SELCO Librarian

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:16:33

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

LaCrescent Public Library recently upgraded some of its older computers by requesting PCs that the city no longer needed. The Houston County News wrote an article lauding the library and city for working together. Not covered in the article is that LaVonne Beach, the library director,  worked with Mike Flores, SELCO PC Technician,  to reuse one of  library's old machines as a donation box, as he wrote on SELCO Librarian blog in September.  I always enjoy it when the community notices the effort libraries put into serving their communities as economically as possible.

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:20:20

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

Lots of cool events are taking place at our local libraries! 

The G.H. Cachiaras Memorial Library, located on the Crossroads College campus in Rochester, went live with SELCO on Tuesday, June 17, 2008.  Now that students and faculty are back for the fall semester, the library is hosting an open house to celebrate!  The open house will be held on Monday, October 27 from 10 a.m.-noon.  Refreshments will be provided. 

The La Crescent Public Library, ISD #300 Early Childhood Family Education, and Childcare Resource and Referral are collaborating to offer a series of six free Saturday morning workshops designed for friends, family members, neighbors and others who provide childcare, as well as licensed child care providers.  The workshops are scheduled for the first Saturday of the month and will be held at the La Crescent Public Library, 321 Main Street, La Crescent from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.  The Saturday Morning Story Shop workshops will be centered on a seasonal theme, and all workshops will include refreshments, resource materials, a picture book to take home, a flannel board story and interaction wtih others who care about children.  Registration is limited to 20 people.  To register or for more information, please contact the La Crescent Public Library at 507-895-4047.

The Friends of the Spring Grove Public Library invite you to meet MN author and teacher Lin Enger on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. at the Schmidt House in Spring Grove.  The cost is 25 dollars per person.  Enger teaches writing in the MFA program at Minnesota State University--Moorhead.  His book, Undiscovered Country, is widely popular and available for check-out via the SELCO catalog.  Patrons can also purchase copies of the book for $17 at the Spring Grove Public Library.  For more information, please contact the Spring Grove Public Library at 507-498-5800.

The Rushford Public Library will be hosting An Afternoon with Lorna Landvik on Saturday, November 8 at the Rushford-Peterson School Theatre.  Lorna will be visiting with guests from 3-5 p.m.--there is no admission, but free will offerings will be accepted at the door going towards the construction of a new building.  There will be a silent auction where guests can bid on a chance to have supper with Lorna from 5-7 p.m.  Six lucky individuals will get to dine with Lorna!  For more information, please contact the Rushford Public Library at 507-864-7600.

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:28:55

Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian

One of the email lists I follow turned me onto an online article today about Jay Walker's personal library.  Mr. Walker is the founder of think tank Walker Digital that’s best-known for Priceline.com, and when he built his house, he built it around a 3,600 square foot library that is part museum.  It includes three levels of bookshelves and display areas that include everything from Sputnik to a raptor skeleton to the instruction manual for the Saturn V rocket.

The article is “Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker's Library” By Steven Levy and it is in Issue 16.10 of Wired.  My jaw dropped at the sheer beauty of this library and it’s amazing collection, and I hope yours does too!

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:14:10

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

I had the opportunity to visit the Rushford Public Library on August 26, 2008.  I met with Susan Hart, the library's director and had a great visit.  Susan provided me with a tour of the building, which as you can see from the photos on Flickr, is not only a busy place but certainly bursting at the seams!   Patrons are certainly well-served at this library with library materials for all ages and public computers with Internet access as well.  As many of you remember, the Rushford Public Library was the headquarters for a number of relief agencies during the floods of 2007 and the place in town where residents could access the necessary forms (mostly through the Internet) and assistance 24/7.  Though the library made it through the flood fairly intact there are still signs of the flood's effect.  The carpet has been removed from the main floor (saying it was in bad shape would be an understatement!) and the basement is still not back to full use at this point.  However, there is a glimmer of hope for the future.

The day I visited the library was the day before the kickoff of their "Continuing the Legacy" campaign with the goal of building a new library in Rushford.  The site has been picked and now the process of raising funds begins.  According to their website, they have a goal for groundbreaking in Spring 2009.  Here's wishing them the best of luck in achieving their goal.

I wanted to say a special thank you to Susan for allowing me to visit the Rushford Public Library!

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:41:20

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:33:09

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

I've read a number of articles lately about how as library budgets have decreased, library use has increased. One of the best articles about the topic appeared Monday in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Not only does it summarize some of the recent press, it does a good job of explaining exactly what the author gets for the $35 a year she gives the library in taxes and how she feels the value she receives far exceeds that amount. 

A bit earlier this month was a report titled "Why Public Libraries Close" was released by Christie M. Koontz , Dean K. Jue and Bradley Wade Bishop of Florida State University and released through WebJunction. It's generating attention and comments on various library blogs and generating some good discussion.

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:58:44

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

Here is information on the two-part series with 2008 MN Book Award Winners, thanks to the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library:

Mark your calendars for a two-part series with 2008 Minnesota Book Award winners and Pioneer Press books editor Mary Ann Grossmann, presented by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.  Get to know the writers, their work, and enjoy a conversation moderated by Ms. Grossmann.

