NEFLIN Blog goes on Holiday

Well another year is coming to a close, and the NEFLIN Blog is going on Holiday. We will be back in 2009 with more great content.

Until then, here are a few best of 2008 year-end lists:

Most Searched Items on Google in 2008

Time's Top 10 Everything of 2008 (Warning: Serious Time Sucker!)

AFI's 10 Best Films of 2008

LifeHacker's 20 Top 10's of 2008

I'm headed off for two weeks of vacation and wanted to wish everyone a wonderful holiday. See you in the new year.

Stephanie

Learn to make one of these tiny tags during 23 Things @ NEFLIN, beginning January 12, 2009.

Book Repair classes from NEFLIN

DEMCO representative Deb Urschlitz will present a practical, hands-on Book Repair seminar where participants learn and practice basic repairs for both hard and softbound books. Emphasis is placed on becoming familiar with techniques and materials for economical in-house repair of materials that must be available for frequent use. Additionally, protective measures, which will extend the life of new materials, will be demonstrated and discussed. This workshop is useful for anyone involved in repair of library materials and participants will gain skills that can be shared with other staff or volunteers. All attendees will receive a supply kit. Two sessions available.

Date: Monday, January 26
Time: 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: Tower Road Library, Gainesville
Or
Date: Tuesday, January 27
Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 noon
Location: NEFLIN

Register today

Bonus: Stay for "How to Create Inviting Spaces in Your Library", Tuesday, January 27 from 1:00 - 4:00 pm at NEFLIN. Register here.

No Delivery Dec 22 - Jan 2

Don't forget there will be no Statewide Courier Delivery from December 22 through January 2. Delivery drivers will not be picking up or delivering any orange bags during this time. If you have any questions, please contact (800) 622-8252 or deliver@tblc.org.

NEFLIN Winter Class Schedule

The Winter Workshop Schedule (January-February-March) is online - download and print the Workshop Schedule or see the list of workshops to register.

Among the highlights:

For Everyone:
Putting Library 2.0 to Work in Your Library - January 16 in Ocala
Book Repair with DEMCO - January 26 in Gainesville or January 27 at NEFLIN
How to Create Inviting Spaces in Your Library - January 27
New Models of Customer Service - February 3
Web 2.0 and Library 2.0: Collaboration and Participation - February 6
Becoming a Library and Information Professional: All About Graduate School
February 9 in Gainesville
February 10 at NEFLIN

Publisher 2003 Level 1 - February 19
Presentation Skills: Be Amusing and Other Myths - February 25
Best Practices in Information Literacy - February 27 in Gainesville
Word 2003 Level 1 - March 10
Copyright Law in the Digital Age - March 27

For Youth Services:
Finding Books for Teen Readers - January 8
Storytelling for Library and Media Center Staff - January 28 in Ocala
Teen Services Boot Camp: For Newly Enlisted Teen Librarians - February 26

For Administration:
Telling Your Library’s Story in the News Media - March 4
Building Staff Success with Mentors and Mentorship Programs - March 6 in Starke
"I’m Here for the Interview...": Hire the Best by Improving Your Interviewing Skills - March 24

Virtual Training:
Social Networking Tools Inside the Organization: SLA Webinar - January 6 - February 2
How to be an Effective Meeting Facilitator: SLA Webinar - January 21 - February 17
Promoting Library 2.0 Services Using Blogs and RSS - Live Online - January 22 - 23
Best Practices for Setting Up Wikis: SLA Webinar - February 18 - March 18
Virtual Tour of UF Digital Collections - February 19 via NEFLIN Web Conferencing
Web 2.0: Social Software Applications for Libraries - LIVE Online -February 25 - 26
The Year in Web Searching: News, Updates and Changes at Google,Yahoo!, Live Search and More: SLA Webinar - March 3 - 30
Making the Most of Social Bookmarking in Your Library: Live ONLINE - March 5
Podcasting for Libraries: Live ONLINE - March 19

Interest Groups:
Media Specialists Interest Group - January 16
Disaster Planning Interest Group - February 5
Library School Interest Group - February 10
Library Programming Interest Group - February 20 in Starke
Library Technologies Interest Group - February 23 via NEFLIN Web Conferencing
Bookmobile and Outreach Interest Group - March 30

For Technical Services:
AACR2 and MARC for Print Serials - February 12 - 13
Book Blitz II - March 16 - 17
Library Collection Analysis Using Excel - March 23

NEFLIN's Web Conferencing
NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Moderator Training - January 29, February 24, March 26
Experience a Virtual Open House at NEFLIN (Registration not required)
January 22, February 12, March 20

College of DuPage
Targeting the Ages: Programming that Hits the Mark - February 13


See all NEFLIN has to offer at www.neflin.org

Best Careers for 2009: Librarian

The latest U.S News and World Report lists the 30 best careers in 2009, which includes Librarian.

