Know More

Three OverDrive Things

1. Check out the May 15, 2010 issue of Library Journal. A quote from our Mary Knapp, Reference Librarian at Madison Public Library, starts off the article "The Lowdown on Audio Downloads."  Kudos to Mary!
2. SCLS recently purchased 62 titles for the WPLC OverDrive collection in the Business & Career category as part of our 2010 LSTA grant. Thanks to Mary Knapp for selecting the titles!
3. Last, but not least, OverDrive is conducting a training session specifically for the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium on Tuesday, June 15 at 10 a.m. CDT. Watch your email for more details on the Browse, Check Out, Download webinar or contact me.

Competencies

The March 1, 2010 issue of Library Journal has a great article on competencies. Betha Gutsche, the author of the article, is a Program Manager at WebJunction and is very knowledgeable about competencies. She's also the author of the Competency Index for the Library Field (we have a copy in the SCLS Professional Collection).

I've learned a lot about competencies for libraries in my three years here at SCLS. I've attended several workshops about competencies, read articles, books, and blog posting about them, and thought a lot about them. What I haven't done is figured out the best way to apply them to the services SCLS provides to you - our member libraries.

So, I'm asking for your help. Are you interested in competencies for your library staff? What kind of competencies - technology, customer service, personal/interpersonal communication, management or other - are you interested in?  How can SCLS help you and your library staff address competency needs in your library?

Things to Remember

As I was reading the January 2010 issue of Library Journal, I was marking articles and sections that I wanted to make copies of to keep in my files. Then, I re-read The User Experience by Aaron Schmidt (one of the articles that I copied). In particular, Aaron's experience of moving the stapler to make it more accessible to both library patrons and staff started me thinking. Moving the stapler was a simple act that made many people happy.

Why I was going to copy these particular articles or sections that would end up on my desk or in my files and never referred to again? What did I really want to accomplish? After thinking about it some more, I realized that what I wanted to do was to share what I found interesting or thought provoking enough to want to keep in my files. The physical act of copying an interesting item made the memory of it more tangible - and easier to recall later. How could I accomplish the same thing without wasting paper?

Yes, I could share them with Delicious (and I did tag The User Experience) but I wanted to do a little more. So, I'm starting a new feature in Know More. When I go through the various journals and magazines that come across my desk, I'll pass along those things that piqued my interest, made me think, or made me want to Know More. This will be very subjective as what interests me may not be of interest to you - but hopefully, you'll find some nuggets of information here to that'll make you want to Know More, too!