On Sunday, September 28 at 2 p.m., sit down with Children's Literature winner Lynne Jonell (Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat); Readers' Choice honoree Jill Kalz (Farmer Cap); and Young Adult Literature winner Will Weaver (Defect).  The following Sunday, October 5 at 2 p.m., join the General Nonfiction category winner Charles Baxter (The Art of Subtext); Memoir & Creative Nonfiction winner Patricia Hampl (The Florist's Daughter); Minnesota winner Doug Hoverson (Land of Amber Waters:  The History of Brewing in Minnesota); Poetry winner Deborah Keenan (Willow Room, Green Door) and Fiction winner Wang Ping (The Last Communist Virgin).

Both events take place in the Magazine Room of Central Library, 90 West Fourth Street.

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:23:20

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

I have an update to my SELCO Librarian post on September 12, 2008 about the closing of Highsmith.  This information had been reported in both The Capital Times (Madison, WI) and on the American Libraries Direct newsletter.  It turns out that Highsmith is closing its Fort Atkinson, WI, facility and relocating to Janesville, WI as it was purchased by Lab Safety Supply, which is based in Janesville.  A correction has been issued by The Capital Times.  Additionally, American Libraries Direct this week noted the correction and has provided links to an article in the Watertown Daily Times about the relocation and a press release from Highsmith issued to clarify the issue.  Having relied on information from reputable sources, I apologize for any concern or confusion this may have caused for Highsmith customers.

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:20:40

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

 I had the opportunity to visit the Leroy Public Library on July 18, 2008.  I had a great time getting to know Rhonda Barnes and her staff and finding out about what was happening at the Leroy Public Library.

The library itself consists of two floors.  The main floor contains the Information Desk, public computers, the Adult Fiction collection and the Children's area.  The lower level consists of the Adult Non-Fiction collection and large tables where patrons have plenty of space to spread out work they're doing.  On the day I visited, the library was buzzing with activity.  The public computers were all in use and there was even a bit of a waiting line for the computers (yes, I know, no surprise!)  There were also a number of patrons coming in to check out and return library materials.

One of the unique parts of the Leroy Public Library's collection is its cake pan collection.  For a small fee, patrons can "check" out a baking pan in some unique shape and bake the perfect birthday or special occasion cake.  I thought this was a neat service for patrons who want to make a very special cake but don't want to own a very special cake pan forever.  Rhonda told me that this collection receives quite a bit of use.

I want to say thanks to Rhonda and her staff (Sharon and Kay) for making my visit so very welcoming.  I felt just like one of their patrons whom they warmly welcome to the library.

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:11:43

Rachel Gray - Information Services Librarian

Have you ever thought of having a podcast to alert patrons to what’s happening in your library?  Have you nixed the idea as being too difficult or technically advanced for you to tackle?

 I was recently researching podcasts (how to create them, where to host them, etc.) for training possibilities here at SELCO, and I ran across a couple wonderful introductory SirsiDynix Institute Webinars all about podcasting.   

 A Beginner's Guide to Podcasting: Part 1 - A Consumer's Guide taught by Greg Schwartz makes it really easy to understand what a podcast is and how to find some that appeal to you.  This session helped me appreciate the wide variety of topics covered in podcasts, and it was also interesting to see how quickly this media exploded and gained popularity around the internet.

A Beginner's Guide to Podcasting: Part 2 - A Creator's Guide is a follow-up webinar that explores programs and tools available to anyone interested in creating their own podcasts.  Since SirsiDynix is a company that serves libraries, both of these guides focus on how podcasts can benefit libraries and librarians, and also gives ideas for libraries to podcast about.  The nice thing about this guide, is that Greg Schwartz doesn’t just paint a rosy picture about how easy podcasting is, although he does make it look easy.  He also mentions that podcasting takes time and effort, which is important to remember before taking the plunge and getting into this new wave of information distribution.  

Check out these free webinars for more information on podcasting.  I am very happy I did, and I'm sure you will be too.

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:36:33

Michael Flores, User Technology Manager

Recently the LaCrescent Public Library was given five new computers from their city to replace some of their older equipment.  This was a great improvement for many of their public computers.  However one of the computers fell short of being useful as a public computer.  LaVonne and I did some brain storming and instead of recycling this computer we decided to take out all of the parts inside of it and turn it into a donation box for the LaCrescent Public Library Computer Fund.  This computer now sits on the front desk with an opening in the floppy drive for patrons to put in their donations to help keep their public computers running.

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:36:03

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

Happy Monday!  Here is some more information pertaining to libraries.

If you are looking for speakers regarding library safety, Wendy Wendt, Marshall-Lyon County Library Director, has compiled a list of library safety speakers.  You can access the safety speakers summary by clicking here.

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is now soliciting public comments on the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Science--Draft Revision dated September 2008.  As part of the process, MDE is asking public libraries across the state to make the draft standards document and the feedback form in the printed and online versions available from their facilities (upon request).  A notice that these documents will be available at public libraries will be part of a press release from MDE.  An online link to both the draft standards document and the online version of the feedback form can be found via the MDE homepage by clicking here.  If you have any questions, please contact Marsha Davis-Busch at 651-582-8755.

Attention Friends of the Library groups and Minnesota library staff!!  Did your Friends of the Library group do something notable?  The Minnesota Association of Library Friends (MALF) is asking you to submit that special project for the Best Project by Friends Award.  The MALF is eager to recognize a variety of projects by Friends groups, completed after January 1, 2007, in communities of all sizes.  Submit an Entry Form by Friday, September 26.  The appropriate forms are available below:

Entry Form
Criteria
MALF Membership Application

To verify a group's membership in MALF, please contact Bob Papke at 763-545-8072 or papkecr@comcast.net.  The award will be presented on Thursday, November 20 at the Sheraton Bloomington during the Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference, November 19-21.

