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 2010 with more great content.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Brad and Patty

20 Questions: Ready Reference - New Class Added

A second Live Online class of "20 Questions: Ready Reference" has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 19 from 10 am - 12 noon.

Register now to get a seat in this popular online class.

LE@D - Self Paced Classes

Do you need training that's convenient for your schedule? Do you have an area of interest that you'd love to know more about?

NEFLIN offers LE@D - Lifelong Education @ Desktop - online continuing education courses through the University of North Texas. These high-quality, Internet-delivered, on demand, self paced CE courses provide on your desktop professional development opportunities to librarians and library staff and they're FREE as part of your NEFLIN membership.

This week's featured course:

Reaching Reluctant Readers

The term reluctant reader refers to young people who can read with some independence, but choose not to. Reluctant readers do not select books from the library easily. They may start many books, but rarely, if ever, finish one. They are not engaged with reading, they do not choose it as a leisure time activity, and they try to avoid it when it is expected of them in school or at home. There are a variety of reasons these students have a negative attitude towards reading and with some form of motivation it is possible to get the student to re-engage with the process of reading. After this tutorial, you will be able to:

• Recognize reluctant readers
• Enhance the library environment so that it welcomes the reluctant reader
• Design programs that engage the reluctant reader, or those who may become reluctant readers
• Design programs that tap teachers' knowledge about reluctant readers
• Know resources that appeal to reluctant readers and professional resources that will offer further suggestions

See the entire list of LE@D courses and instructions on how to register.

Virtual Training Opportunities in January

Staff Development Interest Group

Tuesday, January 12, 10:00 am - 11:30 pm via NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Service

The Staff Development Interest Group welcomes Library Consultant Pat Wagner for an online presentation and discussion on developing and promoting e-learning opportunities with your library staff. Included will be strategies for promoting online learning as a way to provide inexpensive, quality and convenient library workplace training programs. Topics for discussion include:

• How to make online education work on a limited budget
• The advantages of online education
• Upgrading paraprofessional and part-timers’ skills
• What are the pitfalls, and how to avoid them
• Self-directed learning: why even solo librarians need partners

Virtual Facilitator: Pat Wagner, Pattern Research

Stressed Out: Short Term Coping Strategies

Thursday, January 14, 10:00 - 11:00 am via NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Service

Stress Management is the ability to maintain control when situations, people, and events make excessive demands. The key to being able to manage your stress is to incorporate short-term strategies into your daily life that will work for you. This webinar gives you techniques to help you manage your stress and includes more than 10 strategies and things you can do to help you stay focused and in control in your moments of stress at work and at home.

Virtual Trainer: Andrew Sanderbeck, People~Connect Institute

Stressed Out: Long Term Coping Strategies

Thursday, January 14, 2:00 - 3:00 pm via NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Service

Long-term stress management requires commitment. You will need time, discipline and will power to succeed; and it comes with a health warning - it may change you for good, into a better, more confident person with a new outlook on life. This webinar gives participants 7 different long-term strategies for dealing with stress and the benefits of using each strategy. Stress isn’t going to go away from our lives so learn long-term strategies to help your reactions to it.

Virtual Trainer: Andrew Sanderbeck, People~Connect Institute

20 Questions: Ready Reference

Thursday, January 21, 2:00 - 4:00 pm from Lyrasis

Library users want information fast! This two-hour online class explores 20 of the most commonly used ready-reference web pages where librarians can find answers to questions like, “Where can I get dry ice in Atlanta?” and who said, “The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all”? Students will then have the opportunity to explore ready-reference resources further in an after-class exercise. This class is full. Watch for a second class to be added to the schedule.

Virtual Trainer: Russell Palmer, Lyrasis

E-Government Interest Group

Friday, January 22, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon via NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Service

Everyone's busy helping patrons using E-Government resources. What's your most common request or challenge? Do you have favorite resources you depend on? Did you finally find that form that everyone is looking for? At this online Interest Group meeting we'll share ideas, tips and best practices for dealing with the typical and the increasingly more challenging E-Government requests. Each Public Library's liaison from the NEFLIN E-Government Grant training should plan to attend.

Personal Library Tools for Librarians

Tuesday, January 26, 10:00 - 11:30 am via NEFLIN's Web Conferencing Service

Librarians are born organizers and sometimes we wish we had some of the tools we use at work to help us organize our home collections. Services like LibraryThing and so many others have filled this need for people all over the world - librarians included. This workshop will introduce attendees to the personal cataloging tools that they can then use to help them track and organize their personal media items.

Virtual Trainer: Nicole Engard

Link Love - Holiday Edition

Happy Holiday! Happy Holiday! While the merry bells keep ringing, may your every wish come true. (Shouldn't everyone have the Andy Williams Christmas CD?).

Still looking for something for that special someone. If that person is a geek, then jump over to GeekDad and check out their lengthy holiday gift guide.

