Thursday, April 30, 2009

What Users and Librarians Want

OCLC has released their latest research report, “Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want”. The report presents findings about the data quality expectations of catalog end users and librarians.

Visit http://www.oclc.org/reports/onlinecatalogs/default.htm to view the report.

The report offers:
  • Insight for readers seeking to define requirements for improved catalog data
  • Information about the metadata elements that are most important to end users in determining if an item will meet his or her needs
  • Support for the enhancements end users and librarians would like to see made in online library catalogs
  • Insight into the end user’s discovery experience
  • Findings for readers in areas associated with contributing, synchronizing or linking data from multiple sources in library catalogs and integrated library systems

Increase your Library's Bandwith - Part 2

For Part 1, read this previous post.

The bottom line: Planning is underway to utilize federal stimulus funds to enhance broad band infrastructure to un-served or under-served Florida communities.

Learn more by attending this meeting: The North Florida Regional Economic Development Partnership will sponsor a meeting about broadband planning and deployment at Lake City Community College on May 14th from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. For more information contact Florida Lambda Rail, LLC at 850.385.0348 or email phil.halstead@flrnet.org

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

2.0 At Your Library?

Now that many of you have taken time over the last three months to do the 23 Things program, we were wondering if you have added any new 2.0 services?

Drop us a line and let us know if your library now has any of the following that we can add to the NEFLIN 2.0 section of our website. We would love to be able to share want you are doing with other NEFLIN members.

  • What else?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Webinar includes St. Johns staffer

Kris Rosenburg, St. Johns County Public Library, will be part of a group speaking on Technology Compentencies in Your Library. This free WebJunction webinar will be held Wednesday, April 29, from 2:00pm - 3:00pm.

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Does your staff have the technology skills they need to do their jobs? How do you know? One way that libraries are looking to answer these questions is by establishing technology competencies. Competencies help to define the skills needed for general or specific job duties.

Learn from presenters Lori Reed from the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (NC); Phyllis Winfield and Kim Gales, Worthington Libraries (OH); and Kris Rosenburg, St Johns County Public Library System (FL) as they share their strategies and experiences implementing competency programs. Bring your own experiences and questions about creating a competencies program at your library and we'll also point you towards resources that can help make your program a success.
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Thanks to former NEFLIN member, Phalbe Henriksen, for passing this on.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Persuasion Power with Elizabeth Curry


Persuasion Power: Styles of Influence and Reframing

This workshop challenges participants to think about the meaning of persuasion and focuses on techniques for working with people who have diverse viewpoints. The session is a way to add significant skills to your communication toolbox. It will include a personal inventory to assess styles of influence. The day will be interactive with time for discussion, practice and group feedback. The information can be applied by all levels of staff from supervisors to line staff, anyone who wants to communicate an idea, a point of view, a project, a solution to a problem. If you have a specific project or idea, you can begin to outline a persuasion plan as part of the session.

Trainer: Elizabeth Curry, Alachua County Library District
Date: Friday, June 5
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park

Register today

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


Horn Tooting!

We don't often toot our own horn around the BBB Blog, but today is an exception. We received a nice accolade naming this blog one of the Top 50 Librarian Blogs on the net
(see entry 18).


We strive to provide interesting and engaging content. We will continue to do so.

We'll keep writing...you keep reading.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

NEFLIN Members at FLA

There will be a number of NEFLIN members presenting at the FLA Conference in Orlando. Here is a list of their programs. (If I missed someone let me know.).

  • Stress Management through Laughter Yoga, Be Astengo, Alachua Public
  • Storytime Bootcamp, Susan Mankowski, Jacksonville Public
  • Innovative Approaches to Library Labor Processes and Community Value, Michael Bell, St. Johns Public
  • Hey! I Saw You on that Library Video!, Mary Brown and Mary Weatherholt, Union Public
  • Retrospective Conversion of Theses and Dissertations, Cathleen L. Martyniak, UF
  • Leadership Through Advocacy, Judy Russell, UF
  • Landing your First (and your next) Library Job, Brian Keith, UF and Diane Moser, JPL
  • SSLLI - The Efficacy of Leadership Training, Harold George, St. Johns Public (and moderated by yours truly)
Looks like we have a lot of knowledge in the membership. Nice variety of topics.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Vote for Better World Books

BusinessWeek has been accepting nominations for notable social entrepreneurs making a living solving social problems. Over 200 companies were initially entered, and Better World Books is proud to be one of the 25 finalists! You've got until April 26th to make them the winner. (Winners will be announced on May 2 at BusinessWeek.)

