Preview: SELCO Librarian
SELCO LibrarianOccasional thoughts about libraries and technology written by SELCO librarians and staff.
Redesigning elementary space at the Goodhue Schools' Media Center Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:49:02 Michael Scott, Assistant Director I had the opportunity on July 1, 2009, to visit the Media Center at Goodhue Schools to assist Media Specialist Corrie Westphall with a re-design of space. A bank of 18 computers had been removed from the media center to be used in another part of the school which left a fairly large open space on the elementary side of the Media Center. It also left Corrie with an opportunity to make some changes to the space! The ultimate goal for Corrie was to create a more defined space for elementary students in the media center. One of the challenges the Goodhue Media Center staff faces in this shared space is the mix of age groups that could potentially use the space at the same time. The staff noticed that a number of younger elementary students felt apprehensive to use the Media Center when older students were present. Another goal was to open up the elementary portion of the space a bit more to accomodate a variety of uses, including classroom space, a larger reading area for elementary students, and better patron and staff traffic flow through that space. We were joined by Goodhue Elementary Principal Mark Opsahl to discuss several options that Corrie had put together. After many trips back and forth across the space and asking "What about this idea?" I think we came up with a workable plan, including adding back a few of the computers that were to be taken from the space. I enjoy these types of opportunities (or challenges) so if you have an upcoming project that you'd like assistance with figuring out how to redesign or rearrange space or just want another set of eyes to look at the space and offer some ideas, I'd be happy to visit with you. Please feel free to contact me at mscott@selco.info or at (507) 288-5513. Thanks to Corrie and Mark for allowing me to assist them with their project. Just in case you're wondering, I forgot my trusty digital camera at the office so no photos to share from this visit.
New Van Horn Public Library Director Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:32:52 Ann Hutton, Executive Director
Library MOE: Just How Will It Be Calculated? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:59:56 Ann Hutton, Executive DirectorAs outlined in an earlier SELCO Librarian blog post describing the complicated nature of the amended Library Maintenance of Effort (MOE) statute, MOE for 2009 and 2010 will be especially difficult to calculate due to the number of variables. Here is a general outline of how MOE will be calculated in the coming years, based on information currently available from the Minnesota Departments of Education, Finance and Revenue.For 2009Each local entity will be allowed to reduce its level of local support by an amount comparable to the percentage of Local Government Aid (LGA) or County Program Aid (CPA) unallotments as announced by the Governor or up to 10%, whichever is less. If this is needed, the library and the city or the county will need to initiate a request for re-certification. This request should be sent to Ann Hutton, SELCO Executive Director. The request will be forwarded to Nancy Walton, State Library Development and Services Specialist, at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). SELCO has already started this process for one library and received an email response from Suzanne Miller, State Librarian, that recertification is pending while awaiting financial data from the Department of Revenue. If other libraries, cities or counties are interested in a revised Maintenance of Effort certification for 2009, please contact the SELCO office.For 2010MDE will review the 2008 and the 2007 amounts of local library support for operating purposes and will certify a 2010 MOE based on whichever is less, the 2007 or 2008 level of funding. This amount may be reduced further if there have been reductions to the local Adjusted Net Tax Capacity (ANTC) and/or there are further reductions due to LGA or CPA unallottments which will impact the local unit of government in 2010. The funding amounts used for certification are taken directly from the annual reports submitted by each public library as required by Minnesota Statute.For 2011The Maintenance of Effort amount will be the funding level provided in the second (2009) or third (2008) preceding years, whichever is less.What factors into the calculation?The final MOE calculation prepared by MDE requires three figures for each library funding entity:R01 from each library’s annual report and provided by SELCO to MDE as a required element in the Regional Library Basic System Support (RLBSS) grant application. This data was submitted June 24 for the 2010 calculations.Population estimates from the State Demographer’s Office. MDE uses the most current estimates as of July 15 and available on the Demographer’s website. Property values as determined by the Minnesota Department of Revenue.Once MDE has all three figures and runs the formula, the letters for the 2010 MOE certification will be prepared and distributed to cities, counties and libraries. Generally the Certification of Minimum Local Support letters are distributed in late-July or early-August. Although, delays may occur if a library has not submitted financial data or does not meet MOE as previously certified.[...]
Library MOE: Significant Changes to Maintenance of Effort in 2009 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:19:39 Ann Hutton, Executive Director If local funding for library operations trends upwards, even ever so slightly, then library Maintenance of Effort (MOE) is an aspect of fiscal management that never crosses the administrator’s desk. However, when MOE questions arise, the topic is often confusing due to the complicated nature of the formula and the need to review levels of support from multiple years. This year in particular Library MOE is even more confusing with an amendment to Minnesota Statutes 134.34, Subd.1 and Subd. 4 and the unprecedented actions by the Governor unallotting at the beginning of the State’s biennium to balance a budget shortfall. The new statutory language incorporates the suggestions of the hard working Minnesota Library Funding Committee. The supporting documents listed below explain the outcome of the changes to the statutory language regarding Minnesota library funding, both the minimum level of support and maintenance of effort. Please share these with public library boards, other library staff and city or county staff and elected officials interested in the topic.
There were many issues raised during the discussions by the Minnesota Library Funding Committee that did not involve a statutory language change as part of the solution, but do nevertheless change the definition of maintenance of effort. An example is the list of items included under “capital costs”. State Library Services was instrumental in both defining and allowing these changes, which represent significant positive changes to MOE. Libraries across the state owe their thanks to Peg Werner, Viking Library System Director and Chair of the Minnesota Library Funding Committee, Ken Behringer, Dakota County Library Director and 2009 MLA President, Elaine Keefe, Capitol Hills Associates and MLA/MEMO Lobbyist, and Mark Ranum, Plum Creek Library System Director and 2009 MLA Legislative Committee Chair, for shepherding the Library MOE amendment through the 2009 legislative session, including finding passionate authors, testifying and providing prompt, meaningful and illustrative data.
SELCOtv 31: Introduction to Pharos Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:30:49 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian Mike Flores, SELCO's User Technology Manager, talked to Linda Weinmann,Winona Public Library's Automation Contact, about how they use Pharos for the Public PC computer management. This video shows a few extras WPL uses, such as Pharos Printing & Sign-up/Queue Stations.
SELCOtv 30: ILS Ops Committee Meeting - June 2009 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:33:08 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian This is a recording of the June 18, 2009 meeting of the SELCO ILS Operations & Technology Policy Joint Committee. We have split the video into three segments for your convenience:
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Melanie Olson Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:15:46 Melanie Olson, Delivery and ILL Assistant IIThis was my second venture to this symposium, and I had just as great a time, if not more, as last year while still learning quite a bit. The classes I attended were all informative, interactive and just downright fun.My first class was titled “Cybercrime – What this means for you” and was presented by Special Agent Craig W. Sorum, Minneapolis Division FBI. Amid funny and more serious stories about catching “cyber-bandits”, Special Agent Sorum showed us how a seeming innocent little machine like your work or home computer can become a thief’s super-highway into your personal information. Even worse, how easy it is for predators to get at your children and especially teens through your home computer without your knowledge. He discussed several ways to safeguard your computers, and what to do if you think your security has been violated, or your children have been solicited. Scary stuff, but I felt really safe to have someone like Special Agent Sorum out in cyberspace protecting the innocent.My next class was supposed to be Family History 101, but unfortunately it was cancelled. Instead I sat in on “Extreme Googling” which I had attended last year, but wanted to see if any new tools had been created. Most were unchanged, but some had been upgraded to be more user-friendly. One of the tools had even gone from beta status to actually launched as a tool, so that was very interesting.Next was lunch, where we were joined at our table by Special Agent Sorum. It was great chatting with him again about his career and other aspects of his life. He truly loves his job, and keeps saying how he’d do it for free, but they keep paying him. ☺ After lunch it was on to “The Visual Bridge: Getting Kids Interested in Reading Through Comics and Graphic Novels”. The presenter was Brent Schoonover, a young freelance illustrator. He spoke about how parents, educator and librarians can spark interest in reading for young people using comic books and graphic novels.After a break with some ice cream (boy, they sure feed us a lot at these things!), I headed off to "Pass It Along: How Wanda Gag’s Picture Book ‘Millions of Cats’ was Imagined, Retold, Written, Illustrated, Archived, Researched and Translated to Impact Readers”. This class was presented by Karen Hoyle, curator for the U of M Children’s Literature Research Collections, a part of the library that holds many original manuscripts of children’s books, including the book “Millions of Cats”. This funny, sad, uplifting story, written & illustrated by Wanda Gag, has been in print since 1928, and has been translated into many languages around the world.My final class was by far the most fun. “Geocaching 101: Use Multimillion Dollar Government Satellites to Find Tupperware in the Woods”. This class was tag-teamed by Andrew McCracken from the MN Geocaching Association, and Therese Sonnek, a librarian at White Bear Lake Public Library. The first part of the class we learned all about what geocaching is, what kind of GPS devices are best, where you can go online to get more information and to sign up, and why this has become a great tool to get patrons into the library via their GPS! For the rest of the class we all got a loner GPS and went outside to find some caches they had set out for us earlier. It was great fun using the GPS to navigate to each of the caches; some of them were hidden really well! We had such nice weather that it was great to get out of the classroom environment for a bit & laugh & run around like kids on a treasure hunt. As a matter of fact, I am buying a GPS myself soon and taking up this hobby that I can share with my nieces & nephews. Good fun and good exercise, all wrapped up together.[...]
"Five Ways You Can Save Money by Marketing" Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:22:17 Michael Scott, Assistant Director I came across an excellent article in the May/June 2009 issue of Marketing Library Services entitled "Five Ways You Can Save Money by Marketing" by Kathy Dempsey. The main point of the article was that even in the most difficult of financial times, marketing is one of the last things that should be cut from a library's budget. Dempsey goes on to outline five ways that marketing can cut costs:
The other point that Dempsey makes is that marketing is a circular process. By studying the habits of your current patrons AND potential patrons, you can divide them into groups and really find out what they want from you. Knowing more about them will allow you to create products and services that each group wants, release them, then publicize and promote them so patrons know they're available. Later, ask for feedback about what you've offered and use that feedback to improve your services, relaunch & re-promote, thus continuing the "circle" of offering products and services your patrons really want. This same process can be used if you discover from studying your current and potential patrons that some of the products and services they want you actually provide. Go ahead and relaunch & re-promote these too. Sometimes those things we take for granted as things we've always done may actually be "new" to potential patrons but also to current patrons.
Minitex 18th Annual Interlibrary Loan Conference Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:26:17 Jonya Pacey, ILS Help Desk Manager On May 19, I attended Minitex’s 18th Annual Interlibrary Loan Conference in order to gleam ideas and suggestions for the Help Desk from the speakers. Marshall Breeding, Vanderbilt University Libraries in Nashfield, TN, writes about developing network technologies and automation systems, analyzing trends and speculating on the future based on his experience and knowledge. Some tools on his website are very professionally useful and I recommend you take a looks-see. Having a resource to check Today, with travel in my near future, the lib-web-cat advanced search feature for finding libraries that offer wifi caught my eye. (Fortunately, Iowa reststops have free wifi so most of my journey’s blogging can be right on I35.) Ray Wilson, president of Ray Wilson & Associates, author and afternoon speaker, spoke about 7 continuous improvement tools we could use. Some were for time management, some for figuring out how to narrow and focus energy. As I find the time, I want to revisit his suggestions, probably via his published work, to put more of it into practice. Reviewing my notes, the "Force Field Analysis" and the 'Cause Analysis" tools were both making parts of my brain work; I was doing some of these there at the conference. I really need to do them here, at work, where I can apply them.
Minitex ILL Conference 2009 - Patti Tieskoetter Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:46:00 Patti Tieskoetter, Red Wing Public Library Note: Patti was one of 4 SELCO member library staff from across the region who were sponsored by SELCO to attend the 18th Annual Minitex ILL Conference on May 19, 2009. On Marshall Breeding, “Next Generation Library Automation & its Implications for Resource Sharing": Marshall Breeding operates the website http://www.librarytechnology.org on which he organizes his ideas, maintains statistics, archives his journal articles. His quest is a library operating system that uses the technology and vision of web presences that so many library users are familiar with. He feels that Open Source software is the direction that libraries should go, and that the proprietary companies should be looking at what Open Source programming offers library users. "Real competition for the major companies isn't themselves, but Open Source..." He uses e-commerce (specifically Amazon.com) as a comparison point for software developers: "If users can't figure out where to click, they're not going to send their money." He owns a copy of a Harry Potter book because "it was too easy" to buy through Amazon (and conversely, hard to get through library catalogs). Users love contributed ratings and reviews. Users love cloud computing. Interlibrary loan module is by far the most difficult to design to work smoothly, and that's why it's the last to be developed. OCLC's record sharing protocol is the direction to go. Cloud technology (our own private cloud?) High level of usability. Innovative Open Source software. All will help the ILL process. As part of the comments from participants, Breeding asked whether we want to allow Google/Amazon to provide library services. “we need to be sure that searching Google will profit libraries.” He pointed out an article appearing that day, May 19, in the Washington Post : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051802637.html “How Google threatens books” / Brewster Kahle, which makes it clear that libraries need to watch what the commercial world is doing.