How about the Top 5 YouTube Videos of the Year?

What to see at the movies over the Holidays? Most of the American Film Institute's Top 10 Movies of the Year are still in theaters or on DVD:

• Coraline
• The Hangover
• The Hurt Locker
• The Messenger
• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
• A Serious Man
• A Single Man
• Sugar
• Up
• Up in the Air

A look back at 2009 through the searches done on Google.

Some things I'm looking forward to in 2010:

• World Peace (always makes the list)
• A good book or two (lots of misses this year and few hits)
  
• Iron Man 2 (just watched the first on DVD this week)
  
• My kids going to pre-school (my how they have grown)
• A new computer (this one is starting to creak and groan)
  
• The Winter Olympics (not really. I'm from Florida after all.)
• The final Season of "Lost" (makes me happy and sad)
  

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Brad

David Lee King Workshops

I had the pleasure of attending two workshops last week at NEFLIN, led by David.

Emerging Trends, 2.0 & Libraries

Fishing in the Rivers of Change...while Wearing Your Hip Boots

A few thoughts...

"Where do you invest your time with these new 2.0 technologies?" (No easy answer, but that was kinda the point of the morning class...to figure this out for yourself)

Web 2.0 = Community (Communication, Conversation, Participation)

Church 2.0 (when your church has a blog, twitter account, Facebook page)

Picnik (great site for photo editing)

2.0 things David did while traveling to NEFLIN: Took photos of his trip to the airport (blizzard!) and uploaded to YouTube. Checked the weather and airline status. Upload photos from recent trip to Flickr. Posted to his Blog. Read and responded to e-mail. Check in on Twitter and Facebook accounts. Read news via RSS Feed. Got more flight updates. Did all this via his iPhone. Whew!

Encourage Blogs by staff as part of your library website. See examples at David's library. This has been a big hit for them. They have hundreds who follow the staff blogs by RSS or just checking in periodically. Another example: 10 people attend a monthly book club discussion. 200 people read the Book Club Discussion blog and comment on it.

Twitter = Transparency. Hypothetical. The mayor asks the community to name the new library. After months of surveying it is a surprise to the community that the mayor lets his dog name the library (The Really Rood Ribrary).
By using a 2.0 tool like Twitter the process of surveying becomes "transparent" and you could have seen what all the responses were and what was really the favorite choice for the new library's name.

Change. "Stop putting out food for the dinosaur, he won't be stopping by".

"The transition causes grief, not the change itself"

"If they came today and took away all the books, would you still be a library?" To me this was the most interesting discussion of the day.

Book Cart Drill Team

Sherry Millington of the Suwannee Book Cart Drill Team passed on this announcement. Prizes for the winning teams! Contact Sherry for more information.

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Florida Library Association
2010 Book Cart Drill Team Competition

April 8, 2010 * 10:30AM

Rosen Plaza Hotel
Orlando, Florida

1st Prize $250 DEMCO Gift Certificate
2nd Prize $150 DEMCO Gift Certificate
3rd Prize $100 DEMCO Gift Certificate
Trophies awarded for:
Best Costumes; Best Decorated Carts and WOW Factor

The Annual FLA Book Cart Drill Team Competition is less than a year away. The competition will be held during the 2010 FLA Conference in Orlando, Florida. If you don't know what to expect at a Book Cart Drill Team event check out this video from the 2008 FLA Conference. There are also many other videos under the search term “book cart drill team” available at www.youtube.com/. If you are interested in participating be sure to read the Team Rules and Guidelines and complete an application. Both are available by clicking here

Drill Team members who are not attending any sessions,

exhibits or events other than the competition,

will not be charged conference registration fees.

FLA Bookmark Contest

Contest Rules and Entry Form

On-Site Technology Workshops with Mickey Boyd

As part of an LSTA grant project funded by the State Library & Archives of Florida, NEFLIN is providing full day on-site workshops led by popular trainer Mickey Boyd to our members in 2010.

Each class is 9:30 am - 4:00 pm and is free to NEFLIN members. Two topics are offered over many dates and locations throughout the NEFLIN region.

Collaborative Technologies in Libraries

Collaborative web technologies are changing the way people interact with information, and each other. This workshop will demonstrate and explain these new technologies, and will illustrate why they are so significant to the future of libraries. Indeed, the entire profession of librarianship is changing rapidly due to these and other Internet technologies. It is critically important for librarians to understand what is happening now, and what is coming in the near future. With ever-increasing pressure to do more with less, libraries must learn to leverage the popularity of collaborative and participatory technologies. It is fortunate that most of these technologies are open source and free. The challenge is to sculpt something useful and sustainable from these excellent resources. This workshop is about integrating new technologies into traditional services, and using them to develop new roles for libraries. We will discuss web syndication, virtual presence, social software, and much more. Scheduled classes:

