February's Live Webinars

On our sister blog, Library Webinars, we have just put up the monthly list of live webinars. We have found over 30 webinars in February that can assist with your professional development. Check it out!

iPad in Action

Apple introduced its new tablet device, the iPad, yesterday. Its lighter and thinner than any laptop, and will be available in March starting at $499.

I could try to describe all the functions, bells, and whistles of this device, but why don't you view this one minute video that shows the iPad in action.

Regarding its e-book reader functionality I was pleased to see that the iPad supports the ePub standard (which the Kindle does not). This will allow for downloading of e-books from a wider variety of vendors.

Save Money on Technology

A great post by Sarah, the LiB, on
13 Ways (and 147 Tools) to Help Your Library Save Money on Technology.

These are my favorite options for libraries to use as alternatives to the expensive paid services and software that we use now, usually because our parent organizations or IT departments have gone along with the mainstream, bought the expensive stuff from the well-known companies, and never blinked. But now that we are all facing budget crunches the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades, we have a chance to show these alternatives to the decision-makers, save the organization some money, and support the open source movement at the same time. I have personally used all of these, at least in a demo setting. Most of them I use on a regular basis at work or at home. So trust me — these recommendations do not come lightly! I think these tools are darn good, otherwise they wouldn’t have made the cut.

This list has come out of a few different presentations I’ve given for public libraries recently, from Hawaii to Iowa. Take a look, see what you want to try, and let me know how it works. The list is not exhaustive, so I invite all of you to comment on this post and add your own favorite free web tools, software, and open source awesomeness.

Perpetual Beta

A new blog has just started and is worth a look. Perpetual Beta is written by Jason Griffey and housed at American Libraries. Here is a statement from Jason about this blog.
---------------------------------

I’m going to try and introduce technologies that libraries and librarians should be paying attention to, and at the same time give you tips and tricks to make better use of the technologies that you may already be playing with.

A few examples of the sorts of things that I’ll be covering in this space: How to get any piece of text you want onto your eReader, How to automate delivery of information to your staff and patrons, setting up your own Media Server for your library, and much, much more.

In addition to these sorts of “Lifehacker for Libraries” posts, I’ll also be posting interesting things that I find around the Library and Technology infosphere, and I’ll be producing some video podcasts as well. Expect the first of these very soon, as I am even as I type this on my way to the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show. I’ll be reporting over the next several weeks about my discoveries there, and will include audio and video interviews, demos, and anything else I can think of that might be interesting.

Virtual Training Opportunities in February

20 Questions: Business Resources

Tuesday, February 9, 2:00 - 4:00 pm from Lyrasis

Business reference questions can be particularly challenging, and the information elusive and expensive. In this two-hour online class, students will explore the answers to 20 business reference questions like, “Are these stock certificates from 1930 I found in my basement worth anything?” and, “What companies in California manufacture computer chips?" Students will then have the opportunity to explore business reference resources further in an after-class exercise.

Virtual Trainer: Russell Palmer, Lyrasis

20 Questions: Science Resources

Thursday, February 25, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon from Lyrasis

Accurate answers to tough science questions can be difficult to find. In this two-hour online class, students will explore 20 science information web pages librarians use to find answers to questions like, “Where can I find some ideas for my science fair project?” and, “Where can I find spectral data for organic compounds?” Students will then have the opportunity to explore science reference resources further in an after-class exercise.
Virtual Trainer: Russell Palmer, Lyrasis

Cataloging: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going? College of DuPage

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

Librarians are justly proud of their accomplishments in organizing the world’s published information through the use of standard subject headings and the ubiquitous, demanding MARC record. But, with the explosion of more information stored electronically, are our old standards still relevant today? Has keyword trumped the subject heading? Librarians also see their roles changing as more information description and metadata production are handled by other professionals. Will online tagging or vendor descriptions diminish the need for librarians? Questions are rife on what exactly are the thrust of RDA and the new AACR2?