SELCOtv - SELCO Advisory Committee Meeting - June 2009 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:06:49 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian This recording is from the SELCO Advisory Committee meeting held on June 9, 2009. The SELCO Advisory Committee is made up of the directors from all of the public libraries in the SELCO region. The group meets 6 times per year in February, April, June, August, October, and December. This video has been broken up into four segments for ease of viewing.
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Amy Lerum Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:40:34 Amy Lerum, SELCO-EQS Scholarship Recipient, Red Wing Public Library This was my first time attending the EQS Symposium and it was a great experience! All of the sessions I attended throughout the day were informative but I especially enjoyed "The Hirschfield Materials" session. I have to be honest and say that I knew nothing about this collection and figured if nothing else, I could maybe learn a little something about special collections. Well…when Jean-Nickolaus Tretter started telling us about the collection, I was amazed! This collection was purchased from the Magnus Hirschfield Estate and is now in the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota. The Nazis burned down The Hirschfield Library on May 10, 1933 in Germany but Mr. Hirschfield had some of the items with him on tour at the time. The rest of the journey for these items is pretty amazing so if you get a chance to read up on it, do so. It will be worth your time to learn all about the collection. http://special.lib.umn.edu/rare/tretter/tretterletterjan07.pdf I want to thank Selco for giving me the opportunity to attend this event!
H1N1 (Swine) Flu Pandemic Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:10:52 Michael Scott, Assistant Director As a follow up to a recent post by Ann Hutton regarding H1N1 (Swine) Flu, I wanted to provide an update. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6 indicating that a global pandemic is underway. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and WHO, the alert was raised as a reflection of the virus' spread, not the severity of the illness caused by the virus. More than 70 countries have reported cases of the H1N1 flu. As of June 12, 2009, there have been 17,855 confirmed and probable cases of H1N1 flu in the United States. On a more regional level, Minnesota has had 274 (as of June 15, 2009) confirmed and probable cases, Wisconsin has had 3008 (leading the nation), and Iowa has had 92. As a reminder, the CDC recommends the following actions to stay healthy:
As the situation continues to develop, here are some very useful websites that contain a wealth of information about the H1N1 Flu. Please check these sites often as more information becomes available and knowledge about the disease is discovered.
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Joyce Koerner Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:16:20 Joyce Koerner, SELCO-EQS Scholarship Recipient, Red Wing Public Library One of the classes I took at EQS this year was Geocaching 101. They explained, although quickly, how to register on the geocache website, the different types of caches, and some of the terminology used. Then we all went outside to find some caches they had set up for us so we could see how the GPS units worked.
SELCOtv 28: Outlook Web Access Options Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:13:16 Rachel Gray, Information Services LIbrarian SELCO upgraded our WebMail Exchange Server back in February 2009, and with this upgrade, there are new features and options available for us to use. This episode takes a look at all of the options Outlook Web Access gives users, and recommends a few options to select.
Visit to Stewartville Schools Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:40:44 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorNote: I noticed in reviewing the site visits I had done in May 2009 that I'd forgotten to include a visit to the Stewartville Schools. Apologies to the media center staff at Stewartville Schools!On May 8, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the media centers at the Stewartville Schools. The district has 3 media centers; one media center at Bonner Elementary, Central Intermediate, and a combined media center for the Middle and High Schools. I started my visit at the Middle/High School media center with Susan Dailey, the district media specialist (Susan has since retired from Stewartville at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.) The media center at the Middle/High School, which serves students in grades 6 -12, is a large space with access from the middle school "wing" and the high school "wing." The space houses a large book collection, a large number of public access computers, a space for classroom-style instruction, and offices and workspace for staff. The information desk is centrally located for easy access. There is a computer lab that is located off of the media center as well. Though quiet on the morning I visited, the space is heavily used by students. Susan continued as my tour guide and the next stop on our tour was at Central Intermediate School. This school serves grades 4-5 and was not in use on the day I visited. The space is located on the second floor of the building. Large windows line one wall of the space so plenty of natural light spills in. There is a large book collection for students and computers that can be used as well. I did see the old wooden card catalog which Susan pointed out that she used to show how much has changed with libraries. The other outstanding feature in this media center is the grass green carpet. You can't miss it!Our final stop on my Stewartville Schools tour was to Bonner Elementary School. Bonner serves grades Kindergarten-3. The media center is a large, brightly lit space (thanks to some large windows near the high ceiling.) There is a large book collection for students, some office space and a large information desk for staff, several public access computers, tables and chairs for study, and the student's favorite part of the space: three big comfy couches. The couches are especially popular for students to sit and read during their designated "library" time. These couches are definitely motivation to find a book or two to read quickly! On the day I visited, a third grade class was visiting the media center and it was quite fun to watch the students return their books (each table was called in turn) and then make a quick sprint to the stacks to find a new book or two to read.For photos from my visit, check out the Stewartville Schools set on SELCO's Flickr site. I want to say thank you to Susan and her staff for allowing me to visit their media centers.[...]
Minnesota Public Library Budget Shortfalls: A Conversation Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:12:14 Ann Hutton, Executive Director, Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian & Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorThree SELCO staff and a selection of public library staff from SELCO libraries attended the Minnesota Public Library Budget Shortfalls: A Conversation webinar, sponsored by the Public Library Divison of the Minnesota Library Association, on June 8, 2009. Five public library directors from across Minnesota, representing different size libraries, spoke on ways they are attempting to cope with budget shortfalls in the current economic downturn. Using a panel format, each presenter addressed these questions:What is your library doing to address shrinking budgets - especially at a time when library use is growing?How have you developed strategic priorities for using available funds?How do you develop political capital and when do you spend it?A few themes emerged during the webinar that all types of libraries could use. First, look for ways to continually improve your work processes. Look for ways to do things more efficiently. As the number of staff in libraries decreases, work processes must be more efficient. Second, look at partnerships with county or city departments, and other organizations. As one of the speakers stated, avoid pulling within and look at partnerships as critical to maintain outreach and goodwill. Finally, communicate, communicate, communicate! Let everyone know what you're doing to save money and don't be afraid to ask for help.As the speakers addressed the budgetary situations at the local level when library use is increasing, they discussed the importance of staying true to the library’s mission and focusing on the core services patrons expect when visiting and using the library. Some key points stressed were don’t keep your staff or patrons in the dark. Make your staff aware of the library’s fianancial situation and make yourself approachable in these trying times. The more open you are about the info you know with the staff, the better. Also, let your patrons know about what’s going on. If your services are changing, let them know why and ask them to support the library. Depending on the library, some are increasing fines to make up for budget cuts while some refuse to place any barriers on patron usage.While there was a great deal of consensus among the speakers, differing viewpoints were also shared ranging from continuing a no fines practice to increasing fees and trying new funding streams which clearly demonstrated the attention paid to local sentiments. A selection of the options that have been implemented or that are being investigated include:Rochester Public Library - undertook a continuous improvement study and is implementing changes based on the findingsWashington County Public Library - investigating technological improvements and possbile alternative service options such as a remote kiosk installationMartin County Library - wrote successful grant applications to cover costs to paint the building and additional programmingCloquet Public Library - installed a self-check machineKitchigami Regional Library - using volunteers for more daily functions.MLA-PLD posted the webinar meeting materials on WebJunctionMN and heartily encourages library staff to continue the conversation initiated by the thoughtful contributions of the presenters.[...]
Inventory training at Kenyon-Wanamingo Middle/High School Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:54:26 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian Jonya Pacey and I visited Kenyon-Wanamingo Middle/High School’s Media Center (kwsmh) today to get them started on a collection inventory this morning. Both Lisa Nelson (kwsmh) and Cindy Baumgartner (kwselm) were on hand for the training and to scan in the Media Center’s collection. Inventory is a chance to take a snapshot of your collections, getting a list of items that the system says are available but are not there. Additionally, an inventory helps you find items that are incorrectly cataloged or that belong to another location or that have the wrong status. Like a spring cleaning. There is even dust sometimes kicked up! Jonya and I have traveled to a total of seven school media centers this spring to assist with inventories. KWSMH was the last one on our schedule. If you are interested in doing an inventory of your library’s collection, please contact the help desk (helpdesk@selco.info). We would be happy to visit your public or school library and get you set up for one!
SELCOtv 27 - SELS Advisory Committee Meeting - June 3, 2009 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:15:46 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian This recording is from the SELS Advisory Committee meeting held on June 3, 2009. The SELS Advisory Committee is made up of nine elected representatives from public libraries, school media centers, public and private academic libraries, and special libraries. The group meets 4 times per year. This video has been broken down into 4 parts for ease of viewing.
Legacy Amendment: What Next? Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:27:19 Ann Hutton, Executive Director On Monday, June 1, representatives from the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) were in Rochester garnering input on the expanded Arts and Cultural Heritage programs that will be possible with Legacy Amendment funds. As they continue their travels around the state --- Bemidji today, Granite Falls tomorrow and a very full schedule through the month --- MSAB and the regional arts councils are seeking input on a vision for Minnesota and guiding principles for arts & arts access, arts education and arts & cultural heritage. The handout from the public discussion includes basic information about the Legacy Amendment and posses specific questions for the participants on the clarity of the vision, principles, and potential purposes for the funds. They have promised to post the PowerPoint to the MSAB website but as they are traveling at the moment, here is a PDF of the handout for your review.
SELCOtv 26 - Chatfield Brass Band Music Lending Library goes live Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:06:16 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian Tyler Irvin, Aurora Jacobsen and Rachel Gray travel to Chatfield to the Chatfield Brass Band Music Lending Library on June 2, 2009 to assist in their first day of being on the SELCO Network. Note: The audio quality is not the best with the small, handheld camera that was used to create this video. We apologize for this.
What Can SELCO Do to Help Libraries Get Webpages Up? Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:27:05 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian This morning, Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian 2, Mike Perry, Web Development Specialist, and I met to start a conversation about SELCO's web services. In the past, we've supported a number of different ways for libraries to get websites up. We've helped them set up blogs, provided training on HTML editing, and have always provided free hosting on our web server. These are good things.But times have changed and there are more options than ever before for a library that wants a website. You can pay about $20 per month to an outfit like Squarespace, who will host your website and provide you with web-based tools to create it. You can go to Engagedpatrons.org and download free, ready-made tools (such as events calendars and blogs) for your old, Web 1.0 website. You can still write your webpage in HTML using a variety of editor applications. Or just use Notepad if you want to show off your geek street cred. Finally, you can use a lot of free tools like Flickr, Blogger, PBWiki, and Delicious all put together for the ultimate in Web 2.0 DIY.The bottom line is this: there are too many ways to create a website for SELCO to support them all. So we have to make some choices.The whiteboard photo shows the objectives I set for this group. As we work on a set of services to take us further forward, I'm curious to know what people think. Is this the right place to start? Did we leave anything out? Do you have ideas on what we should or shouldn't do? I would love to hear about it in the comments for this post. Or just email me. [...]
Broadband as part of economic recovery efforts Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:39:05 Ann Hutton, Executive Director There are more questions than answers about how libraries might fit into the American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA PL 111-6) funding streams. A good starting point for information on broadband infrastructure as part of this relief effort is a shortFAQ (frequently asked questions) handout prepared by the Wisconsin State Library. As broadband investigations move forward, emphasis will be placed on projects that demonstrate long term impact, including collaboration and partnerships especially with regional or statewide impact, and projects that can demonstrate long-term sustainability. Since managing a Wide Area Network (WAN) is a major portion of SELCO's operational responsibilities, we are deeply interested in a robust telecommunication environment, including broadband, which enables each library the greatest level of flexibility in offering online customer services. SELCO and the other regional library systems are represented on Minnesota's Broadband Task Force and will continue to investigate broadband initiatives.
Unallotment: What does it mean? Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:46:07 Ann Hutton, Executive Director As the State's biennium draws to a close in just days, the Governor will unallot more than $3 billion to balance the FY2010 - FY 2011 budget as required by the State Constitution. While we have seen Governors unallot previously, never to this magnitude. The nonpartisan House Research department prepared a 14-page briefing that provides background on the unallotment law and outlines the extent of executive authority in this process, as well as those instances where the unallotment law is not clear. During the next few days and months, Minnesota cities and counties and by extention their libraries, regional libraries like SELCO, and the State as a whole will be moving into uncharted financial waters.
