R. David Lankes, Executive Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse University, wrapped up the conference by placing the local ILEAD initiatives within a global context. See his closing remarks on You Tube.

Year Two of ILEAD U just started, but a team of Year One ILEAD U participants and the model program they developed were the subject of a lengthy article in the Peoria Journal Star newspaper this week.

Congratulations to featured representatives Nancy Scott, head librarian at Eureka Public Library; Ann Reeves, associate director of the Eureka library; Shane Howard, public service manager at Farmington Public Library; Karen Bersche, director of Towanda District Library; and Ruth Shasteen, librarian at Central A&M High School.

One welcome addition to this year’s grant activities is the participation of out of state apprentices and the attendance of Mary Chute, Deputy Director for Libraries at the Institute of Museum and Library Services. During the first session participants were inspired by outstanding keynote speeches from David Lankes, Beck Tench and Eli Neiburger.

ILEAD U is the State Library’s initiative to help library staff understand and respond to user needs through the application of participatory technology tools and the creation of an easy-to-replicate model program. Funding for ILEAD U is provided through a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant awarded to the State Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

ILEAD U highlights are posted on a variety of social networks including…

• Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/ILEAD-U/310643765269?ref=nf)
• Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilead_u)
• Twitter (https://twitter.com/ilead_u). Back channel conversation can be found at #ileadu on Twitter.

Videos have also been posted on YouTube.

Funding for ILEAD U is provided through a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant awarded to the State Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  For this second year of ILEAD U, a new component has been added where “apprentices”–out-of-state State Agency library employees–will participate.

You can follow ILEAD U on a variety of social networks beginning Monday. ILEAD U updates will be posted on Facebook , Flickr and Twitter. Back channel conversation can be found at #ileadu on Twitter.

Made possible through a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant, the first cohort of 8 ILEAD U teams met for their final session last week. Following is a summary of each team’s progress towards their final project. [NOTE: Applications are now available if you are interested in forming an ILEAD U Team for the upcoming cohort]

Chicago Legal Information Team

Portal

Lincoln LAWGS: Building Blocks for Illinois Law Students
http://www.lincolnlawgs.com/

What is it?

Lincoln Lawgs was created in 2010 as a collaboration among several law school libraries in Chicago.  It is meant to be a place where students from all Illinois law schools can get legal research advice, talk to each other about common law school research problems, and just interact with each other in general.  It’s also a great place to show your Abe Lincoln appreciation–just like you, he was an Illinois lawyer himself.

Highlights to Note

• Tutorials to help you answer common law student research questions
• Virtual meeting spaces (Lawg Cabins) you can reserve to live chat with each other, or with Lincoln Lawgs staff
• Message boards (Campfire chats) where you can discuss your research problems
• And anything else you can think of….

Additional information and Team Members on WJIL

ESL DuPage Library System Team

Portal

ESL DuPage
http://www.esldupage.org/

What is it?

Team ESL DuPage was a team of 5 library staff from 3 different libraries – two public libraries and one academic library.  Library staff are from National University of Health Sciences Library, West Chicago Public Library and Wood Dale Public Library. Training took place at the University of Illinois Springfield.   The objective of the grant project was to explore new technologies and resources for reaching ELL / ESL (English Language Learners / English as a Second Language) patrons in our communities.  To create an interactive ELL / ESL resource relevant  to patrons and libraries that reside in the area served by the DuPage Library System. The representative languages in our communities are predominately Spanish and Polish.  Therefore we focused on Spanish and Polish resources.  We plan to expand into other languages.

Highlights to Note

• Welcome videos in English, Spanish and Polish
• Resource Center
• Culture Corner

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL

 Entrepreneurs 2.0 Team

Portal

Business Resource: The Place to Go for All Your Local Business Needs
http://thebusinessresource.org/

What is it?

Empowering our Business Communities – One Inspiration at a Time. The Entrepreneur 2.0 team is comprised of library professionals from five libraries along Illinois’ I-80 Corridor – Fountaindale Public Library, Homer Township Public Library, Joliet Public Library, Rockford Public Library and Shorewood-Troy Public Library.

