Index
- Adoption of Act 420 affects counties
- Member/Staff News
- Friends of Wisconsin Libraries joins forces with WLA
- New list of OverDrive audio book titles have unlimited checkouts
- JTC decides on LSTA System Technology Grant items
- New netLibrary User Interface Launches July 31
- Librarians invited to Aug. 16 Health Information Summit
- Publisher offers free illustrated software manuals through August 1
- Get all your federal forms in one place
- e-book site caters to blind, visually impaired users
- Continuing Education Calendar
Adoption of Act 420 affects Counties
Editor’s Note: In this Online Update we will look at two of the changes that Act 420 makes to Chapter 43 that relate to counties.
Wisconsin Statutes 43.52(1m) requires that any town seeking to establish a new library or participate in a joint library must obtain approval of the county library board (if one exists) and the county board of supervisors. Act 420 extends this requirement to any city or village, located in a county that maintains a consolidated county library, that seeks to establish a new library or participate in a joint library. This change is found in Section 13 of Act 420.
Wisconsin Statutes 43.11 describes county library plans of service. Act 420 allows counties to require in these plans that the libraries within the county participate in an intermunicipal compensation plan in order to exempt from the county library levy. This change affects 43.11 and 43.64(2m), and is found in Sections 1d and 16m of Act 420.
In the next Online Update we will look at the final provisions of Act 420.
-- by Cheryl Becker, Public Library Consultant
Bob Blitzke, who is now the development coordinator for the SCLS Foundation, has moved to his new office in Suite E at the SCLS Administration Building. His new phone number is (608) 245-5794.
Diane Jaroch, assistant director at Monona Public Library, has accepted the position of assistant director at the Watertown Public Library. Her last day at Monona will be July 28. Debra Wilcox Johnson has been hired as interim director of the Monona Public Library.
JoAnn Ogreenc is the director of the Lester Public Library of Vesper. She began her duties Monday, July 17. The library’s new hours are Monday through Thursday 12-5, Tuesday 9-1; Friday 9-6 and Saturday 9-12.
Lynn Schneider is the new Youth Services Librarian at Sun Prairie Public Library. She replaces Susan Santner, who is now the Outreach Program Manager for the School of Library and Information Studies at UW-Madison.
The grand opening of the Friends of the Sun Prairie Public Library “Read Before Book Store” was held this week, and began with the mayor cutting the ceremonial ribbon. Throughout the week there were book readings and signings by local authors Keith Huie, Sharyn Alden and Greg Peck. As the only bookstore in town, the goal is to have the bookstore open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.
Friends of Wisconsin Libraries joins forces with WLA
At their annual meeting April 29, members of the Friends of Wisconsin Libraries (FOWL) voted to dissolve the organization and join the Wisconsin Library Association. Despite concerns about getting lost in WLA, FOWL leaders believed the support of a larger association with paid staff would benefit Friends statewide. The move allows Friends to focus on supporting libraries through their local organizations, rather than managing the activities of a statewide organization.
WLA’s immediate Past President Terry Dawson met with FOWL leadership twice in 2005 to discuss how such a transition might take place. Also in 2005, the Wisconsin Library Trustees Association, a division of WLA, voted to change its name to Wisconsin Library Trustees & Advocates, in order to make it clearer that all library supporters were welcome to participate in their activities and leadership positions.
In 2006, after the WLA Board approved new membership rates for Friends, WLA President David Weinhold discussed with FOWL leadership the opportunities in WLA. Specifically, in 2006 all existing FOWL members will receive a full year of WLA membership at no charge and reduced 2006 WLA Conference registration fees. They also will receive discounted renewal rates for their second year of membership.
In addition, new members who join in 2006 will qualify for special rates. Library-based Friends groups will be able to join WLA at the nonprofit membership rate of $50, rather than the current rate of $75. Individuals will be able to join for $20 for a full year of membership, rather than the regular rate of $32. New members also will qualify for discounted 2006 WLA Conference registration fees.
As part of WLA, Friends will be represented on the board of the WLTA. As members, Friends will be supporting WLA’s legislative agenda to improve funding to libraries of all types and pass important library legislation in the next biennium. They also will qualify for current institutional and individual membership benefits, such as free membership in up to three units; a subscription to the WLA Newsletter, and reduced fees on spring conferences.
WLA will be promoting the new membership to current FOWL members and to prospective Friends of the Library groups throughout the state via emails to library directors and direct mailings to Friends’ Presidents. Please share this information with your Friends organization.
