tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34440572887644932392024-03-08T10:56:23.673-06:00Director's SpotBev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-2523087234681687112010-05-07T14:07:00.000-05:002010-05-07T14:08:13.309-05:00The User ExperienceThe second article by Aaron Schmidt on the User Experience appeared in the March 1, 2010 <span style="font-style: italic;">Library Journa</span>l. The title was “Learn by Asking.”<br /><br />The concept here is that user interviews can help librarians to see their patrons as people and to learn what motivates them to come or not come to the library. A simple survey will give you information but only from those who use the library or choose the complete the survey. Non-users or those that do not respond are never heard from when the library is seeking to change or add services.<br /><br />Mr. Schmidt provided simple steps in conducting user interviews. They are:<br />1. Identify a problem<br />2. Recruit Interviewees<br />3. Conduct the interview<br />4. Transcribe the interviews.<br /><br />Approaching data gathering through interviews takes time and some skill but the information gathered is worth the effort. Try it!Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-10015528026739252712010-04-01T14:33:00.001-05:002010-04-01T14:35:07.197-05:00Classic CarsNo I don’t have a classic car but if you have a car club or car enthusiast in your community or family tell them about this free database. The title is “Classic Car Database”. You may wonder just how I learned about this gem of a site. Well it came in the mail; you know one of those letters that look like advertisement and a generic library name address label.<br /><br />What this site has is specifications for American cars manufactured between 1910 and 1975. There are also dealers in classic cars and parts, museums, and car clubs listed on the site. I took a quick look even though what I know about classic cars would fit in a thimble, even I could find information. So the next time someone wonders how many cylinders a certain car had or what type of brakes or even did it come in red. Check it out at <a href="http://classiccardatabase.com/">ClassicCarDatabase.com</a>.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-37702181942501194152010-03-24T09:01:00.002-05:002010-03-24T09:04:37.029-05:00User Experience (UX)User Experience (UX)<br /><br />The January 2010 Library Journal had an article by Aaron Schmidt titled “The User Experience.” His focus was on user experience design. He included three aspects of design: interaction design, information architecture, and visual design. Visual design” deals with the surface characteristics of an object or document.” This is the color of the carpet or the shape and layout of the circulation desk. Interaction design is the “process of creating how something behaves and how people must behave to engage it.” Think workflow, how people navigate through your library when you think about interaction design. Information architecture (IA) is about “organizing and structuring data.” In libraries this is often used in designing web page layouts and how they are labeled. <br /><br />Whether we know it or not, we are the designers of our library services and use all three of these aspects in the work we do every day. How well are we doing? Not sure just what this all means? A series of articles on User Experience are planned for Library Journal. The first two are online at the links below. Want to read more about design? A list of books accompanies the first article.<br /><br />January Library Journal <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6713142.html">Article</a><br /><br />March Library Journal <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6719431.html">Article</a>Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-65185928070634543052010-03-16T17:00:00.000-05:002010-03-16T17:01:48.152-05:00Tax CapsTax Caps are nasty things. They are passed in counties and people think their taxes will not go up. But they do and they don’t understand why. For those taxing bodies under the caps such as villages, townships, schools, and libraries they are frustrating to work within. Over time tax caps can erode the ability of a taxing body to levy enough funds to run their operations. How does this happen?<br /><br />When the county clerks figure the amount of money that is being raised, all of the tax rates are combined into one pot. Unfortunately, not all tax rates are equal. Retirement taxes have an unlimited tax rate. For instance when IMRF payments go up, the library taxes for the entire increased amount. Recently some IMRF rates have gone up as much as 8% or more. When you can only increase the total levy amount by 5% or the cost of living which ever is less and an expense such as IMRF goes up, libraries and other taxing bodies have a problem.