• Thursday, February 18 at Suwannee River Regional Library in Live Oak
• Thursday, March 4 at St. Johns County Public Library in St. Augustine
• Thursday, March 18 at Jacksonville Main Library in Jacksonville
• Monday, April 19 at Columbia County Public Library in Lake City
• Thursday, May 13 at Marion County Public Library in Ocala
• Friday, May 14 at Alachua County Library District in Gainesville

Computer and Network Issues for Public Access Computing

Libraries have very specific Information Technology (IT) needs, and there are many challenges to develop and maintain information infrastructure for staff and patrons. In order to provide public access computing you need to have an understanding of computer and network related issues, how to protect patron privacy, wired versus wireless access, and technology purchasing strategies to save money in this time of flat or reduced budgets. This workshop will cover a variety of important topics, and will help libraries make effective decisions concerning computer and network resources. The workshop is intended for both technical staff and their supervisors, and particularly for staff members responsible for calling in outside sources of IT to solve problems. Scheduled classes:

• Friday, February 19 at Flagler County Public Library in Palm Coast
• Thursday, March 11 at Bradford County Public Library in Starke
• Friday, March 12 at Clay County Headquarters Library in Fleming Island
• Tuesday, April 20 at Nassau County Public Library in Yulee

Click here to register for one or both of these on-site workshops

Twelve Magic Computer Phrases Library Personnel Need to Know in Spanish

Many Latinos come to libraries to use computers. Is your staff ready for the challenge? This workshop will:

• Give library staff basic customer service phrases to handle language barriers and cultural formalities with Latino patrons using computers
• Help staff learn words, phrases and dialogues including greetings, computer use policies, schedules, and troubleshooting
• Understand the cultural aspects of interacting with Latinos and the use of technology
• Provide tools and strategies to overcome language barriers beyond these basic phrases

Trainer: Susana Baumann, LCS Worldwide, Inc.

Thursday, February 4, 2010, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm at NEFLIN in Orange Park

Register now at http://bit.ly/160T8w

Please register by January 11 to avoid cancellation of workshop!

Book Repair classes from NEFLIN

Don't miss these Book Repair classes coming up in January! There are two in Live Oak and one in Ocala:

DEMCO presents a practical, hands-on 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.

Trainer: Deb Urschlitz, DEMCO Territory Manager

Monday, January 11, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon at Live Oak Public Library

Monday, January 11, 1:00 - 4:00 pm at Live Oak Public Library

Tuesday, January 12, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon at Ocala Public Library

Jessamyn West at NEFLIN - date change

Library Technologies Interest Group

This time the Library Technologies Interest Group meets face to face to discuss library ethics and 2.0. Joining us mid morning will be Library Consultant and blogger Jessamyn West to add her knowledge and perspective on the ethics of technological progress. Free to all.

New Date: Monday, March 1

10:00 am - 12:00 noon at NEFLIN in Orange Park

_______________

Digital Divide: Smart Tiny Tech

You don’t need complicated high-tech solutions or expensive software to use effective technology in your library. Explore solutions for solving library problems with simple free technologies and offer pathways for further exploration. Our focus will be on libraries with overstretched or small staffs and a less tech-savvy patron base.

Trainer: Jessamyn West, Library Consultant, Vermont Librarian, moderator at MetaFilter.com and author of Jessamyn.net and Jessamyn.com

New Date: Monday, March 1

1:00 - 4:00 pm at NEFLIN in Orange Park

See all NEFLIN training events at http://www.neflin.org/registration.php

Wolper Subscription Services

Wolper Subscription Services has just been added to NEFLIN's Vendor Discount Program.

Wolper's discount information, and the other 50 participating vendors

About the Vendor Discount Program

COD Millennials Program Available

The streaming video of the College of Dupage program "Millennials in the Library" which first aired in November is now available.

The Millennial Generation, Generation Y, Echo Boomers, Digital Natives, and the Trophy Generation are all terms used to describe people born in the United States between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. They have been shaped by a heady mix of culture, politics, and technology. "Millennials" have had an unprecedented exposure to mass media, pop culture, instant communication, and cultural freedom woven together by a complex technological net. It is daunting to try to classify a group of over 70 million people easily.

This teleconference will seek to add nuance to these classifications to help us understand them more fully and answer the questions: Who are Millennials? How can our libraries better serve them as patrons, students, and staff?

Presenter: Jennifer Kushell, YSN.com

This program will need to install Microsoft Silverlight to play.

Register for upcoming College of DuPage teleconferences here:

Making the Best of a Shrinking Budget: Creative Practices in a New Economy

Friday, January 29, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Cataloging: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?

Friday, February 19, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Information Literacy Education: A National Overview

Friday, March 12, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Technology Trends in Libraries: Tools, Skills, Staffing, Training

Friday, April 9, 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

LiB Presentations

The Librarian in Black,
Sarah Houghton-Jan,
has posted on her blog
two great presentations
that she gave recently.