Finally, Happy Birthday to Tomie dePaola, the late Robert McCloskey, and the late Agatha Christie!!   

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:45:13

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

Just saw this come across American Libraries Direct newsletter that was in my email inbox this morning.  Seems that Highsmith was bought by Lab Safety Supply and the company has announced that they will close Highsmith on November 1, 2008.  Click here for the story.  Highsmith was located in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin and had been a supplier of supplies, furniture, and equipment to libraries around the world.

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:48:37

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

On August 18, 2008, I had the opportunity to visit the Spring Valley Public Library in Spring Valley, Minnesota.  When I had worked at SELCO back in 1997-1999, the library had been in an older building on the other end of main street when I had made a site visit.  The current library's location at that time was merely an empty former grocery store with tape on the floor to outline where shelving units and offices were to be placed.  What a difference!  It was very exciting to see a large beautiful space.

I had the opportunity to meet with Dianne Sikkink, the director of the library.  She gave me a tour of her lovely space which includes a real tree in the children's area (check out the photos here on Flickr ) that is decorated at various times with something interesting.  The day I visited, there were items on the tree in support of the "What's Cooking" summer reading program.  What a great idea and certainly a conversation piece, to say the least.

The library has a large collection of books and media as well as several public computer workstations.  There is a beautiful reading room at the back of the library with a gas fireplace and plenty of comfy seating (I've been told many a nap has been taken back there!)  As Dianne remarked to me, "it is a great place to come work to everyday!"  I certainly felt welcome at the library and had some patrons who stopped in for some materials remark at how the library is such a great place to be.  If you ever have the chance to visit the library or if you're ever passing through, stop in and see Dianne and her staff.

Thanks Dianne (and Marcia) for a great visit.

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:36:28

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

Today is the day to celebrate literacy!  Did you know there are now close to 4 billion literate people in the world?!  For more stats and info about International Literacy Day, check out the following links:

• International Literacy Day
• UNESCO Literacy page
• Literacy Rates
• Literacy Online
• International Literacy Day -- Wikipedia
• Activities for International Literacy Day
  

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:44:29

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

This link was sent to me by a co-worker and when I clicked on it, I was amazed!   The link directed me to a story about a new series called The 39 Clues, which is a planned 10-volume set.  Each volume will have a different writer and is designed for kids ages 8-12.  The series also features contests, game cards, and a web site that has blogs, videos, games, backgroud info--creating a multi-media learning experience for the reader.  Read about it!  It's SO cool!!

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:31:16

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

Just a reminder, folks -- September is Library Card Sign-up Month!  For cool info about Library Card Sign-up month, check out the ALA website!

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:36:05

Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director

By posting actual ballot totals for the recent public library election to the ILS Ops Committee, SELCO is venturing into new territory.  Previously, when holding elections for positions on such committees as SELS Advisory or ILS Operations, only the results have been shared.  This is not so much because any of this information is secret but more because of years of organizational practice mixed with a smattering of Minnesota nice.  There has been a request for a reporting of the numbers each nominee received beyond the general information shared in the August 21 news item.  Here is that information.

There were two openings for medium public library representative, the seat vacated by Jeanne Johnson, former Zumbrota Public Library Director, in September 2007 and the additional representative approved by the Board in July. The public library directors were asked to vote for their choice of two candidates.  As has been the practice with multiple nominees, the top two vote getters would be the representatives and the individual with the third highest votes would be the alternate.

As you can see, there was a tie between LaVonne Beach and James Hill.  They came to an agreement between themselves, rather than have a runoff election, that LaVonne would be the representative and James would serve as alternate.  James graciously stated he would be willing serve as the “Junior Senator from Zumbrota” since he is new to SELCO and the ILS.

The small library representative election totals were:

Each of these individuals will serve staggered terms with responsibilities for “advising SELCO staff and the Technology Policy Committee appointed by the SELCO/SELS Board of Directors on issues related to the configuration, operation, maintenance, and continuing development of the SELCO Integrated Library System (ILS) and other technology services.”  Check the roster for complete ILS Operations Committee information including names, representation, terms, and email address.

To a question about how the election was handled, I requested and received the nominations, created and distributed the ballot, and received the votes.  SELCO staff members Molly Pherson, Regional Librarian, and Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian, assisted with the vote count.  Board members on the Technology Policy Committee, Don Regelman and Fran Johnson, reviewed the results.

[...]

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:28:35

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

From the Shifted Librarian's blog:  Win Games for your Library!

All you have to do is write the best story about using games for education by 08-31-2008 and your library could be the happy winner of $100 worth of board games.  Cool!

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:37:53

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Last night's Smart Money Connections webcast went very well with no technical problems that I'm aware of.  We took steps to stabilize the camera more to prevent any jostling of the stream and used mIRC to moderate the chatroom.  As it turned out, we had no problems with the chatroom.  If we had, however, mIRC gave us the tools to deal with it.

if you couldn't make the show, you can catch it (along with last week's show) at the Ustream show page in the Video Clips section.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:02:57

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

 On July 28, 2008, I had the privilege of visiting the Zumbrota Public Library.  I met with James Hill, the director of Zumbrota Public Library, who gave me a tour of the library.  It is a wonderful library that offers so much to the community.  The children's area is just inside the front entrance, across from the information desk.  It is a very inviting area and the day that I was there it was decorated to celebrate the library's summer reading program, "Catch the Reading Bug."  The computers in that area were all in use which I know is no surprise to any of our libraries.  The library also has a comfortable reading room towards the back of the library.  Library patrons will find comfy chairs, a reading table, and plenty of natural light for reading the latest mystery novel or browsing the newspaper.  The teen area is expanding and I especially like the use of "graffiti" script to highlight the books in the teen area.  James tells me that he wants to continue to expand this area and add more comfortable seating and other things to draw in more teens.

