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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.