Customize How NEFLIN Communicates With You

You may have noticed that you have received fewer emails and snail mails from NEFLIN in the last six months. We have reduced the amount of material that we print and mail. This information is now disseminated primarily through this blog and our new email system, Constant Contact.

Our new email system allows us to send targeted emails to specific groups. We use Constant Contact to send out email reminders about NEFLIN services and any time sensitive information. The bonus of this new email system is that we can send emails to specific groups and not inundate others with messages they aren't interested in reading. For instance, we only send messages about cataloging topics to the tech services list.

• General Information
• Workshop Announcements
• Academic Library Staff
• Administration
• Children's/YA
• Media Specialists
• Interlibrary Loan
• Public Library Staff
• Public Services (Reference, Adult Programming, Circulation, Outreach)
• Special Library Staff
• Supervisors
• Technical Services (Cataloging, Acquisitions, Processing)
• Technology

You can easily subscribe or update your own profile to indicate the topics you want to receive information about.

We love feedback and look forward to hearing what you think of these changes.

Nemours Children’s Clinic joins NEFLIN

I am very pleased to announce that Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville has recently been accepted as a member of NEFLIN. I hope you will make Sylvia Kyle, the librarian at Nemours, feel welcome at various NEFLIN events.

The Nemours Foundation was established by Alfred I. DuPont, the most generous benefactor on behalf of children’s health and health care in modern history. He left behind an estate valued at $40 million and a last will and testament with specific instructions for the creation of a charitable foundation primarily devoted to providing health care services to children. Through his Will, he established the foundation named for the beloved homeland of the DuPont family in France—Nemours. More history of the Nemours Clinic can be found here.

Nemours is also home to Kid’s Health, a widely used kid’s site for consumer health information. Check it out!

Maria Chavez-Hernandez loses battle with cancer

I’m very sorry to inform of the passing of Dr. Maria Chavez-Hernandez, associate professor at the FSU College of Information. For those of you who may not have known, Maria had a long fight with cancer.

Dr. Chavez-Hernandez was an active champion of library services and LIS education for minorities, and in January was honored by the Florida Library Association with the "Libraries Change Peoples' Lives" award bearing her name.

Her family was with her and were able to say goodbye. She will surely be missed by many. In lieu of flowers the family request that memorial contributions may be made to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tallahassee.

News from NEFLIN Members

ASK a Librarian Genealogy Chat

ASK a Librarian, offered to Floridians as a live virtual reference service, is now providing online assistance for those questions and answers about your family tree customers just can’t seem to find anywhere else.

“This was just another way for us to offer credible answers and information to the public,” said Laura Minor, Senior Librarian in Genealogy at the Jacksonville Public Library.

Customers can chat between 2-4 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursday with one of the Jacksonville Public Library’s professionally trained librarians. Librarians who have genealogy expertise will be available to assist with genealogy questions, as well as any other information requests.

“ASK a Librarian is just a more efficient, time-saving method of getting questions answered by certified professionals. It’s free, and we want the public to know they can get the help and advice they’re looking for,” Minor said.

Radical Women in Gainesville

The Radical Women in Gainesville online digital collection and exhibit officially opened March 1 in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Radical Women in Gainesville documents the valiant history of feminists who helped reform the conservative Gainesville college town in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. The collection is comprised of photos, oral histories, self-published newsprints, newsletters, brochures, notes from feminist organizations and other original documents.

Radical Women in Gainesville is a developing collection and exhibit site that memorializes the work of local radical feminists while preserving historical documents for future generations to access for research and empowerment. The collection continues to grow as local women contribute their personal collections to the repository. Future collections will be developed to include radical women throughout Florida.

For more information contact the University of Florida Digital Library Center at 352-273-2900.

JPL Staffer Wins Service Award

Solomon Oliver, Jacksonville Public Library former volunteer and now part-time employee is the 2008 recipient of the Julie Klauber Award. Oliver is being recognized for his time spent working closely with KLAS (Keystone Library Automation System), the catalog and circulation system for talking books.

Oliver works in the Talking Book/Special Needs Library of the Jacksonville Public Library. The Talking Books/Special Needs Library provides recorded books, descriptive videos and public computers for visually impaired and physically disabled customers and video relay services for deaf customers. Oliver said he was called to the library because it was a good place to be and when they told him help was needed in special needs he knew it would be a good fit.