<br /><br />Here are the numbers as an example. If the total tax rate is .22 and the IMRF portion of that goes from .03 to .08 that means that when you had .19 to spend for the rest of the budget you now have only .14. If you take away building and equipment .02 then only .12 is left. The corporate rate goes down and the money available for salaries, utilities, books, etc. goes down. Where you may have had the base rate of .15 for a library you are now at .12 and that is even below the Per Capita rate requirement.<br /><br />What can a library do when this has happened to them? They have been fiscally responsible, tax conservatively and still there is not enough to keep the building open and staffed. There is only one option and that is to go for a referendum to raise the corporate tax rate. This is very hard to do but is the only way a taxing body can survive under tax caps.<br /><br />If your library is in a tax cap county what can you do? First stay aware of the assessment figures in your area. If there is new growth, be sure to levy enough to capture it. Once lost it is lost forever. Second always ask for the maximum you can and a little more to be sure to capture all the tax money that is due to your institution. Even libraries not under tax caps should be sure that they are levying amounts that will return the full tax rate level. Third, speak to the county clerk and see if they will let you decide how to split the money between the various taxes. Fourth, if you don’t understand what is happening, ask questions of the county clerk or your library attorney.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-68029716671520415452010-03-12T12:14:00.000-06:002010-03-12T12:16:03.761-06:00Library BuildingsAs a member of the Illinois State Library Construction Grant Committee, I have seen a troubling pattern in the grant applications. Libraries are asking for money to do repair and replacement of building infrastructure such as painting, new roofs, new carpet, new HVAC systems, tuck pointing, etc. All of these items routinely must be redone or replaced. Yes some of them are big ticket items; however, I feel the library should be planning on how to replace, update or repair these things with their own funds and not rely on grants.<br /><br />There are two reasons for this. The first is that the Library Trustee is responsible for the planning of library services and maintenance of the library. If they let the building fall into disrepair, then they are not meetings their responsibilities as a trustee. The second reason is that grant funds are hard to come by and may not be available in the future to do this type of work on a library building.<br /><br />A better way for libraries to approach this issue is from the beginning when a building is first remodeled or built as a library. Look at all aspects of the building, what is the life span of the furnace, 20years? The roof is it 15 years? Carpet, paint, parking lot what is their life span? Make a list of all these items and more, computers, printers, or furniture. Once the list is made create a schedule of when the work or replacement will be done and an estimate of the dollar amount that will be needed.<br /><br />Now the Library Board must look at the finances of the library. Do they have enough to operate the library and meet community needs? Is there any extra money that can be set aside for the future? If not, how can the library accumulate the funds? Do they use all the taxing authority they have such as the .02 building and equipment tax? Have they created a Special Reserve Fund where unexpended tax dollars can be saved for future improvements? These questions need to be a serious discussed at a board meeting.<br /><br />If is fine to go after Grant funds but to rely only on grant funds is not wise. Library Boards and Directors must plan for building improvements just as carefully for the library as the y do for their own home or business. Don’t delay, start the discussion at your next board meeting.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-62334236337998749752010-03-05T08:34:00.002-06:002010-03-05T08:38:32.275-06:00Americas Regional Council (ARC) First MeetingAt ALA Mid-winter the Americas Regional Council of OCLC had its first meeting. It began with the following brief presentations.<br />Every Member has a Voice—New Ways to Communicate with OCLC by Patrick Wilkinson, Chair, OCLC Americas Regional Council<br />New Governance Structure by Jan Ison, President, OCLC Global Council<br />Engaging the Membership by Jay Jordan, President and Chief Executive Officer, OCLC<br />The Value of the Cooperative by Larry Alford, Chair, OCLC Board of Trustees (Note you have recently received a mailing from OCLC that contained a printed copy of Larry’s remarks. I hope that you did read it as it is important information to know and understand as OCLC Members.<br /><br />There were three breakout discussion groups: Record Use Policy, The Cooperative’s Shared Values and Social Contract, and Emerging Technologies. Reports from the individual groups were given to all the attendees followed by a brief question and answer session.<br /><br />You can view video of each of the sessions by going to <a href="http://www.oclc.org/us/en/councils/americas/default.htm?