Renee Register, Senior Product Manager at OCLC and Karen Coyle, noted consultant and leader in the area of digital libraries will review current cataloging practices and discuss the future of metadata, the MARC record, the Resource Description and Access standard, and the librarian's place in online information organization and access.

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

Calendars and Calculators

I just used two Vertex templates and thought I would pass on this site if you have a similiar need.

Vertex has developed hundreds of templates for calendars (weekly, monthly, annual, lesson plans), calculators (financial, loan, mortgage, retirement) and misc (budgets, invoices, time sheets).

All of these templates are free downloads that you can import into Excel, and off you go. Check them out!

Library Day is February 16

Be a part of this major advocacy activity in support of Florida libraries.

Deadline for Early Bird Registration is January 30 – Register now and save $10

· Mail check to FLA office or pay by phone with credit card

· Registration form is attached and available at http://www.flalib.org/advocacy.php

Registration includes legislative update, materials packet, Friends’ Idea Exchange, admission to reception and a beautiful new art print provided by Mumford Library Books.

Library Day Schedule - All onsite events will be in downtown Tallahassee.

· Advance briefing by webinar on Feb. 9 at 10 am and Feb. 11 at 2:00 pm. Contact Legislative Committee Chair Charlie Parker cparker@tblc.org for more information.

· Registration and packet pick up will be in the Capitol Rotunda.

· Ongoing on-site briefing for library supporters at Capitol Rotunda.

· Friends Idea Exchange and Reception at LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library.

Hotels – an updated list of Tallahassee hotels with new additions is available at http://www.flalib.org/advocacy.php. Book soon to be sure to get a room and a good rate.

Issues – Check the advocacy web page for FLA’s legislative platform and other information on issues facing Florida’s libraries.

See you in Tallahassee!

Faye Roberts, Executive Director

Florida Library Association

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:

Providing Excellent Customer Service in a Multicultural Environment

Serving diverse and multicultural customers is an exciting and challenging part of working in libraries today. But it also presents situations that may be new and unsettling for you. This course will help you begin to understand people with different cultural experiences and will give you some guidelines to help you serve multicultural customers. You will be introduced to the basics of how diversity and culture impact your understanding of and response to your multicultural customers. Staff completing this course will be able to:

• Understand the perspectives that people from different cultures bring to the library experience and to customer service.
• Understand how cultural differences impact customer service.
• Apply a number of basic strategies and communication skills to work effectively with multicultural customers.

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

Personal Library Tools for Librarians: Online Class

What are personal library tools? They are online sites such as LibraryThing, Shelfari, GoodReads and Google MyLibrary. Attend next week's live online class to learn how to make these tools work for you.

Personal Library Tools for Librarians: Online Class

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

Tuesday, January 26, 10:00 - 11:30 am via NEFLIN's web conferencing service.

Register to receive access information.

Did you know...you can check the Attendees List for NEFLIN classes?

Have you ever wondered if anyone near you will be attending a NEFLIN face to face class so you could ride together? Or are you curious to see who has also signed up for the webinar next week?

Two weeks before a class, we turn on the Attendees List for each of our Continuing Education Events. Go to the event summary for the class (list of classes found here) and click on the Attendees Tab at the top to see who else is registered. It's also a great way to double check your own registration in any event.

Any questions, call NEFLIN at 904-278-5620 or email register@neflin.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Technology of Tomorrow...Today

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show was held last week. The hot topic...E-book readers. (Who would've thought?)

One writer explains why the e-reader market is not just about e-books (E-Reader Roundup).

"To sum up we can see that in 2010 the e-reader market is going to extend beyond basic e-books and include newspapers and magazines augmented with audio and full-color animations, video, and imagery. This will force manufactures like Amazon (Kindle) and Sony (Reader) to go beyond the monochrome E-Ink devices they have today and produce e-readers that will be competitive with the new technology of today and beyond."

Photos of the Skiff Reader




The other tech items that were hot at this year's show?

Tablet PCs and 3-D TV.