Trends, Fads or Folly: Free College of DuPage Program

The next College of DuPage program in the Soaring to Excellence: Library 2.0 and Beyond series is:

• Trends, Fads or Folly: Spotting the Library Trends that Really Matter
  
• Friday, April 11
  
• 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm ET

In surveying the landscape of our profession and the technological trends that impact it, it is simple to identify several new technologies that "could" be used by libraries to improve or enhance the patrons' experience with and perception of the Library. This program will investigate new trends in libraries such as patron-created folksonomic cataloging (del.cio.us, LibraryThing & the new breed of OPAC's), libraries and librarians in virtual environments such as Second Life, as well as give an update on libraries and social networks (mySpace & facebook). Are these trends? Just fads? Plain old Folly? We'll deal with a central question in this teleconference: To what extent do Libraries need to quickly adopt new technologies into their programs? Or, "just because you can do it, does that mean that you should?"

Speakers: Tom Peters and Lori Bell

Register here to receive access information.

Check out all upcoming College of DuPage programs

Through LSTA funding from the State Library & Archives of Florida, the award-winning College of DuPage Programs are again available for free to Florida libraries via streaming video and satellite downlink. Register as an Individual Desktop Viewer or Site Host.

FLA Leader of the Year

Congratulations to our very own Brad Ward who has been selected as the 2008 Florida Library Association Leader of the Year. Brad will be recognized for his accomplishments at the 2008 FLA Conference on St. Pete Beach in April.

Is Print Reference Dead?

Do you wish your reference collection got more use? Do you really wish more patrons knew about the great electronic reference books that are available through your library and from the Florida Electronic Library? This online program sponsored by Gale looks like it might be interesting.

Pat Luebbe, "Librarian Emeritus" at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, IL, will host this session on how libraries can best leverage their reference collection for the benefit of their end-users. Pat will address how Gale can help libraries address various reference needs including:

• Increasing usage of your reference collection
• Providing increased access to your collection across your entire library system
• Delivering vital reference resources 24/7 and putting them into "circulation" for patrons
• Freeing up valuable library shelf space

No matter what type of library you work in, you won't want to miss this opportunity to engage in a lively, interactive event with your colleagues.

Registration is required. Event dates and times are listed below. Simply click the link of the event you would like to attend, and register (be sure to put in your own email address)!

Thursday, March 27th from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST
Monday, March 31st from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. EST
Monday, April 7th from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. EST
Monday, April 21st from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EST

1,000 Visitors!

We had our 1,000th unique visitor to the blog today!! That's 1,000 readers since we went live in November. March has been a record month for readership - over 1,000 page loads this month alone.

Link Love

The NEFLIN Office will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday. Here is some Link Love to last until we return on Monday.

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SOLINET and PALINET continue their merger talks...at NEFLIN. We will be hosting a “Town Hall Meeting” on Wednesday, April 30, 10am – 12noon at the NEFLIN office. These meetings will allow you a forum to hear about this potential merger and provide feedback. Register by sending e-mail to NEFLIN. More on the merger is here.

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LIS News points out that Nicholson Baker has written a

first-hand account of editing entries in the “Wikipedia”. I found the section on how articles are proposed, and voted on for deletion, the most interesting.

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IMLS Announces Study Results on the Internet's Impact on Museums and Libraries. The study found that:

Libraries and museums are the most trusted sources of online information among adults of all ages, education levels, races, and ethnicities.

The Internet is not replacing in-person visits to libraries and museums and may actually increase on-site use of libraries and museums. There is a positive relationship between Internet use and in-person visits to museums and public libraries.

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Jacksonville Public Library and NEFLIN have made a joint purchase of OPAL. OPAL is a collaborative effort by libraries to use web conferencing software to providing live, online, web-based programs, training, workshops, meetings, conferences, and other group-based communication and collaboration. They offer a time- and cost-efficient alternative to in-person meetings and expensive telephone conference calls.

You will be hearing more about OPAL, and what NEFLIN will be able to provide our member libraries in the near future. For now check out their upcoming programs.

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Hulu debuts, and is trying to give YouTube a run for their money. Hulu provides streaming video from more than 50 content providers including FOX, NBC, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros., and Lionsgate.

They have many genres and formats, television shows, feature films, and clips available at no charge. You can watch full-length episodes of current primetime TV shows the morning after they air and shows from years gone by. Hulu also offers full-length feature films as well as clips from films.