Something new that the library is doing is highlighting different parts of their collection by using a mobile book display.  The day I was there the highlight was on cooking.  They had just finished having a display of travel books which proved very popular.  James noted that there were lots of "I didn't know you had these!" moments when items were added to this display.

One of the other areas that is always a favorite of mine at the Zumbrota Public Library is their music collection.  From my previous time working at SELCO, I had remembered that Zumbrota had a large collection of music CDs covering many musical genres. Of course I took advantage of being at Zumbrota and checked out a couple of new CDs.  As they have such a large collection of CDs as well as an ever-expanding collection of DVDs (movies and TV Series) the library has a very nice disc cleaning machine that has enabled them to keep their discs in good shape and in many cases helped them keep down the cost of replacements.  Which we all know can be frustrating when Disc 5 of  6-disc set stops working and we end up replacing the entire set instead of just one disc.  If you'd like more information about their machine, please feel free to contact James at the library.

I also want to acknowledge Flora Burfeind whom I also met on my visit.  She was keeping the library's busy information desk running that day but had time for a quick hello for me as well as an opportunity to share a little bit about the library.

For additional photos from my visit, please visit the SELCO Flickr site by clicking here.

Thank you James and Flora for such a great visit to the Zumbrota Public Library!

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:57:53

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

As previously reported, we had our first Smart Money Connections program and webcast on Wednesday.  There was one rough spot where we had to stop the stream and restart it.  Otherwise, I'd say it was very successful.  We learned a lot and I think that next week's webcast will be even better.

For those who couldn't watch it live, it is available on the Smart Money Connections Ustream page in the Video Clips section.

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:26:16

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

So, lots of fun things have been taking place in the library world as of recent!  I thought a blog post highlighting some of the cool things was most appropriate.

For starters, have you seen the new WebJunction Minnesota page?  If not, check it out!  The new page has a fresh look and many new features.  To use WebJunction Minnesota, you log in (or create a free account if it's your first time) and are able to connect with other library staff in Minnesota and throughout the U.S.  Users are also able to sign up for classes and post content useful to staff in all types of libraries.  It's really easy to use.  In fact, just today, I posted information to the site and signed up for a class on the basics of Adobe.  Can't wait to start my class!

During my lunch break, I was paging through the May/June 2008 issue of Public Libraries and found a really cool article called The Busy Fun Time Library Staffer in Priorityland, featured in the Internet Spotlight section of the magazine.  Now I admit I'm a real Facebook addict, so when I read about the new Facebook application, Parking Wars, I was super excited!!  Basically, you add the application to your Facebook profile and you then challenge your friends to see who doesn't get ticketed.  Parking Wars works like this -- you park illegally on your friend's streets and then wait.  If you get a ticket, the person ticketing you gets the money.  The longer you stay parked without getting a ticket the more money and rank you get.  The author of the article claims it only takes minutes to play and it runs on twelve-hour cycles.  I'm definitely going to check it out, and if you are a Facebook fan like I am, make the Parking Wars suggestion to your friends and start playing.

I can't believe it's the middle of August, and the first day of school is coming nearer and nearer.  A cool thing one of our online schools is doing is offering International Trunks for Education for checkout.  The Plainview-Elgin-Millville School's student organization, "Readers of the Lost Art," put together some International Traveling Trunks that are free to borrow beginning this Fall 2008 school year.  The trunks are full of great authentic treasures from around the World, broken down by continent, that educators can use to supplement their curriculum, and borrow free of charge for two weeks.  These trunks were featured in the Rochester Post-Bulletin on Monday, August 11, 2008.  If you'd like to read the article, please click here.  Way to go, P-E-M!! 

Now that the Olympics are on, I haven't been doing a lot of "free reading" so I'm glad Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer debuted on Saturday, August 2.  What a great read!  If you haven't read the Twilight saga, I highly recommend it.  Others, like me, were celebrating on the 2nd.  The Owatonna Public Library held a Breaking Dawn Party, where[...]

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:12:07

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Last week, the website News provided a few links and information on the Smart Money Connections project.  Today, I'd like to expand a bit on the live webcast portion of the program.

Immediately after each live television program concludes, we will fire up our webcam for another 30 minutes of conversation on the evening's topic.  This webcast will differ from the program in two ways:
1)  As the name implies, it will be available solely over the web
2)  Anyone on the internet can participate in the conversation

Those who visit the Smart Money Connections video page will find a window with the live video stream and a chatroom.  No login is required, visitors can simply start chatting.  The webpage will assign each visitor a generic username and his/her comments will immediately appear.  The chatroom moderator, yours truly, will pick questions from the room and pass them on to the program hosts and guests.  This is SELCO's first venture into the realm of live webcasting and I'm both excited and nervous.  We did a dry run this morning to prepare for the first program this Wednesday.  Once we got everything positioned it worked perfectly.  We're as ready as we're going to get.

