What's New @ NEFLIN?

As we begin a new year and respond to the changes in our funding for 2008-09 and your needs, NEFLIN members can expect to see differences beginning Wednesday, October 1.

New services

• An expanded equipment loan program that now includes gaming equipment and projection screens to go with the touch screen survey workstation, LCD projectors, table top display and overhead projectors that have been available
• Unlimited use of the online survey tool and touch screen survey workstation
• New virtual training through LE@D – over 30 courses
• New web conferencing service for members to use with customers or staff

New Projects

• Florida Electronic Library training program will put FEL training in our public libraries and our online classroom
• An E-Government project will assess the needs of our public libraries and provide training
• A regional technology conference will be held in the NEFLIN region in 2009
• 23 Things @ NEFLIN will launch in January 2009

Changes with face-to-face training

• We’ll still provide snacks at the workshops but there might not be as many. We will continue to provide coffee, water, Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite so if you have special beverage needs you might want to bring your own.
• We will no longer provide certificates to everyone who attends a workshop. Upon request certificates of attendance will be emailed to attendees following the completion of the workshop.
• The MARC of Quality training will be available at no charge to all FLIN members in the NEFLIN region.
• Evaluations will be conducted online and will be e-mailed to workshop attendees immediately following a workshop.

To learn more about NEFLIN’s services and projects, I encourage you to attend a Virtual Open House

FLA Regional Friends Workshops

Connecting with Friends - Workshops for Library Supporters

The Florida Library Association has announced the 2008-2009 Regional Workshops. Share the best of what your Friends of the Library group is doing to support library services in your community. Learn from the experience of others. Find out about what the Florida Library Association and the Friends, Foundations and Boards (FF&B) member group can offer your organization. Registration deadline: One week before each event

• Monday, Nov. 3 Columbia County Public Library, 308 NW Columbia Ave., Lake City
• Wednesday, Nov. 5 Largo Public Library, 120 Central Park Dr., Largo
• Thursday, Jan. 15 Broward County North Regional/BCC Library, Bldg. 62 1100 Coconut Creek Blvd., Coconut Creek
• Friday, Jan. 16 Lee County - South County Regional Library, 21100 Three Oaks Parkway, Estero

Registration Information

October Online Training Opportunities

Are you looking for training on your desktop? Here's a look at some programs available in October. Don't forget to check the NEFLIN workshop schedule and remember that many of these programs will be archived and available for viewing at a later date if you miss the program.

NEFLIN's Virtual Open House
Friday, October 3 @ 10am
Tuesday, October 7 @ 1:30pm
Wednesday, October 15 @ 2pm
Tuesday, October 21 @ 10am
Tuesday, October 28 @ 10:30am

How Much Help Should You Provide Laptop Patrons? (MaintainIT Book Club)
Tuesday, September 30 @ 12noon

Gale Product Previews (Florida Electronic Library Resources)
Health & Wellness Resource Center
Friday, October 24 @ 11am
PowerSearch Plus & InfoTrac Collections
Thursday, October 9 @ 3pm
Friday, October 24 @ 10am

Gale Product Training (Florida Electronic Library Resources)
Health & Wellness Resource Center
Tuesday, October 21 @ 1pm
PowerSearch 2.0
Thursday, October 2 @ 12noon
Friday, October 17 @ 11am

Dumbest Younger Generation or Clueless Older Educators: What Librarians Can Do To Promote Student Excellence (The Blended Librarian)
Thursday, October 2 @ 3pm

Visual Design: Theory & Best Practices for Library Websites (A WebJunction Community Webinar)
Tuesday, October 7 @ 2pm

Using MaintainIT Resources for Technology Training (MaintainIT)
Wednesday, October 8 @ 11am

Goals & Strategic Plans (A WebJunction Rural and Small Libraries Program)
Thursday, October 9 @ 2pm

Latinos and Public Library Perception (A WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach Program)
Tuesday, October 14 @ 1pm

Conflict in a Peaceful Library (A WebJunction Community Webinar)
Wednesday, October 15 @ 2pm
featuring Andrew Sanderbeck

Get Your Game On: Quick Tips to Start a Gaming Program in Your Library (MaintainIT Cookbook Webinar)
Thursday, October 16 @ 2pm

Refugees 101 (A WebJunction Community Webinar)
Thursday, October 23 @ 2pm

Return on your NEFLIN Investment

At the NEFLIN Annual Meeting we provided information on the libraries that received the best ROI (Return on Investment) for the past year. Here are the top results in each category.