It only takes 3 clicks. Just go to this BusinessWeek page, select Better World Books and hit Submit!

What is Better World Books all about? Find out here.

Better World Books has:
  • Collected over 17 million books through active book drives at over 1,800 colleges and universities and collections from over 1,200 libraries.
  • Raised over $6 million for Global Literacy.
  • Directly sent more than 1.07 million books to Books for Africa, the National Center for family Literacy, and Feed the Children.
  • Saved over 24 million lbs. of books from landfills.
  • Reclaimed more than 680,000 lbs. of metal shelving from libraries across the U.S.
  • Over 6,000 tons of carbon offset on website sales.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Kathy Cohen Retiring from UNF

Kathy Cohen, Associate Dean at the Thomas G. Carpenter Library at the University of North Florida, will be retiring soon after 35 years of service. Kathy is particularly special to NEFLIN because she was elected as the first president of the NEFLIN Board of Directors in 1993, and has been a valued friend and supporter ever since.

Best wishes to Kathy!

The State of America's Libraries

Stephen Abram posted on his blog about the latest ALA Report "The State of America's Libraries 2009".

I haven't had a chance to look it over yet, but it does cover all types of libraries, and the opportunities libraries have in the current economy.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Delivery Costs...Decrease!

Good news and a Friday to boot. TBLC has negotiated with the vendor for the statewide courier service (DLLI) and the costs will go down next year.



It has been a really exciting process, and I wanted to bring
you up to date with the status of our ITN for the Statewide
Delivery System. We received nine vendor bids and after
careful consideration, we have decided to stay with
Velocity Express.

A bit of trivia since many people have asked - the cost
of UPS was a minimum of 1 MILLION dollars!

With this new contract, we were able to lower the total
cost of
Delivery. We will decrease costs by $150 per stop.

As a result of the new contract, we are able to offer smaller
libraries the ability to have two days of service per week
for the cost of one, allowing us to eliminate one-day stops.
This benefits the Delivery system as a whole, as items will
have a quicker turnaround time to and from small libraries.

The pricing for October 2009 - September 30, 2010 is:

2-day stop: $600
3-day stop: $1,800
4-day stop: $2,400
5-day stop: $3,000

Additionally, we will change the following policies based
upon the Statewide Delivery Taskforce recommendations and
negotiations with the vendor starting on October 1, 2009:

- Lost Items. Delivery will no longer pay for lost items.
It will pay for damaged items or egregious loss.
- Scanning. We will discontinue the bag level scanning.
Scanning of Electronic Signatures by drivers and labels on
demand will continue.

Renewal letters will be sent to each participating library's
director reflecting these changes in May. Please contact TBLC
at (813) 622-8252 with any questions about the renewal or
Delivery in general.

Sincerely,
Diana Silveira
Virtual Reference Manager
Tampa Bay Library Consortium
813.622.8252 ext 234
sachsd at tblc.org
www.askalibrarian.org

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Connie Regan-Blake Storytelling workshop at NEFLIN

Seats still available for this great workshop


Stories – our link with humanity – inspire shared family time, bring listeners to original sources of literature, and pass on cultural traditions. They also entertain and educate ourselves and our listeners. In this workshop, you’ll discover how to find stories that speak to you, how to put stories inside of you, and how to be present in the telling as the story unfolds. Emphasis will be on traditional tales for all ages, personal experience and literary stories drawn from the best of children’s literature. Other topics that may be covered include collecting family stories; tips for staying calm and avoiding performance anxiety; hints on what to do if you forget your story and use of music, props, and sign language.

Trainer: Connie Regan-Blake, Storyteller
Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park

ACLD goes all 2.0 on us

I wanted to come up with an original title to this post, but it is true. Like yesterday, another NEFLIN member library has dived headfirst into the 2.0 world. Alachua County Library District just unveiled their new eBranch.

I love the simple look of the main page.

I spent some time playing with the catalog. If you haven't used AquaBrowser to search a catalog before, give it a try.

How about a quick tour of the eBranch?

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

SJCPLS goes all 2.0 on us

The St. Johns County Public Library is celebrating
National Library Week in style. They now have a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Become a fan, follower, or subscriber now!

