ask one of the participants to record and present the results of the workshop in a 10 minute presentation the final day.
This person can be the workshop leader, but normally this is difficult to manage, the workshop leader will be pretty busy just guiding the discussion. The important point is to structure the workshop so that the workshop leader is not talking for more than 1/3 of the time (ideally, less). The best workshops draw on the experience and knowledge of the participants and the workshop leader stimulates participants to be active by asking questions and posing problems.
As networking is an important aspect of the conference, 30 minutes coffee breaks are programmed each morning and afternoon.
The budget is the responsibility of the host organisation and the local organisers. A host institution may choose to finance the entire meeting aside from a participant fee, but this is unusual. Most often additional sponsoring is needed. Finding sponsors is also a task of the local organizers (but the Programme Committee can help here).
The budget will be used for:
- The venue (if not offered free by the hosting institution)
- The conference dinner (if not completely covered by the participants’ fees)
- Catering during lunch and coffee breaks
- Inviting additional speakers (sometimes travel and hotel accommodation costs are paid for an invited speaker)
- Name badges
- Hand-outs, programme folders
- Web site hosting and design (if not done by the hosting institution)
Participants are typically charged a small registration fee which can cover some of the local costs (e.g. coffee breaks, reception). This amount was 150 € in 2013. An additional optional charge can be made for those wishing to attend the conference dinner (see below). Sponsors may also contribute to the general budget or for specific activities. While it is possible to include the cost of the conference dinner in the registration fee (as in Bratislava in 2009), this is not desirable, since it makes the fee itself appear to be more expensive.
Sponsors may include the Host Organisation, national libraries, national professional associations, library automation companies, database vendors and the like. Sponsors may contribute to the general expenses or provide a targeted support (e.g. sponsorship for one or more coffee breaks or for a first day reception). Publicity materials from the sponsors may be included in the seminar packet.
Social events may provide the opportunity for some institutions to show their own resources: song, music, and dance. Sometimes national funds may be available to partly sponsor international meetings.
Sponsoring organizations may also provide people to work before and during the conference, free of charge.
Sponsors do not have any direct influence over the programme. With the exception of the Host Organisation, representatives of sponsors are not invited to speak unless they are legitimate speakers in their own right and can make a contribution in keeping with the programme itself.
An ELAG conference is attended by an average of 119 people (data for the period 2000 – 2020, with a minimum of 65 and maximum of 190). Similar conferences in Canada and the United States have attracted 200 or more people however, so provision should be made for at least 200 people.
The following rooms will be needed:
- A conference room for plenary sessions (about 200 people) and with good lighting and ventilation (lighting should be able to be controlled for overhead presentations). Ideally there should be enough electrical plugs for laptops.
- At least 8 or 10 smaller rooms for workshops (or as many rooms as there are workshops). As some workshops may attract more participants than others, at least 4 of these rooms should be able to contain 25-40 people each. If a room is used for a workshop, the furniture should be able to be moved and rearranged in a suitable way (e.g. circle).
- Wi-Fi in the meeting rooms and the coffee break area is very welcome.
- A location for coffee breaks, in the vicinity of the conference room for plenary sessions.
- A room or "Internet café" area with computers available for checking e-mail, surfing web, etc.
- In addition, both the Programme Committee and the ELAG Open Planning have meetings on the Monday before the conference. Both meetings are attended by 10-20 people. The local organizers are expected to arrange a room for these meetings.
The room for plenary sessions and the rooms where the workshops are held should not be too far apart, preferable they should be in the same building. The rooms should be accessible to physically handicapped participants.
Facilities needed in the plenary room:
- Data projector (beamer)
- PC
- Internet access
- Microphones for plenary sessions
- Blackboard, whiteboard or flip charts
- Water for speakers
Workshop rooms should have:
- Blackboard, whiteboard or flip charts
And depending on the topic may also require:
- data projector (beamer)
- PC
- Internet access
All equipment should be tested extensively shortly before the start of the conference. Alternatives should be available for broken or missing equipment.
If these will not be provided free of charge by the Host Organisation, get prices for audio-visual equipment, for wireless internet (preferable at the whole venue and free of charge!)
Have technical staff available throughout the whole conference or use the Host Organisation’s own staff with appropriate training. Local organizers might want to consider online streaming of conference presentations or recording of sessions, but this needs to be organised with the Programme Committee and must have prior written approval of the speakers.
Put up signs in the building indicating (the way to) all ELAG locations (plenary hall, workshop meeting rooms and room(s) for lunch and coffee breaks), to avoid participants getting lost in the building. Remember to also put up signs to indicate the way to the ELAG Open Planning Meeting.
