• Advocating in a Tough Economy
• Libraries and the Internet
• The Librarian’s Guide to Gaming
• The Small but Powerful Toolkit for Winning Support for Your Rural Library

You don’t need to be an ALA member to take advantage of these great resources.  Add the ALA Library Resources web page to your list of places to turn when you need help or information at your library.

Here is the line up for MaintainIT’s winter webinars.  They are FREE and you don’t have to leave your desk to attend!  Register for the events you want to attend (see the links below).  Want to stay in the loop with MaintainIT?  Subscribe to the events page RSS feed to be automatically notified of upcoming MaintainIT webinars, train-the-trainers and book clubs.  

Laptop Labs: Creating, Maintaining, and Using Them
When: 12/09/2008 11:00am – 11:30am Pacific
Register: http://tinyurl.com/5t2zne
Duration: 30 Minutes
Description: Maybe you’ve been dreaming about building a laptop lab to use for training and now you’re ready to make it a reality. What should you buy? What kind of maintenance will be involved? How have other libraries used laptop labs? Join this fast-paced and interactive webinar to find out more. Take 30 minutes out of your day to learn from the experiences of others and get something started. This webinar is offered in collaboration with WebJunction. Remote Desktop Software: A MaintainIT Book Club Discussion
When: 12/16/2008 11:00am – 12:00pm Pacific
Register: http://tinyurl.com/6ebvn6
Duration: One hour
Description: Every month, MaintainIT hosts an online book club discussion. We select a chapter from one of the free Cookbooks, invite people to read it, and then meet to discuss. December’s Book Club Topic is: Remote Desktop Software.

Keeping up with technology: A MaintainIT webinar
When: 12/12/2008 11:00am – 12:00pm Pacific
Register: http://tinyurl.com/5w2gdn
Duration: One hour
Description: Keeping up with technology can seem overwhelming. In that sea of information, where do you find relevant resources for your library? In this free webinar, we’ll explore some of those resources… and why you’ll reap a number of benefits when investigating new resources, saving time and money.

Using MaintainIT Resources for Technology Training: Focus on Best Practices
Event Type: Train-the-Trainer
When: 12/17/2008 11:00am – 12:00pm Pacific
Register: http://tinyurl.com/6jnuod
Duration: One hour
Description: The MaintainIT Project has gathered hundreds of stories and best practice examples related to public access computing in libraries. We have created resources that may be of use to you in the training you provide. We’ll review some of the ways libraries are using our resources for training and showcase best practices for technology training in public libraries.

ARCHIVE NOW AVAILABLE:  In case you missed one of the webinars, or if you want revisit one again, visit: http://www.maintainitproject.org/events/archive.  Each new webinar will be added to the archive within a day after it’s debut.

ALAWON
Volume 17, Number 015
June 6, 2008

Sign Up for Stephanie Vance’s “Persistence Pays” Advocacy Webinar!

Advocacy “guru” Stephanie Vance has hosted several advocacy webinars in the past few months and now is your chance to sign up for the next one, set for Thursday, June 12! The question is, what is the number one thing that separates the effective advocate from the, well, not so effective? It’s not cash, it’s not access, it’s persistence! By investing just a few minutes of your time per week, you can build an amazing relationship with your elected officials. And the good news is that you can do all this without having to travel or do much more than pick up the phone and arrange a tour. You’ll come away from the session with specific ideas on following up from your National Library Legislative Day meetings (if you participated) or connecting with lawmakers while they’re back home during the summer months. If you want more attention, more support and, frankly, more financial support for your library, this is the session for you!

Persistence Pays! Ideas for Connecting with Lawmakers at Home

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/868735745

Thursday, June 12, 2008
4:00 – 5:00 PM EDT ]]> http://webjunctionworks.org/ks/blog/?feed=rss2&p=191 0 http://webjunctionworks.org/ks/blog/?p=183 http://webjunctionworks.org/ks/blog/?p=183#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:46:53 +0000 Cindi /ks/blog/?p=183 Now you have access to the full training manual (PDF format) for the Public Administration workshop. You can glimpse what the manual contains by browsing the manual’s table of contents. Thank you Cynthia Berner_Harris and the Wichita Public Library crew (see below for picture and details) for this handy resource.