Visit each day this week for a new YouTube video created by the SJCPLS staff.

Friday, April 10, 2009

"Diversity Beyond the Obvious" Archived Replay Available

The streaming video replay for the College of DuPage program "Diversity Beyond the Obvious" which first aired on April 3 is now available here.

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? The program is 90 minutes long.

The next College of DuPage program is "Ounce of Prevention: Health Reference Basics" which will air on Thursday, April 16. See our blog post here and register to receive access information.

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.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Count Your Peeps


Not those peeps...your peeps, i.e., customers!








Stop counting with hand-held devices or tick marks on a piece of paper. For that next special event at your library, borrow the People Counter.

The People Counter can be easily installed on any doorway and keeps a count of folks passing through its infrared beam.

NEFLIN has added this to our Equipment Loan Program.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Tough Economy Toolkit

ALA has put together an Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit. Included are resources and tools, including newsclips, op-eds and statistics to help library supporters make the case for libraries in tough economic times.

Here is a look at the Talking Points:

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

College of DuPage Program: Ounce of Prevention: Health Reference Basics

Funded by LSTA through the State Library and Archives of Florida, NEFLIN is pleased to bring you the next College of DuPage program. Click on the program title to register to receive access information.


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.

Virtual Trainer: Debra Kakuk Smith
Date: Thursday, April 16
Time: 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm
Location: On your DESKTOP

This registration is for NEFLIN members only.

Previous College of DuPage programs are available to borrow from the NEFLIN Multimedia Lending Library. Search using "DuPage" as the Vendor for a list of titles.

PDF to Word

Lifehacker had a recent article about a website that allows you to upload PDF documents and makes Word documents out of them....for free!

I waited to blog about it until I tried it a few times. I'm pleased to report it was easy and painless. This is a keeper!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Increase your Library's Bandwidth

Posted by Charlie Parker to the FLA listserv.

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Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), we have been trying to identify ways the Florida library community can benefit from the act’s provisions and keep the library community up-to-date about what we learn. Currently the main focus is on broad band services as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Federal Communications Commission, and U.S. Department of Agriculture are hard at work developing grant program rules and procedures for the Act’s broadband provisions. It is our understanding that there will be 3 broad band grant application rounds with the first coming perhaps as early as this April through June.

We are advocating for an approach where libraries can submit their lists of broadband needs – service upgrades, equipment, installation, and budgets that would be aggregated into a single proposal at the state level. There is concern that NTIA does not have the personnel to handle the thousands of applications they might receive so there would be clear advantages to aggregating proposals.

Planning is also underway at the state level to utilize stimulus funds to build broad band infrastructure to un-served or under-served Florida communities. Some libraries, particularly those serving rural communities, may be able to benefit from these efforts also.

While we wait for the program details to be developed, this would be a good time for interested libraries to conduct technology and service assessments and identify needed service increases, equipment, and other costs associated with delivering broad band services that meet your communities’ needs. Hopefully you will soon be invited to submit this information for inclusion in a statewide grant application. Provided below are some questions to assist you with assessment and planning.

Thanks to Mark Flynn at the State Library and Archives of Florida and Dr. Charles McClure at Florida State University’s Information Use Management and Policy Institute who are working hard to ensure that Florida libraries’ contribution to providing broad band access to Floridians is acknowledged through funding from the stimulus act!

Public Library Broadband Self-assessment Questions

1. Does your library have sufficient bandwidth to support current services and Internet use? Are your computer workstations slow at anytime of the day? Does your library need additional bandwidth at the main library or branches? How much additional bandwidth does your library need? It may be advisable to arrange for an assessment of your bandwidth needs by a qualified IT specialist. If your county or city has fiber infrastructure and they are willing to let you use it, what will it cost to connect to it? What would be the cost of upgrading your library's the broadband service?

2. Does your library plan to add additional services that would significantly affect bandwidth utilization? Additional workstations? New branches? Wireless? New service emphasis using bandwidth intensive applications like video or teleconferencing? Be sure to factor in those costs for new services.

3. What equipment upgrades will be necessary to support needed new services and increased bandwidth? If you are upgrading connections, you may need new routers, switches, other equipment and cabling. Do you have adequate network management equipment and software (for bandwidth monitoring and shaping). Again, it may be advisable to arrange for an assessment of your technology by a qualified IT specialist.