Visit to Zumbrota-Mazeppa Elementary & High Schools Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:37:32 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorMy "Schools in May" tour wrapped up on May 20, 2009, when I paid a visit to the Zumbrota-Mazeppa Elementary & High School Media Centers. The Zumbrota-Mazeppa Elementary & High Schools(Z-M) are located in Zumbrota and the two buildings are connected together. The Elementary School serves students in Kindergarten - 4th Grade and the High School serves students in 9th - 12th Grades. I started my visit at the High School Media Center with Z-M Media Specialist Ron Miller. The High School Media Center is a large and bright space. On entering the Media Center, most of the large book collection and study tables are located to the left. The large information desk is located just inside the entrance and occupies a space in the center of the Media Center. On the right side of the Media Center is a large number of computers for student use as well as a new current fiction book section. On the day I visited a number of students were making use of the Media Center, both at the study tables and of course, at the computers. Attached to the Media Center is a large computer lab and television production space. Students produce regular TV programs, including a short morning news and annoucements program. The Z-M High School Media Center also has something I have not seen in any other school media center: a green screen that can be used for television or other media programs.After visiting the Z-M High School Media Center, Ron and I made our way down the hall to the Elementary Media Center. I arrived at the Media Center just in time to find 4th graders listening to a story being read by Zumbrota Public Library Children's Librarian Flora Burfeind who was there to promote the Library's Summer Reading Program. The Media Center is also a large and bright space, with a large book collection, study tables and chairs for students, and an attached computer lab. The Media Center was to receive new carpet over the summer and Elementary staff members Kathy Flotterud and Heidi Hanson were in the process of moving books. Elementary students have 'library" time at the Media Center on a rotating schedule and are taught library skills as well as get to check out books. Zumbrota-Mazeppa Schools has one more school building in the district: Z-M Middle School located in Mazeppa. I'm planning on a visit to the Middle School next fall, so stay tuned. I want to say a big "Thank You" to Ron, Kathy, and Heidi for welcoming me to the Zumbrota-Mazeppa Elementary and High School Media Centers and for allowing me to visit. To see photos from my visit, including a picture of the "green screen" in the High School Media Center, check out the Zumbrota-Mazeppa set on SELCO's Flickr site.[...]
Visit to Glenville-Emmons Schools Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:28:12
Michael Scott, Assistant Director Continuing on with the my "Schools in May" tour, I had the opportunity to visit the Glenville-Emmons Schools in Glenville, MN. The district is made up of two schools: Glenville-Emmons High School, which includes Grades 7 -12 and Glenville-Emmons Elementary School, which includes Grades Kindergarten - 6th Grade. Both schools are located in the city of Glenville. I started my visit at the High School, where I met with Glenville-Emmons' Media Specialist Mike Hockert. The Media Center at Glenville-Emmons is a large space with study tables & chairs available to students, a large book collection, a number of computers for student use (plus an attached computer lab) and a location near the entrance to the school. On the day I visited, students were using both the computer lab and the media center for study. The Media Center has an online catalog (Follett's InfoCentre) that students can access at school and at home to find books and other materials. Though students in the High School do not have regularly scheduled "library" time, use of the Media Center is still high. In the afternoon, Mike and I headed across town to the Glenville-Emmons Elementary School Media Center. The Media Center is located near the center of the building and is built in a very open fashion: no walls and surrounded by classrooms. The Media Center is sunken and two wide steps around the entire space allow access. The Media Center has a large book collection and several study tables & chairs for student use. Computers for student use are located in a lab located near the Media Center. Students do have regular "library" time in the Media Center to check books in and out. As Mike covers both media centers as well as teaches computer classes, serves as the Senior class sponsor, and coaches baseball, he works with the elementary teachers to ensure that they can assist their students in finding books to read. Using the Accelerated Reader program has also helped in this effort as well. I want to say thanks to Mike Hockert for allowing me to visit the Glenville-Emmons School Media Centers. To see more photos from my visit, check out the Glenville-Emmons set on SELCO's Flickr site.
Legacy Amendment makes national news Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:05:53 Ann Hutton, Executive Director In an era of economic downturn, the possibilities abound for libraries undertaking new or expanded arts and cultural heritage activities, so much so that we made the national library news. With the flurry of last minute legislative details, libraries will receive a portion of the new Arts and Cultural Heritage funding generated by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment. The Legacy Amendment, approved with overwhelming voter response in November 2008, raises revenue for Clean Water, Outdoor Heritage, Parks and Trails, and Arts and Cultural Heritage. Libraries will be beneficiaries of a portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage funding, with $4.25 million allocated to regional library systems and distributed via the Regional Library Basic System Support formula.
Wolfram Alpha Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:16:44 Donovan Lambright, Automation LibrarianWolfram Alpha has been all over the news lately, though descriptions of the website have varied. Is it a search engine? Is it the newest competitor to Google? Who is Stephen Wolfram?Wolfram is a brilliant scientist and mathematician who has done ground-breaking work in particle physics and computerized modeling of natural phenomenon. Widely described as a child prodigy he got his PhD in particle physics from CalTech at age 20 and joined the faculty shortly thereafter. He supplied the vision behind Mathematica, a computer algebra system that is used by scientists and mathemeticians to model, well, almost anything. In 2002, the publication of his book A New Kind of Science, provoked controversy in the scientific world by postulating that the universe runs on systematic principles that cannot be modeled through traditional mathematics alone but rather through computational systems of the kind that Mathematica can model on a computer. Wolfram built on these concepts to develop Wolfram Alpha, which he describes as a "computational knowledge engine".I will pause here to admit that I don't really know what most of the last paragraph means. Wikopedia is good.So, what does Wolfram Alpha do? According to the FAQ, it "generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links". So, it's not a search engine. It tries to answer questions by doing calculations based on it's internal database. In that database is a host of statistical and scientific information such as the CIA World Factbook. It's a little unclear what exactly is in that database but it seems to be a lot of "deep web" stuff that is not available for free. Wolfram himself described it as "about nine-tenths of what you'd see on the main shelves of a reference library".The point about calculations vs. searching is a key concept here. Unlike Google and other search engines, Wolfram Alpha doesn't serve up pages from its data source. It uses that data source to calculate an answer to your query. For example, I asked "Who won at Gettysburg". Well, the engine didn't know how to interpret that query. So, I tried "Who won the battle of Gettysburg". The engine responded with a page showing how many miles are between Gettysburg, PA and Battle, UK. It also gave some interesting demographic information on both communities. Nothing on the Civil War battle.Enter two stock symbols, on the other hand, and the engine will return a wealth of information on the stocks and their comparative performance in the stock market. It will also solve any mathematical query. These results make sense if you understand where the engine came from.What does all this mean? Wolfram Alpha shows huge potential to provide basic data mining and calculations on some kinds of questions. Instead of merely presenting data, it attempts to interpret that data. In it's own way, it's continuing the encroachment of the internet onto turf libraries have traditionally owned. That, in and of itself, makes it worth watching. Here are some links if you'd like to read further:ALA TechSource writeupArticle from Slate comparing Wolfram Alpha to GoogleInitial review from the ReadWriteWeb blogVideo of Stephen Wolfram discussing Wolfram [...]
SELCOtv 25 - Introduction to Outlook Web Access's Calendar Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:22:51 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian SELCO upgraded our WebMail Exchange Server back in February 2009, and with this upgrade, there are new features and options available for us to use. This episode takes a look at the Outlook Calendar and the new options available with it.
Visit to Burnside & Sunnyside Elementary Schools Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:18:12 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorThe month of May 2009 seems to have become a month for visiting school media centers for me! On May 11, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the two elementary school media centers in Red Wing: Burnside Elementary and Sunnyside Elementary. I started my day at day at Burnside Elementary School, which serves students in Third through Fifth grade and has an enrollment of about 660 students. The school opened in 1994 and replaced an older building from 1931. I arrived at the school's Media Center and met with Jackie Trulen, the media specialist at Burnside. The media center was quiet in the early morning as the first class was to arrive around 10 AM. The Media Center's space is large, bright, and welcoming. A large amount of natural light flows in through big windows that look out on the playground area as well as partial views of the bluffs to the south. There is a large collection of books for students to use and a few computer workstations for students to search for materials (there is a computer lab attached to the Media Center as well.) The space also contains a large area for storytime sessions with students as well as a classroom that Jackie uses to teach library skills. Additionally, there are a number of study carrels and study tables and chairs for student use. The large information desk is centrally located and has the largest collection of storybook characters I think I've ever seen!Jackie shared with me that students have regular visits to the Media Center every four days. Students are able to learn library skills, check out books, and listen to a story quite often. The Media Center uses on online library system (Follett's Spectrum), common among many SELS school members' media centers. At this time, Red Wing Schools do not use a reading program such as Accelerated Reader or Lexiles. After my visit to Burnside Elementary, I headed closer to downtown to visit Sunnyside Elementary School. Sunnyside Elementary serves students in Kindergarten through Second grade and has an enrollment of 530 students. The building was built in 1956 with an addtion and renovation done in 1989 which includes the Media Center. When I arrived, I was greeted by Sunnyside's Media Specialist Susan Richardson and Media Aide Lynn Lund and was given the grand tour of the Media Center. The space, just as the space at Burnside, is a large, bright, and inviting space. Plenty of natural light enters the space through large windows that look out onto a park-like setting. The large information desk greets students when they arrive and is at a height that works for all students. There is a large book collection available for students and plenty of tables and chairs to sit and read or study. There are a few computer workstations for students to search for materials as well as a computer lab attached to the Media Center. The storytime area is large to accomodate a number of students (complete with a rocking chair!) and the area can be closed off when other parts of the media center are being used. On the day that I visited, the school had just been visited by author Patricia Polacco (Chicken Sunday, Thunder Cake) and a large banner and display greeted students near the main entrance of th[...]
Minitex Annual Library Conference Fri, 29 May 2009 14:20:47 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian Over 180 people from across the Minitex region attended the Eighteenth Annual Interlibrary Loan Conference on May 19, 2009, including me. I was really excited to attend because this year's morning keynote speaker was Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Vanderbilt University Libraries in Nashville, TN. I didn't get the chance to see him present his Tech Expectations workshop at SELCO in 2007, so I was really looking forward to hearing his ideas about the role of technology regarding interlibrary loan and the advancement of open source and next generation integrated library systems. I appreciated hearing Marshall speak about how library automation isn't a one-size fits all type of thing, that every library, staff and patrons have their own specific and unique requirements needed to function. Due to the new needs of patrons, we need to be thinking more about automation systems that search for the traditional print materials AND the electronic resources available to the public--this makes for a more user-friendly environment for the patron, a sort of one-stop-shopping experience. Check out www.librarytechnology.org to see what's going on in the library automation world! Interesting fact: There are 16,887 public libraries in the United States!!
Visit to Spring Grove Schools Fri, 29 May 2009 11:18:45 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorOn May 6, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the Media Center at the Spring Grove Schools in Spring Grove, MN. This was the second of two visits that day (see my visit to Mabel-Canton Schools for the other visit) to SELS member schools not online with the SELCO ILS. The Spring Grove Schools is a single-building district that serves 336 students from Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. The Media Center serves all grades and is a large, inviting space. Bev Nelson, Spring Grove Media Specialist and Susan Jahnke, Media Aide, gave me a tour of their space. To see pictures from my visit, check out the photos in the Spring Grove Schools folder on SELCO's Flickr site.There is a lot going on in this space! A large information desk is located near the front entrance so that students can easily check out or return books or ask questions. There is additional staff work space including Bev's desk (she didn't want any pictures of her desk because she felt it was too messy!), a large processing area for books, and a back storage room that houses videos, TVs, and other equipment. Definitely spaces that other libraries or media centers would LOVE to have! For students, there are a number of public access computers for study and research which are located right in the middle of the space. A large number of tables and chairs are available for study throughout the media center as well as for classes and meetings. The Media Center's book collection is large, divided into elementary books and middle & high school books, and are located on opposite sides of the space. The space also houses a small conference room and a Storytime room, complete with a colorful mural as can be seen above.On the day I visited the Spring Grove Media Center, the place was buzzing with activity. Students were using computers, reading, studying, talking, etc. Even though there are a large number of places for students to sit, the space was completely full. Bev and Susan report that they do get good use by students. Elementary students have regular "library" time every week while middle and high school students use the Media Center either for a specific class or come in when it is convenient. Besides her duties as the Media Specialist, Bev also teaches a writing course.For those of you who follow my posts about visiting libraries and media centers you might have noticed a few additional pictures during this visit. Besides showing off Spring Grove's space, Bev and Susan were also interested in ideas about how to arrange their space. They are going to get new carpet this summer and wanted to take the opportunity to re-arrange the space. Take a look at the photos on Flickr and if you have ideas, please feel free to email Bev Nelson at bev.nelson@springgrove.k12.mn.us. I want to say a big thank you to Bev and Susan for making allowing me to visit them and see what is happening at the Spring Grove Schools Media Center.[...]
SELCOtv - SELCO ILS Operations & Technology Policy Joint Committee Meeting - May 2009 Thu, 28 May 2009 16:17:29 Rachel Gray, Information Services Libarian Video recording of the May 21, 2009 meeting of the SELCO ILS Operations & Technology Policy Joint Committee. This meeting video has been broken into 3 pieces for ease of viewing.
Websites with information about senior services Wed, 27 May 2009 15:15:32 Michael Scott, Assistant Director Looking for a few good websites that have information about services for seniors? Here are a few websites from Minnesota & beyond that have some great information about senior services.