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=OCLC+Cooperative+eNews&utm_campaign=OCLC+Cooperative+eNews">OCLC Americas Regional Council</a> page. I encourage you to do so.<br /><br />The next meeting of ARC will be the annual meeting. This will be held before ALA in Washington DC. The dates are June 24 & 25. You do not have to go to DC to be a part of this as you will have the opportunity to attend virtually.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-57300512540358364092010-03-01T16:38:00.002-06:002010-03-01T16:44:02.185-06:00Changes in Library Automation LandscapeIf you ever want to be entertained, educated and frustrated all at one time, then attend one of the RMG Consultants Seminars at an ALA Midwinter. Rob Magee, is the president of the company and his name should be familiar to RPLS LLSAP members as he helped RPLS and the User Group with the RFP when we went to the Horizon system. What Rob does is bring the presidents of various automation vendor companies to be on a panel. They he has a coupled of featured speakers and a couple of commentators.<br /><br />The companies represented were:<br /><ul><li>Auto-Graphics</li><li>Equinox</li><li>Ex Libris</li><li>Infor</li><li>Innovative Interfaces</li><li>LibLime </li><li>OCLC</li><li>Polaris</li><li>Serial Solutions</li><li>SirsiDynix</li><li>Sky River</li><li>TLC</li><li>VTLS</li></ul><br />The presidents when they were introduced were asked to talk about what the key focus of their company. Improving patron experience, discovery of resources, link resolvers, serving the libraries community, and management services moving to the cloud were some of the answers. SirsiDynix President Gary Rautenstrauch was the one who said, "Improve patron experience and to held libraries cope with budget challenges."<br /><br />The Seminar lasted for three hours. Those vendors in established firms put down the efforts of libraries like Orange County and the Lyrasis consortia who are venturing into the creation of their own products via open sources software. The speakers stated that the features the librarians and users wanted were not available and the vendors did not seem responsive to developing those features. The vendors felt that they really were listening to their customers and responding. Definitely a disconnect. Also in general the vendors were not receptive to what OCLC is doing in this area.<br /><br />One of the comments that came from the audience was this,<br />“Libraries need to look at what their value is and make the<br />library key, important, indispensable to the user”<br /><br />I agree with this comment. The best, whiz-bang automation system will not make a bit of difference if we as librarians do not take to heart that statement, know our values and make the library indispensable to the user.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-83482572270047055022010-02-26T11:03:00.000-06:002010-02-26T11:05:31.321-06:00Do you have a Friends group that is looking for a fund raising idea? One of the vendors at ALA Midwinter was a company called <a href="http://ntake.com/">N’Take</a>. They have bags of various sizes, designs, colors, etc, that are also “green” bags.<br /><br />I talked with the salesman and he indicated that these bags are very reasonable. They sell well to the public and can be great money raisers for libraries. They had various samples at the show, one of which I brought back with me. Look at their website and you will see quite a variety of styles. They have seasonal bags, backpacks, wine bags(that hold from 1-6 bottles of wine), and much more.<br /><br />I know I feel like a “bag lady” many times because when I go to conferences I come back with at least one bag and often 5-6 bags. I noticed that some of the other vendors were giving out bags that looked as if they could have come from this company. I have many bags but I always seem to pick up more and these are environmentally friendly a big plus. Check them out.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-31160945804804893112010-02-25T13:58:00.001-06:002010-02-25T14:01:56.341-06:00Peep CultureI posted about the new Privacy initiative of ALA and wrote about Hal Niedzviecki’s presentation. I thought you would like to know what he said. Below are some points that I jotted down during his speech.<br /><br /><ul><li>People are alone—we put our selves out there so we are not alone</li><li>We want people to know we exist</li><li>Corporations and government look at privacy as a commodity</li><li>We are angry when people make money on our information</li><li>We need a new conversation about privacy</li><li>People seemed to have accepted monitoring of their actions by cameras</li><li>We are morally complicit when we watch a video of another persons fall or accident</li><li>There is value of not knowing.</li></ul><br />One story he told was about when he threw a party for all his friends on Facebook. He invited them to come to a bar at a certain time to meet each other. Only one person came. The Facebook “friends” did not come because they felt that they already knew him. Hal stated this in response “What you think you know, you don’t really know”<br /><br />What do you think about the peep culture?Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-62369157922320086962010-02-10T17:22:00.001-06:002010-02-10T17:25:08.209-06:00The Office for Intellectual Freedom at ALA has begun a new initiative on Privacy. It kicked off the Choose Privacy campaign and the announcement of Privacy Week May 2-8, 2010 at an event during ALA mid-winter in Boston. A room full of librarians heard author Hal Niedzviecki give a “thought-provoking talk on how the digital phenomenon of "peep culture" is affecting our ideas about privacy, individuality, security, and even humanity today.” It was a very interesting presentation. Afterwards Hal signed copies of his book The Peep Diaries: How we’re learning to love watching ourselves and our neighbors. Yes I stood in line to get my free book. I have started it and it is an interesting read.<br /><br />To learn more about Privacy Week and this initiative go to <a href="http://www.privacyrevolution.org/">privacyrevolution.org</a>. If your library wishes to participate in Privacy Week, ALA has posters, bookmarks, buttons, and a resource guide available for purchase. The privacy revolution website also has badges and banners that you can down load to your website for the week.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-29525277721711968572010-02-04T17:44:00.001-06:002010-02-04T17:47:20.909-06:00I walked the ALA exhibit floor several times over the conference period, looking at all the products, asking questions and picking up information. One time I was a search and find mission concerning the topic of RFID. Another time I had specific questions for a vendor. Then there are those times when I walked by a booth and something caught my eye. What follows are items that did just that, caught my eye.<br /><br />The first two are similar but also different in their approach. Both of these products will scan books, documents, photos and then convert them to formats that you can download onto a jump drive and take home. The first is the e-Scan, Self-Service Bound Documents Scanner. It is by iimage retrieval, inc. and they say it is, “Digitizing made easier & easier.” To learn more about this product go to their <a href="http://www.iiri.com/">website</a>. The second was called the Bookscan Station made by CCP Solutions, Inc. They claim it’s now simple to scan, save and share book pages, documents, photos etc. Their literature also said, eco-Friendly – no paper, toner or drums. Check out this product at the CCP Solutions <a href="http://www.ccpcopy.com/">website</a>.<br /><br />Do get tired of using flip charts? Do you have a chalk board that has seen its better days? A new product from Demco may be the answer. IdeaPaint will turn any flat surface into a marker board, even a table top. Paint a wall, or an old chalk board and suddenly you have a hub of creativity and collaboration. The cost for water-based ideaPaint to cover 50 square feet is $174.99. To learn more go to <a href="http://demco.com/">demco.com</a> and type ideapaint into the search box.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-56146943403922349302010-02-03T17:10:00.001-06:002010-02-03T17:11:53.541-06:00ALA Mid-WinterALA Mid-winter was held in Boston January 15-19. There were all the usual numerous committee meetings and business meetings that have to happen to keep the association running. There were presentations, the exhibits, author talks, receptions, and the highlight the announcement of all the children’s book awards.<br /><br />I am a member of two ALA committees the National Library Week Committee and the Campaign for America’s Libraries Committee. One of the tasks of the ALA committees was to review the draft strategic plan of ALA and give feed back on is ALA focusing on the right strategic goals and how we saw our committee in the draft plan. This was a very interesting discussion. <br /><br />I attended two ASCLA (Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies) sessions one about possible changes to the governance structure of the group. The other session was a consortial managers discussion of issues that are impacting the management and survival of consortia in the U.S. This was a lively discussion with representation from New York, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Utah, New Jersey, Nevada, Florida, and Illinois.<br /><br />There are other meetings that I want to report on and my findings in the exhibit hall. More over the next few days.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-27298457727006940792009-12-10T09:39:00.001-06:002009-12-10T09:41:14.145-06:00Authors, Authors, AuthorsOne thing about the ISLMA conference you will see and hear from many authors. You will hear authors not only at the author breakfasts but in sessions. I attended the Author Awards Breakfast and heard Ellen Hopkins author of Crank the winner of the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book award and Kevin O’Malley the 2009 Monarch Award winning author for Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude. They were interesting and spoke from very different perspectives. This is to be expected as one wrote an edgy teen novel and the other a picture book. However, both had words of wisdom for librarians.