New Technologies that save Time and Money

Assessing Digital Library Services

OCLC ILL Policies Directory

OCLC has done a major overhaul to their Policies Directory. All the information about your library that is currently in the Policies Directory will be available through the new interface. However, this is a good time to take a look at your policies to make sure everything is up-to-date.

Brad

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New OCLC Policies Directory to be installed Sunday, December 13, 2009

The project to implement a new Policies Directory has been underway for the past year and is finally coming to fruition.

Your access to the Policies Directory will remain the same.

Via the existing URL (https://illpolicies.oclc.org) using your OCLC ILL authorization and password.
Through the WorldCat Resource Sharing interface, either by clicking the Policies Directory link or on the ‘Libraries that Own Item’ screen, by clicking on the red ? next to the library symbol.
Via the existing links in ILLiad and the WorldCat Services Administrative module.

All existing data (policies, deflections, contact data) will remain. You do not need to make any changes to your existing Policies Directory data.

A preview site is now available for the new Policies Directory interface.

Click the URL below and use the following authorization/password to login

authorization= 100028264

Password= oclc

https://policies-preview.oclc.org

A few things to keep in mind –

• You must use the demonstration authorization to log in. Your normal authorizations won’t work on this site. But, once you login you can search for your own library (or anyone else’s)
• The data in the preview environment is several weeks old. It was copied from the current Policies Directory in mid October and has not been updated since.
• The environment is not ‘live’. Changes made in this interface will not update the current Policies Directory.
• A few changes are still in progress. For example, the Help files have not yet been loaded.
• This preview site will be available 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST through Friday, December 10^th.

A list of the changes to the Policies Directory are included here.

Please send me any comments or questions that you have - Jennifer_corsi@oclc.org.

2010 FLA Conference

The 2010 FLA Annual Conference is coming together, and it's shaping up to be a great conference! Here's a quick preview of some the key features you can look forward to when we meet in Orlando in April 2010….

HIGHLIGHTS
* To lighten your travel expenses, this year's conference will be held over just three days: Wednesday April 7th through Friday April 9th.

* In additional wallet-lightening news, this year's conference hotel features a LOWER DAILY ROOM RATE ($109/night) and FREE PARKING!

* The First General Session (Thursday morning) will feature Helen Blowers, author of the LibraryBytes blog and creator of "Learning 2.0: 23 Things," the original online discovery program that has been duplicated by over 700 libraries, schools, and non-profit organizations all over the world.

* The Second General Session (Friday morning) will feature Bill Belleville, a documentary filmmaker and the author of several books about Florida, including Losing It All To Sprawl: How Progress Ate My Cracker Landscape and River of Lakes: A Journey on Florida's St. Johns River.

* FLA President Wendy Breeden has chosen "Thinking Outside the Book" as this year's theme. A full slate of interesting programs will explore different aspects of that theme, covering everything from tagging and Twitter, to collections and instruction, to storytelling and community engagement, to budgets and personnel, and so much more. Preliminary program coming soon!

* Enjoy additional no-conflict time with vendors this year, including time on Friday morning.

* Author events will include the Florida Book Awards, mystery book author signings, and more.

* Longstanding popular features such as the Silent Auction, New Members Orientation, roundtables, and poster sessions are back again.

Tentative Agenda

KEY DATES
* November 30, 2009: Online Registration opens
* January 22, 2010: Poster Session submission deadline
* February 1, 2010: Early Conference Registration deadline
* March 15, 2010: Conference Hotel Rate Booking deadline
* April 7-9, 2010: FLA Annual Conference at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, FL

REGISTRATION
Online registration is now open! Go to the conference website
http://www.flalib.org/conference_2010.php
and click on the "Attendee Registration" link to register for Florida's biggest and most exciting library conference.

Hope to see you there!
-- Tim Bottorff
FLA Conference Planning Committee

JPL is a Star Library

Congratulations to the Jacksonville Public Library for being ranked as one of the nation's "star" libraries by Library Journal.

Library Journal's national rating of public libraries identified 258 "star" libraries from the 7,268 public libraries it received data on.

The print version of this information was featured in the November 15 issue of Library Journal.

NEFLIN Winter Workshop Schedule

There's lots of training ahead for everyone in the new NEFLIN Winter Workshop Schedule, now available.

