There's still time to apply! Extended Application Deadline: May 7, 2008
Lifelong Access Libraries Leadership Institute Date: July 27-30, 2008 Location: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Applicants now have an extra two days to apply to this exciting opportunity.
Specialists in Neuroscience, Civic Engagement, Adult Learning and Gerontology are among the presenters at the Institute including: Mary Catherine Bateson, Ph.D., Anthropologist and Author Eleanor Drago-Severson, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Education, Teacher's College at Columbia University Judy Goggin, Vice President, Civic Ventures Harry R. Moody, Ph.D., Director of Academic Affairs for AARP Paul Nussbaum, Ph.D., Clinical Neuropsychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine The cost of Fellows' travel, tuition, and room and board for the Institute will be covered by Libraries for the Future (www.lff.org). A limited number of qualified candidates not selected as Fellows may participate at cost.
Participants will be selected from across the United States. Leadership track librarians with a demonstrated interest in reaching out to boomers and active older adults are encouraged to apply.
To download an application, see details from last year's Institute, and receive more information about the Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative please visit the Lifelong Access Libraries website (www.lifelonglibraries.org) The Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative is made possible through a grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies.
Applicants should direct questions and Institute inquiries to:
Sabrina Waldron Program Manager, Lifelong Access Libraries swaldron@lff.org 646-336-6236
The 17th Annual MINITEX Interlibrary Loan Conference was held on May 5, 2008 at the University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center in St. Paul. The conference consisted of two speaker presentations, a breakout session consisting of four session options, and a Minitex Update from Bill DeJohn. The morning keynote session was presented by Elizabeth Lane Lawley, the Director of the Lab for Social Computing at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her presentation was entitled "Forecasting the Future of Social Computing." She discussed a timeline of various communication tools, starting with Gopher (!) and continuing on through today's social networking tools, like Twitter or Facebook. She also shared her thoughts on what's next in social computing which included a heavy focus on mobile phones as more than just making calls or sending a text message.
The breakout session's four options included a MnLINK Gateway information session, an Iliad Users discussion session, an information and update session for ExLibris Aleph interlibrary loan users, and a session entitled "Practical Uses of Web 2.0 Applications." I attended the MnLINK Gateway session to hear what is happening and will be happening with the gateway. The MnLINK gateway has seen a 10% increase in the number of requests made through the gateway from FY2007 to FY2008. Additionally, the software used as the search interface for MnLINK, ZPORTAL, will be replaced with a new product called "Worldcat Navigator." This new product with integrate with VDX (the ILL software). Future plans for the MnLINK gateway will include a "focus on staff efficiencies, workflow, and delivery to end users."
The focus of Blixrud's presentation was on the changing nature of where information resources are made available and how this will effect interlibrary loan. Though maybe not quite as significant (yet) in public libraries, the effect of mass digitization projects, e-journals, and licensing the electronic version vs. purchasing a print copy is having a profound effect on other types of libraries. She also outlined what she thought were the roles that libraries have in all of the changes happening to the information resources that are and will be available: Responsibility, Opportunity, Leadership, Education, and Satisfaction.
Finally, Bill DeJohn gave an update on MINITEX. All in all, a good conference!
MINITEX held their 17th Annual Interlibrary Loan Conference on Monday, May 5th, 2008. I enjoyed the conference and appreciate the opportunity to attend. One of the parts of this conference that I enjoyed the most was the keynote presentation by Elizabeth Lane Lawley. Elizabeth shared with us all of the new technology available for social networking. It was amazing to me to hear all the ways people can stay in touch with each other and that they may have more than one of these applications going at one time. Throughout this presentation, I couldn't help but think: Is this a good thing? When do you allow yourself time to regroup if you are constantly in communication through the whole day, EVERY day? There was hope for me, however, as she shared with us new ways for the future that require less focus on always being "up and running" but still be in touch.