Handheld Librarian Online Conference - Site Locations Needed

Q. What is the Handheld Librarian Online Conference?

A. The Handheld Librarian is a 2-day online conference scheduled for February 17-18, 2010. The program -- sponsored by Alliance Library System, and LearningTimes -- is from 11 am - 7 pm ET* each day and will include Keynote speakers and concurrent sessions with tracks on topics covering Mobile Reference, E-Books, Mobile Aps, marketing, Websites and Content. Over 2000 people particiated in the first HHL conference in July 2009. *Note: The times on the HHL website are listed in Central TIme Zone.

Q. What are Site Locations?

A. NEFLIN needs several libraries throughout our region to host the online conference. You would provide a room and equipment to show the conference to a group. NEFLIN will promote the event and pay the registration fee. Attendees may stay for the whole day, or come and go as speakers and topics are presented.

Q. Why is this conference important?

A. More people than ever are using mobile devices for a wide variety of purposes including communication, internet access, text messaging, and entertainment. It is important that libraries provide services on these devices as use increases.

Q. What are the keynote topics and speakers?

A. Keynote speakers include:

"Mobilizing Libraries for Today's Students" with Joan Lippincott

"Morphing with Mobile" with Tom Peters

"This is Now: The Mobile Library" with Joe Murphy

"Mobile Trends and Social Reference" with Alison Miller

Q. What are the technical requirements for hosting?

A. The conference will use Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro. Click here for a simple sound and virtual auditorium check of the computer you will use for viewing.

Q. How do I register my library as a site location?

A. Go to http://bit.ly/neflin-handheld and complete the brief form. We'll handle the conference registration and send you the access details. Please respond by Wednesday, January 27.

Q. How do I register myself as a participant?

A. Registration is not required for NEFLIN members to attend the online conference at one of the NEFLIN site locations. Once the site locations are determined we will send out the list of libraries, then you just show up, sign the sign-in sheet and enjoy.

Non-members of NEFLIN would register themselves through the Handheld Librarian website at the individual or group rate.

Any questions contact NEFLIN at 904-278-5620 or register@neflin.org.

Tips and Techniques on Media and Public Relations: Feed the Beast: 2 Day Live Online

Have you ever found yourself (or are you afraid you might find yourself) in the position of spokesperson for the library? Are you visualizing that “deer in headlights” look on your face? This two part online session is for you or for anyone who is interested in learning to face questions and “realign” them to answer from a different approach. Learn tools and techniques not only for facing the media, but also for library marketing, library communications policies, and public relations.

Virtual Trainer: Dawn Jenkins, CFLC

Dates: Wednesday, February 3 and 10

Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 noon

You must attend both sessions.

You will be emailed access information. Please see technical requirements here.

Register by Wednesday, January 20 to avoid class cancellation

Becoming a Library and Information Professional: All About Graduate School

Are you working in a library and wondering what it would take to get a Master’s Degree to become a professional Librarian or School Media Specialist? These informative workshops on Library School are for you.

We’ll cover the degree programs at Florida State University and the University of South Florida, admission requirements, distance learning options, costs and financial aid availability. Join us for all your questions to be answered. Free for all.

Trainers: Christie Koontz, FSU and Jessica Voss, USF

Monday, February 8, 1:00 - 4:00 pm at NEFLIN in Orange Park
or
Tuesday, February 9, 1:00 - 4:00 pm at Tower Road Library in Gainesville

US Department of Energy Database Workshop at UF

US Department of Energy Database Workshop

Monday, January 25

9:00 am - 12:00 noon
University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries

Library West, Room 211

Cost: Free to all

Tim Byrne with the Office of Scientific and Technical Information for the US Department of Energy will be leading a three-hour hands-on workshop on the US Department of Energy resources.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) produces a number of databases and federated search products for accessing scientific and technical information. The databases contain the research reports done by employees, contractors and grantees of the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration, as well as other energy related information. These databases include the Information Bridge, Energy Citations Database, DOepatents, DOE R&D Accomplishments, and DOE R&D Project Summaries.