Virtual Training:

• 20 Questions: Ready Reference
• 20 Questions: Business Resources
• 20 Questions: Science Resources
• 20 Questions: Reference Resources for Kids
• 20 Questions: Successful Strategies for Job Searchers
• E-Government Interest Group
• Job Success at the Library
• Personal Library Tools for Librarians
• Staff Development Interest Group
• Stressed Out Series: Short Term and Long Term Coping Strategies
• Tips and Techniques on Media and Public Relations

Face to Face Workshops:

• After Storytime: The Art of School Age Programs with Kio Fuller
• Becoming a Library and Information Professional: All About Graduate School
• Book Repair with DEMCO
• Bookmobile Interest Group
• Collaboration for Media Specialists: It's More Than Just Providing Resources with Lucretia Miller
• Digital Divide: Smart Tiny Tech with Jessamyn West
• Drupal: Adding Advanced Functionality
• Florida Electronic Library and Gale Databases
• Government Resources in Consumer Health with Kathleen Moeller
• Graphic Novels in Your Library: Beyond the Basics with Katharine Kan
• Inspirational Leadership with DeEtta Jones Young
• Library Technologies Interest Group
• Library Tour of the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library
• Outlook 2007 at New Horizons Learning Center, Jacksonville
• Practically Designed: Using Basic Design Principles to Create Effective Signs, Posters and More with John LeMasney
• Rethinking the Concept of a Library: A Survey of Library Trends with Evelyn McDonald
• Successful Events for Media Specialists with Michelle D. Brooks, Gail Berzins, Lorraine Stinson and Penny Bunch
• The Art of Communication with Linda Bruno
• The Year in Web Searching, and Teaching Web Searching with Greg Notess
• Twelve Magic Computer Phrases Library Personnel Need to Know in Spanish
• Using the News: How Changes in the News Industries Are Affecting Libraries and Their Patrons with Patrick Reakes
• What's New in Literature for Children and Young People with Kathleen Baxter

College of DuPage Teleconferences: Library Futures: Staying Ahead of the Curve

• Making the Best of a Shrinking Budget: Creative Practices in a New Economy
• Cataloging: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?
• Information Literacy Education: A National Overview
• Technology Trends in Libraries: Tools, Skills, Staffing, Training

See all NEFLIN Continuing Education events HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone enjoys some time off with friends and family.

One last link until Monday. A great list of "Black Friday" sales by store. Put together by the local TV station.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Emily Taber opens New Addition

After a long summer of construction, the Emily Taber Public Library in Macclenny, opened its new addition to the public. Yea! More photos.

Link Love

Need a little love? Link Love to the rescue!

EBSCO is sponsoring one dozen folks by paying their travel to ALA MidWinter or the ALA Annual Conference. Application forms are now available.

Just something I saw recently in someone's .sig

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas. -- George Bernard Shaw

Best Commercials on the 2000's (Non-Super Bowl)

World's Worst Books

New Google toys: Image Swirl and Fast Flip.

I watched Mary Poppins last night with the kids. I just loved the one recurring joke. Two boys met on the street. One said "I just met a man with a wooden leg named Smith". The second boy said "What was the name of his other leg?".

Lake City Community College Breaks Ground on New Library

On November 10, Lake City Community College broke ground on construction for their new library. Estimated to be completed in one year, the 37,000 square foot, $8 million contemporary brick building will be home to the library and media center and will incorporate many green environmental features.

Pictured below are Library Director Jim Morris speaking at the groundbreaking, and a rendering of the new building by Harvard-Jolly Architects.

Columbia Restaurant Book

We had a wonderful keynote presentation at the Annual Meeting from Andrew Huse. He spoke on "Florida's Delicious History", a history of food in Florida.

Andrew's new book "The Columbia Restaurant: Celebrating a Century of History, Culture, and Cuisine" is now available.

Very Important Paraprofessional (VIP) Workshop

TBLC will be having their annual VIP Workshop on Friday, May 14, 2010 at St. Petersburg College. Presenters are begin sought now, but also consider attending. TBLC does a great job, and this event is always worth the trip.

------------------------------------------

The Very Important Paraprofessional Workshop will be back in 2010 stronger than ever before! We are soliciting applications for presenters for the 2010 VIP Workshop that will be held on Friday, May 14^th at the St. Petersburg College EpiCenter.

If you have presented before or if you haven’t before but want to now, please apply! Share your talents with the State’s paraprofessional workforce.

The Session Proposal Form will be available on the TBLC website at www.tblc.org. Proposals are due by December 14, 2009.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Beth Farmer at TBLC, (813) 622-8252 farmerb@tblc.org

LSTA Grant Webinars

The State Library is providing two sessions that will assist you in putting together an LSTA grant application. If you are thinking of submitting an application, or just have a kernel of an idea and wonder if this is a good way to obtain funding, you should participate in one of these webinars.

----------------------------------------

Monday, December 7, 2:00pm EST.

OR

Wednesday, January 6, 10:00am EST.

The State Library and Archives of Florida is pleased to announce a series of online workshops that will assist eligible agencies with the preparation of Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grants for the 2010 application cycle. These workshops are provided free of charge and are intended to help with the grant writing process for LSTA grants.

The first of the series is a Grant Overview, which will be held twice. Dorothy Frank and Marian Deeney from the State Library and Archives of Florida will provide an overview of the LSTA guidelines and application process.

