BlogJunction Vermont
A blog by the VT Dept. of Libraries to communicate with the VT library community
Following up on Amy Howlett’s article in the DOL News No. 139, Winter 2008(in PDF format), I have been making some changes to the toolbar, cleaning up links and adding a few others. If you would rather skip all of my blathering about the toolbar that follows, just go to http://librariesvermont.mylibrarytoolbar.com/Home/ to get a taste of some of the things on the toolbar. At the bottom of this page you will find a link for downloading the toolbar.
The free download of the toolbar is available directly at http://librariesvermont.MyLibraryToolbar.com. Choose the Firefox download or the Internet Explorer (for IE 5.0 and up), depending on your internet browser. If you need a free updated browser before downloading the toolbar, try Mozilla’s Firefox browser from http://www.mozilla.com/. Firefox is compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
In addition to the functions that Amy mentioned in her article (direct links to DOL sites like the VALS webmail, the ILL search screen on Web2 & the DOL Continuing Calendar and directed searches of the DOL website, Worldcat and other sites), there are a couple of other functions you may want to check out.
The Feeds button/drop-down pulls in postings from this blog, the DOL Continuing Ed. Calendar, the VLA website. If there other feeds that you think would be useful, please suggest them and we can add them. Something that may fall into the category of a function in search of a need is the “Who is online” button. Clicking on it, brings you to an online chat space where other toolbar users who have also clicked on the button are available for conversation. I would love your feedback on whether this button might actually be useful or if it just another bright and shiny object that has caught my eye. Look for “Sheila” in this chat space if you want to try it out.
Finally, if you have downloaded the toolbar, you may want to verify that it is being updated. You can update on demand by clicking on the VT Libraries drop-down and the far left of the toolbar. The first item in the dropdown is “Refresh Toolbar” and will bring in any changes that may have been made. Also, at the bottom of this same drop-down list you will find “Toolbar Options” where you can select the Enable Automatic Updates check-box on the “Additional Settings” tab.
In addition to the self-paced workshops that are available to the Vermont library community, WebJunction is now offering facilitated courses. These workshops are scheduled on a certain day and time determined by the organization hosting the course. These courses have an instructor who teaches the course content and encourages you to collaborate with other participants in the course. Usually, there is a web conferencing system you must log into. The audio portion of the web conferencing system often uses VOIP but sometimes the audio can be accessed using a telephone.
Before signing up, please note the technical requirements necessary and check to see if your computer has the appropriate technology.
And, as with the other WebJunction offerings, these can be used towards Public Librarian Certification.
The current offerings are:
*Metadata for Digitized Resources
This course meets for four two-hour sessions. There will be two separate sessions offered 10/9/07 – 10/12/07 and 12/11/07 – 12/14/07.
*Social Software in Libraries
This course meets for four two-hour sessions. There will be two separate sessions 10/1/07 – 10/4/07 and 11/13/07 – 11/16/07
*How to Learn Online
This course meets for a one-hour session on 11/08/07
*Creating Your Next Generation Library Website: Incorporating Social Software and Web 2.0 Tools into Your Online Presence
This course meets for three two-hour sessions 11/27/07 – 11/30/07
*RSS and Other Internet Feeds in the Library: Making Content Convenient
This course meets for a two-hour session on 11/15/07
*Developing and Managing Digital Programs Webinar
This course meets for a two-hour session on 10/09/07 or 12/4/07
*Digital Image Quality Webinar
This course meets for a two-hour session on 11/06/07
For more information about the courses and to register, please go to:
http://vt.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=442
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 828-3261 or mara.siegel@dol.state.vt.us.