Index
- SCLS & MALC reintroduce job shadowing program
- It’s not too late to update your library’s online directory information
- Automation schedule available online
- Member/Staff News
- OverDrive users now can check out 4 items simultaneously
- Bucky Read posters, bookmarks available
- TIME selects ‘You’ as person of the year
- Don’t forget to apply for ‘We the People Bookshelf’ project
- FOLUSA wants to hear stories of how libraries help transform communities
- Google launches beta of Patent Search Site
- Continuing Education Calendar
SCLS & MALC reintroduce job shadowing program
South Central Library System (SCLS) and the Multitype Advisory Library Committee (MALC) recently announced that a Job Shadowing Program that has been somewhat inactive of late is now "new and improved" and nearly ready to be launched.
Job shadowing is an opportunity for SCLS member library professional and paraprofessional staff -- whether in public, school, academic, or special library settings -- to gain first-hand knowledge of another library setting.
We invite you to visit the Job Shadowing Guidelines at www.scls.info/malc/job/index.html.
The next thing the program needs is you! There was a list of Host Libraries, but the newly revitalized program needs an updated list of hosts. If, after reading the guidelines, you would like to volunteer your library or department to be a host, please complete the Host Registration form at www.scls.info/malc/job/hostform.html.
While you may complete the Host Registration form at any time, we would appreciate hearing from you within the next two weeks so we have enough potential Hosts to officially launch the program.
For more information about the Job Shadowing Program, contact Shawn Brommer, at (608) 246-7974 (or by email), or Cheryl Becker at (608) 246-7973 (or by email).
It’s not too late to update your library’s online directory information
As a follow-up to articles in the past two issues of Online Update, remember that there is still time to visit the SCLS website and make sure your library’s directory information is current.
Visit www.scls.info/pro/directory.html and select your library from the list, then review the information presented there. If anything is missing, or needs to be changed, you can update the information by using the online form at www.scls.info/directories/directoryform.html (there is also a link to the form at the top of the directory homepage).
Even if there are no changes to your information, we ask that you still submit the online form so we know that all libraries have reviewed their information. Simply enter your library’s name and put “no changes” in the address field.
Automation schedule available online
Automation’s 2006 Year-End Schedule has been posted at http://automation.scls.lib.wi.us/linkmemos/2006/2006-12.pdf.
Please note that the system will not be available from 10:35 p.m. Dec. 31, 2006, until approximately 2 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2007. Automation staff will complete day-end processing and backup on Dec. 31, which will be followed by completion of the year-end rollover on Jan. 1. Library staff may check in materials from book drops after 2 p.m. on Jan. 1.
Dec. 19 marked the first anniversary of McFarland's E. D. Locke Public Library. The new library building's inaugural year, concurrent with the celebration of McFarland's Sesquicentennial, was marked by a 25 percent circulation increase (over 2005), a doubling of the number of library cards issued annually, and record program attendance. Several new programs, such as an adult summer reading program, author visits, book discussions, computer classes for seniors, and infant story times were initiated. According to Director Shelley Hartman, “the dedication of staff and the enthusiastic response from the public has been truly outstanding.”
The Winter 2006-07 edition of the “Friends News” published by the Friends of the UW-Madison Library is now available at http://giving.library.wisc.edu/friends/magazine/FOL_Newsletter_Winter2006.pdf.
Wisconsin Veterans Museum (http://museum.dva.state.wi.us/) is a featured OCLC "Success Story," which means it is being talked about in the various OCLC lists, etc. Read the promotional article at the OCLC website.
OverDrive users now can check out 4 items simultaneously
There has been a change in the OverDrive (http://dbooks.wplc.info/) circulation policies that now allow users to have a maximum of four items checked out at one time, instead of the previous maximum of two. The circulation period remains the same—seven days.
For more information about OverDrive, compatible players, and links to promotional materials, visit the SCLS website at www.scls.info/technology/overdrive/.
Bucky Read posters, bookmarks available
South Central Library System has received a limited shipment of posters and bookmarks featuring Bucky Badger. Cosponsored by the UW-Madison Libraries and the Wisconsin Center for the Book, the materials are designed to encourage reading by children.
Because of the limited quantities, these materials may not be available in the numbers you request. We will try to fill as many orders as possible, and posters and bookmarks will be distributed to libraries on a first-come, first-served basis.
To request copies, please send an email to Mark Ibach. Requests will be filled after Jan. 2, 2007.
TIME selects ‘You’ as person of the year
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but “you” have been named TIME’s “Person of the Year.”
Before you rush out to purchase formal attire for the awards ceremony, however, you may want to get a little more information.
You see, TIME’s 2006 selection is all about “community and collaboration that is happening on a scale never seen before. It’s about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people’s network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.”
According to TIME Magazine, “For seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you."
Don’t forget to apply for ‘We the People Bookshelf’ project
With the approach of a new year, the ALA Public Programs Office reminds libraries that time is running out to apply for the newest “We the People Bookshelf on the Pursuit of Happiness.” Online applications are due by Jan. 31, 2007.
A project of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), in cooperation with the ALA Public Programs Office, the Bookshelf presents a simple opportunity to acquire new books and materials for your library, develop theme-related programs for young people and their families, and participate in a national library programming initiative.
In spring 2007, ALA and NEH will award a Bookshelf -- 15 classic books for young readers on the "Pursuit of Happiness" theme -- to 2,000 school (K-12) and public libraries. Selected libraries also will receive four of the titles in Spanish translation, a bonus CD, bookplates, bookmarks and posters to promote local programming.
Guidelines and an application are available online through Jan. 31, 2007. Applying libraries are required to develop a program plan that will introduce the collection and its theme -- the "Pursuit of Happiness" -- to students and/or patrons.
If you need programming ideas for your application, visit www.ala.org/wethepeople. This site also has links to program guidelines, an application, a list of book titles, and more.
You also can get more information about the program by sending an email to [email protected].
FOLUSA wants to hear stories of how libraries help transform communities
You could win $1,000 for your library by telling the Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) how your library is transforming your community. Simply submit your story by Jan. 2, 2007, to be eligible to win. The award, which is sponsored by the Lana and Michael Porter Foundation, will recognize an outstanding essay that describes how libraries transform communities.
The Friends group or library designated in the entry information must be a FOLUSA member with a current membership valid through Jan. 31, 2007.
For more information, including a link to contest rules, visit www.folusa.org/resources/libraries.transform.php.
Google launches beta of Patent Search Site
You know that Google has changed the face of Internet searching, and with the recent beta launch of Google Patent Search they’ve added another powerful tool to an already potent information arsenal.
Launched in Beta form last Wednesday night, Dec. 13, the site is designed to use a number of different parameters to sift through the more than 7 million U.S. patents. Google Patent Search will look at information like filing date, issue date, patent number and inventor.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues patents in the U.S., and the government agency has its own patent search engine available on its website (www.uspto.gov/). Google converted the government's data into what it claims is a more searchable format.
Google’s beta version looks back at inventions to the 1790s, but it does not include patent applications, international patents or U.S. patents issued since mid-2006.
To try Google Patent Search, visit www.google.com/patents/.