Topics to be covered in the Overview include:

· Eligibility requirements for the LSTA grant program

· LSTA grant review and funding process

· Grant categories

· Components of a proposal

The next three workshops in the series will be specific discussions on How to Establish Your Need; How to Write an Outcomes Plan; and How to Write an Action Plan and Budget Narrative. You may take as many of them as you would like and you do not need to take prior sessions in order to take later ones.

For more information about these sessions, contact Dorothy Frank at 850.245.6631 or dafrank@dos.state.fl.us.

Register for these sessions

E-Government Webinar - Archive

Very well done and informative webinar last week. Here is the archive if you missed the live event.

----------------------------------------------

Thank you for attending the E-Government in Public Libraries: Legal Concerns webinar on November 12, 2009. We are providing a link to the recording, as well as the resources that are mentioned during the presentation.

1. Recording

2. Presentation slides and additional documents

3. Pasco E-Government Service Assistance Policy

Photo Permissions at the Library

David Lee King and Jessamyn West discuss their experiences with photo permissions.

David's library has some good ideas as they sought to update and modernize their current photo policies. Look at the "comments" section at the bottom of David's post. Other library staff added their recommendations.

The Library Strategic Planning Toolkit

NEFLIN is considering a purchase of this toolkit as part of our lending library. Please e-mail us and let us know if you are interested. If we hear from a number of libraries then we will make this purchase.

----------------------------------------

Years of strategic planning expertise from LYRASIS consultants went into the development of this new Toolkit. The resource is a 3-ring binder chock full of outlines, plans, and worksheets (also included on a USB flash drive) to help libraries carry out a strategic planning effort appropriate for your organization. The price for the Toolkit is $175 for Lyrasis members.

NEFLIN Virtual Training in December

20 Questions: Genealogy Basics
Tuesday, December 2, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon

Every day, more people become interested in knowing more about their family history. In this two-hour online class, students will explore 20 of the most commonly used genealogy web sites where librarians find answers to questions like, "I think my great, great uncle was a civil war soldier --where can I find out more?" and "I think my great, great grandmother Alice died in a fire in Chicago --where can I find her obituary?" Students will then have the opportunity to explore genealogy reference resources further in an after-class exercise.

Virtual Trainer: Russell Palmer, Lyrasis

Efficient Email: Ways to Manage Your Email that Save Time and Headaches

Friday, December 11, 10:00 - 11:00 am

How many people have told you that they are "Buried with Email"? Do you have an effective way to organize and process your emails? Most people don't. Good news! After the completion of this webinar, you will have 4 different methods to choose from! Participants of this webinar will learn and begin to master:

• Setting up reference and action systems for incoming email
• Using a decision making process for determining what to do with your emails
• Scheduling email process and organizing time in your day
• Using a "Permanent File" for Log-ins and Passwords

Virtual Trainer: Andrew Sanderbeck

Efficient Email: Sending the Right Message

Friday, December 11, 2:00 - 3:00 pm

There’s little doubt that email is an efficient tool for communicating information…yet efficient and effective are two very different skills to master. Did you know that email can be one of the most misunderstood communication tools that we use? Why? Because many times, they are poorly written and the receiver has not been given the information they need. This webinar looks at the 10 key components of writing effective emails and sending the message that you wanted to send. Participants of this webinar will learn and begin to master:

• The importance of the Subject Line of your email
• Keeping your message focused and readable
• The difference between formal and informal email situations
• Proofreading your email: It’s no longer just an option

Virtual Trainer: Andrew Sanderbeck

WebJunction: An Introduction

Thursday, December 17, 2:00 - 4:00 pm
WebJunction is an online community where library staff meet to share ideas, solve problems, take online courses and have fun. Started in 2002 through a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant award to OCLC Webjunction has helped thousands of libraries provide open access to information. Got problems with your computers? WebJunction can help. Got problems with funding? WebJunction can help. Don’t know where to buy discounted hardware and software? WebJunction can help. In this introductory one-hour web session, you will learn how you can connect to other communities and librarians just like you.

Virtual Trainer: Jennifer Bielewski, Lyrasis

The Secret to Learning

We are big fans of Helene Blowers around these parts. Her contribution to the library profession of 23 Things alone would be enough. However, she continues to write and speak on a variety of topics. Her latest is the idea of "unlearning". Check it out!

Also, Helene is scheduled to be the keynoter for the 2010 FLA Annual Conference in Orlando. Yea!

Retired, or Soon to Be?

Seeking Submissions from Soon-to-be Retired, Retired Librarians.

Librarians Retirement Handbook: By Colleagues In the Know

Chapters sought for an anthology by soon to be retired or now retired academic, public, school, special librarians sharing their experiences on retirement to help colleagues.