On May 5th, the 6th graders and teachers at Willow Creek School in Owatonna witnessed a piece of history. The Minnesota Sesquicentennial Banner was transported from the Owatonna Public Library by Librarian Bonnie Krueger and Owatonna Police Captain Chuck Walerius to Willow Creek School. It was such a cool event! 380 6th graders and school staff watched as Bonnie and Captain Walerius handed over the banner to Willow Creek Principal Mary Trapp. After the presentation, the students spent the rest of the day planting 150 trees honoring Minnesota's Sesquicentennial. The students also released the Cecropia moths they had been raising into the school's nature center. It was so fun to see young people involved with Minnesota's history--what great events! You can see pictures of the Banner presentation on SELCO's Flickr account. You can also read more about the tree planting on Owatonna.com.
Captain Chuck Walerius from the Owatonna Police Department and Owatonna Librarian Bonnie Krueger hand off the banner to Willow Creek Principal Mary Trapp.
I went into the 17th Annual ILL Conference knowing that I would enjoy Liz Lawley's presentation-- I've sen her twice before at Internet Librarian. I like her perspective, since she has an interesting career path in both librarianship and IT and seems to embody the spirit of play as a form of learning. Lawley's presentation began with an overview of past technologies, included some commentary on the way people use these innovations, and ended with some predictions of where the tech world is moving. The presentation was in her low-key presentation style, using mostly screenshots. The amount of focus I was willing to give Lawley for the morning reminded me that I should be using fewer (or no) words in my slides.
Curious about her predictions for the future? Lawley forsees:
A Continuous Complete Attention movement
Increase in Ambient Displays (gentle environmental information instead of Inbox-366 items)
More Mobile Phone Innovations
Backlash to the Tangible (Trying to get back to the real world)
A movement towards what makes us happy
For further information, slides can be found on the mamamusings site.
I had the special opportunity of participating in the Historic Statehood Day Celebration at the State Capitol on Sunday, May 11th. What a great day! And I got to spend it with my hubby, so that was even better! It was my first time at the State Capitol in St. Paul, so I really wanted to see everything possible. Ben (the hubby) and I got to see the lighting of the chandelier in the Rotunda, we visited with some of the Statehood Historical Characters roaming around the Capitol grounds, we took a self-guided tour of the Capitol chambers and public spaces, and, my favorite part of the day, we got to see the golden horses on the Capitol.
After the events taking place inside of the Capitol, we ventured outside to watch the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Statehood Kickoff. The opening part of the ceremony included the arrival of the Wagon Train, music by a brass quintet, and congratulatory remarks by our state's diginitaries. We got to hear the winning Minnesota Statehood essays from students around the state--one of the being from Canton, MN. Lastly, the Sesquicentennial Banner & Journal that made the rounds in the SELCO/SELS region was presented to Governor Tim Pawlenty, who then presented the items to Nina Archabal, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Historical Society for archiving.
It was so exciting to be a part of Minnesota's history!
For pictures of the Celebration, check out SELCO's Flickr page.
Mollie posing next to Representative Tina Liebling's spot in the House of Representatives
Often times the activities in Washington, DC feel far away and removed from every day library operations but then for two days each spring library supporters head to the nation's Capital.In a compact 48 hour period, the American Library Association (ALA) conducts briefings on key issues and advocates tell the library's story during congressional office visits.ALA's hot topics as this congressional session edges to conclusion include:
LSTA - Support for the President's request of $214, 432 million in Federal funding for libraries, with $171.5 million in direct grants to State Library Agencies.Minnesota's portion of the formula would be approximately $2.8 million.
Telecom - Defend eRate and stabilize the universal service fund.
SKILLs Act - Place a state certified specialist in every school
Orphan Works - Support for two specific bills (H.R. 5889 and S. 2913) to protect libraries from copyright penalties that use books, photos, or other works whose owners cannot be found.
NSL - Restore safeguards for reader privacy. Reform the National Security Letters (NSL) and FISA Act.