I link to where I read the article on Stephen Abram's blog. Read Stephen's blog post about this before heading over the U.S News. His "stay positive" message is appreciated.

I Love My Librarian Award

Iona Malanchuk is 1 of 10 national recipients of the I Love My Librarian Award, sponsored by the New York Times.

Iona is the Head of the Education Library at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Congratulations Iona!

Link Love

Let's start off with a great computer tip that I have used dozens of times in the past week!

“Tired of Clicking Over and Over on your Address Bar Trying to Highlight the Whole URL?”

Press F6 or CTRL+L. (Thanks LibraryStuff.net)

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Web 2.0 Services for Smaller, Underfunded Libraries

The Librarian in Black recently gave this presentation, available as a PDF.

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KidZui Brings its Child-Safe Browser to Firefox

Readers of this blog know of my affinity for the Firefox browser. Here is another reason to use it.

"Once installed [as a Firefox extension] and activated by a parent, it locks the child (or anyone else for that matter) out of accessing non-Kidzui approved sites, or other areas of the computer, by taking up the entire screen. A password, which is chosen by the parent, is the only way to exit the KidZui browsing experience, essentially turning your computer into a kid-friendly Internet kiosk."

Check it out!

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Magazines have been added to Google Book Search

From the official Google blog:

"You can search for magazines through Google Book Search. Try queries like [obama keynote convention], [hollywood brat pack] or [world's most challenging crossword] and you'll find magazine articles alongside books results. Magazine articles are tagged with the keyword "Magazine" on the search snippet.

Over time, as we scan more articles, you'll see more and more magazines appear in Google Book Search results. Eventually, we'll also begin blending magazine results into our main Google.com search results, so you may begin finding magazines you didn't even know you were looking for."

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My two favorite TV shows debut in January... Lost and 24.

The season seven premiere of "24" is Sunday, January 11. Wet your appetite with the Season 7 Trailer

The season five premiere of "Lost" is Wednesday, January 21. Season Five Trailer

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Unshelved's Pimp My Bookcart Contest has a Winner

You can look at the winning entries, but here are two photos of the First Prize bookcart. Mmmm, I'm getting hungry.

E-Rate Workbook

For those who did not attend one of the statewide E-Rate workshops this fall, or would like to have the Workbook that was provided in electronic form...here you go.

(Before you click the link be aware that the Workbook is a large PDF containing about 250 pages.)

Link to E-Rate Workbook

For questions about the E-Rate, please contact Dan Lhotka at the State Library.

"Information Literacy for Life" Archived Replay Available

The streaming video replay for the College of DuPage program "Information Literacy for Life" which first aired on November 21 is now available here.

Alex Hodges, Instruction Coordinator at American University in Washington, and other experts 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. The program is 90 minutes long.

See links to many other available College of DuPage program replays here.

And don't forget that NEFLIN also has many of these programs on DVD and VHS for our members to borrow through the Multimedia Lending Library. Search by Vendor using "DuPage" as the Search Term for a list of the titles.

Congrats Harold George

Harold George of the St. Johns County Public Library System was recognized by the St. Augustine Record as one of eight members of the community who "enrich the lives of people around them through their good deeds."

32 Days until 23 Things @ NEFLIN Launches

Are you ready?

The 23 Things @ NEFLIN program will provide NEFLIN members an opportunity to jump into the 2.0 world and experiment and learn about the new and emerging technologies that are changing how information is used and created on the Internet today. We will include many Web 2.0 tools in this program, including Blogger, Flickr, YouTube, and PBWiki - which we learned as we went. We want you to share your ideas on how these tools can be used in your libraries.

Registration begins Monday, January 12, 2009 and is open to all staff at NEFLIN member libraries. Everyone who registers by Monday, February 16, 2009 and completes all 23 things by April 15, 2009 will receive a prize and be entered to win one of several larger prizes.

We hope you'll come play with us.

The 23 Things @ NEFLIN Program is a modification of the Learning 2.0 Program designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and replicated by more the 250 libraries worldwide.

College of DuPage Replays Available

Replays from many previous College of DuPage Programs are now available to view on your desktop via streaming video. Click on the links below to go to the DuPage access information.