While this post explains what we're going to do, there is no subsitute for seeing it with your own eyes.  There are two ways of viewing the webcast and chat:
1)  The Smart Money Connections video page
2)  Our program page at www.ustream.tv, the free webcasting service we are using

The content will be the same regardless of which page you use.  If you go to the ustream page now, however, you can view the recording of our testing this morning.  It's pretty rough and casual; at various times in the recording we are silly, perplexed, serious, and finally triumphant.  The video locks up a few times when we got a little too busy moving around and messing with the lights (there's only so much a webcam can handle).  Once we get through the first program this week, we'll probably take this "rough draft" down.  But in the meantime, it's up as a sneak preview of what to expect on Wednesday the 13th.

See you on the web!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:06:41

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

 On July 22, 2008, I had the privilege of visiting the Pine Island Van Horn Public Libraryin Pine Island, Minnesota.  As can be seen from the photo above, it was a lovely day for a visit.  I was greeted by Jeanne Acker, the director of the library, who gave me a tour of the main floor of the library.  The library provides great services to its patrons, including several public access computers for patrons to surf the Web or find information and a large collection of books, audiobooks, and videos (both VHS & DVD.)  The library also has a large collection of microfilm of the local newspaper which was being used the day that I visited.  As I've stated a number times when I've been out visiting our member libraries, this library was busy!  Several patrons were in and out to either to check out books or use the public access computers.

The lower level of the library is the children's area.  All the children's books and a few computer workstations are located in this area.  I met Jan Sween, the children's librarian at Pine Island and had a great conversation about the services the library provides to children.  The day I was visiting the library was the day of one of the programs (a magician) for the summer reading program.  In the past, these programs had been held at the library but due to the large draw these programs have, the American Legion made its space available (located only a block away.)  There were several children using the children's area the day I visited, which you can see on the SELCO Flickr site.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Pine Island Van Horn Public Library and thank Jeanne and Jan for being such gracious hosts!

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:05:01

I have been working with Susan Hart, Director of the Rushford Public Library, to develop a new website for the library. Website development is something I’ve always wanted to take a shot at, but without prior experience in web design and publishing, I contacted SELCO to ask what assistance they may be able to provide.

Tom Coffee, SELCO’s Software Development Specialist, recommended the SELCO-supported web authoring program called Kompozer. The Kompozer software is free and offers a host of useful features. There are four views to work within: normal, html tags, source code, and preview. As a rookie, this was very helpful as I was able to experiment in making modifications to the pages and immediately see the impact it had by clicking the preview tab. Kompozer also displays a line of html tags associated with the element you are working on at the bottom of the screen. Right click on it and a dialogue box of options opens where you can make any number of changes to the style of the element. For someone who is still learning html code, this is a great help.

In addition to offering support on the web authoring program, SELCO also provides some initial training on use of the software, works with you to get you started on your site, and offers assistance for any follow-up questions you may have as you proceed. Tom, along with Aurora Jacobsen, SELCO’s Information Services Librarian, set up a training session that included many tips and tricks on using Kompozer and editing key strings of html code. I was also provided a list of links on editing CSS (cascading style sheets), html code, Kompozer tutorials, and web design.

From there, Susan and I had fun assembling the content for the site and deciding upon a layout. We found a really neat way to display photos, using turn-the-page style photo books created in Photoshop Elements, and slideshows of PowerPoint presentations uploaded to an external site. We chose a template with a CSS and made modifications to it, a much easier approach than creating html code from scratch. When it came time to go live with the site, Tom provided a detailed set of instructions on how to log into the server and publish each page.

Our website project is a perfect example of a successful collaborative effort. It has been a very enjoyable experience to work with Susan to create the new website. Her vision for the library and what the site could be guided the entire project and made it completely addicting to work on. SELCO’s support was instrumental to the process, as I relied heavily on their expertise and was grateful for the assistance they provided in support of the project.

If you’d like to check out new Rushford Public Library site, click here or go to rushford.lib.mn.us.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:10:05

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

With the August meeting agenda for the ILS Operations / Technology Policy joint committee in development, it seems like a good time to recap the major decisions made at the last meeting:

1)  Demonstrations of next-generation catalogs continued with Josh Ferraro of LibLime showing off MasterKey.  in August, we will see AquaBrowser and a recommendation on how to proceed should come in September.

2)  We decided to postpone a decision on the EnvisionWare e-commerce solution for lack of solid information.  Mick and Donovan will work with EnvisionWare to bring a final proposal to the August meeting.

3)  Several seats on the ILS Operations committee are open or soon to open up:

Full details meeting discussions will be available on 08-22-2008 when the minutes are posted to the web.  Those at the meeting are encouraged to add comments to this post.

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:51:15

Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager

There has been a call to the elected representatives for agenda items for the next ILS Operations Committee meeting, which will be held on August 21, 2008. Please contact your elected representatives if you have anything you would like to discuss. These topics for discussion should be in by August 7^th to be included on the agenda.

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:11:24

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Lately, a number of people have asked me how the ILS Operations and Technology Policy Joint Committee develops their meeting agendas.  Is there some Svengali behind a curtain tweaking the agenda for his/her own private purposes?  Or titanic behind-the-scenes struggles, right out of The West Wing, as factions wage bureaucratic war over what the committee will be allowed to discuss?

Ha.  We wish it was that exciting.