No previously published, simultaneously submitted material; 2100-2300 words total. One chapter or two. If two, please divide words—one chapter may be 1000 for example, the other 1200 words. If you must use citations, employ MLA style faithfully. Chapters may be written by one librarian, or co-written by two

Possible topics: Financial Planning Before Retiring; Early Retirement--or Not; Part Time/Full Time Jobs After Retirement; Using Library Skills to Enhance Retirement Life; Writing for Ourselves, and Family History; Writing for Publication, Local and National; Keeping Healthy in Mind and Body; The Aging Process, Wills, Assisted Living; Going Back to School, Auditing/for Credit; Political Office and Leadership Positions; Notable Retirement Activities; Retirement Daily Economics; Legacies, Memorials.

The deadline for completed chapters (Call #1) is December 20, 2009.
Contributors will receive an agreement to sign before publication.
Compensation: a complimentary book, discount on additional copies

To avoid duplication, please e-mail by attached Word File,
1-3 titled proposals each in a separate paragraph by November 21, along with a 85-90 word bio beginning with: your name, current or previous library/libraries of employment, city/state location, employment title(s), awards, publication titles, memberships, and career highlights. If co-written by two authors, please send a separate bio of 85-90 words for each author. You will be contacted as soon as possible telling you which one (if any) of your topics will work, inviting you to e-mail your completed chapter(s); an invitation doesn’t guarantee acceptance.

Kindly place RETIRED/your name on the subject line to: smallwood@tm.net

Tell Your Story (or Your Family Stories)

StoryCorps is coming to Jacksonville!

I'm a big fan of their organization. Here is a little about them.

"StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans."

Make your reservation now to have your story, or someone in your family, or a friend, or your neighbor (you get the picture) recorded.

2010 FLYP Workshops

The 2010 Florida Library Youth Program (FLYP) Workshops have been scheduled and registration is now available.

The NEFLIN area workshops are listed below:

Jan 8 Suwannee River Regional Library System
Live Oak Public Library
1848 Ohio Avenue South Live Oak 32064
Host Contact: Marlene Mitchell mmitchell@neflin.org 386-364-3479

Jan 28 Marion County Public Library System
Marion County Public Library System Headquarters
2720 East Silver Springs Blvd Ocala 34470
Host Contact: Nancy Young nancy.young@marioncountyfl.org 352-368-4535

Feb 10 Flagler County Public Library
Flagler County Public Library
2500 Palm Coast Parkway N.W. Palm Coast 32137
Host Contact: Sharon Fiske sfiske@flaglercounty.org 386-446-6763

Feb 18 Alachua County Library District
Alachua County Library District Headquarters
401 E. University Avenue Gainesville 32601
Host Contact: Diane Colson dcolson@aclib.us 352-334-3941

Lake City CC Book Sale

The Lake City Community College Library recently held its first book sale in over 30 years, filling the Howard Conference Center with tables and tables of books including nonfiction, fiction, reference, history, children’s books as well as vinyl records, DVDs, VHS tapes, tape players, overhead projectors, TVs, and framed art. The sale netted $1,200 and all proceeds will be dedicated to the book budget for purchasing new materials.

Jim Morris, executive director of library and community services stated, “The goal was to find a good home for the books in places where they will be wanted, used and appreciated!"

Also, on Tuesday, November 10 the library will break ground on a new $8 million building, estimated to be completed in one year.

Publishing and Presentation Opportunities

I was interested to read more after I received an e-mail requesting articles on the topic of patron-initiated collection development. While that topic was interesting I also wanted to pass on a "check it out" for the blog that had the original post.

Called A Library Writer's Blog, Corey Seeman states, "...this resource will help librarians identify publishing and presentation opportunities in library & information science, as well as other related fields. I will include calls for papers, presentations, participation, reviewers, and other notices that I find on the web."

If you are seeking opportunities to present at a conference or publish in a journal, this site is worth a look.

Columbia County Public Library Celebrates 50th Anniversary

The Columbia County Public Library celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 1st with a wildly successful birthday party at the Main Library in Lake City. Over 500 people attended the two-hour party that included visits by Clifford the Big Red Dog and Fancy Nancy, demonstrations of woodworking, flower arranging, cake decorating, painting, searching genealogy resources and hands-on children’s craft making. Refreshments included birthday cake and punch, plus Halloween-themed cupcakes provided at the cake decorating booth. Memory Books were placed at Main and at the two branches for library patrons to write down their fondest memory of the Library during the past fifty years. Attendees also had a chance to see the newly renovated Circulation area and the new carpet throughout the building.

Internet Librarian Conference

As usual, I look longingly towards the west at this time of year as I again miss the Internet Librarian Conference in Monterey. Some day, some day.

Until then, here are great session recaps from Sarah Houghton-Jan (the Librarian in Black).

