October Highlights from WebJunction

From the October WebJunction Newsletter Hurricane Readiness Webinar On October 21 join guest presenter Joe Ryan, project manager of a new Florida-based initiative to make better use of public libraries for hurricane and disaster preparation and recovery. The project helps libraries address the needs of the broader community through partnerships with fellow emergency responders and to become a safe haven, a recovery center, information hub and evacuee resource. From this webinar you will learn how your library can play an important role in community preparedness and recovery. Become a Master of Disaster In addition to the related webinar and articles, you can also take an online course by LibraryU, Master of Disaster: Developing a Disaster Plan. This approximately one-hour self-paced course covers the three main areas of disaster preparedness that are critical to your library's ability to respond to, and even prevent major and minor disasters: identify potential hazards, devise a course of action, and document your plan.

Upcoming FRBR and Digitization Classes We still have a few open seats in the October 13 and 15 session of FRBR: How it can help you prepare for RDA. The new RDA standard is coming early next year, and this class is a great opportunity to come up to speed (or get refreshed) on FRBR and discuss the ongoing development of RDA. And coming up on November 11 and 12 will be Basic Digitization: Everyday Imaging. This class is a great introduction to all the details involved with using scanners and cameras to digitize materials in your library. Both classes are provided through WebJunction's partnership with Amigos Library Services, and consist of two 2-hour live online sessions that allow for interaction among the participants and instructor, plus a dedicated page on WebJunction for ongoing discussions and support materials.

Outreach to the Struggling Workforce The demands on library services have increased in these economic tough times, with libraries everywhere trying to respond to the needs of the unemployed and financially strained members of their community. Through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the State Library of North Carolina and WebJunction are embarking on a project to assist state library agencies as they help to increase the effectiveness of their libraries’ activities, services, and outreach to struggling patrons. We'll be keeping you in touch with this project and the resulting resources throughout the year, so stay tuned to BlogJunction and this newsletter for updates.