Total ROI:

• St. Johns County Public Libraries. $56,045
• Suwannee River Regional Libraries. $54,412
• Jacksonville Public Libraries. $52,748
• Alachua County Library District. $52,679
• Clay County Public Libraries. $38,939

ROI by Number of Staff (FTE):

• Episcopal High School. $3,269 (2 FTE!)
• Levy County Public Library. $2,575
• Bradford County Public Library. $2,465
• Union County Public Library. $1,851
• New River Public Library Cooperative. $1,844
• Lake City Community College. $1,725

The average ROI for a member library this year was $9,524 which is over 10 times what a library pays in membership dues!

Each member library receives a personalized ROI report for their library at the Annual Meeting. If you would like a copy please contact me. You can also view a sample ROI Report.

Teens, Video Games, and Civics

Pew Internet and American Life released a new study which shows that nearly all (97%) American teens play computer, console, or cell phone games, and that they allow for significant social interaction and civic engagement. This is the first national study of this kind and included a survey of 1,102 teens aged 12-17. Key findings include:

• Fully 97% of teens ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable, or console games.
• 50% of teens played games “yesterday.”
• 86% of teens play on a console like the Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii.
• 73% play games on a desktop or a laptop computer.
• 60% use a portable gaming device like a Sony PlayStation Portable, a Nintendo DS, or a Game Boy.
• 48% use a cell phone or handheld organizer to play games.
• 65% of game-playing teens play with other people who are in the room with them.
• 27% play games with people who they connect with through the internet.
• 82% play games alone, although 71% of this group also plays with others.
• 47% of teens play online games with people they know in their offline lives.

If you're wondering why your library might want to try a gaming event, this is an interesting read.

Communicating with IT folks

I read a great article in Computers in Libraries this weekend by Lisa Ennis a Systems Librarian at University of Alabama-Birmingham. It's about the different languages library folks and IT folks speaks and offers some solutions. Ennis cites Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion and then provides 10 tips for communicating more effectively with IT folks. They seem so simple but really could make life easier.

1. Is everything plugged in and is the power on?
2. Make sure ALL the cables are properly seated.
3. Try rebooting.
4. Write down the error or problem as exactly and with as much detail as you can.
5. Keep things clean.
6. Install software responsibly.
7. Learn some basic terminology.
8. Realize that sometimes the technology doesn't do what you want it to do.
9. BACK UP YOUR DATA!
10. Follow the golden rule and be nice.

The complete article, Talking the Talk: Communicating with IT, is in the September issue of Computers in Libraries.

Other resources she sites (and one from me) -

• Tech Tips for Every Librarian column in Computers in Libraries
• Peachpit Press (http://www.peachpit.com) QuickStart and QuickPro guides on all sorts of topics
• HowStuffWorks (http://computer.howstuffworks.com)
• WebJunction (http://www.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=325)
  
• CNET Network (http://www.cnet.com)
• MaintainIT - Communicating with Techies and Non-Techies
  

Resource Sharing at Its Finest

I'm a big fan of recycling. So I was really excited when we learned that Clay County had a Teacher Supply Depot. After a little investigating I made a connection with Stephanie Helm who is Co-Chair of the Depot and a 5th grade Science teacher at Doctors Inlet Elementary in Middleburg. This morning I went out and volunteered so I could see what it was really all about.

I'm familiar with the Resource Depot concept. There's one in Palm Beach County that my parents 'shop' at for my missionary sister and that we've been sending stuff to for quite some time. I've always wished there was one closer to home.

This one is in Green Cove Springs in what I think is an old high school. They collect new and reusable items that can be used by classroom teachers. The place was full of all kinds of great craft stuff, office supplies, books, pretty much anything.

If you want to see photos, check them out on flickr or watch the video on YouTube. If you want to arrange a donation, you can call 264-5866 and leave a message. If you work for Clay County Schools I'm guessing you already know about this treasure trove. If you're in another county I encourage you to see if your county has a Depot.