NEFLIN Continues Courier Delivery Subsidy

Libraries participating in the statewide courier service (DLLI) should have received a letter from TBLC notifying them of an increase for next year. Due to higher fuel costs, the charge for participating libraries will increase from $650 per daily stop to $750. This increase will be effective October 1, 2008.

NEFLIN will continue to be the billing agent for this service. Invoices will be mailed in October for the period, October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2009.

I am pleased to report that NEFLIN will be able to continue its subsidy of $550 per library.

• Example: Your library receives 3 stops per week. 3 x $750 per stop = $2,250. Then $2,250 minus $550 = $1,700 (amount that will be invoiced).

If you have questions about your DLLI subsidy please contact the NEFLIN Office.

Celebrating Your Library

April is full of celebrations...

National Library Week is April 13-19. This year's theme is Join the circle of knowledge @ your library. First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate. More information is available on the National Library Week fact sheet and you can find tips for organizing and promoting National Library Week at www.ala.org/@yourlibrary. AND....

Share your National Library Week story! Let ALA know how you're promoting National Library Week, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win one of three $25 gift certificates to ALA Graphics.

It's School Library Media Month and many school library media programs celebrate in conjunction with, and sharing the same theme as, National Library Week. The School Library Media Month and National Library Week are wonderful opportunities for you to participate in the Campaign for America's Libraries and its School Library Campaign component. Ideas and examples of how libraries are successfully using the @ your library brand can be found at www.ala.org/@yourlibrary.

The Florida Library Association Annual Conference will be April 22-25 on St. Pete Beach. Don't miss this opportunity to network with your colleagues, see great vendor exhibits, attend some great training sessions.

April 30 is El día de los niños/El día de los libros - an annual celebration of children, families, and reading. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for every child regardless of linguistic and cultural background. To learn more, read the El día brochure online in its full text .

Is your library joining the celebration? Use NEFLIN's wiki's to share your ideas with your colleagues. Let us know and we'll blog about it.

Libraries are more e-necessary than ever

Charlie Parker, Florida Library Association President, has a very nice opinion piece in the Tallahassee Democrat today.

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Libraries are more e-necessary than ever

These are busy times for Florida libraries. Books, CDs, DVDs and computers are in high demand. Infrequent visitors have become regulars because of the available technology. Providing members of the public what they want, how they want it, makes public libraries popular. And providing adults and children with what they must have — access to e-government services and early childhood learning — makes libraries essential.

We know that Florida's economy and government budgets are challenged, and as Floridians, we are all in this together. We commend local officials' and legislators' efforts to maintain public services with fewer dollars, and the Florida Library Association is asking these leaders to ensure that libraries are adequately supported during these trying times.

The majority of public library funding comes from county and city governments. Libraries' budgets and staff are already smaller because of mandated tax reductions that took effect in October. Spending and hiring freezes are in place anticipating further reductions as a result of Amendment 1. Budgets for all government services are being cut, and it is only appropriate for libraries to bear their share. We ask, however, that local governments keep cuts to a minimum.

At the state level, Florida's public libraries receive about $32 million annually from the Legislature. In the context of a $70 billion budget, this is a very small slice of the pie. As recently as 2000-01, state aid to libraries was higher — $33.4 million. While state support is lower today, inflation has driven up costs, and libraries are serving more people. In light of budget reductions and past funding shortages, we hope the Legislature can avoid additional library cuts altogether.

To help policy makers assess the need for library support, we encourage them to visit their local libraries. Here is what they will see:

Heavy use of library services: book, CD and DVD use is booming, with more than 100 million items loaned last year, according to the State Library and Archives of Florida. And use of electronic databases and reference materials is high, with more than 37 million visits to library Web sites annually.

Attractive, popular places: Floridians love their libraries and demonstrate this by their more than 72 million visits each year. Floridians increasingly see libraries as "third places" beyond home and work in which to congregate for programs, meetings and recreation.

E-government services: Government agencies are increasingly providing more services via the Internet as they reduce those provided on-site As a result, many people are turning to public libraries for computers and staff assistance as their only means of conducting government business.

Computer, wireless and Internet access: For many Floridians, the public library is the only place with free computer and Internet access. Many others have learned how to use technology for personal and job use through library training programs. The State Library and Archives of Florida reports that the public used 10,800 library computers more than 17.5 million times for job hunting, e-mail or searches for information between 2005 and 2006. And 1.7 million Floridians received technology training in public libraries during the same period.

