EMERYVILLE, Calif. March 22, 2021 – Innovative, a ProQuest company and leading provider of library software, participates today in the opening of the 29th Innovative Users Group (IUG) conference, being held online for the first time.
The conference is traditionally held in person but this year it’s being held online across four days. More than 1,500 library professionals from 14 countries around the world will attend online and participate in over 60 sessions presented by their colleagues and Innovative staff. The same types of presentations and forums from previous conferences are available this year but adjusted to better fit the online experience.
The conference begins with opening remarks by Rhonda Glazier, IUG Chair and Director of Collections Management & Co-Interim Dean at Kraemer Family Library, University of Colorado; Matti Shem Tov, CEO of ProQuest; and Yariv Kursh, General Manager of Innovative. Shem Tov and Kursh will share Innovative’s vision for the company and Innovative’s commitment to customers and continued development of current products. They will be followed by updates from the Innovative product team on Vega, Polaris, and Sierra.
The IUG 2021 conference offers attendees a wide variety of program sessions covering technical training, open forum discussions, soft skills training, case studies, best practices, product highlights and demonstrations, and more.
“This is a unique year for the IUG conference, but we are excited the online approach has made the conference more accessible for so many members,” said Glazier. “Over 700 participants are attending for the first time and we look forward to seeing more participants getting involved with the Innovative Users Group after the conference.”
An important tradition of the IUG conference is the Crystal Awards ceremony, which celebrates those who have attended 15 IUG conferences. The 2021 honorees are: Gayla McHenry, Truman State University, and Joan Wu, Bloomfield Township Public Library.
Innovative and the Innovative Users Group are the title sponsors for IUG 2021. In addition to Innovative, nine other vendors are sponsoring sessions at the conference and a total of 16 exhibitors are hosting virtual booths at the conference.
For more information about the Innovative Users Group, visit the IUG website.
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ABOUT INNOVATIVE INTERFACES INC.
Innovative (iii.com) provides leading technology solutions and services that empower libraries and enrich their users worldwide. Innovative offers one of the most comprehensive portfolios of library automation products on the market today, serving academic, public, national, corporate and special libraries and consortia. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Innovative has a global presence—serving thousands of libraries in 66 countries and offices worldwide.
ABOUT INNOVATIVE USERS GROUP
The Innovative Users Group (IUG) was formally organized in 1991 as an international organization of member libraries that use Innovative’s integrated library software products. The organization is independent from Innovative, and is led by the Steering Committee whose members are elected by the general membership. All members of the Steering Committee volunteer their services to the organization. In addition to archiving all conference presentation materials, the IUG maintains a website (www.innovativeusers.org) that also includes an Online Clearinghouse of member-developed resources including tutorials, scripts, training documents, and promotional materials. These resources represent a level of customer involvement and support unmatched in the library technology arena.