Another Possible Use for NEFLIN's Equipment

The LibrarianInBlack blogged about Stephen Francoeur idea for mini-workshops at the reference desk. Short little 10 minute sessions on the hot topic of the day during busy times in the reference department. Seemed like a great idea, especially in academic libraries during the beginning of a semester when students have the same question over and over and over. If you think you want to try it, consider borrowing one of NEFLIN's projectors and screens and see what happens.

Columbia County Spelling Bee Teams include NEFLIN Members

The Columbia County Public Library Literacy Program held a spelling bee fund raiser at the Lake City Mall on Thursday evening, September 18th.

Sixteen teams of three persons each competed, and the winning team was the Altrusa Club of Lake City. Faye Roberts, Executive Director of the Florida Library Association (pictured, second from right), was on the winning team. Lake City Community College and the Columbia County Public Library both fielded teams with support from local sponsors, and both teams did well in the competition. Congratulations to Faye and Altrusa!

Thank you to guest blogger Jim Morris of Lake City Community College for this post.

Give yourself permission to PLAY

That's what I heard from Helene Blowers last week. She encouraged everyone who isn't currently reading blogs regularly to start with five....

LibrarianInBlack - http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/
resources and discussions for the "tech-librarians-by-default" among us...
Life Hacker - http://lifehacker.com/
tips and downloads for getting things done
LibraryStream - http://librarystream.wordpress.com/
Watching the flow of the participatory library.
Wired - http://blog.wired.com/
Learning 2.1 - http://explorediscoverplay.blogspot.com
created to support on-going discovery and learning of web 2.0 technologies as an extension of the Learning 2.0 program.

And I'll add a sixth - but since you're reading this you've already gotten it ;-)

Member Shout Outs

One of my favorite parts of the day at the Annual Meeting is when we turn the microphone over to the members to hear about what great things are happening in your libraries. Here are just some of the neat things we learned on Friday....

North Florida Community College opened the Starbooks Patio, an area outside the library that provides students wi-fi access 24/7. It is a 'annex' to their Starbooks Internet Cafe.

The OverDrive Digital Bookmobile will be at the Arts Festival in Gainesville on November 8-9 to help the Alachua County Library District promote their downloadable e-books and audiobooks.

On October 9th, the Columbia County Public Library will begin a year long celebration leading up to their 50th Anniversary. The Library has seen an incredible increase in circulation and programming and anticipates a continual rise.

Union County Public Library broke ground on a new library building. Watch it grow.

Funds have been approved and an architect selected for the new library at Lake City Community College. They hope to begin construction early in 2009. Oh, their library director married our continuing education coordinator.

College of DuPage schedule of programs

Funded by LSTA through the State Library and Archives of Florida, NEFLIN is pleased to bring you the 2008-09 College of DuPage programs:

Reversing the Ratchet: Basic Technology Adoption Strategies for Library Workers
Friday, November 7, 2008, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Are you feeling more pressure in your library to keep up with the latest technologies?
Library workers must constantly learn the latest techno-tweaks to their familiar information systems, but they also face ongoing tension from the expectation that every new technology must be applied to enhance library services. In a technology landscape where gadgets, gizmos, software and Web 2.0 innovations hit us at an ever accelerating pace, how do we successfully manage technology adoption in our libraries?

This Soaring to Excellence presentation addresses the challenge of the technology ratchet and how to keep it from tightening its grip on library workers. Steven Bell will share ideas and techniques for regaining control over library technology with an exploration of better ways to identify, adopt and leverage the technologies that make sense for us and that create a better library user experience for our communities. With the right attitude and approach every library worker can develop a personal professional development strategy for keeping pace with the technology curve. Program Overview
Speaker: Steven Bell, Temple University

Information Literacy for Life
Friday, November 21, 2008, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Alex Hodges, Instruction Coordinator at American University in Washington, and other experts will explore how school librarians, public librarians, and academic librarians can collaborate to create comprehensive information literacy programs that span a user’s lifetime. You’ll get the foundation for starting a local dialogue based on national principles.
Virtual Trainer: Alex Hodges, American University


Targeting the Ages: Programming that Hits the Mark
Friday, February 13, 2009, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Any library, whether it is school, public, academic, or special, is many things to the community it serves. A library offers the information patrons need to improve their quality of life. A library provides open access to technology and the world of online information, as well as guidance on navigating that world. A library also gives their community something that is less tangible, yet just as essential to improving their patrons' lives: nourishment not just for the mind, but the spirit as well.