SELCO Special Consultants Feature Tue, 26 May 2009 13:51:05 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian Starting with the May/June 2009 SELCO/SELS Update, the staff-produced newsletter discussing all of the latest news regarding SELCO and SELS, each issue will feature one of the SELCO Special Consultants projects taking place in the region. The first project featured is the Rushford Public Library PR & Marketing project, where Rushford Public Library Director Susan Hart and SELCO PR & Marketing Special Consultant Mark Reidell worked together to create a marketing plan to promote the construction of the new library in Rushford. Ideas included getting the community involved in a fundraising kick-off event in October 2009 for the public phase of the new library fundraising campaign and promoting the library webpage and wireless internet using signage in the windows, magnets with the website address, and bookmarks. During initial planning, Susan worked with Crescendo, a fundraising firm, to conduct an assessment study which recommended fundraising $1 million for the new library. Susan Hart is pleased with the Special Consultants program and said, "Mark Reidell is a great listener! He is very good at taking a look at the big picture, narrowing the scope to a manageable focus for the best results." Check out the Rushford Public Library's website by clicking here. The SELCO Special Consultants project is a unique service for public libraries where libraries may draw on a wide range of expertise from a varied group of subject specialists who, during the next two to three years, will concentrate on PR & Marketing, Teen Programs, Inviting Spaces, and Literacy Development. For more information, please click here.
SELCOtv: SELCO Technology Users Group Meeting - May 2009 Tue, 26 May 2009 12:17:26 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian May 2009 meeting of the SELCO Technology Users Group. This video has been broken into 4 parts for ease of viewing.
Visit to Mabel-Canton Schools Fri, 22 May 2009 14:42:32
Michael Scott, Assistant Director On May 6, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the Media Center at the Mabel-Canton Schools, in Mabel, MN. This was the first of two visits that day to SELS member schools not online with the SELCO ILS. Mabel-Canton Schools is a single-building district serving grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12th Grade. The media center serves all grades and is located near the main entrance to the school. Laura Schulte is in charge of the Mabel-Canton Media Center and met with me to show off the space. The space is large and bright with plenty of tables and chairs available for study or meetings, a large bank of public access computers, and a good collection of materials for all students. As one would expect, elementary and high school materials are separated in the Media Center but are easily identified. Laura has been working to update the collection particularly in the heavily used areas of the collection, such as the sciences (oh those animal books!) and juvenile and young adult fiction. Even with limited funds, Laura is able to add some new items to the collection. Mabel-Canton Schools also receives delivery through SELCO one day per week and that has been very useful to the students and staff at the school. The school uses the Accelerated Reader program for reading and have implemented up throughout the elementary grades. The program seems to work well for them and has helped with reading scores. A special program available to Mabel-Canton Schools this summer is the ability to provide AR access outside the school at the public library. Laura has worked with the Mabel Public Library to get AR set up on the Library's computers so that students can continue reading and take the AR quizzes between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. I was pleased to hear about this collaboration and hope to be able to report on this project this fall. I want to say thank you to Laura for the opportunity to visit the Media Center at the Mabel-Canton Schools! Check out photos of my visit in the Mabel-Canton Schools' folder on SELCO's Flickr site.
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Diane Burfeind Thu, 21 May 2009 21:34:38 Diane Burfeind, SELCO-EQS Scholarship Recipient, Red Wing Public Library The 2009 Enhancing Quality Staff Conference once again proved to be a great Conference. There are always valuable sessions to gain information from, both professionally and personally. The most thought provoking session I attended at the May 2009 conference was “Values, Visions and Voices: Ethical Issues in Troubled Times”. The speaker was Mike McGlynn from the U of M Human Resources Office. He is guaranteed to keep you awake for a 2 hour session following lunch. The subject of ethics in the workplace is always relevant, but especially in these difficult economic times. I ended the day by attending the “Geocaching” session. Caches can also be located in libraries! What a fun adventure that I hope to make a hobby of mine.
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Karen Bodin Thu, 21 May 2009 21:19:37 Karen Bodin, SELCO-EQS Scholarship Recipient, Red Wing Public Library Pass It Along: How Wanda Gag’s Picture Book, “Millions of Cats”, was Imagined, Retold, Written, Illustrated, Archived, Researched and Translated to Impact Readers, was presented by Karen Nelson Hoyle, the curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections (including the Kerlan and Hess) at the University of Minnesota Libraries for the past 40 years. From the start, you could tell she was very passionate about her subject, and even thought the title subject was Wanda Gag’s books, she explained how the entire Kerlan collection at the U came into being. Karen is the author of a biography on Wanda Gag, and had many little anecdotes to tell of the life and lifestyle of this gifted author and illustrator. Along with retelling the story, “Millions of Cats”, she showed many of the illustrations from that book and others. I found the session very interesting, even knowing nothing about the subject beforehand, mainly because of the passion and excitement that Karen put into her presentation. It made me want to go and explore the Kerlan collection myself!
Minitex ILL Conference - LaVonne Beach Thu, 21 May 2009 20:48:02 LaVonne Beach, Director, LaCrescent Public Library Note: LaVonne was one of 4 SELCO member library staff from across the region who were sponsored by SELCO to attend the 18th Annual Minitex ILL Conference on May 19, 2009. I enjoyed the two speakers who presented at this year's Minitex ILL Conference. Though I have heard Marshall Breeding speak before, I am always amazed at the extent of his knowledge of library automation systems and trends in library automation. One thing new that I learned during his presentation was the website that he has developed called Library Technology Guides. The site has lots of useful information, including a directory of libraries from around the world called lib-web-cats. Of course, I just had to look and see if I could find the listing for LaCrescent Public Library, which I did. This was the first time that I have heard Ray Wilson talk. I plan to implement the check sheet for comments and complaints as we move towards the new reduced hours at the Library. This will be an invaluable tool to track the impact of the reductions and have solid statistics to present to the City Council as we seek money next year.
Minitex ILL Conference Highlights Thu, 21 May 2009 20:40:56 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorI had the opportunity to attend the 18th Annual Minitex ILL Conference which was held at the Continuing Education & Conference Center on the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus. This year's conference featured two excellent speakers, Marshall Breeding and Ray Wilson. The conference had good attendance by library staff from around the Minitex region. SELCO was also able to sponsor 4 member library staff from around the region to attend this conference, including Greg Sauve from Rochester Public Library, LaVonne Beach from LaCrescent Public Library, Kathy Rush from Northfield Public Library, and Patti Tieskoetter from Red Wing Public Library. Marshall Breeding was the keynote speaker for the day and spoke on the topic, "Next Generation Library Automation and Its Implications for Resource Sharing." Marshall is the Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Vanderbilt University Libraries. Marshall also writes the "Systems Librarian" column in Computers In Libraries, has authored the "Automation System Marketplace" featured in Library Journal since 2002, and manages the Library Technology Guides website. Marshall's presentation focused on next generation library automation which move beyond providing information about just the print collection of a library and including a much more diverse collection of information resources such as digital materials, articles, and so on. Most library automation systems in place today were created when the focus of libraries was on a print collection. He talked about a redefinition of the library catalog to one that has a more comprehensive information discovery environment, better search capabilities, better information delivery tools, and a more elegant presention. Tying into interlibrary loan, he pointed out that library automation has to move beyond "discovery" to "fulfillment." Resorce sharing modules as part of library automation systems are difficult for the vendors to create and thus haven't been done well. Standard protocols like NICP are too slowly being implemented and have difficulty addressing all the necessary functionality. So what are we using? A complex system of different ILS's, ILL managment systems (VDX, Illiad, etc.), and regional or even global ILL agreements (regional library systems, Minitex, OCLC, etc.) to fulfill our patrons requests. Marshall points out that we must continue to find more efficient and user-friendly systems to not just allow our library patrons to "discover" what we have but for our library patrons to have their information needs "fulfilled." If Amazon.com can offer one-click buying, why can't libraries?Ray Wilson, president of Ray Wilson & Associates, did a presentation in the afternoon on the "Seven (+3!) Tools for Improving Your Workplace." As he stated, the purpose of his presentation was to give the group some tools for continuous improvement (CI) and assist us in loo[...]
Hard Economic Times Impacting Member Libraries Thu, 21 May 2009 13:53:59 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian Another SELCO member library has been affected due to the economic turmoil in the state of Minnesota. The La Crescent Public Library board made the decision to implement cuts right now so they would not have to make further cuts at the beginning of 2010. The library will be cutting one part time position and cutting the hours of all of the remaining La Crescent Public Library employees. The hours were also cut, eliminating open hours on Mondays and cutting an hour of service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. These changes will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. Funds will only be spent on essential items as well. To help a little, the library now has a "Wishing Tree" where folks looking to help the library can take a leaf off the "Wishing Tree," buy the item that is listed on the leaf, and give it back to the library as a tax deductible donation. Check out the La Crescent's "Wishing Tree" by clicking here. 
Minitex ILL Conference - Greg Sauve Thu, 21 May 2009 09:36:36 Greg Sauve, Reference Services, Rochester Public LibraryNote: Greg was one of 4 SELCO member library staff from across the region who were sponsored by SELCO to attend the 18th Annual Minitex ILL Conference on May 19, 2009. During Ray Wilson's talk on tools for improving your workplace, one of the ideas he presented is worth thinking about. Based on his experience in improving productivity in many organizations, he stated that "Treating everything equally is more efficient than prioritizing everything!" I started thinking how this applies to our technical services area, but it could also apply to interlibrary loans. Our library prioritizes items with patron holds for processing first, so they are not stuck in a processing backlog while patrons are waiting.Ideally, every incoming item should be processed quickly enough so that prioritizing isn't needed. On the other hand, no matter how many steps you can save by looking at the workflow process, there are times when there are not enough staff to handle incoming materials quickly. The flow of incoming materials is not even, depending on budget cycles, selection and acquisitions dept. staffing, or vendor deliveries. In part, the answer could be cross-training enough people in the staff to enable flexibility when more staff are needed in a department such as technical services.Marshall Breeding's session on next generation library automation was more abstract in nature, with less immediate application to interlibrary loan practices. He mentioned that ILS vendors often ignore the technological needs of interlibrary loan because it is so difficult to create software for this area. The result is that interlibrary loan remains the most labor intensive area per item in library operations, costing upwards of $20 per item (adding borrowing and lending libraries' staff time, plus overhead delivery costs and processing.) MNLINK has improved the requesting side of the process, shifting staff time in requesting materials to the requesting patron. The flip side is that by opening interlibrary loan to unmediated borrowing, demand for interlibrary loan staff time has multiplied, from MINITEX staff down to the lending/borrowing libraries. ILL volume has more than doubled in the state from 400,000 requests to over 1,000,000 in the past five years. 40-50% of MNLINK requests are for AV material, not readily available in many cases, resulting much more staff time needed to notify patrons of unsupplied requests.As Marshall Breeding and Bill DeJohn stated, part of the solution is to make our ILL automation more efficient, or smarter. We have just started using NCIP at our library, which makes interaction possible between VDX and Symphony, our ILS. Records for ILL records are automatically added when received on VDX and holds are placed. When lending materials, the items are automatically checked out in Symphony when marked shipped in VDX. It promises to be a great ti[...]
SELCOtv 22- Introduction to Outlook Web Access Mon, 18 May 2009 10:51:40 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian SELCO upgraded our WebMail Exchange Server back in February 2009, and with this upgrade, there are new features and options available for us to use. In this episode of SELCOtv, we will touch on some of these changes, & will hopefully help you use Outlook Web Access more fully. The next 2 episodes will be looking at other features of Outlook Web Access, so stay tuned for more info!
NLLD - National Library Legislative Day Summary Wed, 13 May 2009 16:12:01 Ann Hutton, Executive DirectorDespite the challenging economic times, Members of Congress are hopeful and upbeat about libraries --- plus it was a beautiful sunny day to be in Washington, DC. I was part of a small but effective group from Minnesota who briefed legislative staff and Members on issues important to daily library operations as part of National Library Legislative Day.Library Services and Technology Act - LSTATopping our list was the re-authorization of LSTA. The approximately $2.9 million which Minnesota receives pays for statewide delivery, as well as other statewide projects such as the Minnesota Digital Library project. Each year a portion of the funds are dedicated to competitive grants. We distributed information and highlighted projects in each congressional district. eRateNow in its 11th year, the discounts and reimbursement provided by the eRate program ensures continued telecommunication bandwidth and Internet access in public libraries and schools around Minnesota. Rather than seeking an annual exemption to keep the eRate program in compliance with the Antideficiency Act (ADA) accounting requirements, ALA is urging passage of S. 348, a bill introduced by Senators Rockefeller (WV) and Snowe (ME) and in the House, a companion bill, H.R. 2135, introduced by Rep. Rehberg (MT). Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 - CPSIALegislative staff had varying degrees of knowledge about Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) General Counsel’s interpretation of the CPSIA which stated that books will be subject to the same testing standards as children’s toys. An interpretation that sent school and public libraries into panic wondering what might become of library collections. With a one year stay of implementation, ALA is urging Congress to clarify CPSIA, specifying what was and was not intended to be included. We alerted the Minnesota congressional delegation to a new bill introduced by Rep. Fortenberry (NE), H.R. 1692, which clarifies legislative intent that CPSIA was not intended to apply to ordinary books. Because this is such a complicated topic with far reaching consequences, ALA is conducting bi-weekly conference calls with the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies and ALA State Chapter Councillers. Minnesota representatives invited to participate in this regular teleconference are: Suzanne Miller, State Librarian, and Melissa Brechon, Director of the Carver County Library and ALA Chapter Counciler.[...]
