Feel overwhelmed with new technology? Not sure how your small or rural library can take advantage of new and not-so-new technology? Don’t feel you have time to keep up with keeping up? Then this webinar is for you. 

Presenters Robin Hastings, Information Technology Coordinator for the Missouri River Regional Library, and Maurice Coleman, Technical Trainer at Harford County Public Library, will discuss best practices for using technology to keep your library connected and up to date. They will also share some of the latest and greatest sites and technology best suited for a small or rural library. You’ll also receive some expert guidance to better evaluate and assess these tools for your library system and your customers, with a focus on small and rural library environments.

Register now and plan to take advantage of this free learning opportunity.

Emerging Technologies in Librarianship

In this class, participants will explore select emerging technologies while building those imperative and complementary skills of discovery and evaluation. The focus will be on web-based and open-source softwares that have potential to create value for library users.

Assignments will expose participants to journals and other media that illuminate trends in technology, and will encourage participants to develop a personalized rubric for evaluating the merit of new tools.

What will be covered:

• Week One: Web 2.0 Basics: The Democratic Web
• Week Two: Online Productivity
• Week Three: Building Community
• Week Four: Mobile Technology Week Five: The Fun Stuff: Virtual Worlds and Gaming
• Week Six: The Library as Web 2.0 Entrepreneur

Dates: September 20 – October 29, 2010
Times: Online asynchronous format
Cost: $300
Instructor: Jason Kovac, Ph.D.
Intended audience: Librarians and information professionals interested in using emerging technologies in their libraries. 

For additonal information and to register, visit:

http://www.lis.illinois.edu/academics/programs/cpd/emerg-tech

What are the best practices and planning for a digitization project? How can your staff gain the skills needed to launch or maintain a digital project and what are the implications of launching a long term digital preservation system in your organization? Get the answers to these questions and more below.

Contents: Resources | Courses and Learning | Community | What could I do with…? | What’s New RSS Feed

“What’s New” RSS Feed

Want the latest “What’s New @ WJIL” to come to you? Add the RSS feed to your blog reader.
[http://webjunctionworks.org/il/blog/index.php/category/new-wj-il/feed/

Resources

Best Practices and Planning for Digitization Projects

• The success of a project is generally in proportion to the time spent in planning the project. To help you avoid some of the pitfalls here are some recommendations and resources for planning a digital imaging project.
• Path: [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Competencies for Preservation

• Preservation covers a wide range of activities: repairing the physical damage to well-used materials; transforming physical materials into digital format; or preserving the historic record or other notable resource collections. Use this list to help your staff achieve competency.
• Path: [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Book Repair Videos

• Students at UNC have created three short videos: a pam folder procedure, tip-in procedure, and four-flap enclosures.  It’s much easier to learn from what you see and hear than to read and follow diagrams and wonder if you’re doing it right
• Path: [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Glossary of Scanning and Digital Imaging Terms

• Alyce Scott  from the Illinois State Library helps explain some of the most common and confusing terms used in digitization projects.
• Path: [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Bite-Size Digital History Webinar

• Learn to use Microsoft PhotoStory 3 to create digital history documentaries in this recorded webinar.
• [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Digital Illinois

• Visit this WJIL page under the Featured Statewide Initiatives to find out more about digitization projects in Illinois including a “Descriptive Survey of Illinios Digital Collections.”
• [Illinois Center » Featured Statewide Initiatives » Digital Illinois]

Courses and Learning

Capturing History: Digitization Projects

• Computers have been around for a generation, now, and a lot of matierial is available through digital media. However, there is still a lot of valuable information left to be digitized. This tutorial covers the basics of scanning and will improve your understanding of the issues involved with digitization projects, including copyright issues, equipment, terms, funding. So, before breaking out the scanners, spend a couple of hours reviewing what you need to know in order to make your digitization project a success

All courses listed above are free to eligible and registered users of WJIL.

Community

Digitization and Preservation Symposium, August 25, 1:00 – 3:00 pm CT

Join colleagues for a two-hour symposium that will feature four presentations on current trends and practical approaches to library digitization and preservation projects. Guest panelists will address:

• Designing a digital preservation system using a framework that includes all stakeholders, from library administrators to archivists to IT workers to vendors.
• The difference between access and preservation tools, and why we need to consider both.
• Harvesting social networking websites for preservation.
• The organizational “long-view” of preservation resources, technology, costs and policies.

What Could I do with…Digitization Learning Opportunities”?

Have you always wanted your library to get involved in digitization but were unsure of how to begin or what you need to know?  Use the WJIL learning opportunities listed above to jump start your digitization experience. Enroll in the free WJIL course Capturing History: Digitization Projects and learn a bit about the basics of scanning then register and plan to attend the Digitization and Preservation Synposium to find out more about the long view of the technology, costs and policies associated with a digitization and preservation program.

