The three task forces (Services, Structure, and Funding) presented their final reports to the ILA Executive Board at the Thursday, 29 July board meeting in East Peoria.  The task forces made recommendations to define, continue, and/or revamp statewide and regional support for cooperative services especially in the areas of Delivery, Shared Catalogs, and Group Purchasing, as well as at least some level of coordination and support for Advocacy and Marketing, Professional Development, and Serving the Unserved. 

Steering Committee Co-chairs Donna Dziedzic and Dee Brennan met with ILA President Gail Bush, project consultant Chris Watkins, and I yesterday (Monday, 2 August), to begin drafting a plan based on the recommendations that will be presented to the ILA Executive Committee on Friday, 27 August.  Based on the ILA Executive Committee’s reactions, the results will be compiled into a presentation for the ILA Membership Meeting, Wednesday, 29 September at the 2010 ILA Annual Conference and form the basis for discussions with state agencies, legislators, and other elected officials later in the year.

Updates will continue to be provided in the ILA E-Newsletter and on the ILA Web site on this work as more progress is made in developing a plan.

I-Share is still accessed with the same URL as before and the borrower ID for your library has not changed.  Libraries with an existing I-Share borrower ID will need to create a new username to be used with that ID.  Your existing borrower ID should be a 9 digit number beginning with “000.”  Detailed instructions are available on the CARLI website. Contact CARLI Support if you have questions.

Libraries with an existing I-Share ID will need to assign their borrower ID to a new username. (Your ID is a 9 digit number that begins with three zeros.) This is a quick, one-time process, and the details on how to set up a username for ILLINET library users are outlined here. (This link is also available on the login account creation page for easy reference).

I-Share is the shared online catalog that provides access to the holdings of 76 Illinois academic and research libraries. For over 20 years, ILLINET libraries have been allowed to place requests in I-Share as one of the library resource sharing/interlibrary loan options available to Illinois libraries.

CARLI is making the change to its union catalog to address various performance issues that have persisted in the old interface. CARLI will continue to enhance the new interface over time, but plans to continue supporting ILLINET libraries’ ability to place requests in I-Share for the foreseeable future.

Please contact CARLI with any questions or comments. The State Library is proud to be an I-Share Library.

Deadline is Thursday, September 30. Questions? Contact Becky Hunter, 217-782-7849, Gwen Harrison, 217-785-7334, or Ron Winner, 217-785-1168, for username/password issues. Contact Gwen Harrison or Ron Winner for content/subject matter issues. Contact Bibliostat, 1-866-785-9935, for software or technology issues.

WebJunction is building a community of practice around libraries and workforce recovery. We want to surface all the mega and micro resources, strategies, or stories to let the world know how libraries and their staff throw out the lifeline to the community in tough times.

Here are four ways to share what you know:

• The fastest way is through your Twitter account, using the #libs4jobs hashtag. You can see the accumulated tweets by searching for the hashtag in Twitter or following the live feed on the Workforce Resources overview page.
• Jump in to any of the discussions or start one of your own. Current topics include Partnerships with workforce centers and the IMLS 21st Century Skills.
• Add to this list of workforce resource websites that libraries have created to help staff and patrons find what they need. It’s a wiki —you know how to wiki, don’t you?
• Write up a story, short or long, about the impact you or your library has had on a patron. Post it in the documents section or send it to WebJunction to post on your behalf. We know there are big and little success stories occurring every day. We’d like to put them all together as evidence of the amazing power of libraries

If you have questions, then follow these guidelines:

• Username/Password–Contact Becky Hunter (217-782-7849); Gwen Harrison (217-785-7334); or Ron Winner (217-785-1168). The 800 number is 1-800-665-5576 x1
• Content/Subject Matter–Contact Gwen Harrison or Ron Winner
• Software or Technology Issues–Contact Bibliostat at 1-866-785-9935

Three PowerPoint presentations saved as pdf files are now available on WJIL.  Download these training materials from WJIL or click on the links below.

• View Let’s Get Started to learn how to sign in and get started.
• Continue with Entering your Policies
• Finish with Searching for Policies to learn how to harness the power of the Directory to create truly powerful custom holdings groups and paths to use in WorldCat
• For information on Writing an ILL Policy please refer to Writing an ILL Policy

You may also want to attend the live online sessions on the Illinet Resource Sharing Policy Directory given by Kate Boyle, Resource Sharing Manager at the Metropolitan Library System.  View the complete list of sessions currently scheduled on L2.

The online training covers writing an ILL Policy, entering your RS policies in the ILLINET Directory, searching for a policy, and building WorldCat RS custom holding groups and paths using the ILLINET RS Policy Directory.

The new ILLINET Resource Sharing Policy Directory is pleased to join the statewide CE Calendar and ELI library data as part of L2. The directory is now online and waiting for libraries to enter their ILL and other Resource Sharing data. The Resource Sharing Directory includes Interlibrary Loan, Photocopy, and Reciprocal Borrowing policies. As an added feature, libraries have the capability to upload their written ILL Borrowing and ILL Lending policies to the directory.

A short PowerPoint presentation covers creating an L2 account for those without an L2 and signing in to L2 to enter Interlibrary Loan, Photocopy, and Reciprocal Borrowing policies. Please view the presentation to learn how enter policies for your library into L2.

Once libraries have begun to enter their policies into L2 the real fun begins for OCLC libraries as we create truly powerful custom holdings groups and paths to use in WorldCat. Photocopy policies include LVIS participation to enable libraries to identify other LVIS libraries in order to secure free photocopies. Reciprocal Borrowing policies include a description of any limits imposed on RB patrons, thereby enabling libraries to view Reciprocal Borrowing policies before their patrons visit neighboring institutions.

A short PowerPoint presentation introducing the directory has been created and posted to the MLS Resource Sharing website.  The presentation covers creating an account and signing in to L2 to enter Interlibrary Loan, Photocopy, and Reciprocal Borrowing policies.  Please view the presentation to learn how to sign in and enter policies for your library. Once libraries have begun to enter their policies, the real fun can begin for OCLC libraries as we create truly powerful custom holdings groups and paths to use in WorldCat. Photocopy policies include LVIS participation to enable libraries to identify other LVIS libraries in order to secure free photocopies. Reciprocal Borrowing policies include a description of any limits imposed on RB patrons, thereby enabling libraries to view Reciprocal Borrowing policies before their patrons visit neighboring institutions.

Watch for more presentations and information to be posted to the MLS website and blog. You may also want to view a screen cast introduction to the Directory.