Blog posts in "Events"

Applications sought for PLA Results Boot Camp 5; Deadline Extended

eric.hildreth — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:39:08 -0600

Applications are now being accepted for the Public Library Association's (PLA) intensive library management training, Results Boot Camp 5, to be held October 12-16, 2009, in Seattle, Washington. The deadline has been extended thru September 18, 2009.

This weeklong, interactive workshop will include both individual and group activities, and will focus on current library issues using case studies describing real library situations. By the end of the week, participants will have the skills necessary to develop and implement a strategic plan in their library. Additionally, participants will be able to:

Identify community needs
Understand and explain the new public library service responses
Write goals and objectives that will enable measurement of progress toward achieving your strategic plan
Incorporate outcome measures in a strategic plan
Identify and select the most effective activities to support the priorities in a strategic plan
Identify current staff workload and skills and determine the staffing requirements to accomplish selected activities
Understand the issues that affect the allocation of collection, technology, and facilities resources in a Results environment
Review current library policies, regulations, and procedures to ensure that they support the strategic plan
Manage change in your library more effectively

Boot Camp 5 will be presented by Sandra Nelson and June Garcia, both of whom have written books in the PLA Results series of publications. Participation is limited to ensure an environment that fosters group interaction and active participation. Acceptance to the Results Boot Camp 5 is competitive.

PLA Results Boot Camp 5 will be held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Additional course information, pricing, and applications are available via the PLA Boot Camp 5 web page. For more information on this and other continuing education programs sponsored by PLA, contact the PLA office at 800-545-2433, ext. 5PLA, or visit PLAs Web site, www.pla.org.

PLA is a division of the American Library Association.

-- Submitted to the ICFL by Kathleen M. Hughes of the Public Libraries Association

Kudos to SWILA 2009 planners and presenters

Teresa.Lipus — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:48:36 -0600

Kudos to the planners and presenters for the 2009 Southwest Idaho Library Association Conference. The well-organized conference offered an abundance of sessions, which made it hard to choose! I loved learning more about technology and social networking, and the awesome ways that librarians are hooking teen readers. It was great to network and meet new people in the library field.

Happy Teen Tech Week!

sue.walker — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:03:10 -0600

March 8-14 is Teen Tech Week. Sponsored by YALSA, this year's theme is "Press Play @ Your Library". Share how your library is celebrating anytime throughout March with stories, photos, and links to your website.

If you missed this year's event, get a headstart on next year. Check out
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw09/home.cfm for innovative ideas you can tailor to your teens' needs. Get teens involved in selecting the 2010 theme and sharing how they use online video.

If your teens can't wait a year for fantastic programs, plan for Teen Read Week, October 18-24, 2009. Also sponsored by YALSA, the official kick-off for the event is April 16, Support Teen Lit Day. Check www.ala.org/teenread for ideas.

Teen Tech Week 2009: Press Play at the Library

sue.walker — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:43:31 -0700

If you're thinking about participating in Teen Tech Week 2009 (March 8-14, 2009)check out the resources available at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw09/home.cfm

Everything from a wiki for sharing ideas, publicity materials, and booklists will make planning and implementing a successful program so much easier.

Involve your local teens by sharing "25 Ways to Celebrate Teen Tech Week" (http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw08/activityideas...) to see what technology excites them.

You can even apply for a mini-grant to offset expenses and wow your supervisor with your grantwriting skills.

Grant highlights:

Applicants must be YALSA members
Grant amount: $450.00 plus Teen Tech pack products valued at $50.00
Deadline for submission: January 19, 2009

Teens and Technology

staci.shaw — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:44:12 -0600

If you read the recent issue of The Scoop, you probably saw the SPLAT article about the new technologies that all librarians should be aware of and utilize:
Blogging, RSS and RSS Feeders, IM – Meebo, Online Applications, Wikis, and Tagging. Though I may have once been considered young and hip, I have to admit that I can't get my RSS feeder page to load, this is only my second blog ever, and I have absolutely no idea what Meebo is. It seems like it wasn't THAT long ago that I was a teen (ok, so my idea of technology back then was to be able to make a mixed tape of the radio hits of the '80's), but I can no longer look the other way when teennagers roll their eyes at my lack of with-it-ness. I must do something before my five year-old is able to outsmart me with technology! If you're in the same wiki boat as me, I invite you to register for the "New Technologies and New Literacies for Teens-2009" course, which begins in January. Please see the Teens and Technology link for more information. Hope to see you there- TTFN! (I hope that means Ta-ta for now, but I'm not really sure...)

New ICFL Web Site Launch!

Anne Abrams — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:07:50 -0600

Be part of the virtual launch!
On October 2, ICFL will be rolling out the new website and WebJunction Idaho at ILA. You can be part of it and get rewarded for your efforts! Here's what you need to do (and here is how to do it!):

Create an account at icfl.idaho.gov
Write a blog post there to welcome others to the site
Join WebJunction
Create/Update your account
Request an Idaho affiliation
“Friend” Shirley Biladeau

A cool prize will be mailed to you! Even better, by affiliating with WebJunction Idaho, you can enroll in classes at no cost!

PNLA 2008

Shirley Biladeau — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:14:12 -0600

Libraries go wild Beyond the Expected! Although the weather is hot outside, it is way cool inside spending time with so many enthusiastic, passionate, cool librarians from the Pacific Northwest!

Wednesday preconference included the opportunity to spend time with author Pete Fromm, motivational speaker, Don Aslett, and exploring ideas for connecting with digital natives, otherwise known as the "Young and the Restless"! The President's Reception feature Don Aslett as Keynote and then som great bluegrass band music!

Building library networks, and reconnecting with established networks has been valuable in developing professional relations.

