November 25, 2008

How to Subscribe to the State Library’s News Podcast

The Lions are roaring about something new from the South Carolina State Library! Today, the library launched its biweekly podcast, the Lion’s Roar, featuring South Carolina library-related news and information. Users can now directly subscribe or listen to the podcast at http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/podcasts/thelionsroar.rss. Soon, users will be able to subscribe to the library news podcast via iTunes by searching for Lion’s Roar or South Carolina State Library in the iTunes store.

Each podcast will highlight recent news and information of importance to South Carolina’s library community, a featured library-related web site, and upcoming important dates. If your library or organization would like to have your news items considered for inclusion in the podcast, please contact Communications Director, Dr. Curtis R. Rogers at crogers@statelibrary.sc.gov or 803-734-8928.

November 21, 2008

New SC State Library podcast - The Lion's Roar

Columbia, SC – The Lions are roaring about something new from the South Carolina State Library! Today, the library launched its biweekly podcast, the Lion’s Roar, featuring South Carolina library-related news and information. Users can now directly subscribe or listen to the podcast at www.statelibrary.sc.gov/podcasts/thelionsroar.rss. Soon, users will be able to subscribe to the library news podcast via iTunes by searching for Lion’s Roar or South Carolina State Library in the iTunes store.

Each podcast will highlight recent news and information of importance to South Carolina’s library community, a featured library-related web site, and upcoming important dates. If your library or organization would like to have your news items considered for inclusion in the podcast, please contact Communications Director, Dr. Curtis R. Rogers at crogers @statelibrary.sc.gov or 803-734-8928.

November 19, 2008

dispatched service


dispatched service
Originally uploaded by curtis rogers
This is a great slide from a webinar I'm listening to right now. I really like the idea of dispatched services. Especially the part about the dispatcher who matches the question to the right person and librarians working on call.

"Challenging the Assumptions of Legacy Librarianship" with Joan Frye Williams and George Needham

www.opal-online.org/index.html

zone staffing


zone staffing
Originally uploaded by curtis rogers
I'm listening to a great webinar right now on OPAL and one of the important points is Zone Staffing. It's important for libraries to place staff in specific zones within the library to provide the best service possible.

"Challenging the Assumptions of Legacy Librarianship" with Joan Frye Williams and George Needham

www.opal-online.org/index.html

Proposals Sought for Grassroots Programs at 2009 ALA Annual Conference

Do you have a great idea for an Annual Conference program but don’t belong to a committee or other group that can plan and produce a program? As part of ALA President Jim Rettig’s “Creating Connections” initiatives, you are invited to submit a proposal for a program to take place at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference July 9-15 in Chicago.

The purpose of a Grassroots Program is:

• To expand opportunity for participation in ALA by giving members who do not belong to committees or boards within ALA an opportunity to plan and produce a program at the Annual Conference

• To provide programs at the Annual Conference that address very current issues by compressing to the greatest degree possible the program planning schedule

• To enrich the variety and quality of programs at the Annual Conference.
Proposals can be submitted by a single ALA personal member or by any group of ALA members who do not serve together on a committee or board within ALA. Proposals can address any topic of interest to ALA members. Proposals must be original; they cannot replicate a program previously presented at an ALA Annual Conference, Midwinter Meeting or national divisional conference. Proposals previously submitted to a committee, board or task force in ALA, one of its divisions or one of its round tables, cannot be resubmitted Proposals will be judged on:

• Relevance of the program’s topic to ALA members and the profession at large

• Timelines

• Knowledge of proposed speaker(s) on the topic

• Originality – i.e., the degree to which the proposed program looks at a topic in a new and fresh way or treats a topic that has not received as much attention as it deserves, either because it is very new or due to some other factor
Proposals can address ALA’s key action areas:

• Diversity

• Equitable Access to Information and Library Services

• Education and Lifelong Learning

• Intellectual Freedom

• Advocacy for Libraries and the Profession

• Literacy

• Organizational Excellence or other areas.

A jury will select up to 10 programs to take place during the conference. The jury will be made up of members of the student ALA chapters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UCLA as well as several members of Jim Rettig’s presidential initiatives advisory committee.

Each selected program will be listed in the program book for the 2009 ALA Annual Conference and will be noted as being part of the Grassroots Program Track as a juried program. You are also welcome to publicize your program by whatever means you would like, but please indicate that it is part of the “Grassroots Program Track.”

Each program will be allotted a $500 budget to cover speaker costs or other expenditures.

Additional information and a submission form can be found at
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/officers/grassroots/grassrootsproposal.cfm.

Deadline for submission is Feb. 6, 2009.

November 17, 2008

2008 Latest Edition - Did You Know 3.0 - From Meeting in Rome this Year

what does this mean for libraries? What are the next ways we should be serving future patrons?

Free IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf

Museums, Libraries, and Archives Urged to Apply for
Free IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf


Apply between January 5, 2009, and March 9, 2009



Washington, DC—Based
on the enthusiastic response from museum, library and archive
professionals throughout the country, the Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS) will offer a third, and final, round of
competition to distribute an additional 1,000 copies of the IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf.
Online applications can be submitted to the American Association for
State and Local History (AASLH) between January 5, 2009, and March 9,
2009, at www.aaslh.org/Bookshelf.