4. What staffing needs would you have if you were to participate in a major upgrade of your broadband connection, the library’s IT infrastructure, and broadband-based services? Can you describe these needs in terms of additional staff hours or additional positions and at what cost?

5. Once the ARRA funding ends (in 2010-1011) what will you need to do in order to sustain the broadband upgrade and/or new services in subsequent budget years?

6. Are there any arrangements you would need to make with your local government in order to be able to participate in a statewide effort for a major expansion of public library broadband services?

7. If you have ideas for additional statewide public library broadband initiatives?

Friday, April 3, 2009

FREE Cataloging classes at NEFLIN

NEFLIN is hosting the following FREE cataloging classes:

MARC 21 in Your Library

What is MARC and how does it work with cataloging to function effectively in your catalog? Have you ever wondered:
· Why a book can be found by its author and yet cannot be found by its title?
· Why only six books in Spanish appear to be in your database, when you know you have sixty?
· Why the video version of Hamlet cannot be found without wading through all the book versions of Hamlet in your collection?

You too can solve these fascinating types of riddles if you know just a bit about some of those confusing codes in a MARC record. Come and join your fellow beginners to learn how to read a MARC record, and how to tell if some of the most important elements of the record are present and correct.

Trainer: Kathy Nystrom, The MARC of Quality
Date: Monday, August 3
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN Headquarters, 2233 Park Avenue, Suite 402, Orange Park, Florida 32073

Cost: FREE for ALL

For full description and registration information for MARC 21 in Your Library see: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,f485e636-4a57-4eed-8d5c-52764cd21d7c

___________________________________________________________

Just for Copy Cats

What is copy cataloging? This workshop provides an introduction to finding cataloging records that you can copy, explaining some of the more obvious challenges and some neglected database issues, with a brief look at essential editing. Although not a substitute for the 4 day Book Blitz , this workshop will get you started in the basic principles of copy cataloging.
· How to read a MARC Record for searching, matching and editing
· Search terms and their sources
· Matching books and records
· Special matching problems - Dates
· Special matching problems - CIP
· How to recognize what is wrong with a record, so that you can either fix it or report it to someone who can. These include wrong indicators (especially filing and tracing indicators), badly coded 008 (Fixed field), missing subject headings, duplicate match keys, and unverified headings.

Attendees should bring a printout of a MARC record from their local automated system.

Recommended prerequisite: MARC 21 in your Library

Trainer: Kathy Nystrom, The MARC of Quality
Date: Monday - Tuesday, August 24-25
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN Headquarters, 2233 Park Avenue, Suite 402, Orange Park, Florida 32073

Cost: FREE for ALL

For full description and registration information for Just for Copy Cats see: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,f485e636-4a57-4eed-8d5c-52764cd21d7c

_____________________________________________________

For full descriptions or to register for these and all NEFLIN workshops go to http://www.neflin.org/registration.php

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Literacy Webinar

From the latest State Library and Archives of Florida newsletter comes this nugget about an upcoming Literacy Webinar.

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ALA will sponsor the first international library literacy webcast on Tuesday, April 7, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST.

The session, which is titled "Advocacy, Libraries, and Literacy: Literacy for ALL," brings together a diverse group of librarians from public, school, and academic libraries. These advocates and service providers understand the essential role that libraries play in supporting literacy development across the lifespan.

The webcast, which is sponsored by the National Institute for Literacy, will discuss key issues, promote community solutions, showcase innovative partnerships, and issue a call to action for library literacy advocates. To register visit ALA's Build Literacy site.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Getting to the Heart of Storytelling with Connie Regan-Blake

New Workshop!


Stories – our link with humanity – inspire shared family time, bring listeners to original sources of literature, and pass on cultural traditions. They also entertain and educate ourselves and our listeners. In this workshop, you’ll discover how to find stories that speak to you, how to put stories inside of you, and how to be present in the telling as the story unfolds.

Emphasis will be on traditional tales for all ages, personal experience and literary stories drawn from the best of children’s literature. Other topics that may be covered include collecting family stories; tips for staying calm and avoiding performance anxiety; hints on what to do if you forget your story and use of music, props, and sign language.

Trainer: Connie Regan-Blake, Storyteller
Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location: NEFLIN in Orange Park


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