Against a backdrop of sunshine, vibrant azaleas, and the dramatic dome of the US Capitol, over 400 library advocates visited members of Congress as the American Library Association sponsored its annual Legislative Day.The Minnesota contingent met with congressional staff for each of Minnesota's Representatives and Senators and had a quick chance to greet Representatives Ramstad and Elison.
We shared examples of effective LSTA projects underway in Minnesota.Our small group stressed the importance of increased funding for this vital program, hopefully at the amount recommended by the President for the FY 2009 appropriations bill, and the need for qualified library personnel in our schools.We offered our appreciation for previous congressional support of the eRate reimbursement program and explained why Minnesota libraries and communities need expanded broadband access.
Minnesota's advocacy group visiting with Simone Hardeman, Legislative Assistant to Senator Amy Klobuchar.
On May 13, 2008, I had the opportunity to visit the Southland Elementary Media Center in Rose Creek and Southland Middle/High School in Adams. I met with Mike Johnson, Southland's District Wide Media Specialist and Dean of Students for Southland Elementary. I also met Barb Felten, the parprofessional for the media center. Mike gave me the grand tour of the media center which includes the Rebel Reading Roost, a loft with soft beanbag chairs for students to crawl up in and read. The "roost" was built by parents of elementary students and it was actually in use during my visit. In fact, if you check out the photos on SELCO's Flickr site, you can see what the roost looks like.
One of the areas that I found of interest was the collection of books that were set aside for the Accelerated Reader program. This is a reading program that several schools in our region use to help boost student reading achievement. At Southland Elementary and also at the Southland Middle/High School Media Centers, books that have an "AR" score are place in a separate collection and the actual AR score is placed on the spine. These titles can be searched in the SELCO Catalog.
Here's a picture of Mike and me:
Later that day I went over to the Southland Middle/High Media Center. If you have never been to this media center, it is worth a visit! It is certainly a beautiful place and the staff and students are proud of their space. I met Norma Hoffman, who is the paraprofessional for the middle/high school media center. Norma is working on the annual school media center report for the district and so we had a review session with the report to go over some of the questions to understand what needed to be entered into the boxes. Here's a picture of Norma, hard at work during my visit:
Thank you to Mike, Barb, & Norma for allowing me to visit your media centers!
We're aware that there were several email undeliverable reports that came into several SELCO email boxes overnight. Even though it looks like SPAM, these messages are not SPAM, and our email filter will not block it. In fact, there is very little that we can do about it. It is one rare occasion where we all have to spand a couple minutes deleting junk.
However, this is a great
opportunity for everyone to learn just a little bit more about the SPAM problem, and email in general. What exactly happened, and why were there dozens of "undeliverable" messages in our email?
Yes, there was SPAM email sent out. I would guess it came from a Russian source, since there was Russian text in the subject. Now, it appears that it came from our email server - from the DIRPUB email address. However, it did not come from our email server. Here's why:
It is easy to fake the FROM address of an email message (This is called "spoofing"). This is one of the reasons it is so hard to put a stop to SPAM. You can not be sure that the message came from whom it says in the reply to address. This is exactly what happened last night, some spammer spoofed our address on his email.
Once that email went out, it got to some email servers that did not have any SPAM filtering at all. Some of the email recipients did not exist on the target email server. (Spammers love to try to guess at usernames) The target server then sends an undeliverable message to the sender. Who's the sender? Since this message was spoofed, it sends the undeliverable message to SELCO's DIRPUB address. That leads to us receiveing an undeliverable report in our inbox. Also remember, this spammer probably send this to several thousands of email addresses. I guess the fact that we only saw a couple dozen "bounces" might be a little comforting.