How do libraries do that? Through the programming opportunities they create. In this program we will look at some of the innovative programming libraries today are creating to meet the evolving needs of their patrons. We will also provide a basic primer for anyone who has always wanted to plan a program, but didn't know where or how to begin. Program Overview

Speaker: Kelly Watson.

Diversity Beyond the Obvious
Friday, April 3, 2009, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Karen E. Downing, Foundation & Grants Librarian & Doctorial Candidate at the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan and other experts will discuss how diversity in all its manifestations can make the library profession stronger and more vital. Our panel will investigate and discuss the following questions: How can we create inclusive library environments in which all types of learners and types of people feel a part? How do we foster an environment within our profession to include representatives of all of our constituencies?

An Ounce of Prevention: Health Reference Basics
Thursday, April 16, 2009, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Rising health care costs, economic instability, and the proactive nature of today's society are contributing to more and more individuals seeking out health information online and in print. Are you and your library ready to meet the diverse needs of these health information seekers? Are you effectively marketing your health-related services and resources?
This program will emphasize quality print and electronic resources as well as the roles and responsibilities of patients, library information professionals and health care professionals in the information seeking process. Join us in exploring various aspects of the health reference experience including the need to respect patient privacy, how to accommodate the cultural diversity of our clientele, matching the right types of resources to specific clients, and ways to successfully navigate tricky health reference situations. We'll also look at ways to promote the health resources and services that you have to offer.

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NEFLIN members can borrow all the previous College of DuPage programs on DVD and/or VHS from the Multimedia Lending Library. Search by Vendor using "DuPage" as the Search Term for a list of the titles.

Death by PowerPoint

Just read/watched a great post on the Slide Share blog about how to use Power Point more effectively. David Yewman is a presentation coach (sounds like a fun job) and offers five tips for a better presentation. Take a look.

NEFLIN Members Take Top Awards

The Gale/Library Media Connection TEAMS Award recognizes and encourages the critical collaboration between the teacher and media specialist to promote learning and increase student achievement. Winners received $2,500; $500 worth of Gale products, a one-year subscription to Library Media Connection; and Educator's Professional Bookshelf from Linworth Publishing.

Congratulations to Brooks Spencer from Osceola Middle School in Ocala and Carol Faas from Eastside High School in Gainesville! They received the 2008 Gale/Library Media Connection TEAMS Award.

NEFLIN members took two of the top three awards and four of the eight Honorable Mention schools were from Florida.

Leadership Interest Group: Lessons from the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute

Since 2004, the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute has been preparing tomorrow's library leaders. This informal discussion will be a reflection on what has been gained from the experiences and how participants have benefited both professionally and personally. Everyone is invited to attend, including:

• Leadership Institute Alumni
• Current participants
• Mentors
• Anyone interested in leadership issues

Date: Wednesday, October 29
Time: 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park
Register Today

Library Funding Concerns? Here's Help

Two upcoming NEFLIN workshops will offer help on dealing with the library funding puzzle:

Library Fundraising: Creating New Streams of Revenue for Your Library

The uncertain economic times of today and tomorrow are bringing cuts in funding for libraries while library usage numbers continue to grow.If you had a road map with specific driving instructions to new passive and active revenues for your library, would you use it? This workshop teaches library management and administration the how-to's of creating revenue streams that other non-profit business have been using for years. Participants will learn how to:

• Involve their Friends Group, Foundations and other library supporting groups in their fundraising efforts
• Choose the programs that are best for their particular library
• Get the staff involved in the fundraising effort
• Create a website for fundraising purposes for your library or library supporting group
• Use the most overlooked revenue resource available to any organization, your patrons, to generate consistent streams of revenue
• Join and create Community Partnerships - just one of these programs generated thousands of dollars in revenue for a non-profit in 2007
• Incorporate Corporate Giving Programs into your library's fundraising plan as a way for others to give to your library

Trainer: Andrew Sanderbeck, People Connect Institute
Date: Thursday, October 9
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park
Register today

Grants and Proposal Writing

Designed for beginning grant proposal writers, this class presents a general overview of the grant and funding processes as well as the level of detail required in a successful proposal. Each component of the grant writing process will be addressed, including: documenting the need; identifying the target population; writing measurable objectives; developing a work plan, an evaluation plan and dissemination plan.

