“Big Trends in Small and Rural Libraries” – Free Webinar

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Sponsored by the Association of Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL)

Operating a library in a small and rural community comes with its own set of challenges. Join representatives from the Association for Rural & Small Libraries to learn the latest in trends and big ideas. Ask librarians familiar with the unique challenges of small and rural locations. What’s your biggest challenge?
 
Join ARSL for this free 45 minute discussion about the trends and challenges of small and rural libraries. Follow this link to submit your questions about your small or rural library’s greatest challenges.
 
Date: Wed, July 26, 1pm EDT 
 
Presented by representatives of ARSL as developed by Becky Heil, Gail Sheldon, Tena Hanson and Mary Soucie.
 
Registration: 

Delivery Moved 790,000+ Items in FY2017

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Each fiscal year, the SELCO Delivery Team – Bob Olson, Sarah Bradway, and Jade Winsor – do three sample “Count Days” to help assess how many items are moving through the SELCO region delivery in a single fiscal year.  A “Count Day” consists of the team counting each item that comes through delivery and then tallying the items for the day.  Counts are done in August, November, and March.  

The single day samples for FY2017 were:

  • August 2016 – 2865 (tends to be lighter due to schools being out for the summer)
  • November 2017 – 3326
  • March 2017 – 3562

Utilizing a formula which takes into account how many days per month delivery is done, the summer months, and the academic year…791,820 items were circulated in FY2017!

That number is an increase from the previous year and is also impressive for the region when compared to the fact that Minitex circulates roughly 700,000 for the whole state in the same amount of time.

 

ITEM 2017 SELS Scholarships Awarded

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SELS is pleased to announce the scholarship recipients to this year’s Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (ITEM) conference to be held October 5 – 7, 2017 at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park, MN.

The recipients are:

  • Anne Marie Griffin – Gibbs Elementary School in Rochester
  • Stacie Alison – Harriet Bishop Elementary School in Rochester
  • Jill Nysse – Winona Middle School in Winona

Congratulations! We look forward to hearing about your experiences!

Problem with Syndetics – UPDATE

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UPDATE, 07-18-2017, 1:11 PM – ProQuest reports that all of their platforms, including Syndetics, are back up and working. If this does not match your experience, please contact the SELCO Help Desk for support.  Thank you for your patience.
 
Good morning!
Since yesterday late afternoon Syndetics (Enterprise cover art and some enhanced content) has been experiencing connectivity issues. ProQuest (the company that owns Syndetics) has no ETA. They are aware of the problem and working on it. We will let you know when service is restored.
 
If you have any further questions or concerns please contact the HelpDesk. 507.529.4469 helpdesk@selco.info

Extensive MediaCom Outage – UPDATE

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UPDATE 07-12-2017, 2:00 PM – MediaCom has updated their information and now estimates they will be back up at approximately 6:30 PM.  Please keep in mind this is an estimate and conditions may change without SELCO’s knowledge. We will continue to monitor the situation.

MediaCom has confirmed that they are experiencing an internet outage affecting their customers in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and northern Iowa. The outage is intermittent; sites are going up and down in an unpredictable manner. MediaCom says they working on the problem but have given no indication on when things will be back to normal. Libraries in the SELCO region using MediaCom for internet are:

  • Chatfield Public Library
  • Caledonia Public Library
  • Cannon Falls Public Library
  • Hokah Public Library
  • Houston Public Library
  • Lanesboro Public Library
  • Preston Public Library
  • Rushford Public Library
  • Spring Valley Public Library

We are monitoring the situation but some of the intervals between being up and down are too short for our monitoring systems to track. We will continue to watch the situation as closely as we can and will post an update when we learn more.

Registration Now Open!: Operation Advocate

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WILL YOU ACCEPT YOUR MISSION?

 

When: Wednesday, August 23, 2017  |  9:30a – 4:15p

Where:  SELCO office

Registration: Click HERE to register (Open from 7.6 to 8.16)

 

Training Regimen:

  • Recon – learn about the legislative process, the funding, and lingo
  • Identify & Strategize – define the issues and craft your message
  • Witness Reports – hear from regional and state legislators about the best ways to engage with them
  • Rules of Engagement – walk through various sample scenarios to practice your techniques

FY2018 Bandwidth Upgrades at Online Libraries in Progress

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At the start of every fiscal year, in July, SELCO carries out internet bandwidth upgrades at selected Online Libraries. 22 upgrades are in progress for FY2018:

Online Library Old Bandwidth New Bandwidth
Blooming Prairie Public Library 25mb download x 10mb upload 50mb download x 10mb upload
Brownsdale Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 10mb upload
Caledonia Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Cannon Falls Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Chatfield Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Harmony Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 30mb download x 2mb upload
Hokah Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Houston Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Kenyon Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 10mb upload
Lake City Public Library 35mb download x 35mb upload 50mb download x 50mb upload
Lanesboro Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
LeRoy Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 10mb upload
Plainview Public Library 35mb download x 35mb upload 50mb download x 50mb upload
Preston Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Red Wing Public Library 50mb download x 50mb upload 100mb download x 100mb upload
Rushford Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
Spring Grove Public Library 25mb download x 5mb upload 50mb download x 10mb upload
Spring Valley Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 5mb upload
St. Charles Public Library 35mb download x 3mb upload 50mb download x 50mb upload
Wabasha Public Library 35mb download x 3mb upload 50mb download x 50mb upload
West Concord Public Library 20mb download x 2mb upload 50mb download x 10mb upload
Winona Public Library 35mb download x 3mb upload 50mb download x 50mb upload

NOTES:  Bandwidth upgrades are selected each year based on a combination of library need, availability of local service, and cost. Internet access for most public Online Libraries is funded through a combination of Regional Library Telecom Aid (RLTA) and Erate discounts. Automation Fees do not pay for internet access.

Summer 2017 Cooperative Technology Purchase Order Form Posted

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Please find the link below for the Summer 2017 Cooperative Purchase online order form. The offerings for this purchase are much like those of the previous Cooperative Technology Purchase.

 

Summer 2017 Cooperative Technology Purchase Order Form

  • We are using an online order form for the Cooperative Technology Purchase. Please fill it out online, once we receive your order, we will send a confirmation email. Please respond to the confirmation email so that we can ensure your order is correct.
  • We will be offering iPads for purchase in this order. As these devices are very subjective and require user specific iTunes accounts, SELCO cannot provide support for them.
  • We are using Faronics Deep Freeze to lock down the public computers. You will notice this option on the bottom of page one for Deep Freeze, select this if you are planning on getting a public computer or using a Nettop for an iPac computer.
  • Due to the fact that some of our third party software (Pharos, Deep Freeze) are not fully supported on Windows 10 yet, we are not supporting Windows 10 at this time. Computers will still continue to come with Windows 7.

Please submit your orders online by Friday, July 28, 2017. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the SELCO Help Desk, thank you.

Grant Funding for ALA & Google’s “Libraries Ready to Code” Program

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ALA has recently “announced a competitive grant program, sponsored by Google, that will fund a cohort of 25-50 school and public libraries to develop resources to help get U.S. libraries “Ready to Code.” The $500,000 pilot program is part of Phase III of Libraries Ready to Code, an ongoing collaboration between ALA and Google to ensure expert library professionals are prepared to develop and deliver programming that promotes computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) among youth, two skills that will be required for challenges and jobs of the future.”  Click HERE to read more.  Applications will be open mid-July through August 2017.