Also check that signs are clear for lunch space and toilets. You will undoubtedly need to put up more signs. Let someone who doesn’t know the building test the signs!
In larger cities, hotel accommodation should not be a problem, except when a large event is scheduled at the same time as the conference (as was the case with the Formula One races in Barcelona in 2007). Hotel rooms can be put on reserve for conference members, but then participants will have to be warned to make their hotel reservations on time. Local organizers should make an inventory of the situation regarding hotel accommodation well in advance.
Local organisers may be able to negotiate prices with hotels. You should try to get hotels at different price levels to meet the different preferences of participants. Be clear as to who will look after registration of hotel reservations and keep in regular contact with the hotels during planning and the meeting.
When you have made block reservations of hotel rooms, it is extremely important to keep in mind the deadlines for cancelling (for example: 50% before date X, 5% before date Y etc.)
In terms of food, take care of special needs (vegetarian, allergy etc.). This is very important; the quality of meals for those with such needs should be on the same level as for the other participants.
A conference dinner is organized on the second day. Participants have to register for the conference dinner, and usually pay an additional fee (€ 40 in 2008). Try to find a nice restaurant, an historic place, a museum etc. Three courses (including a starter) is usually the rule. This provides a possibility of presenting local specialities. As ELAG is informal, there is not usually a VIP table or much in the way of speeches, except to thank any organisation helping to sponsor the event and/or the local organising committee or the Host Organisation.
It is recommended organizing a reception or some other get-together at the end of the first day. The reception is often preceded by a library tour. It can be held in the library, at the Host Organisation, at a historical site etc. Sometimes the city / university will host a reception.
Ideally local catering should be provided for lunch on each of the three days of the conference. This keeps the cost low, keeps the conference participants together to promote networking, and avoids running over the established lunch hour. If the meeting is in a town, people could eat in nearby cafes, at their own expense – but then you don’t get to meet new people.
ELAG tradition is that the meals are quite simple. If a buffet is used, think about the organization, several small buffets are better than one large; this is more efficient when there are many people. Soup and sandwiches are more than sufficient.
Catering services should be available for coffee, tea, water and/or juice during coffee breaks. Other refreshments (biscuits, etc.) are optional but appreciated.
An ELAG conference web site is required. Try to use facilities in the Host organization / library. A nice layout is important, so get people skilled in this area to help. Language should be English (in addition local language if necessary). Various open source tools have been used to do this, some with more success than others. Local organisers may wish to contact previous host organisations to find out what was used.
The ELAG Conference web site should contain information on the conference programme, papers and workshops and whom to contact. The site should give good info before the meeting and should be updated with presentations during and after the meeting.
After the conference, it should function as the conference proceedings; this means that presentations and workshop reports should be available here. You should prepare for the web site to be available for many years after the conference. At the moment (February 2013) conferences are available on their original site from 2001. In addition there is an archive for the period 1993 – 2005 (http://www.elag.org/archive.htm ). If it is not possible for an organization to continue hosting their own ELAG website, they should contact the webmaster at BIBSYS (which is hosting the www.elag.org website) for help.
Automatic registration should be facilitated on the web site. Registrants should be asked which workshop that they want to attend, and should be able to choose only one (or one and an alternative). Confirmation of registration should be generated automatically. Submission of lightening talks may be available through the web site, but this is not required (it makes it more immediate if people only sign up on the site).
Further useful items on the web site are:
- Information on the location,
- Travel information (how to get there)
- Hotel accommodation (recommended hotels or hotels with rooms on reserve)
- A link to previous meetings (on http://www.elag.org/)
- Acknowledgements of sponsors
Registration is done through the web site. Requiring participants to get an account and a password before registering will avoid pollution of the system by spam and phoney participants.
In 2013 (Ghent) the conference fee was € 150 plus a fee for the conference dinner (€ 30). In 2012 (Palma de Mallorca) the conference fee was € 60 (incl. the conference dinner). In 2011 (Prague) the fee was € 70 (incl. the conference dinner). In 2008 (Wageningen) the conference fee was € 30 plus a fee for the conference dinner (€ 30), a total of € 70.
The fee for the conference dinner has earlier often been paid in cash during registration on the first day.
However if possible, it is much better to arrange payments via bank transfers. Ask for payment to be made within a deadline. This should discourage "no shows", allow local organisers to better control their budget and save considerable time on the first day of the conference. If you do accept payment on the first day be prepared to have sufficient staff and sufficient change available. Explain on the site and at the time of registration what the registration fee covers.