OSTI is also a leader in the development of federated search tools to provide access to scientific databases inaccessible to internet search engines. Three such products that search various scientific databases and repositories in support of DOE research are the E-Print Network, Science Conference Proceedings, and EnergyFiles. Federated search tools that cover federal science agencies include Science.gov and Federal R&D Project Summaries. WorldWideScience.org provides access to scientific and technical information from over sixty foreign countries.

Two OSTI products that provide access to federal government science education materials are ScienceLab and the recently launched ScienceEducation.gov. This workshop will introduce participants to all of these resources. Some of the products will receive more detailed coverage in terms of how to achieve the best search results.

Tim Byrne has been with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information in Oak Ridge, Tennessee since November 2007. Prior to that time, he gained a great deal of experience with OSTI databases and DOE technical reports during 23 years at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he was the Head of the Government Publications Library and Regional Depository Librarian. The CU Government Publications Library contains one of the largest technical report collections in the country. Over the years, he has made numerous presentations at national and state conferences on issues relating to government information, federal depository libraries and technical reports. Topics have included digitization, permanent public access of electronic documents, training of non-depository librarians, depository library basics, regional depositories, and cataloging of government publications.

There are only 19 seats available so reserve your place soon. To register email solarcycle@uflib.ufl.edu with your name, phone number, email address, and affiliation.

For parking and directions please refer to the University of Florida Campus Map at http://campusmap.ufl.edu/. The workshop will take place in Library West (LBW). Visitor parking is located under the UF Bookstore Welcome Center (BWC). More detailed parking information can be found at http://www.parking.ufl.edu/.

E-Government Webinar

The State Library is beginning a series of webinars on E-Government.

The first of these "DCF and ACCESS Florida" will be held Wednesday, January 27, 10:00am - 11:15am.

Description:

Your library has been helping people in your community apply for a variety of services, including food stamps, Medicaid, temporary cash assistance, and refugee assistance through ACCESS Florida for a long time. The declining economy over the past year has dramatically increased the demands on library staff, services, and resources. To help you provide better assistance, representatives from Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) will provide an overview of their services, information about the DCF ACCESS Partnership network, and a tour of the ACCESS Florida Web site. You’ll learn tips to help you more easily maneuver through the ACCESS Florida site and make more accurate referrals to local social service agencies that can provide further assistance to your patrons.

Presenters:

• Cathy Kenyon, ACCESS Community Partner Network Coordinator
• Cheryl Twombly, Community Partner Liaison for DCF Circuit 8 (Alachua, Baker, Levy, Union, Bradford, and Gilchrist counties)

Moderator: Karen Clinton Brown, State Library and Archives of Florida, Office of Community Development kcbrown@dos.state.fl.us or 850.245.6633.

Register for this session

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:

Gifts for Libraries: Be Careful What You Wish For

From your own experience with gifts in a library, you may already be aware that there is both good news and bad news about gifts. The good news about gifts to libraries is that they are many. The bad news is that only a small percentage of what is offered or given is likely to be what the library really wants or need. This course will pay special attention to those gifts that are intended to become part of the "stock" of the library. It will also deal with the elements of a complete gift policy and discuss the political and public relations implications involved with gifts. By participating in this course, you will learn about these topics:

• Legal issues associated with gifts of all kinds
• Monetary and other funding gifts
• The special case of "special collections"
• Gifts of materials for the collections
• Gift policy and its essential elements
• Criteria for evaluating gifts of materials for possible inclusion in the collections
• The real cost of gifts
• Processes for handling gifts efficiently and appropriately
• Public relations and educational opportunities available when managing gifts appropriately

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

FLA Election Results

The Florida Library Association recently held their annual elections. Here is the complete list of elected members.

Congratulations go to Barbara Gubbin, Director, Jacksonville Public Library. She will be the representative for northeast Florida on the Board.

President - John Callahan

Past President – Wendy Breeden

Vice President/President-Elect – Gloria Colvin

Secretary – Gladys Roberts

Treasurer – Susan Dillinger

East Central Director – Cynthia Kisby

Northeast Director – Barbara A.B. Gubbin

Northwest Director – Linda McCarthy

Southeast Director – Carol Russo

Southwest Director – John C. Van Berkel

West Central Director – Sarabeth Kalajian

ALA Councilor - Corinne Jorgensen

SELA Representative - Debra Sears

10 Librarian Blogs to Read in 2010

Blake at LISNews just rolled out his annual Blogs to Read list.