Windows 7 Wed, 13 May 2009 17:22:34 Michael Flores, User Technology Manager As some of you may have heard Microsoft is releasing a new operating system called Windows 7, which should be out late 2009 or early 2010. Windows 7 has a very similar look and feel to Windows Vista, but has a lot of other changes under the hood. Windows 7 is still just in a release candidate phase and has not been commercially released yet. We have done some minor testing on the release candidate here at SELCO just to see how some things work, and what kind of impact there will be yet. Much like the release of Windows Vista, once it comes out we will give it a stricter test to make sure it will work in the capacity of both a staff and public computer. While the tool we use on the public computers, Windows Steady State, has not released a version to work with Windows 7, there have been rumors of integrated tools in Windows 7 that could do similar functions. One of them that I have read is called PC Safeguard, however I have also read rumors that PC Safeguard may be removed from the actual Windows 7 release. All in all, when you hear Windows 7 know that it is not officially released yet and that there are still changes being made. Once it is released we will do some testing on our end to make sure it will work in a library environment with support following by a few months after the release. Much of our support however will depend on its ability to work with some of our other tools, such as Anti-Virus, Windows Steady State, Citrix, and CleanSlate. Once Windows 7 has actually been released and we have done some testing, we will have more information for you. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us on the SELCO Help Desk and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Rebecca Littlefield Wed, 13 May 2009 14:46:27 Becky Littlefield, Cataloging and Interlibrary Loan Assistant On May 5th I had the opportunity to go to the Enhancing Quality Staff symposium. My favorite panel that I attended this year was the panel on New Technologies by Eric Celeste. We spent a lot of time discussing one of Google's new offerings called Google Voice. Google Voice allows you to have one telephone number that rings in multiple locations. It also allows you to set up a voicemail account, record your calls, and also to make long distance calls for the same rate as a local call. I am very excited for this application to go live! Another thing that we looked at was a new search engine from the makers of Mathematica called WolframAlpha. Eric felt that this was going to be the new thing amongst teenagers. It works differently from traditional search engines because instead of providing links to pages that contain the search query, it works to provide answers. You can ask it a scientific question and it will compute the answer for you. One of the last things we explored was an artist called Kutiman who takes people who are performing on YouTube and remixes them to create new music. He then posts this on a website called Thru You. I thought this was very interesting and exciting.
Scrapbooking at Rushford Public Library Wed, 13 May 2009 12:14:03
Michael Flores, User Technology Manager On Wednesday, May 6th Rushford Public Library held a scrapbooking program for people interested in learning more about it. Creative Memories Consultant, Jill Flores, was there to demonstrate some items as well as help people create their own items for Mother’s Day. Participants used kits to create their own Mother’s Day cards or brought pictures with to create their own min-scrap book. Library Director, Susan Hart, was there to help out and take pictures of some of the participants in this program. Susan is hoping that this will spark an interest in scrapbooking. She is also hoping to hold more scrapbooking programs later this year.
Resources for Church Libraries Wed, 13 May 2009 10:50:21 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian A Special Library focuses on the interests inherent in the institution it serves. Church libraries serve their organization, its members, and often the surrounding community. Collaboration between church libraries and the other nearby libraries strengthens the services provided to their communities. Below are some useful links for Church Libraries and for searching religious sources:
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Marilyn Sheehan Tue, 12 May 2009 14:56:33 Marilyn Sheehan, SELCO-EQS Scholarship Recipient, Rochester Public Library Thank you to SELCO for sponsoring me to the workshop. I enjoyed the sessions as well as meeting SELCO staff members Melanie Olson and Becky Littlefield. It was a most enjoyable day.
Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium - Ruthann Horning Tue, 12 May 2009 14:44:49 Ruthann Horning, SELCO-EQS Scholarship Recipient, Rochester Public Library Thanks to Selco for the opportunity to attend the symposium for "Enhancing Quality Staff". It was informative and enjoyable. One of my favorite programs was "B is for Battle Cry" with David Geister, an historical artist and children's book illustrator. He shared how, even as a child, he was fascinated by the American Civil War. As he read "The Red Badge of Courage" and "Gettysburg" his fascination with the American Civil War became his life's passion. His art ability was recognized early in life. As a fourth grader he won a prize of $100 in a 5-state art contest and later as a young man was asked to reproduce an enlarged version of a picture of a Virginia mansion for a restaurant. Even on his wedding day, he and his bride were dressed in 1860's attire and invited their guests to do so also. As he spoke to us, he was dressed in a woolen Civil War jacket, belt and cap. As an illustrator he uses real people as models for his work. His wife, some of her students and a possible future son-in-law have served as models for him. His most recent work is illustrating his wife's book on the Civil War alphabet entitled "B is for Battle Cry". His work shows fine attention to detail as he strives for complete historical accuracy in his illustrations. I was captivated by this man's enthusiasm for his life's work and his dedication to it. Thanks again for the opportunity to attend this fine symposium.
NLLD Briefing: Part 2 Tue, 12 May 2009 08:42:35 Ann Hutton, Executive Director Emily Sheketoff, Executive Director, ALA Washington Office offered her thoughts on the "New Congress, New Administration: What to Expect in the 111th Congress." Despite a new administration with majorities in the House and Senate, it is still an uphill task to secure support for libraries. There are raised expectations by many groups seeking financial support and members are being selective of what they agree to support. Senators Reed (D-RI) and Snowe (R-ME) are circulating a letter of support for LSTA and the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program. Signatures are being collected until May 14 and Minnesota readers of this blog post should contact Senator Klobuchar's office and encourage her to sign on at 202-224-3244 or via her web form. The House letter was sent on April 2, 2009 and Representative Oberstar was one of 26 supporters.
NLLD Briefing: Part 1 Mon, 11 May 2009 13:19:07 Ann Hutton, Executive Director ALA President, Jim Rettig, welcomed the 400+ attendees to NLLD and expounded on one of the themes from his presidential year --- advocacy within the library ecosystems. As an academic librarian, he sees first hand the difficulties students experience who have not had research training in their K-12 learning environment. Warming the hearts of many of his listeners, he likened the local public library to other community first responders since it is the library that is on the first line of defense for many in this strange and unprecedented economic environment. He believes that libraries of all types are interdependent and need to advocate for each other. “If a school system gets rid of its library it is leaving its children behind and while the first responders, the public library, will do a lot it cannot do it all.” Rettig stressed that all of the NLLD issues are library issues not just by type of library but within an integrated library ecosystem. And as to why we come to Washington to lobby, Rettig said, “We don’t do it for libraries we do it for the people they serve.” With Rettig’s vision, ALA’s Office for Library Advocacy will create a new website identifying best practices from around the country and detailing how effective libraries coalition build with other libraries, within cities, communities, and states. Library Stategies, a consulting group of the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library will perform the research.
National Library Legislative Day Sun, 10 May 2009 15:02:57 Ann Hutton, Executive Director The Minnesota group heading to Washington, DC for National Library Legislative Day 2009 will be a smaller than usual but no less passionate about libraries and quality services in these finacially challenging times. On May 11-12, I will be lobbying for libraries with Melissa Brechon, Carver County Library, Peter Pearson, Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, Dave Pointon, 3M and Mike Bloomberg, Augsburg College and MLA Federal Legislative Chair. Major topics this year of interest for SELCO/SELS libraries and a quick preview:
ALA's Washington Office offers NLLD 2009 information including in-depth briefing papers on these topics and other legislative issues. Additional SELCO Librarian blog posts and Fickr pix will all be tagged NLLD2009 or you can follow me on Twitter at hutton356. Stay tuned for more from our nation's Capitol.
Visit to LeRoy-Ostrander Schools Thu, 07 May 2009 10:56:02 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorOn May 4, 2009, I had the privilege of visiting the Media Center at LeRoy-Ostrander Schools in LeRoy, MN. Located in a single building in LeRoy, the school houses grades K-12 and has an enrollment of 300 students.Rhonda Barnes, LeRoy-Ostrander Librarian, welcomed me to the Media Center and gave me the grand tour. The media center is a large bright space that is very welcoming to students and houses a large book collection, study tables and chair for students, and a number of public access computers. Two special highlights of the space are a centrally-located, semi-enclosed storytime space and a beautiful mural that "swirls" its way through the media center along the outside wall. The storytime space is painted with the cardinal red of the school's mascot and has carpeted steps for students to sit and listen to a story. The lighting is soft and makes a great spot for students to gather. The mural contains various storybook characters and really does seem to swirl through the media center. On the day I visited, students were making use of the computers, studying at tables, and checking out and returning books - considered a quiet day at the media center!I also received a mini-tour of the school itself. As you can see in the LeRoy-Ostrander photo set on SELCO's Flickr site, I had a chance to peek into the Band Room, of which they are very proud. Other areas of the school that I had the chance to see were the industrial agriculture area (with an area large enough to pull a combine in for repairs), the shop and industrial arts area, gym, commons area, and the school's greenhouse, which was having a plant sale. I also had the chance to meet several staff members at the school along the way, including the school's principal, Aaron Hungerholt, who stopped by the Media Center to visit with me briefly.A couple of special programs that the Media Center provides for the students are the Scholastic Book Fair and "Breakfast and Books." Breakfast and Books is held in late February/early March and is a time for elementary students to enjoy breakfast and reading books with their parents and watch a program by actors from the local community theatre. This program has been a long-standing committment by the Media Center and continues to be a huge success.I want to say thank you to Rhonda for a great visit and making me feel so welcome at the LeRoy-Ostrander Schools! Your pride in your school certainly shows.[...]
Library News around the Region Tue, 05 May 2009 15:21:55 Mollie Pherson, Regional LibrarianGood news for folks in Adams! A trial program has been set to start during the 2009-2010 school year where Adams citizens will be able to check out materials from the Austin Public Library on Wednesday nights at the Southland school library. Details are still being worked out, but this is a step in the right direction. Volunteers will run the special hours at the library, and computers will be available for patrons to use. For more information, check out the full Austin Post-Bulletin article by clicking here.Looking for a cool fundraiser? The Rochester Public Library Foundation is sponsoring the Amusing Race fundraiser for the third year in a row. The fundraiser is based off the TV show, "The Amazing Race," where people are given clues to solve. Teams of four register, pay a registration fee, and money is also raised during the race. The money raised by the foundation is used to support local library programs like tudor.com. The race usually lasts two to four hours, prizes go to the top three finishers, and a free lunch is provided by a local business. To read the Rochester Post-Bulletin article, please click here. For more info about Rochester's event, visit www.amuzingrace.org.The Stewartville Public Library is the first public library in the SELCO region to have items featured in the Minnesota Digital Library's Minnesota Reflections database. To access the historical photos and documents, click here. Some SELS members have also contributed documents and photos to the database. To see the collections, please click on the names.Carleton CollegeFreeborn County Historical SocietyGoodhue County Historical SocietyNorthfield Historical SocietyOlmsted County Historical SocietySt. Olaf CollegeWinona State UniversityWinona County Historical Society[...]
H1N1 Flu Precautions Fri, 01 May 2009 13:49:35 Ann Hutton, Executive DirectorAs the SELCO office has received several questions about the possibility of closing libraries in light of the first confirmed case of the H1N1 (swine) flu, I am posting the message shared with SELCO employees as an example of precautionary language that library directors and library boards may share with staff. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Minnesota Department of Health are certainly urging preventative measures, circumstances do no warrant library closures.The following notification was sent to SELCO staff. Feel free to adapt the sample language for local notifications:As I am sure you have heard, an individual at a Cold Spring school was the first in the state with a confirmed case of the H1N1 (swine) flu virus. The symptoms of H1N1 flu are similar to symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with H1N1 flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Because this case may have a health impact on Minnesota, I am reminding staff about appropriate preventive measures: WASH YOUR HANDS frequently with soap and water, particularly before and after eating and before and after using someone else’s computer. COVER YOUR COUGH. STAY HOME any time you are ill or are presenting respiratory symptoms. If you are running a fever, consult your physician to consider being tested for H1N1 flu. If you are tested and notified that you may have a “probable” case of H1N1 flu, please immediately notify Aimee Lake or Ann Hutton. Similarly, if you are in *close contact* with someone who has been notified they have the probable or confirmed virus, notify us immediately. A probable or confirmed case would require SELCO to prepare for extenuating circumstances and we prefer as much advance notice as possible. For more information about H1N1 flu, visit the Centers for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has also set up a hotline at 800-657-3903. MDH is monitoring the situation in Cold Spring, and we will notify SELCO staff if any action becomes necessary. [...]