Books Change Lives

The International Book Bank distributes books and other educational materials to non-profit organizations that sponsor community libraries, reading rooms, and children's homes, in developing countries around the world. These materials have been generously donated to us by North American publishing companies, and we send them to programs that serve children, the needy, or the ill, who are learning to read and who lack educational materials. 


http://www.internationalbookbank.org/

November 13, 2008

New Grant to Support Non-Traditional Use of Libraries


Grants support local governments’ efforts to innovatively use public libraries to address community needs.

Once an institution devoted to book circulation, the public library is evolving. A recent study of the members of ICMA, the premier local government leadership and management organization, found some communities are using their public libraries for compelling new projects, such as providing services for teens, immigrant residents, recycling, health, and public safety.

During the next two years, with the help of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ICMA plans to encourage adoption of more such leading practices among local governments and demonstrate the value of public libraries as a vital tool in supporting community sustainability through the ICMA Public Library Innovation Grant. Local governments can employ these grants to develop new and creative ways of using their public library to deliver services in areas such as public safety, disaster preparedness, sustainability, health, immigration, civic engagement, and economic development.

Recognizing the importance of the manager/librarian relationship to create and sustain change, each Public Library Innovation Grant will be anchored by a partnership between the office of the chief administrative officer (city, town, and county managers) and the public library. A series of leadership workshops and project coaching will help grantees solidify the partnership, ensure the short-term success of the project, and secure new resources to support the long-term use of libraries in addressing community goals.

Through the program, ICMA will provide a total of $500,000 in Public Library Innovation Grants. Individual grants will range from $20,000 to $60,000. Only U.S. local governments and libraries are eligible to apply.
The Public Library Innovation Grant program is the result of an ongoing partnership between ICMA and the Gates Foundation that began more than a year ago, when ICMA and the Gates Foundation partnered on the Local Government and Public Libraries Initiative to engage local government managers as leaders in support of public libraries. A study conducted as part of the initiative revealed that the chief librarian/library director was a member of the local government management team in less than half of responding local governments, and that the chief librarian/library director participated in weekly meetings with the manager in only 41 percent of communities.

“These statistics suggest that for many local governments, libraries are not being used to strategically address community needs,” says Susan Benton, director of domestic programs at ICMA. “If local government managers remain unaware of, and uninvolved in, the changing role of libraries, these valuable community assets will be forced to tackle obstacles alone and will struggle to meet broader community needs.”

For more information about the ICMA Public Library Innovation Grants, contact Molly Donelan at mdonelan@icma.org. Applications, guidelines, and a budget template are available at http://icma.org/publiclibrarygrants.

Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium 2008

Watch this video! I love the part about the the little boy whose life was changed because of playing games at the library :-)

November 07, 2008

SC Center for the Book - Speaker @ the Center

Social Media and Older Users

Don't fall for the myth that only younger generations use social networking tools such as Facebook and Flickr.  Seniors are using these tools in growing numbers. Why isn't your library reaching out to current and potential users via social networks?  And now you're saying, "we don't have enough staff and don't have the time" - to that I say, "Reorganize your staff, stop doing the same old things that aren't working any more, look at your stats to see what has been on the decline the last five years and if it doesn't work, do something different!"

Libraries are all about information management.  Why are so many libraries having a difficult time embracing social networking?  It has to do with change.  If you don't handle change well, leave the profession and let someone who does, help move the profession forward.


AARP embraces social media

By Jane Irene Kelly

The nonprofit for 50-plus demographic redesigns site based on user feedback


AARP homepageDon’t expect the popularity of social networks and other Web 2.0 tools to decline as users age. Just ask AARP.


The nonprofit launched daily news site AARP Bulletin Today
and redesigned its Web site last spring (the site came out of beta
testing in September) to include Web 2.0 features to prepare for what
it expects will be an exponentially growing user base, Clark says
Nataki Clarke, director of online marketing.

November 06, 2008

YouTube Captions and Subtitles

I'm glad to see this option in YouTube! This is especially useful for libraries with YouTube videos to be able to reach more patrons! Check it out!

November 05, 2008

Dr. Samantha Hastings Receives American Society for Information Science and Technology Award

Dr. Samantha Hastings, Director of the USC School of Library and
Information Science, received the Watson Davis Award from the American
Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T). The
award was presented at the Awards Luncheon on October 28, 2008 at the
ASIS&T annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

The Watson Davis
Award, commemorating the founder of the Society, was established in
1975 and is administered by the Membership Committee. The purpose of
this award is to recognize a member of the Society who has shown
continuous dedicated service through active participation in and
support of ASIS&T programs, chapters, special interest groups,
committees, and publications.

Two of Dr. Hastings’ former
students stated in her nomination letter that, “only a handful of
people could contribute in a lifetime what she has contributed to the
ASIS&T membership during the last 19 years.”

For more information about the USC School of Library and Information Science, visit www.libsci.sc.edu.  For more information about eh Watson David Award, visit http://www.asis.org/awards/watsondavisaward.html.