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ISL E-news

[ISL-Announce] E-news from the ISL 05/02/2008

By WJIL Project Team | May 2nd, 2008 | Comment?

THIS WEEK AT THE ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY (May 2, 2008)

Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian
Anne Craig, Director

IN THIS ISSUE:

“THE WAGES OF WAR”
Illinois veterans from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Iraq conflict will discuss their sometimes difficult experiences adjusting from combat to civilian life at “The Wages of War”, a 90-minute panel discussion Thursday, May 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the State Library. The event is free and open to the public. Panelists taking part will be:

  • Garrett Anderson of Champaign (Iraq war veteran)
  • Charlie Dukes of Georgetown (WWII)
  • Ray Elliott of Urbana (Vietnam)
  • George Flowers of Tolono (Vietnam)
  • Thomas R. Jones of Springfield (Vietnam)
  • Bob Henderson of Urbana (Korea)

Beginning at 9 a.m. on May 22nd, all Illinois veterans are encouraged to visit the State Library to have their oral history of service recorded as part of Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White’s Illinois Veterans History Project. No appointment is necessary. The oral histories will be archived at the Illinois Digital Archives.

“The Wages of War” is sponsored by the James Jones Literary Society, together with Secretary of State Jesse White, the Illinois Center for the Book and the Library of Congress.

IOUG ANNUAL MEETING NEXT FRIDAY
Join us at the Illinois State Library for the IOUG (Illinois OCLC Users Group) Annual Meeting next Friday, May 9, 2008. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Back to the Future: The Technological Evolution of Libraries Revisited.” Registration and a continental breakfast will start the day at 8:00 a.m. Opening remarks will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the day’s events will end at 3:00 pm. Please register online. All registrants will be entered into a drawing for a Sony Reader Digital Book and several other prizes. The $45.00 registration fee for this event includes lunch. Feel free to contact the ILLINET/OCLC Services Office at 217-785-1532 if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in Springfield next week!

PARTNER ON INFORMATION LITERACY PROJECTS
Illinois librarians are invited to partner with professionals at other libraries on a project related to information literacy. The purpose of the project is: 1) to build community among librarians interested in information literacy; 2) to broaden the participation of Illinois librarians in developing needed projects; and 3) to provide professional development opportunities. Partners may come from the same or different library type. For instance, school librarians may partner with other school, academic, public, or special librarians.

Among others, projects may include:

  • Developing and implementing information literacy lessons or units on a theme of contemporary significance, or on a topic for which there is an instructional need;
  • Developing and implementing information literacy lessons or units for an underserved user group, or for a user group with an unmet information need;
  • Writing and publishing a non-professional article for a local or statewide audience communicating about information literacy issues to a popular audience;
  • Planning and implementing (at least in part) steps leading to formal adoption of information literacy curricula or guidelines within schools, school districts, library systems, institutions of higher education, etc.;
  • Exploring and documenting unmet information needs in non-academic settings;
  • Strategizing and implementing meaningful and substantive information literacy discussions (resulting in some outcome) through the “infolitillinois” electronic list; and
  • Following up on activities presented or discussed at the Information Literacy Summits.

Proposals for projects should be submitted electronically by May 15, 2008. They will be reviewed through a competitive process. As many as twenty projects will be supported.
Partners will each be compensated financially to help with expenses associated with travel, sharing and working together. Projects will be posted on the Center’s web site on WebJunction Illinois.

Proposals should be submitted to Dane Ward, Director of the Illinois Center for Information Literacy. This project was made possible by an LSTA grant awarded by the Illinois State Library to Milner Library at Illinois State University.

GRANT TALKIN’….STAYIN’ CONNECTED
There are only 10 days left to submit completed FY09 LSTA grant applications to the State Library. The full application must be postmarked no later than May 12th, or hand delivered to the State Library by 4:30 p.m. that day. For more information check our website.

ILLINOIS BLUE BOOKS
Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White has just published the 2007-2008 edition of the Illinois Blue Book, and every library in Illinois will be receiving a copy during the coming weeks. We’ll be distributing them through the Illinois Library Delivery Service (ILDS), but we ask for your patience because it will take a little while to distribute all copies. Additionally, because the school year is ending for school libraries, we are going to wait until September to distribute copies for school libraries. The Illinois Blue Book is one of the most valuable reference tools available for information about the state of Illinois and Illinois government.