Visit to Kenyon-Wanamingo Schools Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:58:05 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorOn April 28, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the media centers at the Kenyon-Wanamingo Schools in Kenyon and Wanamingo, MN. I started my visit at the Elementary School in Wanamingo, which houses Kindergarten - Fourth Grade students. Cindy Baumgartner, the Elementary Media Aide, met with me and gave me a brief tour of the media center. The media center is located near the center of the building, directly across the hall from the Elementary Office. The space is large and open, with a large book collection, a computer lab, and an area set aside for storytime. On the day I visited it was fairly quiet (arrived just as a class was leaving and before the next class was to arrive). Students have "library time" two times per week for 20 minutes at at time and Cindy works with students to learn research skills and improve their reading skills.The school will be undergoing a major renovation this summer with the installation of a new HVAC system and new windows. This will have an impact on the media center as some materials and equipment will need to be moved or covered. Additionally, the new windows will be larger and will take away some of the existing wall space that the media center utilizes for signs, decor, etc. According to Cindy, the renovation is definitely needed as the boilers the school is currently using are old and don't always work properly.After a great visit at the Elementary Media Center, I headed down Minnesota Highway 60 to Kenyon for a visit at the Middle/High School. Grades 5 - 12 are housed at this school and share one media center. I was greeted at the Media Center by Lisa Nelson, the new media aide for the Middle/High School. Lisa gave me a tour of the large space that is the Middle/High School Media Center. It houses a large collection of books, a conference room/career center, and has a large amount of seating for students to study or read. The media center has a large backroom for storage and all of those other behind-the-scenes tasks. On the day I visited, the media center was buzzing with activity, with students coming in and out to use the media center's resources. Two major projects that Lisa has undertaken are a major weeding of the collection and the addition of a graphic novels section. If you check out the photos from my visit on Flickryou will see the early stages of development of the graphic novels section. As Lisa pointed out, once she moved the graphic novels to their own section and added t[...]
Internet Explorer 8 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:31:30 Michael Flores, User Technology ManagerSome of you may or may not have heard that there is a new release of Internet Explorer coming out from Microsoft called Internet Explorer 8. This new version of Internet Explorer has a lot of features that will speed up your browsing as well as add some extra security to your web surfing. While I could write a whole article on some of the new features, I am not going to in this blog post, but have listed a URL below if you would like to check it out.http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer/default.aspxWhat I do want to talk about in this blog post is the impact of Internet Explorer 8 on SELCO and on the online libraries. Paul Conrad and I have done some testing on this with different setups such as public computers and staff computers. I am going to talk about each of these separately.For public computers the biggest concern is, will Internet Explorer get updated during the update window and break my public computers. The answer is no, the reason for this is due to the fact that Steady State or the Toolkit will only perform Critical updates. Internet Explorer 8 is flagged as an Important update, so it will get downloaded, but not installed. To update it on your public computers they would have to be done manually. The thing to keep in mind though is that you are not required to update. There is not a lot of functionality to be gained on the public computers, however if you are a PC Support Customer, and would like to do the update anyways, please contact the SELCO Help Desk so that we may schedule a time to update your public computers.For the staff computers we have tested Internet Explorer 8 with Citrix, Webmail, and Web Reporter and it seems to work fine. We did notice a java script error in some of the parts of Web Reporter, but one of the features of Internet Explorer 8 is to run in Compatibility Mode and this fixed the problem. So as above with the public computers, if you would like to update your staff computers to use Internet Explorer 8 and are a PC Support Customer, please contact the SELCO Help Desk so that we may schedule a time to update your staff computers.So in summary, Internet Explorer 8 is still just Internet Explorer. It has some new bells and whistles, but is pretty much the same. It is not a required update at this time, and unless you just want the latest and greatest, upgrading is completely optional. If you are a PC Support Customer, please give us a call at the SELC[...]
OLA Public Library Study Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:48:48 Ann Hutton, Executive Director The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) will undertake a study focused on public libraries. The Background Paper outlines possible evaluation issues, with the first question focusing on public library funding and organizational structure, including whether public libraries are funded in an equitable manner. The issue of "equitable" has recently been a point of legislative discussion when Rep. Roger Reinhart (07B) introduced HF1570, "a bill relating to libraries: authorizing libraries in certain cities to charge fees to nonresidents." In normal library parlance, we define non-residents as individuals not residing in or paying property taxes to support Minnesota public libraries. Representative Reinhart's intention was focused within the state, specifically individuals living near Duluth and using the financially strapped Duluth Public Library but paying a much lower county tax rate. The discrepency between levels of support for libraries varies widely from region to region, county to county, city to city, and when comparing city to county. Using the State Demographer's 2006 population estimates and the 2007 annual report data from each local unit of government supporting libraries in the southeast, the county per capita support ranges from $9.89 to $28.65 and city per capita support ranges from $17.64 to $71.36. The 2007 Per Capita Chart* lists each of the 11 member counties and the 36 cities taxing for library service. As more information becomes available on the OLA Study of Public Libraries it will be posted to the SELCO website and tagged "OLA Study" for ease of searching. * Note: The 2008 Per Capita data will be available shortly pending completion of the 2008 annual reports by local libraries.
Twitter Wit: Sum Up Working With Books in 140 Characters Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:32:09 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager I follow a number of people in twitter, one of them being user srharris19, a collections librarian from the University of New Mexico, mostly because I like his tweets and his humor. So today he passes on a really fun opportunity, to be part of a new book from IT Books, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. They are looking for twitter wit from people who love books, who work around books, and who enjoy the humor in their daily lives. For more information about this opportunity, go see Steven Harris's original twitter and follow the link to a PDF from IT Books. Or if you follow me, it will be a twitter post from me in a few minutes. My twitter username is Jonya.
SELCO Loaner Pool Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:33:41 Michael Flores, User Technology Manager When it comes to computers and equipment, hardware failure is a part of life. Whether we like it or not, or how much we try and keep it from happening the unexpected can and will happen. That is why we have put together a dedicated set of loaner staff PCs and equipment for library use. This Loaner Pool consists of the following items:
This equipment is here at SELCO and is in place for extreme emergency cases, such as the only circulation PC crashing, or losing your main receipt printer and cannot wait to order a new one. As these situations arise simply contact the SELCO Help Desk and based on your situation we will deploy the necessary loaner equipment to the library. In fact just today we had our first actual check out of equipment from the loaner pool. Pine Island was hit by a power outage that left their main receipt printer on the circulation computer dead. Jeanne is planning on purchasing a new thermal receipt printer in the upcoming PC Purchase. So in the meantime we were able to deploy a loaner receipt printer for her to use until she gets her new thermal from the PC Purchase. Once she has that she will return the loaner receipt printer back to SELCO to be deployed out to another library. So the next time an unexpected hardware failure happens at your library on a critical piece of equipment, don’t be afraid to contact the SELCO Help Desk so that we can help you get through the difficult time and minimize your down time.
More Day End Observations Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:16:53 Donovan Lambright, Automation LibrarianUPDATE, 04-27-2009--I just realized that I omitted a Day End failure date from the list at the bottom of this blog post. I have inserted the missing information in bold. Appolgies for the mistake.Mick Reese, Systems Manager, just posted some good information on our recent Day End problem and I wanted to add a few observations.The problem we had on Tuesday was a new one. As far as I know, we've never had Day End go down because of this kind of database error. It's a little worrisome and Mick is pursuing it with SirsiDynix; it's not the kind of error you just move on from once everything is working again.The other Day End failures we have suffered over the years are much more banal. The Day End process runs on the same Horizon client that we all use for checking things in and out, cataloging, and other day-to-day library tasks. From time to time that client crashes. The possible explanations are endless:momentary glitch in the connection between the client and the Horizon servera hung process on the PC running the clientslowness on the database server causing it not to respond as fast as the client expectsI doubt there is anyone in the region who has used Horizon for more than a week and hasn't experienced the same thing. 99% of the time, the problem is not serious. You restart the client and continue your work. Irritating. But not catastrophic.Unfortunately, the situation gets a little more serious when the client in question is running Day End. Or is scheduled to run Day End later in the day. This isn't one person trying to check out or catalog. It's the process that generates a wide range of critical functions including, but not limited to:certain statistical reportsoverdue block processingnoticesEven if the problem was trivial, the result is not. Since no one is here at midnight, when Day End runs, we end up playing catch-up the next day. In an attempt to manage the problem, we check the status of Day End every morning. On weekdays, we perform this check at 7:30 AM when the Help Desk opens for business. On weekend, it happens one hour before On-Call hours start (7:00 AM on Saturday and 11:00 AM on Sunday). When we find it to have failed we restart it immediately.We've observed this problem in Horizon from the very beginning. Calls to epixtech (as they were called then) were not prod[...]
A bit more detail on this week's DayEnd issue Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:07:15 Mick Reese, Systems Manager It is apparent by the time the news item came out late Tuesday, completing the DayEnd run on Tuesday took a lot longer than in the past when there has been a issue with DayEnd. Usually, when DayEnd doesn't run it is because of an error on the client PC. DayEnd runs on one of the servers at the SELCO office in a Horizon session. If, for some reason, the server gets restarted, or the Horizon window gets closed, DayEnd won't run. When this is the case, DayEnd gets started by 7:30 the next morning, and will finish up within a few hours. On Tuesday, the DayEnd run started normally on the server, and about 40 minutes into the process, a database error occured. That database error caused the Horizon client to crash, and the DayEnd run was left partially finished. We became aware of the issue first thing the next morning. Since this was not a typical error, I spent a few hours in the morning checking for a reason for the error, and even spent time with SirsiDynix support. This was to make sure that we didn't have some kind of corruption in the database that would lead to more failures and bigger problems over the next couple days. By the time I felt comfortable re-starting the DayEnd run, it was nearly 11am. By then, the system was quite busy with the libraries open. Because of this, the normal 3 to 4 hour process took closer to 7 hours. When it comes to running DayEnd, it makes a real differnce when there is no other database traffic to compete with. The DayEnd run did complete with no other issues, and Horizon was back to normal on Wednesday.
Visit to Kasson-Mantorville Schools Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:33:00 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorOn April 23, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the all three media centers at the Kasson-Mantorville Schools. I started my visit at the Kasson-Mantorville High School in Kasson, MN. K-M High School currently houses grades 7-12 but in the 2009-2010 school year, 7th and 8th graders will be moving to the Kasson-Mantorville Middle School, currently under construction. I met with Chris Lannin, the media specialist for the High School and special guest Donovan Lambright, SELCO Automation Librarian (we didn't realize that we'd both schedule a visit this day!) We received a tour of the media center, which is a large bright space. There is a computer lab attached to the media center with 34 computers and there are another 45 computers in the media center itself. There is plenty of studying and seating areas as well as a large collection of books. The space is highly utilized by various classes and on the day that we visited, several classes were using the computer labs.The Intermediate School is currently located in Mantorville and houses the 5th and 6th grades. This is currently the oldest building in the district and will be closing down at the end of this school year as the 5th and 6th graders will be joining the 7th and 8th graders in Kasson at the new Middle School. However, even in the older building, students still had access to a large collection of books as well as a number of computers located in the media center.We ended our tour of the Kasson-Mantorville Schools at the Elementary School in Kasson. This building houses Kindergarten through 4th grade. It is set up in pods and each grade has a pod. Each grade has 7-8 sections and continues to grow! The media center is located near the center of the school and is a large, open, and bright space. There are two computer labs attached to the media center as well as a large collection of materials. The media specialist at the Elementary, Jenny Dalsted, mentioned that she sees 30 classes of students per week in the Elementary media center for a half-hour each - so certainly a busy place! Jenny currently has responsibilities for the Intermediate School and will have responsibilities for both the Elementary and Middle School in the 2009-2010 school year.I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the Kasson[...]
Tornado Drill @ SELCO Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:11:38 Michael Scott, Assistant Director At 1:45 PM today (April 23), the tornado sirens sounded in Rochester to announce the statewide tornado drill for schools and businesses. SELCO staff participated in this drill as part of regular safety training and gathered in the designated area in the SELCO office building. The designated gathering point is denoted with a burgundy stripe along the top of the wall near the ceiling and runs from most of the way down the main hallway at SELCO. I'm pleased to announce that everyone knew where to gather and did so. Though just a drill, it is good practice for us all as we head into warmer weather and tornadoes and severe weather start occurring again. As many reports have stated, most severe weather occurs between 3 PM and 6 PM. A reminder that at 6:55 PM on April 23, 66 of the 87 counties in Minnesota will hold another tornado drill for folks at home or working the second shift.