On Tuesday, September 21 from 1:00 – 2:00 CT, presenters Robin Hastings, Information Technology Coordinator for the Missouri River Regional Library, and Maurice Coleman, Technical Trainer at Harford County Public Library, will discuss best practices for using technology to keep your library connected and up to date.

They will also share some of the latest and greatest sites and technology best suited for a small or rural library. You’ll also receive some expert guidance to better evaluate and assess these tools for your library system and your customers, with a focus on small and rural library environments.

Visit L2 for additional information and registration for this webinar.

In a survey to a random sample of WebJunction members this spring, respondents answered a question on how frequently they used online tools, either in or outside of their professional life. The results were very interesting. Nearly half of the respondents (49%) use email “listservs” daily. One-third of the respondents (35%) use professional or social networking sites daily. A quarter or less of the respondents use the following daily: online news or magazines (21%), blogs (14%), RSS feeds (14%), bookmarking sites (10%), wikis (9%), employment sites (6%) and online courses (3%). A chart in the original post  shows the full results.When responses were separated by library type there were some notable differences. Academic library respondents are more likely to use the following online tools daily than public library respondents:

• Email listservs (73% of Academic vs. 44% of Public)
• Professional or social networking sites (44% vs. 32%)
• Blogs (29% vs. 10%)
• RSS feeds (32% vs. 10%)
• Wikis (17% vs. 7%)

Significant differences were found among locations as well. Urban library respondents (72%) are more likely to use email listservs daily than suburban (57%) and rural (45%) library respondents. Also, urban library respondents (18%) are more likely to use RSS feeds daily than rural library respondents (9%). Suburban library respondents (40%) are more likely to use professional or social networking sites daily than urban (31%) and rural (31%) library respondents. It was also reported that more than one quarter (28%) of respondents use web-based content (on blogs, wikis, social networking sites and more) toward professional development.

Finally, when these results were compared with those to a similar question posed to WebJunction members a year ago, there is evidence of some shifts in online tool use. In 2009, 61% of respondents reported using listservs daily, which is 12% higher than this year. Meanwhile, the percent of respondents who report never using social networking sites dropped from 39% to 30%. And online reading seems to have decreased as well, with 11% drops in those who report reading blogs or online news sites daily.

The trend away from email toward social networking sites like Facebook and twitter is not exclusive to library staff: this shift has been reported in the media as happening across the globe. So libraries can expect that patrons will be more likely to want to interact with their library via social networking tools and to expect that their library will support their use of these tools on the publicly accessible computers.

Additionally, EBSCO recently acquired OCLC’s NetLibrary Division. EBSCO plans to maintain and enhance the NetLibrary platform and will integrate NetLibrary e-books into the EBSCO host platform. Service to libraries will not be interrupted. Additionally, OCLC is no longer a reseller of vendor-owned databases; they plan to discontinue the sale of these third party databases once current subscriptions have ended.

For many years, the Illinois State Library has subsidized statewide access to the databases in the OCLC Base Package. The current Illinois group subscription ends June 30, 2011.

Following is a list of databases that are included in the FirstSearch (Base Package) platform:

• OCLC WorldCat
• OCLC Electronic Books Online
• OCLC Archive Grid
• OCLC Article First
• CAMIO
• OCLC Electronic Collections Online (bibliographic index only)
• OAIster
• OCLC Papers First
• OCLC Proceedings First
• WorldCat Dissertations and Theses
• Clase/Periodica
• ERIC
• GPO
• MEDLINE
• World Almanac

For details about other databases that have not been part of the Base Package, please refer to the OCLC website.

How to Make the Most of WebJunction,  July 29, 2010

NOTE: This webinar will be focused on the resources and navigation for the WebJunction global site at http://webjunction.org. However, please note that if you are a registered user of WebJunction Illinois (http://il.webjunction.org) attendance at this webinar is still encouraged since many of the resources and navigation are the same for both sites.

So you’ve created your free WebJunction member account, browsed the website, but are feeling a bit overwhelmed? Come join this special webinar where you’ll discover how to use the tools and resources on WebJunction to find answers and solve problems for your library. Learn how to work collaboratively with colleagues using groups; keep a finger on the pulse of new documents and discussions posted by members; know where to go to ask your own questions and how to share your expertise with other library staff. This session will help anyone who has said, “I know there is a lot to WebJunction, but I just haven’t had time to explore.” We’ll give you the top tips and show you all the steps for making WebJunction work for you.

Tips and Tools for Technology Planning, July 20, 2010

A technology plan can help you budget and better plan for future technology acquisitions, but with everything else you do all day, who has the time? Come to this TechSoup and WebJunction presentation where Kendra Morgan and Elliot Harmon will share tips, tools, and tales from folks working in libraries and other nonprofits who’ve crafted their own tech plans without too much discomfort.