Each participant should get a formal and specified receipt of what they have paid (as this is often needed for the participant to get a refund from the participant’s own organization).
Any special dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian/vegan menu) and/or allergies should be asked in advance in the registration form. Also ask for reservation for any special excursions planned around the conference (though these excursions are not necessary, ELAG participants being self-sufficient types).
As each participant should also receive a name badge and conference hand-out and all participants tend to arrive at the same moment, sufficient staff (4-5 people) should be available to register all participants in a short period.
Name badges should be prepared for each participant and handed out at registration. On the badge, the participant’s name should be in a big print across the whole width, with, in small print, the affiliation and maybe the seminar date, place and organiser Some kind of bag or folder are useful and may be supplied by one of the sponsors.
Further hand-outs are:
- The final programme, including the list of workshops and the room where each workshop is held
- A floor plan of the building
- Information on local public transport
- The venue of the conference dinner (and directions to get there)
- A city map
- A list of participants
- Tourist information on the city of venue and surroundings
- Publicity information supplied by the sponsors
ublicity is primarily the responsibility of the Programme Committee which will look after sending announcements to various lists such as DIGLIB, Web4Lib, Perl4Lib, Code4Lib and the ELAG list of former participants. However the Local Organising Committee can help by setting up the web site early, and by sending announcements to local (national) lists, in the local language if desired.
The announcements should include important dates, including the deadline for registration and the deadline for proposals for pre-conference boot-camps, workshops and presentations.
This has not been a strong point of ELAG in the past, but should be used in the future. Include an area for suggestions of topics and themes for future conferences as well as the evaluation of different aspects of the current conference. If there is evaluation of individual speakers, make sure that this information gets back to the speakers themselves.
Have a printed evaluation form that participants can use and distribute it on the last day. Arrange for boxes where participants can drop the form as they leave the meeting hall. Or, ask the participants afterwards, via web, about the meeting.
Arrangements should carry on during the conference itself:
- Make sure there is some kind of information desk or secretariat, a central point where someone is always in attendance to help participants with problems, answer questions, collect found objects etc.
- Make sure you have a number you can call when first aid is needed.
- Provide a safe cloak room and/or a place to store luggage (on the first and last days)
- Make plans on what to do if someone at the conference gets ill.
- Photocopying should be available nearby and pens and paper available.
In earlier years, a printed proceeding was published with texts for each of the papers. This was the responsibility of the Local Organising Committee and Host Organisation. In recent years, this has been less frequently done. The web site, if maintained after the end of the meeting, can be a source for copies of presentations and reports. This has proven very useful in the past for disseminating information beyond the participants attending the meeting itself and has served to publicize ELAG. It is the responsibility of the Local Organiser to collect all papers and lightning talks presentations, publish them as soon as possible on the conference web site and keep them on the website at least several years after the conference is over.
If it is not possible for an organization to continue hosting their own ELAG website, they should contact the webmaster at BIBSYS (the host of the www.elag.org website) for help.
Provisional website in place – as soon as possible after the end of the previous conference.
- Information about the next conference on the www.elag.org website
- Call for papers – as soon as possible on the provisional website.
- Web site ready – 4 months before the start of the conference
- Provisional programme available – 3 to 4 months before the start of the conference
- Start of registration –3 - 4 months before the start of the conference
- Final programme available – 2 months before the start of the conference
- E-mail reminder to participants (also asking them to withdraw their registration if they will not attend) – 2 weeks before the start of the conference
- End of registration – 1 day before the start of the conference (take into account that many participants will register in the last two weeks before the conference.)
- The usual schedule for the meeting is
- Monday: Open ELAG Planning Meeting (afternoon)
- Tuesday: Pre-conference boot camps
- Wednesday: First day of the conference
- Thursday: Second day of the conference
- Friday: Last day of the conference including workshop. Normally finishes by 15:00.
- When determining the date of the conference, be aware of dates for celebrations of Easter in Western Europe, Jewish Passover and Eastern Orthodox Easter as well as the various holidays in May (France has probably as many or more as any country and can provide a good check). If the conference is being planned for later in the year, Midsummer Night is an important holiday in the Nordic countries and should be avoided.
Some organisations may choose to use a professional organizer to take care of the practical details of the meeting, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Even if an organizer chooses to have a professional organizer do the work, the above issues have to be considered. With a professional organizer you will probably pay them a fee per participant. A careful listing of various responsibilities will need to be made to ensure that all issues are covered.