Shannon Roy led the State Library’s Public Administration Workshop this past weekend (June 6 & 7) at the Holiday Inn in Salina. I was lucky enough to sit in on Friday’s session and what a treat it was.

The workshop kicked off with a keynote session by Kate Marek who got her doctorate from SLIM and is now on the faculty of the library school at Dominican University. Kate’s presentation, “Influences on Public Libraries: Finding Trends in the Literature and in Society”. led us on a tour de force of literature outside the library profession that can inform us about trends in society and give us ideas for new library services and products. Kate’s reading list inludes titles that cover findability, generational issues, organizational schemes and more.

After her session, I caught up with Kate and got her video recommendation for Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizatons”. Click here to see Kate talking about the book. (This is an mpg file. The video clip runs just over 2 minutes.)

A crack training team from Wichita Public Library took over for the rest of the workshop. Trainers Cynthia Berner-Harris, Jean Hatfield and Jaime Prothro expertly led us through topics such as: effective meetings, planning and mission statements, tools for decision making, policy development, budgeting, and customer service. Lots of power packed into a day and a half!

If you didn’t make it to the workshop, watch WebJunction Kansas for the training manual (an excellent resource in itself). In the meantime, check out our Flickr photos from the workshop.

http://www.stservicemovie.com/
Based on The Simple Truths of Service, inspired by Johnny the Bagger. (Don recommends you get out a hankie for this one.)

Then lighten things up with The Library Cheer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f0wfj3JBZg

Don’t forget these online courses on the WebJunction Kansas Course Catalog:

• UNT – Providing Excellent Customer Service in a Multi-Cultural Environment
• UNT – Managing Difficult Patrons with Confidence!

P.S. You might also want to look at, “Difficult Patron Behavior: Success Stories from the WebJunction Community.”

REMINDER: UNT Course enrollments will not be affected by the transition to the NEW WebJunction Kansas.

• Understand the nature of copyright: subject matter, exclusive rights, duration, etc.
  Become aware of liability issues in copyright: direct, vicarious and contributory infringement and basic “immunities” or remission provisions
• Be prepared to navigate the basic provisions of the copyright law and its related compliance obligations in practical settings: section 108, 109 and 110
• Understand fair uses: basics and applied (digital environments)

We just love Tom Lipinski. He takes what can be a dry subject and
makes it very approachable…He explains things so that they are understandable,
accepts questions at any time from the audience during his presentation,
and can add a little background on a topic if an audience member does
not understand a concept.

Tom has traveled the world, and has a PhD in library science as well
as a law degree — but has no ‘attitude’—and always seems willing to
help out fellow librarians of all types or others working in the library
field. I heartily recommend Tom! — Donna Tieberg, Program Manager
North Suburban Library System, IL

*On Thursday, June 5, Dr. Lipinski will be presenting workshops in South Hutchinson, at the SCKLS Offices & Training Center. Contact Nancy Malone at SCKLS, 1-800-234-0529, for more information.

Neffs inner light shining. Very Angelic.
Originally uploaded by royce kitts

Wow! Library Camp KS was awesome!

For one the day started off with me welcoming all the rock stars to the event: Brenda Hough, Joshua Neff, Erin Downey Howerton, David Lee King, Michael Sauers, Cindi Hickey. Yeah, it was pretty intense. Plus added to the mix was a lot of my school friends from ESU. Brian, Dan, Lily, Jen 1, Jen 2…quite the time.

My experience was actually really cool. I went in thinking “what in the world am i going to learn today”. But instead I actually served as a resource to others.

My first session was on customer service. We told stories, looked at some online resources, and did quite an extensive wiki update on customer service (alas, we also figured out that two people editing the same wiki page is no good idea.) Some real good ideas, mainly we focused on:

-how do you train someone

-how do you pick the right person

-what do you do when they suck.

The second session was a lunch session. From what I heard, some groups didn’t really get to talk about anything, but oh was my group different. We spent the entire lunch period talking about what our favorite 2.0 things are, and how we use them in the library, and what potential uses other technologies might have. We talked enough my food got cold, but it was the Hibachi Hut and they serve the best food. I used to work there, so I got the star treatment, such as taking my own menus to the table and passing out the silverware.

