These materials will be free to download and reuse, which will help reduce your library’s burden of developing and finding training materials. They are working with library consultant Stephanie Gerding, author of The Accidental Technology Trainer: A Guide for Libraries, to identify and collect these resources. They also need your help.

Please take a quick survey to select the specific patron training topics of greatest interest to you, to guide Stephanie and WebJunction’s work. The survey will close on September 15, so don’t delay!

Start the survey.

Find your storytelling voice by enrolling in the latest LibraryU addition to the WJIL Catalog – There will Always Be Storytellers. Use a new series of programs from the State Library of Kansas to find out more about Everyday Ethics for Libraries and plan to register for the upcoming  webinar mySkills, myFuture: A Free Tool for Job Seekers.

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

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Resources

Everyday Ethics for Libraries

This series of programs presented by the Kansas Regional Library Systems and the State Library of Kansas, Division of Library Development explores how library professional ethics, as presented in the Library Bill of Rights, along with intellectual freedom concerns and privacy, impact library operations, collection development, policies, planning and customer service.  Resources  linked here include a video overview by Pat Wagner, a national library trainer and 9 additional webinar archives accompanied by supplementary resources covering the following topics:

• Everyday Ethics for Libraries: An Overview by Pat Wagner (Online video serices and handouts)
• Ethics of Facebook, Brenda Hough, Northeast Kansas Library System.
• Serial Killer in the Library, Paul Hawkins, director South Central Kansas Library System.
• Ethics of Collection Development, Angie Maycock, ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.
• Ethics of Weeding, Harry Willems and Chris Rippel, Central Kansas Library System.
• Are You Trustee-Worthy? - Ethics for Trustees, Gina Millsap, Director, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library.
• Ethics of Answering Questions, Lisa Kelly, Director of Information Services, Nebraska Library Commission.
• The Ethics of Access, Kim Rutter, Southeast Kansas Library System.
• Can Mary Kay or VITA Use the Meeting Room, Carol Barta, North Central Kansas Libraries System, Lee Dobratz, Council Grove Public Library and Jamie Kelley, Marysville Public Library
• A Wrap-Up with Pat Wagner, Pattern Research, Inc.
• Path: [Library Management » Customer Service & Interpersonal Skills]

CONTENTdm Metadata Working Group’s Best Practices Guide

• This document represents the efforts to develop best practices guidelines for providing metadata both useful to the local community and suitable for harvesting externally.
• Path: [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Preserving and Conserving Archived Photographs: An Annotated Bibliography

• Photographs have been as important a tool for the teaching and understanding of history as diaries and journals, and conserving or preserving these priceless artifacts of exact images of history has been, and will continue to be, a critical task for whoever has been charged with storing, monitoring, and keeping well-preserved original photographs for the enjoyment of public viewing or the research of authors, historians, and more. This bibliography includes articles that detail important programs and procedures for minimizing the deterioration of photographs and have, for the most part, been published between the years 2000-2010, with a few relevant articles from the 1990’s, that were written to relate modern techniques used in recent history to preserve, maintain, and store non-digital photographic images. The articles were chosen to display both time-tested methods of preservation that have been used for decades and those that are still used today. 
• Path: [Library Services » Technical Services » Digitization & Preservation]

Courses and Learning

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

There Will Always Be Storytellers - New LibraryU Course on WebJunction Illinois

• What does it mean to be a Storyteller? As an experienced Storyteller, Nancy Tolson will help you find the story, identify your storytelling style, then give you practical tips on how to adorn and make that story personal. Along the way she will share some of her favorite stories with you to inspire and spark your own creativity. This course is intended for anyone who would like to increase their ability to tell captivating, enlightening and inspiring stories to audiences of all ages. Don’t miss this latest LibraryU addition to the WJIL Course Catalog.

Upcoming WebJunction Webinars

(All webinars are free of charge. Click on the links below for additional information and registration)

• The Rural Library Trustee: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships, Sept. 14, 2010
• Real Library Solutions Using Competencies, Sept. 16, 2010
• Using Technology to Move Your Small/Rural Library Forward, Sept. 21, 2010
• mySkills, myFuture: A New Tool for Job Seekers, Sept. 29, 2010

Community

This fall resolve to build your network of colleagues on WebJunction Illinois. Use the following resources to help you find and add “Friends,” then log in and go to your “My WebJunction” tab to view your “Updates.” From here you can follow what your friends are doing on WJIL to help you hunt down the latest discussions, best courses, and helpful resources on the site. 

• WJIL Registration and Social Networking
• Find and Add Friends on WJIL

What Could I do with…”There will Always Be Storytellers”?

“In the beginning was the word and it was oral. As long as we have been in existence we have found ways to communicate and probably right after drawing pictures within caves, in the dirt, and carving up trees; once we realized that charades caused frustration when team members couldn’t figure out that a dinosaur was about to eat the village, oral communication came into affect. And from that time to today stories about family, adventure, wars, births, and just living have been told from one person to another, from one village to the other and so on and so forth.”

So begins the latest LibraryU addition to the WJIL Course Catalog – There Will Always Be Storytellers. You don’t have to be a Children’s Librarian to enroll in this course, you just have to love a story. Enroll today and start your storytelling journey.