On May 19, 2008, I had the great opportunity to visit two SELCO online libraries: the media centers at Kellogg Middle School and Century High School. Both schools are part of Rochester Public Schools. During my visit to Kellogg, I was able to watch as students did the "Kellogg Comet Capsule News," which originates from a studio in the media center. Students read the news and run the sound and cameras. Dianne Plager, Kellogg's Media Specialist, was the director for the program that day. These students did an amazing job! Not only did they run the sound & cameras and read the news, but they also had graphics that had been put together as well, just like you'd see on your local news station. One of the highlights of the day's program was the "Scooby Snack or No Scooby Snack" question of the day. The idea here was that a question was posed (in this case, a math question) and the first class to either email in the correct answer, or in the case of a class with a substitute teacher, the first class to bring (OK, actually run!) an answer down to the media center, would win 2 Scooby snacks for the day. By the way, I wouldn't have won a single Scooby snack!
Below is a picture of the students with Dianne as they prepare for the day's show. Additional photos are available on SELCO's Flickr account by clicking here.
Additionally, the media center was buzzing with activity. A group of students were in using the media center's materials that day to gather facts for an assignment where they were to pick an American historical figure that they thought should have a monument dedicated to them.
I also had the opportunity to visit Century High School's Media Center on May 19, 2008. Barbara Haynes, Century High Media Specialist and Becky Benson, Library Media Associate, have a great space to work. The day I arrived, the media center was busy with students working on computers, working on homework, or just hanging out. Barbara gave me a tour of the space, pointing out their extensive American History collection, with a particular emphasis on World War II & the Holocaust. Quite impressive! The space is bright and inviting, with numerous windows for natural light. Additionally, the Career Center is located in the Media Center to serve students looking to go on to college or enter the workforce.
Here's a photo of Barbara, Becky, and me. Additional photos can be found here on SELCO's Flickr site.
A big thanks to the staff at Kellogg (Dianne Plager & Janet Grousky) and Century (Barbara Haynes & Becky Benson) for allowing me to stop by for a visit!
Want to be on TV? Want some cool cash without much effort?
KSMQ Public Television is looking for people between the ages of 18-35 to participate in a taped focus group to be used in Smart Money Connections*, a program they're producing this fall with the assistance of SELCO through a grant we received from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the American Library Association. Participants will be paid $100 cash for their time, & they'll also receive a 1 GB flash drive. If you're interested in taking part, apply online at www.ksmq.org/smartmoney.
Smart Money Connections will be a 13 week, live TV program that will be talking about many different aspects of investing, money management and the like. It will be broadcast Wednesdays at 6:30, starting on August 13. The shows will include a call in segment, so if you have questions about your finances, tune in and call in!
*Smart Money Connections was produced by KSMQ Public Service Media, Inc. SMARTMONEY is a trademark of SmartMoney. Smart Money Connections is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by SmartMoney (a Hearst SM Partnership and Dow Jones & Co., Inc. partnership), nor does it represent the views or opinions of SmartMoney, Hearst SM Partnership or Dow Jones & Co., Inc. or their respective employees, owners, or affiliates in any way.
The other week, I and three other SELCO staff members attended a symposium for library staff at the University of Minnesota titled "Enhancing Quality Staff:Changing Values—Consistent Values."Here's a rundown of the presentations I attended:
Keynote
Extreme Googling:Tips and Tricks for Expert Searching
Documenting the Information Age:The Charles Babbage Institute and the Expanding History of Computing
Before Tourists Discovered Bali
Efficient and Effective Social Media
Once Upon a Time in the Universe:Teaching with Stories.
I'll be submitting a blog post on each of the presentations.Please forgive me if I ramble a bit.Take care.
This was presented by Janet Kinney. She discussed S. R. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Service. Even though they were developed in 1931, they can be applied today to libraries and the Web. As referenced by Kinney, here are librarian Alireze Noruzi's thoughts on the five laws for today:
Web resources are for use.
Every user has his or her Web resource.
Every Web resource its user.
Save the time of the user.
The Web is a growing organism.
Increasing library patrons' ability to access Web resources, and create Web content (a la Web 2.0, etc.), is a great boon for democracy, and humanity. Libraries could combine all of the five laws, as applied to the Web, by providing library resources (e.g. online subscription databases, physical books, etc.) with the broader resources on the Web (e.g. any Web site, search engine, blog, or RSS feed).