Thursday provided a wealth of workshop opportunities with something for everyone. Gathering data, duilding programs and strengthening teaching, provided a new perspective on assessment. It provided a delineation between assessment and evaluation. Compiling data about library instruction programs provides a valuable tool for evaluating the success of your training programs and resources for new directions.

Embracing Technology was a review of how Deschutes Public Library created their own Learning 2.0 staff training program and implemented it.

CJ Box presented an overview of how he came to writing and developed his award-winning Joe Pickett series.

This afternoon we learned about two new resources for project management: huddle.net and project management resources. Huddle looks like it has great possibilities!

Next Generation ILS: Tuesday

Shirley Biladeau — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:59:26 -0600

Tuesday's session included Ira Frosch, President, Palazzo, Inc., presenting a perspective from outside the realm of library land, and Jamie LaRue, Director, Douglas County Libraries, providing an overview of the efforts of a Colorado library district which is working toward providing a seamless interface for the customer and the library's resources.

Frosch's theme was that libraries and business are not that different. Both use -- or should be using -- strategic goals, key metrics, and critical path within their organization. A library is a product distributor and a service provider to specific customers. He encouraged libraries to define standards, as that provides the freedom from the tyranny of proprietary. He challenged the participants to review the "Best Buy" model of business -- a collective inventory with franchisees, where everyone knows how to communicate with everyone else.

LaRue addressed "cataloging the community" providing numerous examples (successes and failures) of how Douglas County Libraries have tried to reach out to their respective communities and connect them through 1 catalog to the libraries resources which include community data -- such as meeting information, community links, government publications and the like -- so the user has a one-stop shop. The goal is: "Books tell stories, movies tell stories. Our communities tell stories, too. Can our catalogs find them? What if our catalogs told the community's story? What if our catalog became as trusted as your next door neighbor?"

The symposium brought many ideas, thoughts and concerns to the surface. Next steps will involve both grassroots efforts to continue to evangelize, as well as, a broader effort by groups such as BCR to continue the conversation for developing basic ILS standards among library folks as well as vendors.

Presentation powerpoints and meeting notes can be found on the BCR website.

Next Generation ILS: Monday Afternoon

Shirley Biladeau — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:22:52 -0600

Matt Goldner, Executive Dir. Of End User Services, OCLC, provided the following thoughts:
1. Create new paradigms and methods for how we create and delivery library services in today's landscape – challenge current assumptions.

2. User expectations are changing

Simplicity
Self-service
Immediate gratification
Single source for one category
Rich interactivity
User participation, contribution, collaboration

Sites are user centric while libraries are library centric.
Library no longer has a monopoly on resources – resources are abundant and attention is scarce.

Following Mark's presentation the participants broke into six groups to discuss: What pieces of existing systems and software could be mashed up? What's missing? and What should we throw out?

Here are some of the thoughts:
Mash-up
Rich data in integrated library systems: bibliographic, etc.
Libraries – Amazon (catalog search) – Net Flicks (circulation)
Linking ILL and Acquisitions
Integrating data from outside resources without loads of clutter
Unified log on – allowing user to have personalized space
Interactivity that users expect to generate and contribute content – social experience
Self-service is integrated through patrons on site and remotely
Integration between library catalog and digital collections
Link to live person

Missing
Authentication
Standard protocols among libraries
Spell check and autocheck for search
Multiple use of metadata
Richer depth of information
Money and bandwidth
State of the art interface to access new technology
Sense of serendipity and bring to online experience
Published APIS are not universal
Translate passion of librarian into online medium and a means to share expertise
Not where our users are – expect them to come to us
Not a good way to share staff expertise across libraries especially specialized roles

Throw out
Throw out the I in ils – change definition of integrated
Making it optional – marc categories, concept of portal tear to pieces and use parts and pieces – unified opac is not necessarily the means
Current search structure and indexes
Lawyers, accountants and politicians
Opac as an interface to inventory – rather just another database – can we get rid of marc – subject headings, need control vocab – throwing the definition of opac out
Proprietary data
Rethinking idea of local library
Worrying so much to get materials back
Acronyms

Protecting Library Collections

Shirley Biladeau — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:39:06 -0600

The first round of the WESTPAS workshops on "Protecting Library & Archive Collections: Disaster Preparedness, Response, & Recovery" was conducted in Eastern Idaho at the Portneuf District Library and then in Southwestern Idaho at the Garden City Library. Kris Kern of the Preservation Unit of Portland State University presented a wealth of information regarding preventative measures for preserving collections during times of disaster. By the end of the second session in August, each participating library will have developed a disaster plan that meets their specific needs.

Key steps in disaster preparedness include prevention, preparation, and response as well as recovery and follow-through. An emergency is an unanticipated or threatening event that requires immediate action, while a disaster is an emergency that gets out of control. Time can be a critical factor as to whether or not items can be recovered. Some preventative steps that you can observe:

Have plastic sheeting and duct tape available in case of disaster.
If your facility is undergoing construction, do a walk through every day right after workers leave and then another walk thru about 1.5 hours later.
All materials should be at least 4" from the floor.
Don't store the most precious or valuable items in the basement.

Disaster planning is the last thing we want to think of, however, it is the first thing we should do. Every library should have a plan which identifies contacts, immediate response actions, assessment procedures, communication, and collection salvage -- what are your collection priorities. If you missed the workshop and would like more information about disaster planning, click here for the workshop documents. The first document is a list of web and print resources. The last four book resources listed can be accessed through ICFL's Professional Development Service.

For north Idaho libraries there will be a workshop held in Spokane this fall, the dates will be announced soon.

Here are some examples of recent disasters: Cedar Rapids Library
University of Iowa Library

If you would like more information, please contact Shirley Biladeau