<br /><br />Another session I attended was titled “First Books, An Inside Look: Debut Teen Lit Authors Discuss Why They Write About Severed Arms, Missing Parents, Drugs, Sex, and Talking Cockroaches.” With a title like that how could you resist? The authors were Cynthea Liu, Daniel Kraus, Susan Fine, and James Kennedy. Each spoke of how they started their writing career and what inspires them to write the stories they do. It is reassuring to know that there are young authors out there writing books, different types of books for the teens of today.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-76832714750076558822009-12-04T09:29:00.001-06:002009-12-04T09:32:09.166-06:00AASL StandardsI knew that new standards had been released by AASL but I had not studied them closely. Ann M. Martin presented a session on the “Standards for the 21st-Centruy Learner” There are four areas under which they have identified Skills, Dispositions in Action, Responsibilities, and Self-Assessment Strategies for students to use for each standard.<br /><br />The four standard areas are:<br /><ol><li>Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.</li><li>Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.</li><li>Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.</li><li>Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.</li></ol><br />If you want to learn more the entire <a href="http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards">standards document</a> can be downloaded.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-76794189794443781882009-12-04T09:27:00.001-06:002009-12-04T09:29:31.405-06:00Library Education Alive in IllinoisThis year there were five alumni receptions at the ISLMA Conference.<br /><ul><li>Illinois State University that as begun a school library certification program</li><li>University of Illinois with their Graduate School of Library and Information Science</li><li>Dominican University with its MLS program</li><li>Northern Illinois University has a program to obtain the Library Information Specialist Certificate</li><li>National-Louis University that has started a program towards certification</li></ul><br />Looking for classes and certification? Check out these universities.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-82822570145918370462009-12-02T14:15:00.001-06:002009-12-02T14:16:57.254-06:00GLBT LiteratureFinding just the book for teens, especially those that are dealing with gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender issues is often difficult. Michael Cart and Christine Jenkins presented an overview of titles that include these issues in them. They reviewed books from 1999 through 2009. Many titles on their list were not discussed. There were so many to cover in just one hour and the list contained over 2000 books.<br /><br />The trend in books is that the main character is male by a 2 to 1 margin, usual, white, middle class and dealing with issues of coming out. In their discussion they pointed out the books where this was generally not the norm. If looking for a list of books look at the Rainbow List from ALA. It is an annual reading list of books for beginning readers through 12th grade that validate same-gender lifestyles, including portraying GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or questioning) characters in a realistic and prominent manner.<br /><br />While this is a subject difficult for some of us to deal with we need to be award of what is in the literature so that we can guide students to the most appropriate and best that is out there on a topic.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-86396105339641878102009-12-02T14:13:00.002-06:002009-12-02T14:18:10.275-06:00WIU and TechnologyWestern Illinois University provides professional Development online and onsite in several areas of Technology; from Smart Boards to Podcasting, Microsoft Office Suite to Internet Safety. They have many classes to choose from and at affordable prices.<br /><br />Summer 2010 you can join them at Camp Tech-a-nada where you can learn to use the most current technology tools for student learning. The exact dates are Aug. 3-4, 2010. You can learn 9 CPDU’s from 16 different sessions.<br /><br />Want more information check out their<a href="http://www.star-online.org/"> website</a>.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-10039874977511118962009-11-23T09:17:00.001-06:002009-11-23T09:32:33.565-06:00ISLMA Exhibits ReportLooking for an author to come to your school check out the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators? The Illinois chapter has a Speaker’s Directory. It is broken down by areas of the state, Chicago Area, Northern Illinois, and Central and Sothern Illinois. For more info go to their <a href="http://www.scbwi-illinois.org">website</a>.