With those thoughts in mind I started dreaming up a "My Library" Web page for patrons that any library could offer. It would be similar to "My Yahoo" or "iGoogle," but it wouldn't have any constraints as to what online resources could be added. There could be an "add a page" widget that would display a live screenshot of a page the user visits a lot. It could be any page on the Web.
There could be an "add email" widget that would allow a user to display links to their inbox messages and email folders in real-time. It could also allow a user to view multiple email accounts at once. How many of us have a work email account, a personal one, another from our ISP? The email widget would allow a patron to track all of them at once.
Another feature of the "My Library" page could be an "add blog" widget. Users could add their favorite blogs to their "My Library Page." Something similar could exist for RSS feeds. All the Web stuff that a patron needs could be in one place. This would save the user's time, and bring them to a library resource.
Since this service would be provided by libraries, library resources could be available for patrons to add to their "My Library" page. For example, the online search of a library's catalog could be added to the patron's "My Library" page. A library's subscription databases could be added for patrons to search via an "add subscription database" widget. Library announcements could be another widget the user could add into their page. Patrons could easily manage anything they need on the Web, and libraries could offer their services in a way patrons desire, via the Web.
Also, there could be a social networking component. Users could have the ability to tag, search, and read each others "My Library" pages and widgets. The user would also have the ability to keep anything they want private. Groups could be setup given physical or virtual locations. For example, there could be local library networks, regional networks, statewide networks, and national networks. There could also be virtual groups not limited to a physical location. There could be virtual patron groups on any topic. Users could also have the ability to chat, or message each other, via this service.
All of the current "My Whatever" sites out there, e.g. My Yahoo, iGoogle, only allow a user to display what Yahoo or Google wants them to see. This service could be for anything the user wants, and integrate library resources in a way patrons want.
Just some thoughts. Thanks for reading. I'll try to keep my other blog posts shorter. Thanks again.
Extreme Googling: Tips & Tricks for Expert Searching
This presentation was given by Martha E. Hardy of the Bio-Medial Library at the U of M. She described a few myths regarding Google, such as "All published information is retrievable via Google searching" (what about subscription databases?). She also went on to discuss advanced Google searching techniques, e.g. using search operators like -, +, OR, ~, " ", *, and .., as well as how to limit a search to a particular domain or file type. Last, the presenter discussed searching Google Scholar, Google Books, Google U. S. Government, and Google Patents.
There were many questions from the audience that addressed issues from a librarian's perspective. They were much more granular. Maybe ½ of the information I had learned 5+ years ago, but it was good to get an update. For instance, when I learned Google U. S. Government search it was called Uncle Sam. The Google search features have been upgraded as well. Also, Google patents search was new to me. Over all it was informative, and helpful. Please see the EQS site for more details.
Documenting the Information Age: The Charles Babbage Institute and the Expanding History of Computing
This presentation was given by R. Arvid Nelson of the Charles Babbage Institute, CBI.He presented what resources the CBI has to offer.They have a large amount of space in the "caves" under the U of M campus for their archives.They feature items from Control Data Center (of MN), over 100,000 photographs from 1886 to 1986, a Wiki for CDC retirees, Gertrude Blanch papers, ACM documents, Mark P. McCahill & the Gopher protocol, and much more.
This was fascinating for the historian in me, and the computer geek in me.Also, CBI is using Meebo on their blog site, and on their main site, so patrons can "talk" with an archivist live online.This was interesting because I recently discussed Meebo at the last Technology Users Group meeting.I had a short chat with the archivist via Meebo and asked for her thoughts on it.It sounded like her experience with it was very useful.Very stimulating presentation all in all, but I'm a history geek, and programming geek, lol.Thanks for reading.Take care.