Trainer: Sheila Snow-Croft, National Network of Libraries of Medicine
Date: Thursday, October 16
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park
Register today

Pop-Up, Spin, Pull, Fold: Toy Books from the Baldwin Collection

You are invited to attend a special event at the University of Florida, Library East that will highlight a special exhibit from the Baldwin Collection of Historical Children's Literature collection and include a one hour hands-on workshop on making paper construction and pop-ups. The schedule includes:

• Dedication of Historical Marker in Courtyard outside Library East
• Lecture Presentation on "How to Build a Castle: Contemporary Pop-up Book Production with a Look at the Past" by Paper Engineer Kyle Olmon
• Reception at Library East, 2nd Floor Lobby Exhibit Area
• One-hour Hands-on Workshop with Kyle Olmon on "How to Make Pop-up Books." Kyle will guide the participants through the construction of a single spread pop-up that references the presentation he gives beforehand. Attendees will cut, fold and glue a full working dimensional mechanism and get a chance to show off their inner paper engineer.

Please bring white craft glue, scissors and markers/pens/drawing implements. Seating is limited. Free to NEFLIN members.

Host: Rita Smith, Curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature
Date: Thursday, October 2
Time: 1:00 - 4:30 pm
Location: University of Florida, Library East, Gainesville
Register today

Training for Media Specialists in October

Two October Events will be of special interest to Media Specialists:

Take a Bite Out of Reading, Writing and Research with the APPLE Research Method

"Information Literacy” is one of those terms you hear about all the time, but what exactly does it mean? How can you work information literacy training into your library media curriculum? The new Florida Sunshine State Standards will include an information literacy component for every grade level in Language Arts, so these questions are going to be increasingly important.
The APPLE Research model was developed in Clay County to help school library media specialists, classroom teachers, and administrators integrate information literacy instruction into any subject area, on any grade level. The object of this training is for teachers and library media specialists to work smarter, not harder in helping students learn to manage the vast overload of information everyone is bombarded with every day. This research model is easy-to-use and incorporates information literacy into every aspect of life, not just school!

Trainer: Angie Sapp, Media Specialist Consultant
Date: Thursday, October 2
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park
Register today

Media Specialists Interest Group

School Library Media Programs make a difference in student achievement. See how St. Johns County School District uses the State of Florida 2003 School Library Study to survey the effectiveness of its individual library media programs. Areas of emphasis are collection, circulation statistics, budget, technology, staffing and collaboration.
Check out the Media Specialists Interest Group Wiki

Trainer: Lou Greco, St. Johns County Schools
Date: Friday, October 24
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 noon
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park
Register today

Hold an Online Program or Training Session

If you were at the Annual Meeting on Friday you heard me talk about our newest service - Web Conferencing. NEFLIN has purchased a subscription to OPAL, a web-conferencing system that will allow NEFLIN and our member libraries to provide web-based programming and training to staff and patrons.

We'll be holding a Virtual Open House in the online classroom to provide members an opportunity to learn more about service provided by NEFLIN and to see the web conferencing service in action. There will be a session each week in October. If your library would like to schedule a private session for your staff during your regular staff meeting, contact Stephanie@neflin.org.

As we prepared to roll out this new service we've been reminded of the many issues involved with presenting, facilitating, or producing a live, online training session or program. If you've participated in a live webinar you know that the really successful trainers make it look easy and seamless.

If you think you would like to use the web conference service at your library we will require that you attend a Moderator Training Session. These sessions will teach the basics of using the software along with providing tips for having a successful event.

You might also consider attending Learn How to Learn Online a FREE one hour introductory course offered by WebJunction on Wednesday, September 24 at 5:00 PM Eastern. The program explores using synchronous collaboration tools (whiteboard, chat, audio, etc), synchronous learning ground rules, and creating the optimal desktop environment for online learning. It is designed for individuals whose job responsibilities or future responsibilities include designing, delivering and promoting synchronous training within their organization.