Title: Budget and Finance for the Library
Dates: September 14 – October 19, 2010
Times: Online synchronous sessions Tuesdays, 2:00-4:00 pm Central time
Instructor: Robert H. Burger, Ph.D., CPA, Professor Emeritus, UIUC Library
Cost: $300

Intended audience: CPLA program candidates; librarians and information professionals needing training in library budget and finance topics.

Purpose of the course: To familiarize the student with the basic principles of library financial administration, including budgeting and planning within the mission and goals of the organization. Upon completion of the course the candidate is expected to be able to develop program budgets, conduct operational analysis for budget forecasting, develop capital budgets, conduct cost/benefit analyses, and work with accounting personnel. Topics include line item, program, and capital budgets, cost benefit analysis, performance measures and operations indicators, capital projects, and fiduciary responsibilities of the library director, trustees, and others having responsibilities for financial administration in the library. The use of Microsoft Excel is assumed and will be used at a level appropriate for someone who has basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel.

Note: If you need to miss a live session, audio and text archives are available.

For additional information and to register:
http://www.lis.illinois.edu/programs/cpd/CPLA/bf.html

Adult literacy tutoring provides the personalized instructional setting some adult learners need.  For instance, at Lincoln Land Community College, an adult learner tried to complete an adult basic math class, but kept dropping out.  The man didn’t like participating in group work in the classroom for fear of appearing “dumb.” 

To overcome these issues, he was matched with a math tutor working one-to-one.  Not only did the student’s scores improve, but more importantly, his attitude toward math and his confidence improved greatly.  This adult learner is now a leader who often assists others needing help with math.  Tutors also provide the personalized attention that enables learners to overcome barriers to instruction. 

Another LLCC adult learner lost her job and could no longer afford to travel to a regional tutoring site about 15 miles from her home.  When she explained the problem to her tutor, the caring tutor found another location closer to the learner’s home.  The tutor took on the additional expense of driving to the learner rather than losing the adult learner.  This tutor made instruction possible for this adult learner.  When LLCC told this story, they were able to recruit another volunteer tutor who was impressed by this level of dedication.

At its meeting today on Friday, 27 August, ILA’s Executive Committee reviewed and adopted a draft plan addressing priorities for statewide cooperation to best serve Illinois residents. The plan was developed with input from more than 70 representatives of the Illinois library community that attended a summit meeting in the fall of 2009.

The FILC plan’s top two service priorities — delivery and shared catalogs — are in agreement with priority areas identified by the Illinois State Library and Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White. The other three areas addressed in priority order are group purchasing, library and professional development, and advocacy and marketing.  The plan provides description of current services in each of the five areas, along with short-term adjustments and longer-term goals, along with recommended next steps.

FILC co-chairs Dee Brennan and Donna Dziedzic will present the draft to Illinois State Library leadership on Wednesday, 1 September.  At the invitation of Illinois State Library Director Anne Craig, the plan will be shared with the Illinois State Library Advisory Committee in Springfield on Thursday, 2 September.  We anticipate the plan will be posted on the ILA Web site, shortly after Labor Day.

Additional presentations to other related organizations will be scheduled throughout September, culminating in a presentation at the ILA Membership Meeting, Wednesday, 29 September, Grand Ballroom, Navy Pier, Chicago.

If you are unable to attend this year’s conference, the virtual conference is a convenient and affordable way to stay abreast of current trends and issues.  Virtual sessions will be recorded and available for viewing on your own schedule, making them a valuable tool for ongoing professional development.

Attendees of the 2010 ILA Annual Conference at Navy Pier will be able to access the sessions free of charge, providing additional value to your conference registration. For more information, and to register, visit the ILA Virtual Conference Web site.

mySkills, myFuture: A New Tool for Job Seekers

As part of the ongoing collaboration between IMLS and the Employment & Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL/ETA), WebJunction is hosting this ETA presentation on the new job-seeking tool, mySkills, myFuture. Coming in September, this free online tool will enable job seekers to increase their career mobility and economic prospects.

Specifically, the self-paced tool will help previously employed to (1) use their previous experience to identify occupations that they might be qualified for; (2) identify the skills s/he needs to acquire to qualify for a specific job; (3) identify education or training institutions where these skills can be obtained; and (4) provide links to relevant job opportunities in national and state job banks. Libraries will want to add mySkills, myFuture to their resources to help job-seeking patrons in their community.

To register for this relevant and vital workshop visit L2.

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.

In response to the ongoing financial crisis facing the State of Illinois, five library systems have conducted joint planning discussions and have decided to seek a merger of the organizations in order to develop one strong and sustainable organization.  Each library system has signed a Letter of Intent, indicating their willingness to develop one strong and sustainable organization to meet the need of their member libraries. To create this new entity, each library system board has appointed representatives to a Merger Design Team who will meet over the next nine months to create a proposal for a new library system.

The Merger Design Team will work with a nonprofit merger consultant to develop a comprehensive merger proposal including a new governance structure and the identification of core system services. The first meeting of the Merger Design Team is scheduled for Wednesday, September 1, 2010, 7 p.m. at the Metropolitan Library System.