The reality is much more mundane.  The process for creating the monthly meeting agenda starts three weeks before the meeting when Jonya issues a call to the committee members for discussion items.  The committee has one week to submit items.  As they come in, Jonya forwards them to the committee chairs, Ann, and myself for discussion.  Most of the time, we simply add the items to the draft agenda but occasionally we'll contact the committee member for further explanation first.  Most of the committee members representing Online Libraries use this time to poll their constituents for suggestions.

When the week is up (two weeks before the meeting), Jonya starts assembling the agenda and pulling together any background documents to be read before the meeting.  This step usually involves a lot of nagging as Jonya bugs us to get our documents ready.  All this information is assembled in a final packet which gets sent out...

...one week before the meeting.  Jonya also posts it to the SELCO website.  At the same time, she sends out a copy of the meeting notes from the previous month for everyone to review and correct.  The notes are not put on the website right away since they are pending approval.  That happens on the day of the meeting.

Hope this sheds some light on how the joint committee picks topics for discussion.  Other committee  members, please feel free to add your comments to this post!

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:26:33

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

As you may know, SELCO has been developing a Spanish interface for the iPac.  At the request of the ILS Operations and Technology Policy joint committee, we are gauging interest in this catalog before we roll it out as an option for all Online Libraries.

To help us determine whether we should proceed, we need three libraries to try it out and give us feedback.  As a development partner (they helped check the translations) the Rochester Public Schools are already signed up so only two more libraries are needed.  If you would like to participate, please contact me no later than Tuesday, 08-26-2008. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q.  What kind of information do you want from my library?
A.  SELCO is attempting to gauge interest in the Spanish iPac.  Based on your usage, we want to know if you think it would be worth offering for patrons.  While feedback on the translations and interface are always appreciated, our primary focus is assessing interest from both patrons and Online Library staff.

Q.  How long will my library be using the Spanish iPac?
A.  One month.  After that, you may continue using it if SELCO decides to continue offering it.

Q.  How is SELCO going to make that decision?
A.  Feedback from the three participating libraries will be submitted to the ILS Operations and Technology Policy joint committee, which will make a recommendation to SELCO.

Q.  What is involved in setting up the Spanish iPac?
A.  The Spanish interface is simply another profile in the iPac.  Most Online Libraries currently have two profiles, one that searches the entire database and one that searches only the library's holdings.  A Spanish-language version of these two profiles will be created, for a total of four.

Q.  How will patrons find and use the Spanish iPac?
A.  There is a new tab that toggles the catalog between the English and Spanish interfaces.  In addition, the library can create a web link directly to the Spanish interface.  The Spanish interface is identical to the English one except for the text language.  Searching and other functions work the same way in both versions of the catalog.

Q.  Are the search results in Spanish?
A.  Search results are presented in the same way regardless of which language is being used.  If the title is in Spanish, the record is in Spanish.  If the title is in English, the record is in English.  The Spanish translation is only used for the catalog interface; the intellectual content of the title records is not changed.

Q.  Will there be a Value Added Service fee for the Spanish iPac?
A.  No.  The Spanish iPac will be offered as part of the Integrated Library System (ILS) and is thus covered by the Basic Automation fee.

Q.  Will my library have to use the Spanish iPac?
A.  No.  If we decide to offer this interface, it will be optional for each Online Library.

Q.  Who do I call if I have questions?
A.  Contact the SELCO Help Desk at 507-529-4469 or 866-529-4469

Q.  Can I try it out before volunteering?
A.  Be my guest!

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:15:57

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Got an email that reminded me how important libraries are in bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots of the Internet age.  This came from an intern working for the non-partisan Minneapolis Saint Paul Host Committee, which is responsible for organizing local efforts for the 2008 Republican National Convention:

We have been working very hard to recruit 10,000 volunteers to assist in this event. Interested volunteers, who do not have internet access, have been directed to visit their local libraries for help accessing our website, www.msp2008.com, to learn more and apply. We wanted to pass along the very positive feedback we’ve received from these individuals (many of whom did not know free internet is available at their local libraries).

I do not intend this as an endorsement of a political party or an ad for their convention.  Regardless of your political affiliation, however, I think we can all agree that this is a good reminder of how crucial libraries are in bringing people together.

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:16:34

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

On July 9, 2008, I had the privilege of visiting the Mabel Public Library in Mabel, MN.  As can be seen from the photo above, it was a lovely day for a visit.  The library is located just off of the main street in Mabel and is open 6 days a week.  On the day I visited, I met with Donna Johnson, the library director in Mabel, as well as her staff members, Donnis Thompson and Penniann Ramirez. 

The library, as I've found in nearly all of my visits during my first year, was a busy place.  The public computers were all filled at various times with children and adults.  People were coming in and out to pick up requested items or to check out items from the library's own collection.  Of course, people were also returning their materials as well.  As I've said before, it is certainly one of the places to be in town.

Mabel Public Library has many of the same amenities that other libraries in the region have.  There is a nice children's section in the middle of the library where children can easily find books to read.  The back section of the library contains the non-fiction collection and the longest table I think I've ever seen.  The table, which is popular with several patrons in town, came from the council chambers when a new table was purchased.  As you'd expect, the DVD and video section is quite popular and located in the front of the library, across from the large circulation/information desk.

