Back on March 2nd

Patty and I are both on the road training for the rest of this week. Look for us to return on Monday with new blog posts.

Extended Use Fee *not* Overdue

I learned a bunch attending Mickey Boyd's new workshop on web 2.0/library 2.0 at NEFLIN.

I thought I would pass on his one idea he had of "overdue" items incurring an "extended use fee" instead.

Have you used one of those Redbox DVD vending machines yet? Each DVD is $1.00 for an overnight rental. After the first night it is an extra $1 for each day you continue to keep it. This is Redbox's version of an extended use fee. If you want to continue using something beyond the due date you agree to pay an additional fee.

Why wouldn't this work in libraries? If someone decides to keep an item past its due date they would be charged an extended use fee. Would this lessen the negativity surrounding an item being overdue? That librarians are poised at the door just aching to collect fines?

Oscar Winners on DVD

The Academy Awards were held last night and the predicted winners pretty much took home golden statues. Instead of a recap I thought I'd go with what you really want to know...when do these movies come out on DVD since you may have missed them at the theatre.

• Slumdog Millionaire. March 2009. Best Picture, Director, and 6 other wins.
• Milk. March 2009. Best Actor, Sean Penn.
• The Reader. April 2009. Best Actress, Kate Winslet.
• The Dark Knight. Already available. Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger.
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Already available. Best Supporting Actress, Penelope Cruz.
• Benjamin Button. April 2009. Numerous Technical Awards.
• Man on Wire. Already available. Best Documentary.
• Wall-E. Already available. Best Animated Feature.

Teen Services Boot Camp: For Newly Enlisted Librarians

If you’ve found yourself suddenly in charge of teen services, Teen Services Boot Camp is for you.

This class is envisioned for new teen librarians, those who have been forced into the position or who are uncomfortable with their role. Many of us in libraries were put in charge of teens simply because someone had to do it. Also, many children’s librarians are given the teen responsibilities simply because “teens are the same as kids.” As you can imagine, that leaves a lot of teen librarians as ill prepared for taking on these responsibilities.

Explore the wonderful world of teen services! Learn how to deal with teens, what they are interested in, exchange programming ideas, and discuss some basic collection development best practices.

Trainers: Amber Holley & Mia Brack, Jacksonville Public Library
Thursday, February 26, 9:00 am- 4:00 pm
at NEFLIN, 2233 Park Avenue, Suite 402, Orange Park, FL

Seats Still Available
Register Today

NEFLIN Members Tackle the 23 Things

Never say NEFLIN members back down from a challenge! We have closed registration for the 23 Things program and 351 of you have registered and set up your individual blog to begin this online learning program. Whew! 40 of NEFLIN's 64 members have a least one person participating.

The “23 Things @ NEFLIN” program encourages staff to learn about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society, and libraries access information and communicate with each other.

Each week a new Thing or two is introduced. Participants will learn about each Thing and explore how libraries are using it. They will then have the opportunity to try each Thing, and post their discoveries on their individual blog.

“23 Things @ NEFLIN” runs from January – April 2009. Those who finish by the deadline will receive an incentive and be eligible for one of the grand prizes. The program website is: http://neflins23things.blogspot.com

Library Technologies Interest Group

The Library Technologies Interest Group continues to discuss technology topics. This quarter's online meeting will focus on 23 Things @ NEFLIN - how are YOU doing? - and any other tech topics you'd like.

We meet virtually using NEFLIN’s Web Conferencing (register and you will be sent access information). Join us for this ongoing discussion of the latest developments in library technologies.

Date: Monday, February 23
Time: 10:00 - 12:00 noon
Location: On Your DESKTOP via NEFLIN Web Conferencing

Register Today

Why I'm all a Twitter

I haven't posted about Twitter much, but I did come across a great site recently by an FSU student that does a great job of giving me an A-Z/soup to nuts view of it.

Twittering Libraries goes into detail about:

Contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 History
• 3 What's in it for Libraries?
• 4 Prominent Uses in Libraries
• 5 Library Mini-Case Studies
• 6 Pros and Cons of Using Twitter
• 7 Tools that can Extend Twitter
• 8 Conclusion
• 9 Libraries Using Twitter
• 10 Notes
• 11 References
• 12 Resources

Great job, Lindy!

Cruise to Success

A new webinar from the good folks at OPAL.

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On Friday March 6th Loreen Phillips from the University of Texas-Dallas will join us in OPAL to discuss her new book about marketing for libraries. Everyone is welcome to attend. There is no need to register. This online event will last approximately one hour. Here are the details:

Cruise to Success: Marketing for Libraries

Friday, March 6, 2009, 12 noon EST

Loreen Phillips, the Head of Information Literacy Services at the University of Texas, has written a recently published book about marketing for libraries
Cruise to Success: How to Steer Your Way Through the Murky Waters of Marketing Your Library, published in Dec. 2008 by Chandos Publishing. Phillips provides clear, step-by-step instructions and guidelines for developing a successful library marketing program. We will speak with her about how libraries of all types, but especially academic libraries, can improve their marketing strategies, activities, and results.