11/21/08 "Information Literacy for Life"
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=3990

11/7/08 "Reversing the Ratchet: Technology Adoption Strategies for Library Workers"
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=3977

5/9/08 "Tools of Engagement: Attracting and Engaging Library Users"
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=1671

4/11/08 "Trends, Fads or Folly"
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=1662

3/7/08 “Library Spaces: Future Needs”
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=1670

2/8/08 “People Watching with a Purpose”
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=1661

10/26/07 “Finding the Trends That Matter: Get Your Environmental Scan On”
http://www.collegeofdupagepress.com/index.php?id=2628

6/1/07 “Copyright in the Digital Age: An Update"
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1788

5/11/07 “The Relevance of Libraries in a Digital Age”
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1864

4/27/07 “Library Education: Facing New Realities”
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1485

4/13/07 “The Best from the Web”
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1192

3/23/07 “Library Transformation: Making It Happen”
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1252

2/9/07 “Next Gen Librarianship: Where Do We Go from Here?”
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1191

10/27/06 “Best New Technologies: Keeping Up with the Storm”
http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=1180

NEFLIN also has many of these programs on DVD and VHS for our members to borrow through the Multimedia Lending Library. Search by Vendor using "DuPage" as the Search Term for a list of the titles.

E-Government Site

The Information Institute at FSU has put together a great website if you are looking for local, state, or federal e-government information.

While the site states it is for public librarians, many of these resources are useful in a variety of settings for a variety of needs.

On a side note, NEFLIN is working with the Alachua County Library District on an E-Government project this year. Expect more news and information you can use as we get into 2009.

Top 10 Library Stories of 2008

American Libraries has put together their annual "Top 10 Library Stories of the Year".

1. Seeking Shelter from the Gathering (fiscal) Storm
2. Politics, Access, & the Presidency
3. Making Gayness Go Away
4. National Conversation on Privacy
5. Library as Lifeline
6. Gaming Goes Mainstream
7. Advocacy Saves Libraries
8. Protecting Our Environment
9. National Library Week
10. Usage Spirals Upward

You can view the current issue online and read more under the article title "Year in Review".

Blog Post of the Month

The November Blog Post of the Month reminds you that training is available at the time and place you need it. This list of Online Training Opportunities that Stephanie has put together details the wide variety of topics available on your desktop.

Don't despair if a webinar has already been provided, because many are archived for later viewing. Check 'em out!

Standardizing Your IT Infrastructure

This seemed like it was going to be over my head when I registered but the ideas were really quite interesting.

Standardizing Your IT Infrastructure is another chapter from the MaintainIT Planning for Success Cookbook being covered by the one-hour webinar. Some of what was covered -

• Standardization that minimizes cost, reduce burden on IT staff, avoid compatibility issues, and improves communication. The more variety you have in hardware and software the harder it is to troubleshoot problems.
• Standardizing hardware makes cloning equipment easier.

Tips for Standardizing

1. Buy in quantity (or buy groups for sections within the library)
• look for state or cooperative purchase discounts
• look for quantity discounts
• considering the Total Cost of Ownership - is it more cost effective to have all the same equipment because of the savings in staff time
  
2. Buy business-class computers
3. Plan ahead
4. Make technology inventories and track your assets
• try TechAtlas (it's free from WebJunction)
  
5. Make purchases centrally
6. Accept donations selectively
• refer to qualified refurbisher or recycler if you can't accept it
• seek donations from a reputable refurbisher
• be sure to get the software
• remember the accessories (keyboard, mouse, monitor)
  
• delete personal information
  
7. Adopt standardization policies
8. Use systems management software suites
• Help IT department handle routine tasks
  
• more cost effective on the larger scale
  

FETC Registration Opens

Educators, administrators , media specialists, and educational-technology experts from around the world are making plans to attend the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) Jan. 21-24, 2009, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Experience more than 200 concurrent sessions, attend nearly 80 Professional Development Workshops and visit the 250,000-square-foot exhibit hall featuring more than 500 companies displaying their products.

For more information on FETC 2009, including registration details and lists of sessions, exhibitors and ticketed workshops, visit www.fetc.org.

LIFE Photo Archive Hosted by Google

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

According to the Google Blog, "Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos."

This collection is definitely worth taking a look at.

Food for Fines

On my last visit to the St. Johns County Public Library in Ponte Vedra I noticed an interesting sign. In lieu of cash, the library was accepting non-perishable food as payment for overdue fines.

Food for Fines allows patrons to bring one sealed non-expired, non-perishable food item to the library in exchange for each $1.00 in overdue fines. All food collected during Food for Fines will be given to the St. Johns County Food Bank for local distribution to those in need.

What an innovative way to encourage patrons to 'pay' their fines while supporting the community.

New Workshop Schedule

The January - March Workshop Schedule is now available online. Space is limited in many of these workshops so register early.

Highlights include:

• Laura Gasaway and Copyright Law in the Digital Age back by popular demand
• A full schedule of Cataloging Workshops
• Book Repair in Orange Park and Gainesville
• A virtual tour of the UF Digital Collections
• Web Conferencing Training - learn to host your own webinar

And there's much, much more...