In this webinar, you’ll:

• Hear about best practices for technology planning
• Get tips for writing clear and manageable goals and objectives
• Learn about tools that can help you through the planning process

The Rural Library Trustee: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships, September 14, 2010

How do library trustees get trained? How are director and trustee roles defined to ensure a healthy library organization? How are trustee relationships cultivated both in and outside the library circle? Join this webinar to explore these and other questions related to library trustees that will provide you with practical ideas and tactical strategies to support and advocate for your library organization as a trustee, or library director in a small or rural community. This webinar is brought to you by ARSL (Association for Rural and Small Libraries) and featuring presenters: Sally Gardner Reed, Executive Director ALTAFF (Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations); Kim Armentrout, Library of Virginia; and Jim Minges, Director of the Northeast Kansas Library System.

Aaron Schmidt has been a circulation clerk, reference librarian, and library director. Shortly after completing his MLIS at Dominican University, Schmidt saw the potential of applying new media technology to libraries and launched successful programs at his suburban Chicago public library.

Helping the library connect to its community through things such as instant messaging, weblogs and social software led to Aaron publishing articles in Library Journal, School Library Journal, Library High Tech News, Online, and others. He has presented on the topic of library technology and usability throughout the United States, and in Canada, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain. In 2005, Schmidt was named a Library Journal “Mover & Shaker.”

Schmidt moved to Portland, Oregon in 2006 and became the director of a nearby public library. He helped the library grow and gain full membership in the Washington County Cooperative. During this time he continued to write, give presentations and workshops and work for other libraries as a consultant.

Currently he is the Digital Initiatives Librarian for the District of Columbia Public Library but still lives in Portland. He helps plan forward thinking, fun projects for the library, helping them connect to the community and teach them about the Read/Write Web. He also assists with website visioning, conducts usability testing, leads the library’s Library 2.0 Interest Group and helps coordinate and generate ideas for the library’s digital research and development project called DC Library Labs. He was part of the team that created the first iPhone and Blackberry online catalog searching applications.

He maintains a library and website usability weblog, walkingpaper.org and can be reached at librarian [at] gmail [dot] com

In 2008, Pekin Public Library Assistant Director Alissa Williams attended a session at the Public Library Association Conference, where the presenter challenged libraries to be as functional online as they are offline. When the 2009 LSTA Grants were announced, Williams decided the In Sync with Technology offering was the perfect way to rise to this challenge. Thus, PePOD was born.

PePod stands for Pekin Programs on Demand and makes library programs available to users anytime they want via podcasts. The library also started Storytime Anytime, which makes a video of storytime available on demand for parents and children.  The Pekin Public Library partnered with the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce on the project, and the chamber recorded its monthly events, which the library uploaded to its website. PePod is also available via subscription in iTunes.

Currently, the library has 15 podcasts available, and usually one program a month is suitable for recording. All of the presenters have allowed their programs to be recorded and several were quite excited about the opportunity.

The library launched a new “On Demand” section of its website, which includes the PePod project. The library also offers Tumblebooks and other downloadable media databases. In the PePod section, users are able to comment on the podcasts.

Podcasts are recorded using a portable recorder and then edited using GarageBand. The library’s website vendor provided a complete identity package, which included opening jingles, as well as a PePod graphic. Editors use a standard opening and closing script, which provides consistency through each of the podcasts.

Find out more about this project and what happened after the money was gone in our most recent WJIL Library Spotlight.

The latest conference on “The Future of Libraries” is scheduled for Tuesday June 8 Stephen Abram of Gale Cengage is the keynote speaker. Abram will speak on “Future Ready.” What is the new NORMAL and what are customer expectations? New customer expectations are being driven by the new ecology of the web and big players like Facebook, Bing, Hulu,YouTube, Amazon, Google, and more. Is your library ready? Abram will talk about experience strategy, community conversations and relationships and more in this exciting keynote.

An exciting new component to this online conference is a Pecha Kucha on “Are you Future Ready?” Moderated by Alison Miller and Joe Murphy, speakers for the day will wrap up the day with an exciting online Pecha Kucha event which may be among the first of its kind. Pecha Kuchas are based on the 20×20 concept – each speaker will use 20 slides/images of their choosing that will advanced every 20 seconds, giving exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds to address the topic from their unique expert perspective.

Other speakers for this day-long conference include:

• Sarah Houghton-Jan, “The Future of Libraries and Technology: The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes”
• Joe Murphy, “Check in at the Future of Libraries”
• Matt Gullett, “The Present Moment of the Future: What Does the Future Really Mean to Most of Us”
• David Lankes, “You Are the Future”

Registration for librarians for the one day conference is $40; for students $30; and for groups $100.

For more information on these workshops please contact Lori Bell at ALS, or Tom Peters at TAP Information Services.