Blog Post of the Month

Thanks to everyone who voted in our August "Blog Post of the Month" poll.

The winner by one vote was the post "Am I a Prop Comic?". Second place to "Why Should I Learn New Stuff?".

You keep reading, we'll keep writing!

Cleaning house...

I haven't cleaned out my 'to blog' folder for quite some time and it's full and overflowing with things I find interesting....

The Desk and Beyond - ACRL Podcast - College & Research Libraries News editor-in-chief David Free talks with Sarah Steiner and Leslie Madden of Georgia State University, editors of the ACRL publication The Desk and Beyond: Next Generation Reference Services. They are joined by chapter authors Meredith Farkas of Norwich University, Ross LaBaugh of California State University - Fresno, and Jerilyn Veldof of the University of Minnesota to discuss the book along with current and future trends in reference services.

Launched in 2005, the Great Stories CLUB (Connecting Libraries, Underserved teens and Books) is a reading and discussion program designed to reach underserved, troubled teen populations through books that are relevant to their lives. The American Library Association Public Programs Office and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) are now accepting applications for the latest round of Great Stories CLUB grants. All types of libraries (public, school, academic and special) with facilities serving troubled teens are eligible to apply for a Great Stories Club grant. Electronic applications will be accepted through Nov. 14 at http://www.ala.org/greatstories.

Public Computers and 2.0 Tools: How to foster a social computing environment - a 30-minute free MaintainIT webinar on Wednesday, September 17 at 2pm EST. Robin Hastings of Missouri River Regional Library will share the steps her library has taken to foster a 2.0 friendly environment at their library, both for staff and library users. Register in WebJunction's Wimba space

On November 15, 2008, libraries across the country will participate in the largest, simultaneous national video game tournament ever held! Kids will be able to compete against players at other libraries and see their scores in real-time online while playing at their local library.

But gaming in libraries isn’t just about video games. Hasbro is donating a copy of its game Pictureka to every participating library so that we can set a record for the most number of people playing a board game at once!

Why Public Libraries Close - a report on a nationwide study on the impact of public library closures and facility location is now available on WebJunction. Staff interviews and demographics analysis using geographic information systems (GIS) inform impacts on library users and potential markets. Conducted by Christie Koontz at Florida State University and sponsored by OCLC.

And the people played games...

Over 110 members and guests attended NEFLIN's Annual Meeting on Friday, September 12th at the Embassy Suites in Jacksonville.

You can see from the pictures the day was full of fun -

• the Game Room gave attendees a chance to PLAY Guitar Hero on an Xbox, Dance Dance Revolution on a PlayStation 2 and a variety of games on a Wii. Many thanks to our volunteers for encouraging PLAY - Mickey Boyd (MRBCNC), Michael Kucsak (University of North Florida), Michael Schofield (Bradford County Public Library), Josh Webster and Amanda Edwards (Lake City Community College)
• Vickie Lepore (Lake City Community College) and Mary Weatherholt (Union County Public Library) led a great session - Putting Together a Winning Gaming Event.
  
• Helene Blowers spoke to a full house about Transforming Your Library with 23 Things @ NEFLIN. Her slides are available on slideshare.net.
• The NEFLIN staff gave an overview of all the services we offer - it's AMAZING!
• we PLAYed bingo - and Danny Hales (Suwannee River Regional Library), Be Astengo (Alachua County Library District), Julie Davis (FSU MLIS Candidate and St. Johns County Public Library intern), and Suzi Blaze (Alachua County Library District) went home with baskets full of goodies.
  
• the lunch was great
• we gave out prizes to libraries who REALLY use our Continuing Education Program.
• Jacksonville Public Library received the Golden Apple Award for sending the most staff to training
• Putnam County Public Library received the Making the Most of NEFLIN's Continuing Education Award.
  
• And we finished the day with a great presentation by Helene Blowers (that's a whole 'nother post). Her slides for this are also up on slideshare.net.
  

If you missed the meeting and want to

• learn more about what's happening at NEFLIN you should attend a Virtual Open House. These one-hour sessions will provide an overview of NEFLIN services and will be conducted in our new online web conferencing classroom.
• actually HEAR Helene Blowers you can listen to an interview she did with the folks at maintainIT about investing in Library 2.0 technologies to strengthen libraries and communities.
• see a gaming event and learn more about it, watch the blog for an announcement of a new workshop with Vickie Lepore.
  