Education for youth: For many parents and caregivers, the public library is the first place they visit to expose children to books and learning activities Between 2005 and 2006, more than 3 million Florida students participated in summer reading programs that helped ensure they continue to develop reading skills all year. Libraries are also attracting teens as safe places for computer gaming, innovative programming, socializing and studying.

Remarkable efficiency: Libraries have done about all they can to reduce costs by improving efficiency, and the ability of libraries to further stretch their tax dollars is limited. Studies show that Florida's public libraries are already remarkably efficient. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, they serve Floridians at an average cost of $26.59 per person annually — 16 percent less than the national average.

In difficult economic times like these, we believe that strong support for libraries is important. They are popular, heavily used and essential. On behalf of the Florida library community, we wish strength and wisdom to the county and city commissioners and state legislators who are making difficult funding decisions, and we ask them to please continue to support Florida's public libraries.

Splashing Through Puddles of Poetry

Splashing Through Puddles of Poetry

Poetry doesn’t have to be scary. Come play around with us with sounds, rhythms, rhymes, and fool proof poetry. Everybody gets wet but nobody drowns. Come on in, the water’s fine!!

Diane Wintamute

Highlands and Sallye B. Mathis Elementary Schools, Jacksonville
Wednesday, April 9
1:00 - 4:00 pm
NEFLIN in Orange Park

Register Today

Over 200 Blog Visitors!

Thanks for making last Thursday the biggest day ever for the NEFLIN Blog. 236 of you read the Blog.

You keep reading…we’ll keep writing!

Brad, Stephanie, and Patty

Feel Like You Are Herding Kittens?

Herding Kittens: How to Have Influence When You Don't Have Power or Authority

How can you build influence with people when you can't "make them" do what you want them to do? Do you have trouble negotiating with bosses, community leaders, economic and political decision-makers, volunteers, members of committees and task forces? Would you like to work more effectively with co-workers? And what about those library users who you really need to listen to you?

Influence is about earning trust and respect and making it easy for people to say yes to you. Learn about how the details of verbal and nonverbal communication make a big difference, both with strangers and people you have worked with for years. You will also learn about the three steps for building influence, using different communication styles, mistakes we all make and what works with most people most of the time, no matter what their cultural or ethnic heritage. You will review proven techniques, including:

• Investing in relationships before there is a problem
• Working with workplace buddies to monitor your own behavior
• Improving manners with everyone, including children

Issues will include the importance of following up on success, the use of positive reinforcement, ethical politics in institutions and communities, taking responsibility for problems, moving past "bad" histories and creating successes for yourself and others.

Trainer: Pat Wagner, Pattern Research
Date: Thursday, April 17
TIme: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN Headquarters
2233 Park Avenue, Suite 402
Orange Park, FL 32073

Register Today

FLA and NEFLIN Changes

The Florida Library Association (FLA) has announced two important decisions that affect the future of their organization. They have hired Faye Roberts as the new Executive Director and they are moving into their own office space. Since FLA will have its own office and staff, NEFLIN will no longer manage the financial and membership operations of FLA.

I appreciate the confidence that the FLA Board had in NEFLIN when they hired us to help them transition from their former management company. A lot of good work has been done these past 18 months and I believe FLA and NEFLIN are both better for the time spent together.

I am also pleased that Faye Roberts has accepted the position of FLA Executive Director. Faye was the long time director of a NEFLIN member library (Columbia County Public) and has served on the NEFLIN Board. She will be able to step right in thanks to the solid foundation that her predecessor, Ruth O’Donnell, has laid. The future for both NEFLIN and FLA looks bright.

Tiki Wins!

Congratulations to Suwannee River Regional Library! They are the Grand Prize winners in Demco's "You and Your Booktruck" contest and will receive a $245 DEMCO book cart and a $200 DEMCO gift certificate.

Sherry thanks all those who voted for them. You can stop by Live Oak and see the cart if you happen to be driving through.

In other book cart news..... Don't miss the Book Cart Drill Team Competition on Thursday, April 24th from 10:30am - 12:00n at the FLA Conference in St. Pete Beach. Trophies will be awarded for best costumes, best decorated carts, and the WOW factor.