In the morning we picked the topics, so for the third session I knew it was going to be on gaming. I ran to my library over lunch and picked up a wii. And for the gaming session we hooked it up and those who hadn’t played it before got a chance to check it out. During that time those of us who had put on tourneys, or are into gaming, talked about what has worked and what didn’t. Mainly we discovered that just plugging the games in is enough to get participation. Also, it still seems that the biggest hurdle to gaming is going up against the whole “its the ruin of civilization” argument. We had fun.

The afternoon ended with a bull session on what we thought. Some of the things I picked up on:

-Regional unconferences

-something in the western part of the state (let’s face it people, everything is done in the eastern part of the state, and as Kathy Rippel alluded to “Salina is not western Kansas. You gotta love Kathy, she always says what others won’t say.)

-keep the wiki going, make it your friend -bring lunches in (im not a fan of this idea, i like informal library lunches, you box the lunches in and it just zaps the fun out of it.)

Overall I give the day an A-. The minus based solely on the fact that I meant to get a pic of myself with Josh and his bowtie, but he wore a regular tie.

Kudos to Brenda and Jason…..and to Jason again. Good job everyone.

Flicker Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roycekitts/sets/72157604164018604/

Stephanie has compiled a list of tutorial links covering children’s and young adults services, collection development, copyright, genealogy, the Internet, information literacy, marketing, medical information, reference, trustee training and more. Browse the list to see what the site can offer you.

If you need more in depth training, check out the WebJunction Kansas course catalog for courses covering computer application, management issues, services to children and youth and much more.

Make learning part of your work routine!

ABOUT THE COURSE
Without good communications skills a librarian will have a difficult time being a good reference librarian. However, without solid competence in reference skills and knowledge, a librarian is not a librarian. This reference expertise is why information seekers—all potential and current library users—will choose to use virtual reference services instead of just Googling on their own. Reference competencies involve searching, critical thinking, and information organization skills, as well as knowledge of specific reference sources and information-finding tools. Competent reference librarians are aware of the publication processes, both print and electronic, and the policies, procedures, organization, and legal environment of their specific library or library organization.

In this workshop participants will engage in learning activities, supported by readings as well as lecture and discussion to maintain and build on the reference competencies required by effective virtual reference librarians.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you will have:

• · Ability to be approachable — to maintain and project a welcoming and enthusiastic reference service attitude through text-based communications
  
• · Awareness of and ability to apply organizational policies relevant to any given user of a specific virtual reference service
  
• · Detailed functional knowledge of ready-reference sources of information, such as encyclopedias, almanacs, indices, bibliographies and standard reference works in print and electronic formats
  
• · Awareness of the best or core reference sources available in print and electronic formats, and of the range of information resources that may be used in the delivery of reference services for selected subjects and general reference
• · Ability to conduct good reference interviews, to analyze reference questions using knowledge of the structures, organization, and accessibility of information in print and electronic formats
  
• · Awareness of the need to and ability to evaluate information resources for their appropriateness in level, scope, and format for a given user

Additional learning outcomes are detailed on the course description page, located at http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlproftools/virtualref3.cfm.

INSTRUCTOR
Diane Kovacs, Kovacs Consulting, has taught virtual reference related concepts and skills online and in-person for more than 14 years. She is the author of The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environments. Additional Biographical Information is available at http://www.kovacs.com/aboutus.html.

REGISTRATION
Registration for this seminar is now open. For additional information and a link to the online registration form, visit: http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlproftools/virtualref3.cfm

ACRL and ALA members will receive a registration discount. The seminar is limited to 60 participants, so register early. Payment may be made by credit card or purchase order (PO) only.

ACRL member: $135
ALA member: $175
CACUL member: Can$195 (charges will be made in U.S. dollars)
Nonmember: $195
Student: $60

********

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals.

And yes, Royce has a favorite webinar: The Accidental Technology Trainer (Learning Webinar October 2007)

These archived webinars allow the user to not only take the course at their own pace, but they also serve as a great online resource that is always there.

Don’t let me forget however that there is a really cool webinar coming up starring none other than Pat Wagner herself. Many of us remember Pat Wagner from KPLACE, or the numerous trips she has made to Kansas to speak on leadership topics. Her seminars are engaging, entertaining, and educational.

The date for Pat’s webinar:

Pat Wagner on Library Leadership and LE@D
Wednesday February 13, 2008
When: Wednesday February 13th, 2008 – 01:00 PM
Where: Central Time

See you there.