Puzzling it out 

Date:    December 3-4, 2026

Time:   Afternoons, Central US Time (1 pm to 5:00 pm on Dec 3 and 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Dec 4)   

Where:   Online (Microsoft Teams)

About ELSUG: The Ex Libris Southcentral Users Group (ELSUG) promotes the exchange of ideas and innovation among Ex Libris customers in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The conference will provide an opportunity to share your experiences, best practices, lessons, enhancements, and local innovations with others using any of the Ex Libris products, including Alma, bX, campusM, Esploro, Intota, Leganto, Pivot, Primo, RapidILL, Rapido, RefWorks, Rosetta, SFX, Summon, Voyager, and 360.

Call for Proposals

2026 theme

• Puzzling it out

The Ex Libris Southcentral Users Group (ELSUG) is holding its annual conference virtually on December 3-4, 2026 in the afternoon, Central US Time. ELSUG represents Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The theme for this year's conference is Puzzling It Out.

We invite you to share your experiences with adapting Ex Libris products to your local context. Did Alma’s workflows differ from yours? Are there still missing pieces post-migration? How have challenges driven growth? We're also interested in how your organization is adapting to the evolving role of AI technology. Where does that piece fit into your strategies? Proposals can cover any Ex Libris product, their interactions, integration with other systems, or broader developments in library and information systems.

Did you puzzle through an interesting problem with Specto?  Did you leverage an API or Cloud App to piece together something in Alma? While these are a few examples, our strength is in our many different voices! We want to hear from you about ways you improved your and others' work.

We welcome proposals from ELSUG members and nonmembers!  

This year we are happy to offer 2 kinds of presentations

• 25 min Classic Presentations: with 20 minutes for presenting and 5 minutes for Questions and Answers.

or

• 40 min Technical Presentations: with 35 minutes to present, and 5 minutes for Questions and Answers. Appropriate for when you have a lot of details to share and don't want to rush to cram it into a shorter presentation! 

PANEL PARTICIPATION: We are also actively recruiting for participation on 1 panel. Panelists will take turns speaking on the topic, with time for questions and answers as well.

Panel Topic: Primo NDE – Many of us are at different points in our journey to fit a new piece into the Ex Libris puzzle in Primo NDE. What considerations are you making to prepare for the transition? Have you recently made the switch and have some lessons to share? We’re looking for panelists both in the preparation and post-migration stages to share their perspectives on their NDE journeys!

We welcome your nominations and self-nominations for potential panelists! Please email svaillancourt@uh.edu or fill out our CFP Form with your nominations! 

Moderated Discussion: We are also interested in how your library is exploring AI features in Ex Libris products, including Alma’s AI Metadata Assistant and AI Assistant for Funds and Ledgers, and the AI Research Assistant in Primo and Summon. Whether you adopted these features, are still evaluating them, or decided not to use them, we’d like to hear what shaped your decision and what you have learned. Have these tools improved productivity, workflows, or the user experience? Join the discussion!

The conference will be hosted via Teams with real-time captions available. Sessions will be recorded and accompanying slides will be available on the ELSUG 2026 Conference website.

To submit your proposal: ELSUG 2026 Call for Proposal Form

The DEADLINE for proposal submissions and panelist interest is October 16, 2026. Submitters will hear notification of acceptance on or shortly after October 30, 2026. 

If you have questions or requests, please reach out to Shawn Vaillancourt: svaillancourt@uh.edu