10,000 FREE Surveys

Are you planning for a new service? Do you need to poll your library users, staff or decision makers? Would you like something a little more high-tech then paper and pencil? Do you want to be able to easily manipulate the data you collect?

Don't guess the answers to your critical questions - when feedback really counts, use NEFLIN's web-based survey solution.

Because we love our members, NEFLIN is offering 10,000 free surveys between now and May 1, 2008. TouchPoll Web is a web-based survey program that is an easy way to collect feedback from patrons, students or staff. It is 100% customizable to what you need to learn. NEFLIN does all the programming for you and sends you the tabulated results of the completed surveys.

Use branching (skip logic) to ask different questions based on a response to a previous question.

• Locations within a single library might want specific issues addressed (users of library location 1 get different questions then users of library location 2)
• Different groups of patrons (teachers, administrators, students or children, adults, seniors, or users and non-users) can provide feedback on different topics

Choose from a variety of question types to best suit your needs.

• Single choice (radio buttons or drop downs)
• Multiple Choice check box
• Rank order drop downs
• Open-ended one or more lines (text or numeric)
• Open-ended text area
• Matrix rating scale (radio buttons or drop down)
• Automatic sum (numeric or percentage)

Contact Stephanie to learn more about this service and take advantage of this great offer.

Writing for the Web - Recap

I had a great experience at a NEFLIN workshop recently, and since all the workshop materials are available online here is a recap with links to a few things.

Karen Schneider, Librarian/Author/Blogger/GreatGal, taught Writing for the Web. It was a nice mix between how to write for online publications (websites, blogs, etc) and a creative writing class.

About two weeks before the class I received an e-mail, as did all registered attendees. It informed me that a “wiki” had been created for this workshop. I clicked the link in the e-mail and went to the wiki. Here I found the Syllabus for the class and handouts.

I spent 20 minutes or so looking over the materials and getting a sense of what we would cover in the workshop. Karen also gave us a link to her recommended writing websites via del.icio.us (there went another 20 minutes).

Then came the day of the class!

I sat expectantly with my 20 or so fellow students as we began the day with only the briefest introduction to Karen and her material. We immediately pressed the pedal to the floor and didn’t seem to stop until the class filed out around 4pm.

Things to Consider
1. How could you make use of a wiki in your own world? This was a great tool for engaging the whole class before, during and after training. Visit the wiki and look over the Syllabus.

2. Each member of the class had a “Class Page” on the wiki, and a laptop. This Class Page could be edited by only one student, but could be viewed by everyone. Each student did some writing and then we viewed their Class Page on our laptop. Discussion ensued.

How you could use this feature in any collaborative effort when the participants are all in one room (and even when they are not)?

Writing for the Web – Tips
1. Write in the first person (this connects with the reader)

2. Ask questions (can be the title of a post or the first line)

3. Cut paragraphs in half (people need more white space when reading on a PC)

4. Read your writing out loud (more important than you might think).

Thanks for reading!

3/13 Stephanie writing now.... Can I just say how annoyed I am that I didn't attend? I'm sure everyone there was glad I didn't breath my sick germs on them, and I did get to hear Karen at the Solinet User's Group Meeting, but just the same I was really looking forward to this. It's not easy to see the comments so I'm just moving the comment up because I'm pleased that this class is having such an immediate effect. I'll also add a link to Marsha's blog on the NEFLIN 2.0 list.

Hi NEFLIN Folks. I really enjoyed this class! Thanks! I've linked Karen's resources too. We are in the process of adding some blogs to our school sites. Come visit. http://pcsdpd.typepad.com/a_blog_about_blogging/

Marsha Cruce

Let's Talk About It

The ALA Public Programs Office, in collaboration with the Fetzer Institute's Campaign for Love & Forgiveness, is now accepting applications for Let's Talk About It: Love & Forgiveness, a theme-based reading and discussion program. Complete application information, including program guidelines and reading lists, can be found at http://www.ala.org/letstalk. The deadline for applications is July 15.

Let's Talk About It: Love and Forgiveness will follow the well-established ALA reading and discussion series format "Let's Talk About It," using classic and contemporary literature to explore stimulating and relevant themes. Project themes and books were chosen by national project scholar Betty Sue Flowers, Ph.D., director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and former Kelleher professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin.
Following a competitive application process, 30 public libraries will be selected to receive:

• A grant of $2,500, to be used to support program costs and scholar honoraria.
• Program materials, which include introductory literature and essays on each of the themes, selections for additional reading and template promotional materials.
• Training for the library project director at a national workshop, where they will hear from the project scholar, expert librarians and organizers and receive a program planning guide, materials and ideas.