The library staff in Mabel is certainly proud of their space and take great pride in making it a place that patrons enjoy visiting.  I want to thank Donna, Donnis, and Penniann (a special thanks to her for coming over from her other job this summer at the school!) for welcoming me to Mabel.  To see more photos from my visit, click here to see visit the SELCO site on Flickr.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:29:08

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

On July 8, 2008, I had the opportunity to visit the Spring Grove Public Library in Spring Grove, Minnesota.  The visit started off by meeting with Library Director Milly Halverson and other library staff members Dawn Johnson and Sharon Engrav.  We discussed the programs going on at the library, including summer reading (which is in full swing) and several author visits that have happened recently.  The staff noted that the library is a busy place and it was apparent during my visit, as the computer workstations were nearly full and patrons were coming in and out to check out books and other library materials.

The library is located in a beautiful space on the main street in Spring Grove.  The day I visited, the children's area was all decked out for the theme of the library's summer reading program, "Catch the Reading Bug."  There are several tables available for use to the patrons and a nice seating area tucked back into a quiet corner.  The space certainly is inviting and teamed with a great staff, the Spring Grove Public Library is a great place to be.  To see other photos from my visit, take a look at the Spring Grove section of SELCO's Flickr page.

Thanks Milly, Dawn, and Sharon for a great visit!

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:28:31

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

As we implemented WebReporter, library staff had a lot of suggestions for improving reports by  adding about extra fields or columns to add reports. We logged these suggestions with the hope we could address these suggestions and implement some new reports at a later date. Staffing changes, however, delayed any new changes until recently.

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:12:44

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

I had the privilege of visiting the Caledonia Public Library on July 8, 2008.  Marla Burns and Eileen Jacobson welcomed me to their beautiful library, which is located on the second floor of the city hall building in Caledonia.  The library is a beautiful space with plenty of natural light filling the room.  The children's area is inviting and many good book choices are on display atop the shorter book shelves.  There is a nice seating area with two comfy leather chairs that is popular with library partons.  There are 8 public computers available for library patrons to use, and as you can see from the photos on Flickr, they were all in use during my visit.  The library was also buzzing with activity during my visit from people picking up requested items, kids coming in after swimming lessons to check out books, and other patrons coming returning items they'd checked out.  It was certainly one of 'the" places to be in Caledonia that day!

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Marla and Eileen for welcoming me to their library and if you're ever in the area, please stop by and see them.  They will be more than happy to show you around.

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:02:03

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Now that the agenda and packet for the July ILS Operations / Technology Joint Committee Meeting have been posted, it seemed like a good time to post a brief summary of decisions made at the June meeting:

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:38:46

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Hot off the stage at ALA is the audio recording of this year's Ultimate Debate:  There is No Catalog Like No Catalog.  I haven't listened to this yet but it's on my iPod and I will check it out in the next few days.  Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:18:50

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

So, I leave for my long-awaited two week vacation to Florida tomorrow morning, which means I need to pack the perfect summer reads for the beach and for lounging by the pool.  Last week, I was on a mission to find the perfect books for my trip and I found a great article on the best summer books in my REAL SIMPLE magazine.  The author of the article, Sara Nelson, surveyed popular writers and asked what books they like to read during the summer months.  Here were some of the authors' favorites:

• James Patterson:  No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
• Danielle Steel:  Anything by Jodi Picoult (her new book, Change of Heart, was mentioned in the article), Become a Better You by Joel Osteen
• Janet Evanovich:  The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly, The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais
• Jodi Picoult:  The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman, Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
• Augusten Burroughs:  The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

I have already picked up a few titles for the plane ride!  I was especially thrilled to see my all-time favorite book, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, make James Patterson's list!!  It's always fun to see what favorite authors are reading!  Happy Summer!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:11:56

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

I had the opportunity to visit the St. Charles Public Library on Friday, June 27, 2008.  I met with Sheri Grossardt, the St. Charles Public Library Director to discuss how things were going at her library.  I also had the opportunity to meet two other staff members:  Mary Kramer and Pat Zingler (Mary is on the left & Pat is on the right.)  They are in the midst of Summer Reading Program, using the theme "Catch the Reading Bug."  I had previously visited the library when I worked at SELCO back in the late 1990s and was pleased to see that they had done an expansion to the space.  They essentially doubled the size of the library allowing for them to spread out their collection and seating areas, add a meeting room, and increase the size and functionality of their information desk.  It is a beautiful space with a large amount of natural light.  Additionally, they were able to add a staff workroom, which I know is a welcome addition to any library.  A couple of other highlights include a refurbished bench at the front entrance that looks great with new paint and a cushion and an old record (i.e. vinyl LPs) cabinet with a new marble top that currently shows off a collection of books by Minnesota authors.  You can see pictures of these 2 items as well as other pictures of the library here.

The day I visited the library, the place was BUSY!  Children were checking out stacks of books and picking up prizes for Summer Reading (check out the photo of the orange life jackets.)  The DVD collection the library has is very popular too.  The computers saw a steady stream of users as well.  I want to thank Sheri, Mary, & Pat for allowing me to visit their library.  They certainly have made the library THE place to be in St. Charles.

More visits are scheduled and others are being planned.  Wouldn't you love to have your library featured?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:58:55

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

Washington DC is switching to one ID for all city services-- school ids, bus passes, and library cards included. The Washington Post has coverage here. While the article raises some questions, a good planning process would resolve these quickly. According to the article, even the ACLU has given approval that the one ID doesn't violate privacy. I would love this! Think about how many fewer cards I'd need in my wallet. Something to think about...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:56:43

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

SELCO entered the brave new world of online meetings this week at the joint meeting of the ILS Operations and Technology Policy committees.  Two committee members, Renée Lowery of Buckham Memorial Library in Faribault  and Stephanie Silvers of Harmony Public Library, joined the meeting remotely via the internet.