<br /><br />Speaking of writing, The Illinois First Amendment Center has many resources for teachers on the First Amendment. Among those resources are teaching curriculum, Tips for starting a school newspaper, a Freedom of Speech Poster Contest for grades 9-12 with a deadline of January 3, 2010 and a High School Newspaper Context with a deadline of March 1, 2010. Learn about the center and their materials at their <a href="http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/">website</a>.<br /><br />Do you have books that are falling apart and need repair? Do your students or administration produce information that would best be presented in a binding? The answer to these questions may lead you to a machine called Cover One. Central A&M schools have one and love it. Check it out at their<a href="http://coverone.net/"> website</a>.<br /><br />Technology anyone? You all probably know about the Illinois Learning Technology Purchase Program (ILTPP). The purpose of the program is to develop partnerships with suppliers to make available quality hardware, software, and peripherals to Illinois K-12 educational facilities. Catalogs are printed in April and October and are mailed to all K-12 schools, libraries, RPOE, and LTC’s in Illinois. Want more information check out the ILTPP <a href="http://www.iltpp.k12.il.us/">website</a>.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-29168685809211965552009-11-18T10:38:00.002-06:002009-11-18T10:42:33.462-06:00ALA Planning ForumThe Illinois School Library Media Association Conference was held in Springfield Oct. 29-31. For the next couple of weeks I will be sharing with you the information I gathered and learned about when attending the conference. As I have come to expect it was a jam packed conference with great sessions, good exhibits, great speakers at the meal events and so well organized everything ran seamlessly. Now on to the first session I attended.<br /><br />How often do you get a chance to tell ALA what your needs are? Your answer might be, " not often." Those attending the recent ISLMA Conference did have that opportunity. Ann M. Martin the immediate Past President of AASL was there to hear what school librarians had to say. Ann posed four questions for the librarians to respond to.<br /><br />What are the most important things that ALA can do to help you as a librarian or member?<br /><br />What are the mot important tings ALA can do for libraries?<br /><br />What are the most important things ALA can do for the public?<br /><br />What are the most pressing/most important issues facing libraries and the profession?<br /><br />If you had been at that session how would you have answered those questions?Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-72741186182232576282009-11-16T16:22:00.001-06:002009-11-16T16:23:50.089-06:00Illinois Author’s Luncheon Oct. 9, 2009This is my last post about the ILA Conference, Next will be ISLMA<br /><br />Vicki Myron, Author of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World</span> was the speaker at the Author’s Luncheon ILA traditional final event of each conference. First I must say that I am NOT a cat person and I did not know if I would really enjoy the luncheon or not but I did. I had read the book and it was OK. I found it fascinating how the town folk came together not only in support of Dewey but in support of each other and the continued existence of the town. Vicki was recovering from a cold but persevered in giving us a look at Dewey and an insider’s view of publishing a book that no one tells you about till you do it.<br /><br />Next up for Dewey is a feature film starring Meryl Streep and yes, Vicki said she will have a small walk-on role in the film.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-71479922319868186072009-11-11T14:26:00.002-06:002009-11-11T14:33:27.212-06:00StoryTubesA project of the Gail Borden Public Library District,<a href="http://www.storytubes.info/drupal/node/1"> StoryTubes</a> is a contest for students Kindergarten through twelfth grade. They can make a video by themselves or with a group about their favorite book that lasts 2 minutes or less. All the information about the contest can be found at their website. There are links to help you under the “How do I…?” tab.<br /><br />You may wonder why I should bother. Well the Gail Borden Staff say, “This program used kids’ interest in technology and the Internet to promote reading. Learn how research supports the <a href="http://www.storytubes.info/drupal/node/1">StoryTubes</a> goal by reading the <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/readingreport.htm">2008 Kids and Family Reading Report</a><br /><br />The winners of the contest are added to the website. You can view and share them with your students. They are funny, creative, and a great way for students to share their excitement about a book. If students do not want to be part of the contest, this is still a very easy and exciting way to introduce technology to the students. Check out <a href="http://www.storytubes.info/drupal/node/1">StoryTubes</a>.<br /><br />To see our own Paula Lopatic from Vespasian Warner PLD, Clinton participate in a StoryTube done during the conference session click <a href="http://storytubes.info/drupal/node/26">here</a>. At that same site you can also view the entire PowerPoint presentation given at ILA.