Successful applicants will be notified of their status by the end of August. For more information on Let's Talk About It: Love & Forgiveness, visit http://www.ala.org/letstalk or http://www.loveandforgive.org/.

Let's Talk About It is a reading and book discussion program model launched on a nationwide level for libraries by ALA in 1982. The program model involves reading a common series of books selected by a nationally known scholar, and discussing them in the context of a larger, overarching theme. Reading and discussion groups explore the theme through the lens of the humanities--that is, by relating the readings to historical trends and events, other works of literature, philosophical and ethical considerations. Visit the Let's Talk About It archives.

NEFLIN Attendees List Makes Car Pooling Easy

Would you love to attend more NEFLIN Training but the cost of traveling to workshop locations makes you think twice? Think CAR POOL instead!

Two weeks before the start of a workshop we turn on the Attendees button on the Workshop Summary Page. There you can see who else from your area is coming to a workshop and possibly arrange to travel together.

As you register for workshops remember to check out this feature to see who else is coming to class.

Friday Fun (includes another Librarian movie)

A few fun tidbits for Friday.

Noah Wyle will return as "The Librarian" in the
third installment in this series.

Some of you will remember that Bill Barnes of the library comic strip, Unshelved, was the keynote speaker at a recent NEFLIN Annual Meeting. He has made a very generous offer that you can use any of over two thousand strips at no charge.

The Novelty Curve is self-explanatory. Though it doesn't apply to my Tivo.

Doodle to the Rescue

What can be more difficult than trying to set up a meeting or conference call with a group? I can't make this time, I can only do this, wait...I can't make Tuesday how about Wednesday?

Make this task easy on yourself by using the free service at Doodle. You just create a poll with the dates and times at the top, send an e-mail to those who you want to invite to the meeting, and then watch your poll and see what the group votes for as the best date and time.

Below is a screenshot of what a completed poll looks like:


Fast, easy, and free. Try it the next time you have a meeting or call to schedule. Two thumbs up!

Advocacy Webinar - March 6th

Advocacy and the Modern Librarian:
ALA Resources and Events to Help YOU Go Forth and Advocate

An ALA Speaking Up! Webinar

Thursday, March 6, 2008 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Register

Wondering how to get elected officials to listen to the library message? Well wonder no further! ALA has a wide range of resources available to you to enhance your advocacy efforts -- from templates and online classes to our annual Library Legislative Day, we stand ready to help you build positive relationships with lawmakers. Join us for this session in which we'll provide quick and easy access to ALA's best resources on this topic -- and answer your questions as well!

If you can't watch the program live, according to Ros Reynolds, Government Relations Specialist at ALA, the recording of the program should be available in about a week.

1,000 Page Loads!

WOO HOO!!!

1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000

--

Sometime late last night someone hit the blog for the

1,000 page load since we went live in December!

Quick Reference Guides

Is Office 2007 making you pull your hair out? Are you spending too much time providing one-on-one computer help? Do you find yourself explaining the same keystrokes several times a day? Maybe you need Quick Reference Guides for your frequently used computer applications.

These double-sided, full color guides can be given to staff learning new computer programs, made available near your public workstations, or provided as handouts in your computer classes. Over 70 guides to choose from, including these new titles for 2007:

Excel 2007

Office 2007

Outlook 2007

PowerPoint 2007

Visio 2003

Windows Vista

Word 2007

Appleworks 6

Mac OS X Tiger

Word 2004 for Mac

Review the full list and then contact Patty to receive the PDF files you want.

Blog Post of the Month!

Has it really been another month already? Yes, and time again to give out the award for best "Blog Post of the Month".

The votes are in! The February post that lept to the top was "Solinet and OCLC Potpourri" by Stephanie (and you thought only Brad's posts were eligible!).

Stephanie did a great recap of the Florida Solinet Users Group Meeting in Tallahassee. After reading this post I felt like I had both attended the meeting, and saved $3.00+ a gallon on gas.

Enjoy!

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Last week I had the opportunity to make the fun drive across I-10 to Tallahassee for the Solinet Florida Users Group Meeting. It was definitely worth the trip and hopefully next year we can host this meeting in the NEFLIN region.