Connecting Through "Lights, Camera, Action"

Information Overload is the Devil

Technology: The Engine Driving Pop-Culture-Savvy Libraries

Internet Filtering Technologies - Update

Selling Tech to Power in Tough Times

2.0 for Smaller, Underfunded Libraries

Fast-Tracking Usability Testing and User-Centered Design

Optmizing Web Presences: SEO and Metrics

Library Website Improvement Face-Off

Experience Design Makeover

Libraries of the Future: Places of Desire

Sneaking the Social Web into your Library and Going Beyond the 23 Things

Micro Interactions, Conversations, and Customers

Social Reference: Harvesting the Hive Mind

iGoogling with the Library

Keynote: Vincent Cerf Interview

Two Workshops from David Lee King

David Lee King, Digital Branch & Services Manager at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, will be presenting two workshops at NEFLIN in Orange Park on Wednesday, December 9.

Free to all! Register Now.

Emerging Trends, 2.0 and Libraries

Has your library discussed creating a Flickr account? A MySpace teen site? Creating a blog? Join David Lee King as he discusses the current social networking transformation taking place, and applies those changes to a library setting.

Wednesday, December 9, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

Register today at http://bit.ly/DIuZ8

Change is Good!

Change is good, but sometimes it is also hard. Emerging tech trends are also good, but sometimes the change needed to implement those emerging trends feels like scaling a mountain! David discusses the current social networking transformation taking place, how it affects our jobs, and how we can deal with those changes. Then David will discuss changes a library needs to make to meet and participate in our new online, participatory world.

Wednesday, December 9, 1:00 – 4:00 pm

Register today at http://bit.ly/3ZLb5S

See all NEFLIN Training at http://www.neflin.org/registration.php

Leadership Institute Begins Year 6

The sixth year of the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute kicked off last Wednesday at the Central Brevard Public Library in Cocoa. While there is an element of "what happens at SSLLI stays at SSLLI", we can reveal the list of the 2009-10 participants and mentors who will be taking their year-long journey together.

Congrats to the five NEFLIN members who were selected:

• Jeff Bowen, University of North Florida
• Ellie Bushhousen, UF Health Sciences
• Joanne Colon, Sumter County Public Library
  
• Sara Radovic, Jacksonville Public Library
• Carrie Sabin-Hunsucker, Alachua County Library District

Official P.R. notice below.

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The State Library and Archives of Florida is proud to announce the participants selected for the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute – Class Six. This year-long comprehensive series of 10 sessions focuses on developing library staff to serve in administrative roles at local, regional, state, and national levels, as well as reenergizing staff currently employed in the library and information management profession. As a result of the Institute, participants from across the state are better prepared to provide the highest quality library services to the residents of Florida in an effective and innovative manner that will meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges.

Twenty-five participants, who represent public, academic, special, and school libraries, were chosen from applicants statewide. The group will meet at the Central Brevard Library in Cocoa, Florida.

“The Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute has already helped library staff statewide develop the important leadership skills that will help to ensure a bright future for Florida’s libraries,” said Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning. “We look forward to continuing that tradition in the upcoming year.”

The Institute is funded by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Happy Anniversary BBB blog!

Today marks the second anniversary of the Blah, Blah, Blah Blog...and we decided on a makeover! We have spent the past few weeks cleaning up the blog and getting it spiffy for its big day.

The BBB's sister blog, Library Webinars, debuted one month ago. There was a lot of good feedback on its layout and design that influenced us to make some dramatic changes here.

We hope you enjoy the new look and same great content as we start our third year of blah, blah, blah.

Link Love

A little love as we head into the Halloween weekend.
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The Library 101 Project

Enjoy the video. Stay for the content. All the links in the following paragraph are worth your time.

• Have you heard the song and seen the music video?
  

• Have you read any of the 23 essays from some of the greatest minds in Libraryland?
  

• Have you looked at the carefully selected list of 101 hyperlinked resources that share critically important things to think about and know in order to ensure a vibrant future for libraries, even as technology changes the information access and community landscapes?

(Did I mention David Lee King is returning to Jax to teach for NEFLIN in December? Emerging Trends and Change is Good are both free of charge!)

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Do You Know a Mover & Shaker?

Our ninth annual Movers & Shakers will profile 50 or more up-and-comers who are innovative, creative, and making a difference. Let us know who you think should be included. From librarians to vendors to others who work in the library field, Movers & Shakers 2010 will celebrate the new professionals moving our libraries ahead. Nominations due November 9.

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Social Media Burnout. Social media; Facebook, Twitter, etc, can be part of your job and/or life. Here are some good tips to make sure you strike a balance when using these tools.

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10 Cool Things you can do with a USB Flash Drive.

I learned 10 new things, since I only use the flash drive as a portable hard drive.

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Google rolled out Google Music this week. Details here.

They have partnered with a variety of music sites to provide clips and full-length songs. I was surprised that the sound quality of the streaming audio is pretty darn good.

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Tease me! The just released teaser for Season 8 of "24". Jack Bauer still kicks butt...as a grandpa.