7 Mac Myths Debunked (Or Proven)! Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:04:23 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian SELCO doesn't support Apples and, unless we hear some demand from the Online Libraries for such a service, doesn't plan to start. Therefore, I don't write much here about Apple topics. And I certainly don't want to open up a new front in the Mac vs. PC holy war. Having said that, I recently ran across an article that looks at some of the conventional wisdom about Macs and PCs in a way that is much more impartial than most of what you hear on the internet. I pass it on for your consideration: 7 Mac Myths Debunked (Or Proven)!
Having touched so many! Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:12:37 Ann Hutton, Executive Director Austin library users offered their thanks to Maureen Steenblock honoring 29 years of service to the library and the community. Through 29 summer reading programs and countless storytimes, Maureen shared a joy of children's literature and libraries. One of those she influenced is Tyler Irvin who was a library page and worked for Maureen. Tyler is now a degreed librarian and manages SELCO's cooperative project with the Chatfield Brass Band and Music Lending Library as LSTA Project Librarian. Congratulations Maureen on your retirement and our appreciation for the years of service to the region. For more pix. 
Smart Investing @ your library - Helping your kids become savvy savers Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:59:42 Rachel Gray, Project Librarian For kids to grow up money smart, it is important to teach them good financial habits. Topics in this program include techniques for encouraging children to save, spend, earn, borrow and give money wisely. This video is from a library program at Lake City Public Library April 7, 2009. This program was also presented at Rushford Public Library on February 12 and at Dodge Center Public Library on March 9 at 7:00pm. More information on Smart Investing can be found at http://smartinvesting.selco.info. Smart Investing @ your library is funded by a grand from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the American Library Association. We have split the video into two segments for your convenience:
SELCOtv 20: SELCO Advisory Committee Meeting - April 2009 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:23:11 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian The SELCO Advisory Committee meeting was held on April 14, 2009. The SELCO Advisory Committee is made up of the directors from all of the public libraries in the SELCO region. The group meets 6 times per year in February, April, June, August, October, and December. The meeting video is a flash video, and has been broken down into four sections for ease of viewing.
Visit to Alden-Conger Schools Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:45:01 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorApril 15 is known throughout the United States as Tax Day. However, on April 15, 2009, besides filing my taxes, I had the opportunity to visit the media center at the Alden-Conger Schools in Alden, MN. Kathryn Ubl, Alden-Conger's Media Specialist, met with me to give me a tour of the media center as well as the school itself. Alden-Conger Schools are located in a single building in Alden and includes Pre-Kindergarten through 12th Grade and has a student population of over 400 students.The media center is a bright, inviting space. The information desk is located just inside the entrance to the media center. There is a computer lab connected to the media center and the school psychologist's office and a special education classroom are also part of the space. Currently, the speech and language department is housed in the media center's workroom as the school is undergoing some renovations. There are public access computers available for student use, tables and chairs for studying, and a large collection of fiction and non-fiction materials for all grades. Tucked back in a corner is an area for storytimes, complete with a rocking chair. The media center has several large windows which let in a large amount of natural light and there is a separate outside entrance. In the area that holds the collection and study areas, the space is about a story and a half and murals cover the upper part of two walls.Elementary students have regularly scheduled time in the media center but are also free to come to the library anytime to check out books. On the day I visited, several boys were in to check out books during a class period. Middle and High School students don't have regularly scheduled media center times but are able to make regular use of the library. During my visit, several different classes were in to use the media center. To ensure that students have the information and technology skills necessary for success, Kathryn uses the Big6 approach, an information and technology literacy model and curriculum. She has adapted it for Alden-Conger Schools and continually works to ensure that stud[...]
Windows XP Moves to Extend Support at Microsoft Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:50:39 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Microsoft announced recently that Windows XP will move from Maintream Support to Extended Support on April 14, 2009, i.e. today. This is in line with Microsoft's standard 15-year schedule for product support:
In this case, the move to Extended Support is actually two and a half years late, due to delays caused by the slow rollout of Vista. So, what changes today? Not all that much, really. The main change is that Microsoft will no longer be releasing non-security updates to the software. Patches to fix security problems will continue to come out but that is it. In addition, any further support from Microsoft will only be available for a fee. This is not much of a change as most support for XP is provided via PC vendors who sell PCs with XP pre-installed. For more information, see the following articles from: SELCO has no plans to change the level of support we provide for XP (as part of PC Support) based on any of this. I'm passing it along just in case you've seen this in the news and were wondering if it would affect you.
Training Librarians in Job Search Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:13:45 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorI came across a short news article in the April 1, 2009 issue of Library Journal about how the North Carolina State Library launched a program in March 2009 to train 300 librarians to help their patrons connect with employers and conduct job searches. The program, which cost $30,000, was a partnership that included North Carolina's Department of Cultural Resources (the department that the NC State Library reports to), Department of Commerce, and Employment Services Commission. Nine workshops were held around the state and focused on NC Live, the state's statewide electronic database consortium as well as additional print and online resources for skills such as resume writing, job searching, and interviewing. A Job Search Toolkit, hosted on pbwiki, was created that includes contributions from library staff from around the state as well as Internet and NC Live resources.I thought this quote from Linda A. Carlisle, Secretary of the NC Department of Cultural Resources summed it up well: “Most top U.S. retailers no longer accept in-store paper applications, leading many people to head to their libraries for help and online access." I have heard from a number of library staff from around the SELCO/SELS region that this is what is happening at their libraries more than ever. Having recently worked in hospital libraries, I can attest to this change in applying for jobs. The two hospitals I worked for move quickly to online-only applications for jobs within in the hospital and the hospital library was one of the few places that had computers available for hospital staff and other job seekers to use to apply for a job.To check out the article in Library Journal, click here.[...]
SELCOtv 19: Discussion on Lead in Library Materials Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:17:20 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian A short discussion on the recent Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, and its effect on library materials with Michael Scott, SELCO's Assistant Director.
MnLINK Gateway Search comes to Facebook Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:06:29 Michael Scott, Assistant Director For all of you Facebook users, there's a new app to add to your Facebook profile: the MnLINK Gateway Search! The app was developed by Minitex staff member Michael Berkowski and I had the privilege of serving on a committee to help get it ready for primetime for Facebook. If you are interested in adding the app to your Facebook profile, go to the MnLINK Gateway and click on Add MnLINK Gateway Search to your Facebook Profile in the left column.
Library info in my Playbill?? Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:12:57 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian My girlfriends and I traveled to the Windy City last weekend to take in the Broadway tour version of RENT at the Oriental Theatre, Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Not only did I get excited about the play, but I also loved the fact the playbill included an article about the Chicago Public Library! What a way to promote the library!! The article explored the Chicago Theater Collection housed at the Chicago Public Library. The collection includes costume sketches, newspaper clippings, press releases, and budgets. A lot of the local theaters send their old artifacts to the archive at the library, and after the library catalogs the items, they are available for anyone to see. Some of the interesting artifacts include a program from the original 1902 stage version of The Wizard of Oz, the original score for Grease with musical notes and lyrics written in pencil, and scrapbooks compiled by unknown "theatre-goers" over one hundred years ago. I wished I had more time to check it out!
Visit to the Winona Area Public Schools Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:41:28 {html}Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorOn April 7, 2009, I had the opportunity to visit 4 schools in the Winona Area Public School district: Winona Middle and High Schools, and Central and Washington-Kosciusko Elementary Schools. Mary Alice Anderson, the district's lead media specialist, was my tour guide. The purpose of my visit had two purposes - do a site visit to several of the school media centers in the district and discuss the 2008-09 Annual School Library Media Center Report with the Winona media specialists. For photos of my visit, check out the Winona Area Public Schools folder on SELCO's Flickr site.I started my visit at Central Elementary School in Winona. This Kindergarten-4th Grade school (all Winona Area elementary schools are K-4) is located near downtown Winona and has about 80 students enrolled. The media center is located on the second floor of the building and was recently relocated from two windowless rooms to two renovated classrooms with plenty of large windows for natural light. There is a nice collection of books for students and the computer lab attached to the media center is large and has all new computers. Linda Chadbourn, Central Elementary's Media Secretary, added her artistic touches to the space with characters from Winnie The Pooh and the Bearenstain Bears adorning the walls. Mary Alice and Linda report that students are very happy with the new space.Next stop on my tour: Winona Senior High School. There we met with Terry Kroening, the Winona Senior High Media Specialist. In 2006, the Senior High Media Center underwent a major renovation to transform a two-floor, little-used media center into a stunning single-floor media center that is in constant use. The space is large and very inviting. There are 3 computer labs located within the media center plus a large multi-purpose room that is used by classes as well as the public. There is a wide variety of seating, from bistro tables and stools to study tables and chairs, to[...]
More Libraries in the News! Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:47:46 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian Recently, more articles have been published in local newspapers featuring public libraries in the SELCO region. The Argus featured an article about the Caledonia Public Library's many resources and how the library is a true asset to the community. The Austin Post-Bulletin featured another article about the Austin Public Library discussing how library use is up and stressing the fact that the library is always a reliable resource for people of all ages. To read the articles, please click the following links: Public Library offers value during tight economy--Post-Bulletin, Austin
Codi 2009 - Further Details on Horizon Product Plan Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:51:20 Mick Reese, Systems ManagerI attended a session this morning to get more details on the Horizon product roadmap for 2009. SirsiDynix is planning two upgrades in the coming year, which really shows that Horizon is not a "dead" product. The first upgrade, due out in July, focuses on an upgrade of the underlying database (Sybase 12.5) that Horizon runs on. The version that Horizon currently runs on will be End of Life - no longer supported - at the end of 2009. By upgrading the underlying database, SirsiDynix if effect assures several years of continued support. Also scheduled for early 2010 is an upgrade that will include several new features as well as problem fixes.
SELCOtv 18: More with RSS Readers Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:33:50 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian There is more to RSS readers than just following blogs. Learn about using RSS feeds to get updates on database searches, follow breaking news stories and stay informed about severe weather.
Codi 2009 - NCIP implementation with VDX Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:46:02 Mick Reese, Systems ManagerI attended an excellent session today from Jeanne DeMars of Traverse des Souix regional library ssytem. They went live with NCIP in November on their unicorn system. The NCIP protocol automates a great deal of the process of a MnLINK request. NCIP traslates actions taken in VDX to an action in the local ILS system. Here's a detailed example of what is automated: A MnLINK request comes in from a patron outside the region. With NCIP, VDX talks to the ILS, and the request is automatically made (and shows up on the local library's pick list to be filled). No staff intervention needed at this point. Once the hold is filled by the local library and sent in delivery, the only step ILL staff needs to take is to issue the SHIP command in VDX. VDX checks the item out to the ILL patron again with no staff intervention. An incoming MnLINK item is partially automated with NCIP as well. In the case of Traverse des Souix, VDX creates a brief MARC record, puts hold, sets pickup location, and puts the item in transit all automatically! So what are the numbers? Traverse des Souix saved 42% of staff time in processing ILL lending requests (nearly 38 hours per month) as well as time savings from the local library staff. This is all of great interest to us, as SELCO is looking into NCIP for Horizon so we also will be automating some of the MnLINK ILL process.
Codi2009 Management by the Numbers Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:57:16 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager
Codi 2009 - Text messages for notices? Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:07:45 Mick Reese, Systems ManagerAn interesting session that I attended today talked about using text messages for sending notices, rather than email. Some patrons don't check their email often, and their cell phone is what they use to stay connected. It is estimated that 2 billion text messages are sent every month. All cell phone providers allow a email to be sent that is converted to a text message as it is delivered to a phone. One library has set up an option for patrons to receive their notices by text. This may not be something SELCO would implement, but another example of communicating with the patron in new and exciting ways.
Codi 2009 - SirsiDynix roadmap for 2009-2010 Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:39:30 Mick Reese, Systems ManagerDuring the opening session today, SirsiDynix presnted their roadmap for the upcoming year. The company is definitely working at Web 2.0. They are showing some interesting developments, such as an iPhone app that allows you to - using the phone's GPS - find the closest library to their current location. They could then launch a mobile iPAC to check availability, and even place a hold. They also presented the roadmap for Horizon. Yes, there are new versions in development. Horizon 7.5 is due out Q3 2009, and will include some database upgrades. Beyond that, Horizon 7.5.1 is also in planning for early 2010. Contrary to what we were told a couple years ago, we don't see any end of development for Horizon anytime soon.
Cody2009 Help Desk Changes Announced. Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:22:51 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager SirsiDynix announced this morning that they are alpha-testing some new functionalities on their internal equivalent to our Service Desk application. One of their goals was to empower system administrators to find our own solutions more efficiently within their knowledge base, and to navigate through their website and manage our side of the tickets more effectively. I have a sympathy for that. I took notes and did some brainstorming about how I could make my users more successful - reaching for that win-win! The twitter tag for this conference is #SirsiDynix.
#SirsiDynix Opening Presentation by Patricia Martin Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:52:42 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager I will probably by this book. Her best point was that people do not want to suck, and we need to stay current with changes so we don't accidently make people feel like they suck. Another point was about the demographics of information users and managers - it is 63% of the population that is bubbling up with innovation, who are time-starved and who find hacking things a normal, acceptable reaction ("gorilla knitting" is a form of hacking this traditional artform). Remain relevent. Become a RenGen Library. Connect, collaborate, communicate. Think about what makes people feel like they suck - Martin said Dewey, fines, even needing a library card make some users feel like they are doing something horrible and they don't want to feel that way.