NEFLIN Annual Survey

NEFLIN is collecting information that will help our services and training programs meet your every need and schedule. Give us an honest picture of your experiences and training needs with NEFLIN. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and will be available through Friday, October 10th.

Link Love

With the NEFLIN Annual Meeting coming up on Friday, I thought I would post a little Link Love now, instead of waiting for the end of the week. (Also, thanks to everyone who is coming to Friday's meeting. Register is closed and we are at capacity. Lots of folks help make this event even more fun!).

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Experience NEFLIN’s web conferencing service and learn a little something new...

Free Programs about Personal Finance and Investing

There is no need to register. If you cannot attend these live online events, they will be recorded and archived.

The series of presentations and discussions will be held in the OPAL Online Auditorium:

Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Smart Investing @ Your Library: Rules of Retirement

Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Smart Investing @ Your Library: Planning Decade by Decade

Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Smart Investing @ Your Library: Risks and Rewards

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How about a Digital Bookmobile?

Library Journal has an article about Overdrive's new digital bookmobile.

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Library 2.0

As we continue our discussions about Library 2.0, Michael Stephens writes on his Tame the Web blog about a new book he is using to teach about these 2.0 things.

Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service is "aimed at helping librarians, administrators, support staff and students to gain a greater understanding of what Library 2.0 is."

I am pleased to see that Michael states "the book has a strong client focus and includes tips for knowing your users and involving them in the planning for and delivery of services". After all, we don't want to use these 2.0 tools for technology's sake.

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I Love My Librarian Award

The award encourages library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community.

Nominations for public librarians run from August 15 through October 1. Nominations for school and academic librarians begin September 2 andcontinue through October 15.

Up to 10 librarians in public, school and academic libraries will be selected each year and each will be honored at a ceremony and reception in New York at TheTimesCenter, hosted by The New York Times. Each winner also will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and a $500 travel stipend to attend the awards reception.

For more information, visit www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.

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...and finally, The Post Office has issued a new Florida stamp as part of their Flags of the Nation series.

New Fall Schedule from NEFLIN

The Fall Workshop Schedule is available now!
Download and print the Workshop Schedule or see the list of workshops to register.

Among the highlights:

For Everyone
Stress Management for Employees and Managers - October 3
Grants and Proposal Writing - October 16
Holiday Resources on the Internet - October 17 in Starke
From Brainstorm to Brochure: Creating More Effective Promotional and Advertising Materials for Your Library - October 27
Library Tour: Division of Plant Industry "Bug" Library - October 28
Putting Library 2.0 to Work in Your Library: November 5 at NEFLIN, November 6 in Gainesville, December 4 in Ocala
PowerPoint 2007 Level 1 - November 5 at New Horizons Gainesville
Unleash Your Creativity and Improve Your Impact: Quick and Easy Ideas for Promoting Your Library on a Shoestring - December 10 n Starke

For Youth Services
Pop-Up, Spin, Pull, Fold: Toy Books from the Baldwin Collection - October 2 in Gainesville
Finding Books for Teen Readers - October 10
Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library - October 14

For Media Specialists
Take a Bite Out of Reading, Writing and Research with the APPLE Research Method - October 2
Media Specialists Interest Group - October 24

For Administration
Library Fundraising: Creating New Streams of Revenue for Your Library - October 9
Telling Your Library's Story in the News Media - November 18
Records Management Update - December 9
Records Management: E-mail - December 9
Volunteers Bring Value: Evaluating Your Volunteer Program - December 11
Volunteers Bring Value: Selling Your Library - December 11
The Art of Supervising People in an Ever-Changing World - December 16

Interest Groups
Leadership Interest Group: Lessons from the Leadership Institute: October 29
Media Specialists Interest Group - October 24
Library Technologies Interest Group - November 10
Reference Interest Group: Resurrecting Reference - November 14
Resource Sharing Interest Group - November 20

Technical Services
Administration and Statistics in WorldCat Resource Sharing: LIVE ONLINE - November 20
Book Blitz I - December 2 - 5