If you would like more information about Friends’ membership in WLA, please contact Brigitte Vacha, Membership Services, at (608) 245-3640 ([email protected]).
New list of OverDrive audio book titles have unlimited checkouts
A list of 50 new titles have been added to OverDrive, each of which has unlimited checkouts (downloads). This means these audio book titles are always available for download.
These titles will be available for at least the next year, after which a decision will be made as to whether they will be kept for another year. The cost to purchase single printed copies of each book would have been $2,270.50, while the subscription cost for unlimited electronic checkout (download) is $3,750.
You can view the complete list of titles by clicking on the "Always Available Audio Books" link in the left-hand column at http://dbooks.wplc.info.
JTC decides on LSTA System Technology Grant items
The Joint Technology Committee (JTC) has decided on the items for inclusion in the 2007 LSTA System Technology grant. Information about what projects will be funded, and what action is being taken on other suggestions, is available at www.scls.info/about/committees/jtc/docs/lsta2007.pdf.
New netLibrary User Interface Launches July 31
On Monday July
31, 2006, NetLibrary will proudly introduce the all-new netLibrary 4.0,
a major site upgrade that will provide improved search performance, a
fresh new look and feel, and powerful new navigation tools.
Key features and benefits will include:
- New Site Architecture -- A sleek new look and feel combined with simple intuitive navigation makes it easier to search across multiple formats.
- Automatic Summarization -- Enables users to find the materials they are looking for quickly by providing a brief summary of eContent.
- Spell Checking -- Automatically checks the spelling of a query term, recognizes commonly misspelled words and offers alternative spellings.
- Search within Search -- Users can narrow search results by entering an additional search term or terms to drill down to relevant content.
- Concept Recommendations -- Recognizes ambiguous search terms and provides recommendations for refining queries.
- Improved Query Performance -- Query response will match performance indicators of leading Web search engines, typically offering response times of two seconds or less.
- And much more.
To help you and your staff prepare for the introduction of netLibrary 4.0, you are invited to take a pre-release tour of the new site by viewing an online demo. Also be sure to stock up on the new Quick Start Guides. These handy tri-fold brochures will help answer many basic questions, such as how to create an account and login, how to search for eContent, and how to view or listen to eContent.
For additional information about netLibrary 4.0 or other netLibrary products and services, contact a netLibrary representative.
Librarians invited to Aug. 16 Health Information Summit
Librarians throughout the South Central Library System are invited to attend the second annual “Wisconsin Health Information Outreach Summit: Support for Evidence-Based Practice,” scheduled Aug. 16, 2006, in the University Union at UW-Green Bay.
The purpose of the Summit is to:
- demonstrate quality evidence-based practices, tools and applications;
- present information about statewide health-based outreach initiatives;
- stimulate communication and collaboration among health and information professionals; and
- update Informed Caring Partners (www.informedcaring.org/) and to advance their knowledge/skill in the use of IC resources.
This summit is specifically intended for Health and information professionals supporting research, patient care, education, training, and outreach activities. For registration information and more, see the Summit website at http://projects.hsl.wisc.edu/outreach/summit_2006/.
The summit is co-sponsored by the Northern WI AHEC and the Ebling Library (UW-Madison). It is supported by an NLM grant, Informed Caring Project.
Publisher offers free illustrated software manuals through August 1
A publisher of computer manuals for visual learners, "In Pictures” (http://inpics.net/), is offering screen-quality pdf copies of their products free online through Aug. 1, 2006.
Of particular interest for patron technology training are the manuals for Microsoft Office 2003 -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
Materials also may be purchased as print-quality pdf ($3.95) or spiral-bound book ($14.95).
-- from WisBlawg
Get all your federal forms in one place
The U.S. government has conveniently put all the federal forms you will ever need in one convenient hub -- www.forms.gov.
There are a few different ways you can locate the form that you need: by number, by agency, alphabetical index, or you can just plop in a keyword. While searching for forms is never anyone's cup of tea, this federal forms depository makes things much easier. The most frequently searched for forms also are available right there on the front page (taxes, small business, veterans, etc.).
e-book site caters to blind, visually impaired users
Tiflolibros (www.tiflolibros.com.ar) is an electronic library where users can download e-books of different genres. It’s free for blind or visually impaired people from all over the world (potential users must send staff a copy of a document telling them about their blindness).
The service is located in Argentina, which means a majority of the books are in Spanish. However, there also are about 200 books in other languages, including English, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Basque and more.
The site is in Spanish, but an English translation is available. Potential users may send enquiries or apply for membership in English. To learn more visit www.tiflolibros.com.ar.