STAFF WORK WEEK

  • The State Library hosted a meeting of regional library system presidents and directors Wednesday. Among items on the agenda were a discussion of the new ISL strategic plan, a budget presentation from the Secretary of State budget office, and an update on the new Illinois Library Delivery Service.
  • Anne Craig attended a meeting of the Illinois Library System Directors Organization at Alliance Library System. Anne also made welcoming remarks at a summit in Springfield sponsored by Rolling Prairie Library System to discuss PLINKIT. PLINKIT is a tool that allows small libraries to customize and enrich websites, providing links to reference databases, local and world newspapers and many other information-rich resources. It was made possible by an LSTA grant awarded by the State Library.
  • Karen Egan and Ron Winner attended a meeting at Bradley University to continue preparing for the June Institute for School and Public Librarians.
  • Neil Kelley attended the North Suburban Library System board meeting and made LSTA grant site visits.
  • Jeanne Urbanek made an LSTA site visit to Carlyle Jr. High School.
  • Blaine Redemer is attending a Route 66 Archives and Research Collaboration meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • Blaine Redemer, Raymond Collins, Sandra Fritz and Robert Jones met with staff from the Illinois State Archives to discuss services the ISL offers to state employees as part of our ongoing outreach campaign to state employees.
  • Gwen Harrison, Kathleen Bloomberg and Karen Egan took part in an ILLINET Network Advisory Council working group conference call.
  • Sue Burkholder returned to the office after attending an OCLC Business Managers meeting in Dublin, OH.
  • Cyndy Colletti attended the Council on Adult Basic Education (COABE) Conference in St. Louis.
  • Mark Shaffer made literacy grant monitoring visits at Workplace Skills Enhancement programs in Alsip and LaGrange and Adult Volunteer Literacy programs at Naperville and LaGrange Park.
  • Dorothy Whitney attended the Northside Literacy Coalition meeting and Westside Night of 1,000 Stars.
  • Vandella Brown visited a diversity program at the Odell Public Library District.
  • Tom Huber made a one-hour presentation in the ISL map library to 39 teachers, geographers and other members of the Illinois Geographic Alliance, explaining how the city of Springfield has grown over time. Tom used aerial photos, topographic maps and plat books as part of his presentation.
  • Pat McGuckin took part in a meeting of representatives from all divisions of the Secretary of State’s office to discuss preparations for the 2008 Illinois State Fair.
  • Sharon Ruda is attending the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Conference in San Antonio, TX.
  • Debra Aggertt and Natalie Tagge conducted online training sessions on Cataloging with the Connexion Browser Interface and the AskAway virtual reference program.

E-RATE NEWS
The SLD’s News Brief for April 25th focuses on the newly revised Automated Search for Commitments tool on the SLD Web site (see Commitment Search). The key features of the new tool include:

  • Easier access to more data by funding year, by funding wave, and by state;
  • Funding information is no longer static, but will be updated nightly. (Previously, updated data was available only by using the SLD’s Data Retrieval Tool.); and
  • Funding information is much easier to download by clicking on a special Excel icon on each data display page.

Users seeking detailed information on specific applicants, applications, and funding requests are encouraged to use the SLD’s more complete Data Retrieval Tool (see DRT) or E Rate Central’s Funding Quick Search tool (accessed in the upper left-hand corner of each individual state page at State Information). This is because the database driving the SLD’s Automated Search for Commitments tool does not include Billed Entity Numbers, zero funded (denied or pending) funding requests, or split FRNs. It is designed primarily to display original commitment data.

Users seeking summary wave data by applicant and state will be disappointed not to see the statewide wave information that was available before. Instead, the revised tool lists individual FRNs (ten to a page).

(E-Rate Central News for the Week. April 28, 2008)

LITERACY SPOTLIGHT

Every week we honor a provider who receives a literacy grant from Secretary of State Jesse White and the Illinois State Library Literacy Office. This week we shine the spotlight on the Regional Office of Education (ROE), St. Clair County, Belleville.

Adult literacy education programs often make it possible for adults who never completed their education to return to school. Day and evening tutoring sessions are available at ROE St. Clair County and are designed to work around schedules where adults may be juggling one or more jobs, possibly working evening and weekend hours, or meeting family obligations. A friendly, encouraging one-on-one environment is important to their learning success and enjoyment. Here are a few success stories from ROE:

  • A 21-year-old girl needing assistance and guidance in becoming an adult is living on her own and needs to find a job to support herself. She and her tutor meet regularly to work on her reading skills and discuss how to plan for her future.
  • A 45 year-old man, struggling with many disabilities and trying to make ends meet to support his wife and children, including an infant daughter, meets twice a week with his tutor. Although his learning capacity is somewhat limited, he is making progress, has become more independent and is an excellent role model for his children.
  • Two different English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) students have made phenomenal success. One opened his own restaurant and the other has become a licensed massage therapist after many months of working with their tutors.
  • With an influx of Chinese families into the area, tutoring Chinese students has become a major new initiative. One couple with a young son opened a Chinese restaurant. They have struggled to learn English and believe their failure to speak enough English is hurting their restaurant business. Their tutor has been doing community and real-life learning experiences with them. They have become more confident in their business and in greeting and serving their customers. They are also learning words and skills to help them speak to their child’s teachers.
  • Another Chinese student could read but not speak English. She is encouraging other friends to join the program at ROE St. Clair. Reaching out to the ESL community has broadened and improved the lives of the newly established ESL population.

Learn more about the ISL Literacy Office and the hundreds of literacy providers who receive grants from us.

WEBJUNCTION ILLINOIS NEWS
This week in “What’s New” at WebJunction Illinois: Putting Illinois on the map with the Illinoismap.info project; How to banish burnout in library staff; Video from the Illinois Veterans’ History Project workshops; and a free Webinar on the TechAtlas event tracker help desk. Check it out at:

GOVDOCINFO
The federal government began sending out economic stimulus payments this week. Find out all the information about the payments.

CULTURAL AWARENESS: DIVERSITY IN ACTION
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Asian Americans have contributed greatly to American society. There are several Asian American leaders who have the significance of “first accomplishments”. Patsy Takemoto Mink was the first Asian female American to be elected to Congress in 1964. She was from Hawaii. The first Asian-American federal court judge was Herbert Choy appointed to the federal court bench in 1971. George R. Ariyoshi was the first Asian-American governor of Hawaii in 1974. The first Asian-American Academy Award winner was the late Haing S. Ngor, Best Supporting Actor for the film The Killing Fields. The first television network news reporters were Ken Kasjiwahara and Connie Chung in 1974. Connie Chung was the first Asian American to become news anchor (nightly) on CBS. Read about other first contributions of Asian Americans.

ILLINOIS DIGITAL ARCHIVES
Our lead story this week is a promotion for a panel discussion being held at the State Library later this month on the sometimes difficult experiences soldiers have adjusting from combat to civilian life. Broken or troubled marriages are often a problem. During World War II the U.S. Government produced this pamphlet entitled “Can War Marriages Be Made to Work?”.

ILLINOIS INVENTOR OF THE WEEK
In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Philander C. T. Chen of Chicago is this week’s Illinois Inventor of the Week. Chen was granted Patent Number 1,523,753 on January 20, 1925 for “Combination Pencil and Fountain Pen”.

The Illinois State Library Patent & Trademark Library is available to assist you with your patent and trademark questions. Contact us at (217) 782-5659.

SPREAD THE NEWS ABOUT E-NEWS!

Our weekly newsletter is the best source available to find out what’s going on at the State Library-everything from grant offerings and important meetings to news about electronic resources. We’re glad to have you as a subscriber, but if you know of anyone else you think should be getting E-news from the ISL, let us know and we’ll sign him or her up, or have him or her contact Pat McGuckin. Join the more than 6,000 subscribers who depend on E-news every Friday to find out what’s happening at the State Library!

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • May 9 – Illinois OCLC Users’ Group Annual Meeting-”Back to the Future: Technological Evolution of Libraries Revisited”, ISL.
  • May 12-FY09 LSTA grant applications due at ISL
  • May 14-Spotlight on Achievement and Spotlight on Service awards for literacy students and volunteer tutors
  • May 22-”The Wages of War: Illinois Veterans Discuss Adjusting to Civilian Life,” ISL, 7-8:30 p.m.
  • May 31-Deadline for submissions to “Essays About Lincoln” contest
  • June 1-6-Small Public Library Management Institute, University of Illinois at Springfield
  • June 5-”Empowering Library Staff to Meet the Needs of Spanish Speakers”, North Suburban Library System, registration is free.
  • June 8-13-Institute for School and Public Librarians, Bradley University, Peoria
  • June 11-ILLINET Network Advisory Council, ISL
  • June 30-Deadline to enter Illinois Emerging Writers Competition
  • October 30-31-2008 Conference on Illinois History, Springfield

Questions about “E-News from the ISL” should be referred to Pat McGuckin, Illinois State Library or 217-558-4029. Please let me know if you ever have trouble accessing any of the website or e-mail links listed in the weekly newsletter.

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