Virtual Training
Tough Questions, Good Answers: SLA Webinar - October 3 - 31
Twelve Tips for the One-Person Library: SLA Webinar - November 4 - December 2
Technology Troubleshooting and Customer Service Made Simple: SLA Webinar - November 19 - December 17
Designing Learning Spaces for Your Library: LIVE ONLINE - October 21
Using WorldCat on the Web: WordCat.org: LIVE ONLINE - November 6 or December 11
Cataloging for Non-Catalogers: LIVE ONLINE - November 13
Administration and Statistics in WorldCat Resource Sharing: LIVE ONLINE - November 20

NEFLIN's Web Conferencing
NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Moderator Training - October 8, October 30, November 12
Experience a Virtual Open House at NEFLIN (Registration not required)
October 3, October 7, October 15, October 21, October 28

College of DuPage
Reversing the Ratchet: Basic Technology Adoption Strategies for Library Workers - November 7
Information Literacy for Life - November 21

Any questions? Contact patty@neflin.org

Grants and Proposal Writing - New Date

Designed for beginning grant proposal writers, this class presents a general overview of the grant and funding processes as well as the level of detail required in a successful proposal. Each component of the grant writing process will be addressed, including: documenting the need; identifying the target population; writing measurable objectives; developing a work plan, an evaluation plan and dissemination plan.

Trainer: Sheila Snow-Croft, National Network of Libraries of Medicine

New Date: Thursday, October 16
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park

Register today

September Online Training Opportunities

Are you looking for training on your desktop? Here's a look at some programs available in September. Don't forget to check the NEFLIN workshop schedule and remember that many of these programs will be archived and available for viewing at a later date if you miss the program.

Gale Product Previews (Florida Electronic Library Resources)
Health & Wellness Resource Center
Tuesday, September 9 @ 1pm
Friday, September 26 @ 11am
PowerSearch Plus & InfoTrac Collections
Tuesday, September 9 @ 2pm
Thursday, September 25 @ 11am

Gale Product Training (Florida Electronic Library Resources)
Health & Wellness Resource Center
Wednesday, September 24 @ 11am
PowerSearch 2.0
Thursday, September 4 @ 3pm
Friday, September 19 @ 2pm

Learn How to Learn Online (WebJunction)
Tuesday, September 9 @ 1pm
Wednesday, September 24 @ 5pm
NOTE from Stephanie - this would be a great session if you're considering using NEFLIN's new Web Conferencing Service to offer training, meetings or programing.

Using MaintainIT Resources for Technology Training (MaintainIT)
Wednesday, September 10 @ 2pm

Maintaining Public Computers: A Webinar for Florida Libraries (MaintainIT)
Thursday, September 11 @ 3pm

Conflict in a Peaceful Library
Tuesday, September 16 @ 12noon

Public Computers and 2.0 Tools (MaintainIT Cookbook Webinar)
Wednesday, September 17 @ 2pm

A Casual Conversation with Michael Stephens (an OPAL presentation)
Friday, September 19 @ 2pm

Introduction to New TechAtlas Planning Tools
Tuesday, September 23 @ 1pm

Teaching the Redesigned (new) Naturalization Test
Thursday, September 25 @ 2pm

How Much Help Should You Provide Laptop Patrons? (MaintainIT Book Club)
Tuesday, September 30 @ 12noon

Goals & Strategic Plans (A WebJunction Rural and Small Libraries Program)
Thursday, October 9 @ 2pm

Latinos and Public Library Perception (A WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach Program)
Tuesday, October 14 @ 1pm

50 and Counting

We have just added our 50th company to NEFLIN's
Vendor Discount Program.

Check out the Global Road Warrior and World Trade Ref databases offered by World Trade Press.

Vote Early and Vote Often

We had a hard time coming up with the August
Blog Post of the Month. There was a lot to like (or so we think!). How about voting and letting us know what your favorite post was last month?

At the top right of the blog is a poll that allows you to select your fav post from among these nominees. We will leave the poll up for two weeks. May the best post win!

• Am I a Prop Comic?
• Better Safe Than Sorry
• Communicating with Techies & Non-Techies
• Cool Programs at Member Libraries
• Helping the OPAC *Not* Suck
• National Voter Registration Act
• The Spot - Alachua Teen Room
• Welcome to the Next WebJunction
• Why Should I Learn New Stuff?