This presentation was given by Donald Clay Johnson.He went to Bali in the 1970's.He described Bali's culture including their history, theater, religion, dance, food, and textiles.It was very interesting.His PowerPoint presentation included many photographs from his travels in Bali.He also discussed the impact the booming tourist trade has had on the country.They are trying to preserve their culture in the face of modernization and the tourist influx.The presenter was very animated and informative.Great speaker, and very interesting presentation.Glad I went.Thanks for reading.
Efficient and Effective Social Media (best practices for creating video for the Web)
This presentation was given by Cody Hanson, Technology Librarian, University of Minnesota. He focused on creating video for the Web including screencasts and vlog casts. He went into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to make video for the Web including issues such as video consuming too much time, quality of presentation vs. how much investment it is worth, and looking at video in terms of cost vs. gains. A library could spend many hours creating a video only to have it viewed very few times. The presenter mentioned that video should be an extension of the library's central purpose, not just done for technology's sake, or for marketing.
Some of the tools he discussed include:
Jing Project - a free cross platform screen capture tool. It's from the people who created Camtasia.
Screencastomatic.com - Web browser based screen capture tool. Very bare bones, but very slick.
YouTube - discussed as not being polished/professional, but does allow for ease of hosting.
Vimeo - this site hosts HD video. Requires large bandwidth for uploading and downloading.
JVC Camcorder - a new model from JVC is $350, and allows for one touch uploading to YouTube.
Flip Video Ultra - it can record up to 60 minutes of video and has some positive reviews.
Vado - this recorder is from Creative and shoots YouTube quality video.
YouTube's Quick Capture Function - could be used to vlog the new books that came into a library, etc. Quick and easy tool to use.
Also, the presenter discussed accessibility for video. Because of government funding, and liability, accessibility needs to be incorporated into video content. At a bare minimum there needs to be equivalent content presented for video, a text transcription for example. The best case scenario is to have captioning for the hearing impaired synched up and displayed with the video.
This was a very informative presentation. The information could be invaluable for any library that wants to get into video, and avoid some of the pitfalls. The presenter mentioned when he first started making video he was involved in creating a feature length film. It cost $20,000, recorded 80 hours of raw footage, and totaled 1000 hours for all of the production. All of that was for a 2 hour film. For every minute of film, the presenter estimated, there were 8 hours put into it. Some food for thought. Thanks again for reading. Take care.
Once Upon a Time in the Universe: Teaching with Stories
This presentation was a nice way to end to the day. The presenter was Betsy Friesen, Library Enterprise Operations, University of Minnesota. She discussed star constellation stories in a multi-cultural way. Greek myths, Native American stories, and Egyptian tales were included. She also discussed how to best tell a story to help the meaning come across for children. I was charmed by the presenter's story telling, very lively, and engaging. It was a fun way to end the day.
Thanks again for reading these blog posts on EQS. Here's hoping you got something out of them, aside from my rambling, lol. Take care.
On May 20th, I was fortunate to be able to attend the Enhancing Quality Staff conference in Minneapolis. This was my second year attending the conference and I found it as interesting as the first year. I went to five sessions and they were all very interesting. One of the things that I enjoy about this conference is the idea that in order to be a good and productive employee that you need to continue your education in a well rounded fashion, not only in matters that pertain exactly to your job.
The sessions I attended were:
Dealing with Difficult Situations: Satisfying Customers and Keeping your Sanity
Extreme Googling: Productivity Tools for Your Online Life
What is so Theraputic About Horticulture?
Thinking Outside the Pizza Box: Practical Nutrition for Busy Adults
One Upon a Time in the Universe: Teaching with Stories
They were all very interesting and I feel that I learned something in each of them. One of the things I found most interesting was in the session on practical nutrition. The woman teaching the class claimed that the simplest guide to good eating was to fill your plate half full of fruits and veggies, then one quarter grain and one quarter protein and to have a glass of milk with it. I thought that this sounded like a very easy diet plan to follow.
This conference was overall very interesting and I hope to attend it again in the future.
2008/05/05