"What's love got to do with with it?" A Public Forum Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:08:20 Ann Hutton, Executive Director Olmsted County Public Health Services and the Rochester High School PTSAs will co-sponsor a public forum, SEX: What's love got to do with it? on Monday, April 13, 2009, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at Century High School. This educational event is open to the public and will focus on healthy versus unhealthy teen sexuality, countering the normalization of sexual harm, and the powerful role of parents.
Not worried about the 'Conficker' worm Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:17:13 Mick Reese, Systems ManagerThere was a fair amount of media attention given to the latest computer worm, dubbed 'Conficker' over the last couple weeks. Although the hype sure made it sound like there would be some major problems on April 1st as this worm activated itself. The Automation department here at SELCO was not worried about this particular worm. The worm itself has actually been out for several months, April 1st was only a date that it set to activate, and possibly cause problems. We have several sound security measures to protect both library computers, as well as the servers here at the SELCO office:The SELCO office and all public library networks are secured by a SonicWall Firewall device. This firewall blocks random attacks that come across the Internet trying to infect PCs and servers.All incoming SELCO email is scanned for worms and viruses before being delivered to a user mailbox. Also, our spam firewall does a tremendous job blocking a huge amount of spam that can lead to malware and viruses. Individual library PCs run a solid antivirus software that is updated regularly, and public internet PCs run Disk Protection which protects the PC further from getting a virus infection.Windows updates are installed on a regular schedule on library PCs asd servers in the SELCO office to patch vunerabilities that worms such as Conficker exploit. Even though the media picked this particlar worm to highlight and invoke some fears, the truth is there are virus and worm attacks going on daily. Yesterday was just as uneventful for viruses as any other day here at SELCO. [...]
Smart Investing @ Your Library at Caledonia Public Library Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:18:50 Rachel Gray, Project Librarian The third library program video for the Smart Investing @ your library grant is now available online! The program is titled "Riding out the current financial storm" and was presented by Phyllis Onstad at the Caledonia Public Library on March 10, 2009. This program was also done March 26 at Grand Meadow Community Center and will be presented again on Apr. 23 at the Northfield Public Library at 7:00pm. More information on Smart Investing can be found at smartinvesting.selco.info. Smart Investing @ your library is funded by a grand from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the American Library Association. The program description: This program will provide key strategies and tools to prepare for times when money is tight, you lose your job, or have suddenly reduced income. It will also share key resources both online and in the community that will assist families and individuals. We have split the video into three segments for your convenience:
SELCOtv: SELCO ILS Operations & Technology Policy Joint Committee Meeting - March 2009 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:02:09 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian This is a recording of the March 26, 2009 meeting of the SELCO ILS Operations & Technology Policy Joint Committee. We have split the video into four segments for your convenience:
Computers in Libraries -- Day Three Keynote Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:16:00 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Just got out of the keynote for today. Michael Edson, Smithsonian Institution, did a terrific presentation entitled Digital Strategies & Knowledge Commons. Michael covered a lot of ground but he mostly discussed the concept of the commons, which is any space that is set aside for the use of the community rather than individuals. Back in the old days, a common was usually land set aside so that everyone would have a place to graze their sheep (or cows or pigs or whatever). Nowadays, the knowledge commons is that space (increasingly online) featuring information, knowledge, and wisdom that is freely accessible without restriction for the benefit of all. Sounds like the natural stomping ground for libraries, doesn't it? I don't really have time to write up everything that Michael talked about in his excellent presentation but the good news is that I don't have to; it's all available online: Enjoy!
Visit to Lewiston-Altura Schools Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:20:17 Michael Scott, Assistant DirectorI had the opportunity to visit the media centers at the Lewiston-Altura Schools on March 18, 2009. I started my visit in Lewiston at the Elementary Media Center where I was met by Sharon Manley, the District's Media Specialist. The elementary school serves students in PreK - 4th Grade. The elementary media center, located near the middle of the school, is a large space open at both ends (closed off by bookshelves.) There is ample seating for students to study or do projects, a large collection of library materials, a few public access computers (a larger computer lab is located next door), and a large information desk. There is a storytime area that is used with various classes during "library time." Students have 30 minutes of designated time to come to the media center during the week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and on the day I visited a first grade class was just finishing up their time. It's amazing what is squeezed into 30 minutes: listening to a story, doing a learning activity, and checking out/checking in of books. The elementary media center has also become a bit of a "greenhouse" as many plants have found their way onto the tops of library shelves! Sharon stated that the plants come and go but Media Assistant Jean Reisetter is in charge of caring for the plants as she (Sharon) doesn't have a "green" thumb!Next in the tour of Lewiston-Altura media centers was a visit to the high school which is also located in Lewiston. The high school serves students in grades 7-12. The high school media center is a large space that h[...]
SELCOtv 16 -- CIL2009 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:17:28 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian From my hotel room, I report from Washington DC in this episode, to talk about the annual Computers in Libraries conference. Among the many good sessions that have already been held is Library Website & Library Catalog: One Stop! We'll take a look at the Howard County Library website, which has combined a Content Management System (CMS) and OPAC into one seamless web presence.
Hurry up, Summer! We're all waiting! Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:33:17 Mollie Pherson, Regional LibrarianSELCO hosted the annual Summer Reading Program Kick-off on Friday, March 27th, featuring this year's theme, Be Creative @ Your Library. Library staff from around the region listened as Kathleen James from MELSA shared programming and craft ideas and book suggestions. Kathleen also led a craft session where the group was told to be creative with marshmallows and toothpicks--a cheap and fun craft for people of all ages!! Some other ideas:Create a scavenger hunt at the libraryGuessing jars or bags are always funSet up self-directed craft tables and change the craft weeklyCreate a giant "I Spy" in your display caseContact local high schoolers to demonstrate and play instruments for the kidsI just received a catalog in the mail this afternoon called Guildcraft--it has some pretty cool and inexpensive craft ideas specifically for the Be Creative @ Your Library theme. Check out the ideas by visiting www.Guildcraftinc.com. For other information, check out the Collaborative Summer Reading Program website or the SELCO webpage devoted to summer reading programming. Or check out 101 Ideas for Getting Creative and Expressing Yourself @ Your Library by clicking here. To order Be Creative @ Your Library items from Highsmith, click here.Meet Wilbur, the SELCO pig. I created him during our craft time at the kick-off. Creating a library mascot is a great way to get kids interested in summer reading. [...]
Details on Library MOE Legislative Changes Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:22:03 Ann Hutton, Executive DirectorFor those interested in more details than presented on the newspage about the proposed changes to library MOE and how this arrangement is moving through the legislature, read on.Representative Morrie Lanning (09A) grasped the concepts recommended after 14 months of study by the Minnesota Library Funding Committee and agreed to include Library Maintenance of Effort (MOE) reform measures in his mandate relief bill HF1195. At a Cultural and Outdoor Resources Finance Division hearing on March 23, 2009, testimony was presented from the Association of MN Counties (AMC), the League of MN Cities (LMC), Minnesota InterCounty Association (MICA) and the Minnesota Library Association (MLA). Suffice it to say that the testifiers did not agree. The Chair, Representative Mary Murphy (06B), asked all of the involved entities meet into the evening to find agreement. Attending that Monday evening meeting:Representatives Morrie Lanning (09A), Mary Murphy (06B) and Diane Loeffler (59A)Keith Carlson (MICA)Joe Mathews (AMC)Gary Carlson (LMC)Suzanne Miller, State Librarian, and Nancy Walton (MDE State Library Services)Michelle Weber (MDE lobbyist) and John Bolinger (MDE program finance)Pat Dalton (House Research)Mary Beth Davidson and Alexandra Iverson (Hennepin County)Elaine Keefe (MLA/MEMO Lobbyist) Mark Ranum (MLA Legislative Chair) The compromise includes three changes:Local support for 2009 may be reduced by the same percentage as the loss of LGA/CPA due to unallotment or by 1[...]
Computers in Libraries 2009--More on the Global Library Automation Scene Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:12:37 Donovan Lambright, Automation LibrarianFollowing up on my last post, I'd like to point out a few of the more interesting observations from Marshall Breeding's session, Global Librarian Automation Scene. He presented a lot of information and his slides will be online in a few days. So, rather than try to present everything, I'm going to cherry pick what resonated with me.ILS Vendors are Diversifying and Innovating, SomewhatILS vendors seem to understand the need for innovation and are putting a lot of resources into developing next-generation catalogs. They are generally following a mixed strategy, however, and continue to focus on tightly-intergrated systems for mainstream functions like inventory control (circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, etc.) Despite their efforts, the results of this innovation have not yet met the demands of the library world.But I Don't Want to Migrate!The evidence of the past year shows that few libraries are migrating voluntarily, say to get a better set of functionality. The vast majority of migrations were motivated by vendors abandoning a legacy ILS or a decision to leave a vendor or consortia due to dissatisfaction. This has some implications for ILS vendors who are looking at what best attracts new customers.Time to Give up that Old Server Running Behind Your DeskThe efficiencies and industrial-strength technology infrastructure found in enterprise-level data centers makes Software as a Service (SaaS) options more compelling, de[...]
Computers in Libraries 2009--Global Library Automation Scene Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:17:49 Donovan Lambright, Automation LibrarianI'll be spending most of today in the Next-Gen Catalogs track at Computers in Libraries. Despite the name, the sessions in this track are about Integrated Library Systems (ILS) in general, not just catalogs.The first session, which is just wrapping up, was presented by Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technology and Research, Vanderbilt University Library. Marshall is a well-known writer on the library automation marketplace and I've covered his presentations here before. He makes this presentation every year and, for me, it's a must-attend session. Among other things, he usually give us a sneak peak at the Library Automation Marketplace special issue of Library Journal, published each April.Marshall pointed to recent trends in library automation. 2007 trends included:industry consolidationabrupt transitionsincreased industry control by external financial investorsdemise of trad opacfrustration with ils products and vendorsopen source alternatives hit the mainstreamBy contrast, the 2008 trends highlighted in the soon-to-be-published artcle include:despite the uncertain economy, many industry players are investing to develop new products or increase capacitynew ILS sales down for most companies due to bad economy and libraries deferring migrationsstrong interest in new discovery interfaces, i.e. next-generation catalogsopen source still an interesting alternative but implementations are d[...]
Computers in Libraries 2009--Talking about Web Development Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:48:51 Donovan Lambright, Automation LibrarianFollowing this morning's keynote from Lee Rainie, I attended a couple of back-to-back presentations in the Web Development conference track. Website Redesign Pitfalls examined mistakes that organizations often make when redesigning or redeveloping their websites. First, some definitions:Redesigning refers to the process of revising the graphics and layout of a website.Redeveloping refers to making changes to the underlying structure of pages and scripts that make up a websiteIn the interest of full disclosure, I'm making a more clear-cut distinction between the two than the presenter did.The first pitfall is redesigning or redeveloping your website if you don't have to. Frequently, these projects happen because someone imposes an arbitrary timeframe; "It's been two years since we redid the webpage. Time for a redevelopment project!". Or, they happen because whoever maintains the webpage got bored; maintenance is boring, creating is really gets the creative juices flowing. Both of these tendencies are to be avoided. Why? Because wholesale change is hard on your patrons.The presenter went on to describe some good reasons to do a redesign or redevelop:the site's navigation is dysfunctionalthe site doesnt scalethe site is difficult to updatethe code is hopelessly sickthe site has poor usabilitythe site not performing based on goals/objectives Keep in mind the difference b[...]
Computers in Libraries 2009--Opening Keynote Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:22:09 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Greetings from Washington DC! I'm here for the annual Computers in Libraries conference, immersing myself into all things concerning library technology.The always-popular Lee Rainie lead off this year's conference with his opening session keynote, Friending Libraries: the Newest Nodes in People's Social Contacts. Rainie is the Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a non-partisan, non-profit group that has been producing the best reasearch and information on how society is adapting to and using technology. I've seen Rainie speak numerous times and have always come away resolved to read the latest study published by his organization. Today was no different.Rainie usually starts his presentations by asking who is blogging the session. Today, however, he noted that blogging is "so 2005" and asked a different question: Who is tweeting the session? Twitter, for those who haven't been listenting to the buzz, is a very useful service that allows uses to "microblog". Microblogging involves sending out very short posts about what you are doing or thinking about. It's different than blogging in that the posts have to be short; 140 characters is the limit. Posts, called tweets to the faithful, cannot be detailed or cumbersome or super-detailed. That doesn't mean they have to be poorly thought-out, however. Because they are [...]
SELCOtv 15: Technology Users Group AquaBrowser update meeting - March 2009 Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:48:50 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian March 2009 meeting focused exclusively on the upcoming AquaBrowser project. The video of this meeting has been put into four parts for ease of viewing. |
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