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-86281315343938378772009-11-06T14:24:00.002-06:002009-11-06T14:27:56.519-06:00Lobbying for Libraries in D.C.: What’s Hot and the Obama DifferenceFirst, I want to say that Emily Sheketoff is one smart lady. We could not have a better advocate for libraries in Washington.<br /><br />Here are the key nuggets of information I heard.<br /><ol><li>Libraries are the first responders for people needing information.</li><li>Advocacy is education. I know some of you think advocacy and lobbying are the same, they are not. Think of advocacy as educating the elected official about libraries.</li><li>When you are an advocate, you are putting a face on a public policy issue.</li><li>Statistics are nice but not as good as a story. As an example you can say “The library is the only place in your community for 50% of the people to have access to the internet.” But when you tell them, “Residents of my community have to wait two hours to access the library computers.” That is a story that has impact.</li><li>Prepare before talking to the legislators or their staff. Have key point you want to tell them. Be specific in what you want them to do. Give them specifics if they cut a program this is what people lose. If the library goes away services go away.</li><li>Always thank them for what they do to support libraries, for their time to talk with you , and tell them you are watching them.</li></ol><br />My advice to you is to not be afraid of being an advocate for your library. If you and your board or administrators don’t do it no one else will!!Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-4374957075372269212009-11-03T16:35:00.001-06:002009-11-03T16:39:05.923-06:00From the ILA Exhibits (part 2)There was a small glass room sitting in an exhibit booth as I walked by and I had to stop. Was it something for cell phone use, a time out room? I did not know so asked. The glass room was a representative sample of a product called Genius Architectural Walls. These are glass or panel walls that can be set up with no construction, taken down, moved or reconfigured.<br /><br />They will not be the answer to every building problem but it is an interesting concept to provide office space or meeting room space that has the potential for reconfiguration with out construction costs.<br /><br />To view a photo gallery of Genius wall applications visit this <a href="http://www.ki.com/genius">website</a>.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-19524469897364257722009-11-02T09:21:00.001-06:002009-11-02T09:24:10.590-06:00From the ILA ExhibitsI spent some time in the exhibit hall. One stop was at the Renaissance Learning booth. You may know this company as Accelerated Reading (AR). Now I am not a big fan of AR, but many of our schools do use it and we had one new librarian that needed training so I stopped to see what they had online. There is training available <a href="http://www.renlearn.com">www.renlearn.com</a> click on the training center, then professional Development.<br /><br />Now I should note that the program itself is not a bad program but my concern is that the program is not being used as it was designed. This is an incentive program, not a reading curriculum. As an incentive program it is not appropriate to limit students to narrow areas of reading levels or to require earning so many points that the students are burnt out on reading.<br /><br />If you are at a school where staff has not been trained in the proper use of AR or AR is being used inappropriately, I suggest that you go to the training center on the <a href="http://www.renlearn.com">website</a> and see where training is being offered. Good Luck.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3444057288764493239.post-37864153950487259562009-10-29T16:07:00.000-05:002009-10-29T16:09:22.379-05:00Transformation in South African LibrariesAnother session I attended at the ILA Conference was titled “If It Doesn’t Hurt, It’s not Real Transformation”: Rebuilding South African Library Services in the Aftermath of Apartheid.” The speaker was Peter J. Lor, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, former director of South Africa’s State Library.<br /><br />The work to rebuild library service in South Africa was a long process and continues today. It was interesting to hear how the librarians came together to form new library associations and new library services. There were two points he made that I want to share. The first was that to do this work together they had to have inclusiveness, consultation with others, patience, a building trust, and understanding personal chemistry. The second; process is important to the outcome. This means that if you do not spend time having a good process the outcome may be flawed or much less effective.<br /><br />Wow another post where transformation is talked about.Bev Oberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15072369938264041570noreply@blogger.com0