If your hectic schedule does not allow you to attend a live online OPAL event of interest to you, please note that we try to record, archive, and podcast most OPAL events. For details, visit the OPAL Archive at http://www.opal-online.org/archive.htm

Digital Branch Style Guide

Whether you call your library web presence an e-branch, digital branch, blog or website...this style guide has a lot of good info for those who add content to your library's e-whatever.

On this topic I can also recommend David's book "Designing the Digital Experience".

...and if that is not enough, I'll tease you with this. David is coming to Jacksonville this summer to speak at the NEFLIN Technology Conference. Details coming soon!

Virtual Tour of UF Digital Collections

Learn what the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) have to offer, and how to fully explore the broad range of resources available. We'll cover the basics of UFDC: searching, advanced searching (including by collection and subcollection), viewing results, and saving images. We will also cover tips and tricks:

· collections that may be of particular interest or for use in teaching
· using the email contact forms for help
· and using the citation on items to find the permanent URL

The majority of the time will be spent learning about the wonderful resources available in UFDC and we'll spend time on three of the largest collections: the Florida Digital Newspaper Library, the Baldwin Historical Children's Literature Digital Collection, and the Digital Library of the Caribbean.

Virtual Trainers: Laurie Taylor and Missy Shoop, University of Florida Digital Collections
Date: Thursday, February 19
Time: 10:00 - 11:00 am
Cost: Free
Location: On your DESKTOP via NEFLIN Web Conferencing

Register today to receive access instructions.

23 Things Summit

From our friends at Webjunction comes this interesting webinar.

On March 3, a two-hour summit will bring together organizers from several successful 23 Things programs to share best practices and lessons learned. You will be able to ask questions and seek advice on implementing a similar program in your library. WebJunction, MaintainIT, the State Library of Kansas, and the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library are collaborating on this event. More information and registration.

If you aren't signed up to read the monthly WebJunction newsletter...you should. Or do the 2.0 thing and RSS it.

FLA Award Nominations

I was one of the FLA award winners from last year, and it got me thinking. You need to nominate someone for an award. I mean...I won. So can you (or your library, or your Friends, etc). Why not?

2009 FLA Awards nominations are due by February 28, 2009. Detailed information is on the FLA website.

Award categories:

• FLA Leader of the Year
• Librarian of the Year
• Library of the Year
• Lifetime Achievement
• Outstanding Citizen
• Friends, Foundations and Boards Library
• Intellectual Freedom
• Library Web Site
• Maria Chavez-Hernandez "Libraries Change Peoples' Lives"

Comics in the Classroom

NEFLIN member, Michael Schofield, of the Bradford County Public Library just returned from presenting at an interesting conference. The Graphica In Education Conference is the first of its kind. It sought to bring librarians and teachers together academically around comics in the classroom.

His presentation on "Making a Case for Comics in the Classroom" focused on the research behind comics as ideal literacy-builders. You can read the nice "plug" he received here in the School Library Journal. Also, check out his blog The Graphic Classroom.

Time to Vote!

The Ask a Librarian folks are having their annual "Director's Chair" Contest.

What is the The Director’s Chair? It is a video contest for Florida high school students. They create a 30-second video promoting Ask a Librarian for a chance to win some great prizes.

The judges have narrowed the votes down to the final five. Voting closes on Saturday.

Florida Electronic Library training by NEFLIN

NEFLIN received an LSTA grant to provide training on the Florida Electronic Library to our members in public libraries. The FEL is administered by the State Library & Archives of Florida and funded by an LSTA grant.

The training consists of two workshops being held onsite for each of public library members:

• Florida Electronic Library - Overview of Components, taught by Patricia Morris of NEFLIN


• Gale's PowerSearch, taught by Julie Pepera of Gale

The first Overview of Components workshops were held last week for Flagler County Public Library, New River Public Library Cooperative and Jacksonville Public Library. I reviewed all features of the FEL website including the Florida Memory Project, Florida on Florida, WorldCat.org and Ask-a-Librarian, and showed highlights of the databases resources and the PowerSearch interface. There was much interest in the thousands of photographs available online from the State Archives of Florida, and the genealogy information found within the collections of World War I Service Cards and Florida Confederate Pension Application Files.

Trainer Julie Pepera will begin the first Gale's PowerSearch workshops at the end of February which will be indepth training on using the databases and include marketing and promotion tips.

We look forward to continuing to bring this valuable training to our members. In a future upcoming quarter we will be offering the workshops for all our NEFLIN members not in public libraries.

Embedding

Something I think about, do once in a while, but mostly don't have a clue about is "embedding things in a website or blog".

The Librarian in Black passes on a great site for embedding RSS feeds, Flickr photos, PDFs, PPTs, and a lot more. I've bookmarked this site and you bet I will refer back to it often.

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