I am already a reader of Library Garden. I haven't read the other nine, but will be doing so in the coming weeks. Check them out!

CONTENTdm Quick Start Workshop - free at NEFLIN

In 2009 the State Library of Florida's group subscription to the FirstSearch® Base Package was expanded to include CONTENTdm. This means that all libraries in Florida can request access to CONTENTdm® for digital collection building at no additional charge. Register to attend this Quick Start workshop to learn all about it.

What is CONTENTdm? OCLC's CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software can make everything in digital collections available to everyone, everywhere. No matter the format - local history archives, maps, newspapers, slide libraries or audio/video - CONTENTdm can handle the storage, management and delivery of digital collections to library users across the Web.

If a NEFLIN library has a small digital collection or they are planning a digitization project, CONTENTdm "quick start" may be just what they need to jump start their digital library. This entry-level, hosted version of CONTENTdm will support their efforts to increase access to the digital content their library provides. Many libraries use it to help promote and gain support for their new digital collection program. Attend this half-day seminar to learn more about OCLC's CONTENTdm and get introductory training on adding digital items and metadata to CONTENTdm.

All NEFLIN libraries are eligible to receive at no charge:

• the CONTENTdm software hosted by OCLC,
• three downloadable Project Clients for building your digital collections
• 10GB of storage for up to 3,000 digital items.

Friday, February 5

9:00 am - 12:00 noon

NEFLIN, 2233 Park Avenue, Suite 402, Orange Park, FL 32073

• Please bring a USB flash drive with 5-10 TIFF or JPEG images

Register today

Making the Most of a Shrinking Budget: Creative Practices in a New Economy College of Dupage

Costs rise while budgets and our buying power shrink. And if we want to innovate, the incorporation of new formats and technologies taxes our budgets even further. Librarians, traditionally used to budgets with modest or no growth, now face steep cuts. In the face of insufficient funding, libraries reduce hours, cut subscriptions, step up their resource sharing

efforts, engage in consortial buys, outsource where possible, use staff more creatively, deal more aggressively with vendors, boost fundraising efforts, mount advocacy campaigns, seek open source solutions, seek input from focus groups to prioritize services, and even merge with other libraries.

Join Leslie Burger, Director of the Princeton (NJ) Public Library and founder of Library Development Solutions, and Alice Calabrese-Berry, Executive Director of Metropolitan (Chicago) Library System for a discussion of best ways to deal with these difficult budget trends. What principles should guide librarians in saving money? How can we sustain our core services? Our panelists will share their knowledge and experience and explore creative library practices in this new economy.

• Free for all Florida Libraries
• You will be emailed access information

Register today.

Stressed? Check Out These Webinars with Andrew Sanderbeck

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

Free for NEFLIN members.
Register to receive access information.

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:

Keeping Your Library Looking Good

In an ideal world, you would build a new library that is designed for easy maintenance. You would hire custodial staff who would know which products clean which surfaces. And, you would have staff and a clientele that appreciated the new library so much that they would take really good care of it.

In the real world, we inherit some library buildings that were designed to win awards or were not originally designed as libraries. Our custodial staff is contract employees who clean the building during the night. We find graffiti on the restroom stalls, tar on the new carpet, water stains on the new furniture, and permanent markers used on the new marker board. Street people are sleeping on our new couches and in the bushes around the building; there are always paper towels on the floors of the restrooms; and the light bulbs in the bug-catching fixtures are constantly burned out. We were hired as librarians, but we sometimes feel like full-time janitors. After completing this course, you will understand the following objectives:

• Plan the library's landscaping and exterior for easy maintenance and sustainability.
• Select furniture and furnishings that are easy to keep clean and attractive
• Keep utility bills low and manageable
• Hire competent custodial staff
• Design a maintenance schedule
• Clean common problem areas and remove common stains

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