With so much on the IGeLU 2026 program, deciding where to focus can be a challenge. AI and automation, discovery, resource sharing, digital collections, metadata and course materials may all matter to your team, but not every conversation needs the same attention.

One useful way to narrow the program is to start with the work already in front of your library. Think about the decisions coming up, the workflows causing friction and the questions you would benefit from comparing with another institution.

If AI and automation are on your agenda

Libraries are asking practical questions about AI. Where can it help, and what kind of oversight does the work require?

Current discussions across Alma cover several different approaches, including AI assistants, automation and agents. Having a tool that helps a staff member interpret information raises different questions from an agent that can use tools or carry out parts of a workflow.

For teams exploring this area, useful questions include:

• Which tasks are suitable for AI assistance or automation?
• What information and permissions does the system use?
• Where does staff review take place?
• How are privacy and security handled?
• Is the technology addressing a genuine workflow problem?

Alma AI Overview: Assistants, Agents, and the Path Forward is one session to consider when building this part of your agenda. For a broader look at where academic AI is heading, What’s Next for Clarivate’s Academic AI: Agentic Workflows, MCP Integrations, and Quality Evaluation, presented by Christine Stohn, is another session to consider. Library Open Workflows breakout sessions are also part of the IGeLU 2026 program for teams exploring AI-supported workflows.

The goal is to leave with a clearer sense of which approaches fit your workflows and which do not.

If digital collections are a priority

IGeLU also includes several conversations around Alma Specto. Alma Specto Demo, Alma Specto Preservation, Alma Specto Product Conversation and Alma Specto Starter Product Conversation offer different ways to explore the product. An Alma Specto half plenary will also combine insights from the product team with a customer case, bringing a practical perspective to the discussion.

If your library is working with digital or special collections, think about what you most want to understand: how collections are presented and discovered, how preservation fits into the workflow or where Specto may fit into your plans. Use that to decide which of the sessions belongs on your agenda.

If discovery and user experience are the priority

Discovery teams have a different set of questions. Interface changes affect how users scan results, understand availability and move through the research process.

Breakout session “Inside the Primo NDE UI” offers a closer look at areas such as brief results, full records, availability options and user navigation. Use those details to compare the new interface with your own users’ needs. Consider whether results and next steps are clear, and where local configuration matters.

Search behavior is changing too. Natural-language searching and AI-assisted research are becoming part of the discovery discussion, alongside familiar search patterns. Libraries considering these approaches will want to understand how they affect the way users move from a question to the sources behind the answer.

If Rapido and resource sharing are a priority

Resource-sharing teams have several sessions to choose from, but one worth prioritizing is the half-plenary The Interloans Glow Up: University of Auckland’s Journey with Rapido. Sara Sladwick from the University of Auckland will share the library’s move from a legacy interlibrary loan environment to Rapido, including what drove the change, the implementation experience and how the service has evolved since going live.

The session will also look at the impact on workflows, staff mediation and the user experience, along with some of the challenges and practical lessons from the transition. Rapido Product Update and RapidILL Product Update can then round out this part of your agenda with a broader look at resource sharing.

If metadata and operational workflows need attention

Metadata decisions increasingly affect work beyond the catalog. They can influence discovery, integrations and other library workflows.

From Requests to Capabilities: A Holistic Metadata Operating Model for Alma looks at the relationship between local requirements and needs that may be shared across institutions. A workflow issue that begins in one library can sometimes point to a broader problem worth discussing with peers and product teams.

Linked open data raises another set of practical questions. If BIBFRAME or linked-data workflows are already on your team’s radar, keep those questions in mind when reviewing the metadata sessions. How might daily practice change? Which existing skills still carry over?

Routine work is also shaped by search screens, task lists and batch actions. Alma Product Conversation gives teams a chance to look at those areas and compare them with their own workflows.

If metadata or operations are a priority, arrive with one or two specific processes in mind. That makes it easier to judge whether an idea discussed at IGeLU would improve the way your team works.

If your focus is on collections or course materials

For course-material teams, Leganto Product Conversation is one session to consider. Go in with the questions already on your list, whether they concern accessible content, affordability or the staff effort involved in processing materials.

Collection teams may be thinking about retention, deselection or acquisition decisions. Rialto Product Conversation is another session to consider as you build that part of the agenda.

Start with the decisions your team is likely to make in the coming year and choose sessions that can help inform them.

Keep accessibility in view across the agenda

Accessibility cuts across the products and experiences libraries are evaluating, so it is worth keeping those questions in mind throughout your agenda. Accessibility in Action: Supporting Your Library’s Accessibility Needs looks at how accessibility is addressed across Ex Libris technologies and services, including current practices, supported standards and future plans.

Use the session to consider how accessibility connects with the different products and services your library is already reviewing.

Arrive with questions you want answered

A good conference agenda does not need to cover every product or trend.

Before IGeLU, agree on the questions your team most wants answered. If several colleagues are attending, divide the program so you can compare what you learned afterwards.

IGeLU also gives attendees the chance to hear how libraries in other regions are approaching similar work and to speak directly with Clarivate product teams. For APAC libraries, Taipei brings the global user community closer to home. For attendees traveling from Europe and elsewhere, it offers perspectives they may not often encounter at regional events.

Build your IGeLU agenda and join us in Taipei

IGeLU 2026 takes place in Taipei, Taiwan, from October 19–22. The main conference runs October 19–21, with both in-person and virtual attendance available, followed by Developers Day and Clarivate Knowledge Day on October 22.

Review the program here and register for in-person or virtual attendance here.