We used GoToMeeting for the online display portion of the meeting.  Using this software, which was developed by Citrix, the meeting presenter's laptop display was made available to Renée and Stephanie on their PCs.  For the audio, they each phoned into a call center which is also maintained by Citrix as part of the service.  In the meeting room, we phoned into the same call center with a speakerphone.  The call center set up a teleconference for us and, In this way, Renée and Stephanie were able to fully participate in the meeting.

SELCO has one GoToMeeting license on a free 30-day trial.  At the end of that time, we will make a decision on how to proceed.  With high fuel costs and staff budget cuts making it harder for libraries to send people to SELCO for meetings, it is clear that we need to offer a solution in this space.  While we still have a lot to learn about running an online meeting, a few insights have already become clear:

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:42:55

Paul Conrad, Workstation Technician

Thursday I made a site visit to the Wabasha Public Library to upgrade their microfilm reader’s host computer.  It had been using an original Gates grant computer with Windows NT.  My goal was to upgrade the computer to a more modern operating system, retain the special software used to control the microfilm reader scanner and to offer additional functionality that was unavailable with Windows NT.  I ordered a new hard drive for the computer so if things went horribly wrong, I could always reconnect the original hard drive and no harm would be done. 

I restored a Windows XP image from an identical Gates grant computer onto the new hard drive.  Then I took the new hard drive with me to Wabasha.  I documented the site specific information from the NT build, such as: printers, host name, which SCSI card was installed for the microfilm reader.  Then I swapped hard drives, and customized the Windows XP hard drive.  To keep things standard with Wabasha’s other public computers I customized a patron sign on for them, instead of creating a new one.  The custom software for the microfilm reader was installed, and a current twain driver was obtained from Konica – Minolta’s website.  When all was said and done, they now have a Windows XP computer that controls the microfilm reader along with its special custom software.  Some of the new benefits from the upgrade: the ability to copy saved scans to USB memory sticks and to e-mail them via web based e-mail such as Yahoo!, MSN or G-Mail.

I am aware that there are other libraries in our region that have similar microfilm reader scanner printing devices.  If you have one and would like to discuss your upgrade options with me, please contact the SELCO Helpdesk.  I would be happy to consult with other libraries regarding upgrade projects of this nature.

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:04:49

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

I've seen a couple of articles regarding the Chicago Public Library's website upgrade that allows patrons to renew online. The first article, City Unveils High-Tech Library Upgrades, in the Chicago Sun Times,  glowing reports on the new features. The second article, Library's Online Service Gets a Lift,  in the Chicago Tribune, takes a more skeptical look at how high-tech this advancement really is. Interestingly enough, Carol Sheffer, president-elect of the Public Library Association, reveals that only half of the libraries in the US have this feature. If I hadn't just read the articles myself, I would never have believed this was considered a luxury for public libraries.

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:59:00

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

I came across a great series of posts from The Shifted Librarian about the Illinois Institute of Technology's Thinkering Space.  IIT received a grant from the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Digital and Learning Initiative to "promote and support thinking skills for the 21st century."  The focus is on school-aged children in libraries.  Take a look at a description of it and see what you think here.

As the Shifted Librarian states, "What I like about these ideas is that they expand on existing content in the library, using the library's collection, and mashing it up with users' ideas to create something new."   It certainly has peaked my interest in yet another way to expand the use of library collections that already exist in a Web 2.0 world.

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:53:24

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

I am happy to announce that both Crossroads College in Rochester and Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna have gone live with SELCO!!   The Go-Live Day for both locations took place yesterday--June 17, 2008.  This has been such an incredible grant project and we are just thrilled to have both academic libraries online with us.  Also, I need to give a shout out to the SELCO staff members who have been working so hard on this project for the past year.  We did it!!  Here are some numbers from this project:

• The Academic Grant Catalogers have worked with over 60,000 bibs during the past year
• 77,800 new items were added to the Horizon system between the two academic libraries--that puts the SELCO catalog over 2.1 million items in total!!
• We added 53,000 new bibs into the Horizon database, increasing our unique bib total to 632,500--or a 10% increase in unique bibs

To keep track of the catalogers' process over the past year, we created two book carts.  Every 5,000 bibs added equaled a new stack of books on the carts.  Here are our full carts, and we couldn't be more proud to show them off:

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College Library Director Nancy McGuire threw an open house yesterday morning to celebrate going live with SELCO, which SELCO staff attended, and SELCO staff also visited Crossroads College Library Director Jim Godsey yesterday afternoon to make sure everything was up and running. 

 Congrats, Nancy and Jim!  To see go-live pictures, check out our Flickr account.

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:48:08

Melanie Olson, Delivery & ILL Assistant

So many great classes, so little time. What a great opportunity to attend such a seminar! Kudos to the University of Minnesota Libraries for such a diverse wealth of subjects and knowledge presented that day. I really would have liked to take more classes, but I could not find a way to split myself into several people. The classes were as varied as the individuals who attended. After having a hard time narrowing the choices down, I was very pleased with the classes I did take, and of the new knowledge I gained from the experience. After a little breakfast and a Welcome speech that was very, um, welcoming, we had our keynote speaker, Janet Kinney, speak about how the Five Laws of Library Service have changed from when first written, but are still the same basic values . We had a short break, and it was off to my first class.