The Solinet Update by Robert Aaron, the Senior Library Consultant for Florida, was one of the highlights of the day for me. Some things that might be of interest...

• Solinet is going green - there will be no more print schedule (it's available online)
• SAMM08 - May 8-9 in Atlanta
• the Solinet website has undergone a major revision
• when making purchases - don't forget to check and see if Solinet has negotiated a discount through their Library Products program (some products I thought were interesting - Early Literacy Station a turnkey computer for kids and bLogistics who take your discards and turns them into cash)

Great presentation by Karen Schneider, the Free Range Librarian - We have a blog! Now what? Karen spoke to why blog, what makes a good blog, and she gave some examples of interesting sites which she promised to blog about.... Here are some of the ideas I took away from her presentation...

• You don't need a blog if you know how to connect to your users
• Have a plan before you start - who is your user? where do you link from? who writes it? what do you include? what do you write about? do you need a policy? how will you staff it? what fits for your organization?
• How to keep up with it - evergreen (pile up stuff), plan and calendar posts, communicate that you're taking a break
• What you might include - book reviews, link loads
• What gets people's attention - title as question, recruit good writers (and editors), crazier the title, the higher the spike in readership, readable and engaging
• Libraries using blogs and flickr to document construction
• Some libraries are doing a great job of tagging in del.icio.us

Finally, the OCLC Update by Danny Overstreet provided some interesting info about what's coming from OCLC.

• new logo and brand identity with a complete overhaul of the website
• the newest study from OCLC, Sharing, Privacy & Trust in our Networked World reports that 13% of the public thinks it’s the role of the library to create social networking sites for their communities
• WorldCat Registry is a free Web tool that provides a single location from which any library can manage and distribute data that describes its institutional identity and services
• WorldCat Selection allows for integrated, automated, online selection of materials
• WorldCat Identities which can be reached from "About the Author" links beneath the Details tab of an item record, presents a profile of a particular person or company based on bibliographic information and associations stored in WorldCat.
• Add library materials to your social bookmarks at sites such as Digg, Del.icio.us and Facebook using the AddThis widget available on item record pages
• WorldCat Local is coming....

Interested in learning more about the services available from Solinet?

• Check out the Florida User Group website
• Attend SAMM08 - The Transformed Library - May 8-9 in Atlanta (Keynote by Michael Stephens and closing by Karen Schneider)
• Read Check It Out! A SOLINET Blog for Informed Members

-- Stephanie Race

Training in Your Library

If you're looking for professional development opportunities, you might want to consider trying a webinar in March. There are some great free online sessions available and you won't have to make a stop at the gas pump.

Start by checking the NEFLIN schedule. Many of you are already viewing the SLA and DuPage programs but Patty has added a whole new series of Solinet Live Online classes that are free to NEFLIN members (if you registered for the 20 Questions series through Solinet it would cost you $120 for each session). The easiest way to see everything on our schedule is to go to the Complete List of Workshops and then sort by Workshop Location = Desktop.

WebJunction does free one hour webinars on a variety of topics. They host regularly scheduled sessions for the rural library sustainablity and Spanish language outreach program and then add various other topics during the month. I'm a fan of their Calendar of Events - let's me look at what's offered each month and then follow the links to full descriptions if I'm interested. You don't have to register for these programs but sometimes if you do you're eligible for a prize ;-)

• Board Challenges & Successes: Rural In Focus program, Thursday, March 6th at 2pm
• Strategies for the Health Reference Interview: Spanish Outreach In Depth program, Tuesday, March 11th at 1pm

SirsiDynix Institute also offers free one hour webinars. The next program, Mastering the Business Case Document, will air Wednesday, March 12th from 11a-12noon. Bad title but the description makes it sound like an interesting program. ... Ulla de Stricker noticed how difficult it can be for information professionals to construct compelling business cases - largely due to the fact that proposals in the information and library arena often deal with "soft" benefits and impossible-to-prove returns on investment. So she wrote a book to help with the challenge....
Space in these programs is limited so you do need to register to receive log-in information.

I'm also a fan of the OfficeDepot WebCafe. I've only listened to the archives of their programs and can't actually find anything more current then October 2007 but the topics are interesting.

If you know of a source of webinars that we aren't tapping into, please let us know and we'll make every effort to share it with the membership.