It is the goal of this project to bring helpful information and resources to the businesses in our respective communities, to strengthen and build a participatory bond between businesses and their local libraries, and to empower individuals and their businesses in their information seeking endeavors. This project has grown out of the belief that local businesses are the life blood of our communities. By facilitating their growth and sustenance through access to free tools, instruction, information and support, we believe that current economic conditions can be weathered, and jobs can be created and saved.

Highlights to Note

• Tutorials
• Business Information  
• Local Resources
• 100 Best Business Books of All Time

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL

I-ADAPT Team

Portal

Rural Adapt: A Web Portal for Rural Communities
http://ruraladapt.wordpress.com/

 What is it?

Our project is a community portal.  The content has to do with economic issues, community, growth and adapting.  We have defined several commonalities we share such as BUSINESS RESOURCES, EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES, COMMUNITY HUBS, KIDS AND TEEN SPACE, DISCUSSION, EVENTS and NEWS.

Highlights to Note

• Community Hubs for Moweaqua, Farmington, Towanda and Eureka
• Best Job Search Books

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL

Little Egypt Consortium Team

Portal

Still being developed.

What is it?

Provide credible information to young adults via participatory technology in rural, southern Illinois about career and educational opportunities.

Highlights to Note

• Don’t  Be this Guy: Interview Don’ts
• Presentation planned for ISLMA

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL  

Pandora Team

Portal

Library Resources for Illinois State Agencies
http://lrisa.org/

What is it?

LRISA was established to provide state employees with easy access to information available from the Illinois State Library, University of Illinois Springfield/Brookens Library and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, including work related, reference services and grant seeking services.

Highlights to  Note

• RSS Feeds
• Library Collections

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL

Southside 2.0 Team

Portal

Nibiru: It’s not the End of the World, Just Teens in Transition
http://www.mynibiru.org/

What is it?

Nibiru is a collaborative project between area libraries and young adults based in the southern suburbs of Chicago, IL. At it’s heart, Nibiru is about connecting teens who are transitioning from one phase of their life to another (graduating from high school and moving on to higher education or the work force) to each other and the resources that might assist them.

What does “Nibiru” have to do with that? One definition of the word comes from the ancient Akkadian (Mesopotamia) language where it means “point of transition” or “crossing.” Our goal in creating Nibiru is to bring ideas, resources, people, and institutions together to help guarantee the success of our young people as they transition into adulthood.

Highlights to Note

• Job and College Information
• MyNibiru Video

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL

Springfield Big Read Team

Portal

Under the Influence
http://www.influencecontest.org/

What is it? 

Uses participatory technology to promote Big Read activities among college age students 18 – 24 in Illinois. The Under the Influence Contest invites multi-media submissions about how music has inspired and shaped the lives of those who enter the contest. The contest is based on the Springfield Big Read book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.

Highlights to Note

• Expression Contest Promo Video
• Got a Story to Tell?
• The Book

Additional Information and Team Members on WJIL

ILEAD U is the State Library’s initiative to help library staff understand and respond to user needs through the application of participatory technology tools and the creation of an easy-to-replicate model program. ILEAD U is made possible through a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant.
 
If you’d like to create a team for ILEAD U but don’t have enough team members, or if you are an individual looking for an ILEAD U team to join, there’s a group for you. Discuss your community needs and team dynamics by accessing the group on WJIL at:

 http://il.webjunction.org/980/-/resources/overview  (see link in left sidebar on that page)

There will be a pre-meeting Monday, June 14th for the Instructor Corps, Mentors, and ISL Staff. Follow ILEAD U on Twitter and Facebook for real-time updates June 15-17.

The keynote speech by Beck Tench will be tweeted at 8:30 a.m. CST on June 16. Tench serves as Director for Innovation and Digital Engagement at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC where she studies and experiments with how visitors and staff use technology to plan, enhance and share their everyday lives.

The orientation meeting will allow participants to become acquainted with one another prior to the following day’s start of the first three-day ILEAD U session. The eight five-member teams will meet February 23-25 at UIS. ILEAD U is funded with a Laura Bush 21st Century Program grant. Learn more about ILEAD U on WJIL.

Funding for ILEAD U is provided through a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant awarded to the State Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.