Maintain IT Webinar: Wireless Acceptable Use Policies
May 21 at 11:00 AM Pacific/2:00 PM Eastern
Louise Alcorn, Reference Technology Librarian at the West Des Moines Public Library and contributor to Recipes for a 5-Star Library Cookbook, and author of Wireless Networking: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians [and also a frequent conference blogger for the PLA Blog], chats about her experiences with wireless, including considerations around the ever-important wireless acceptable use policy. Take 30 minutes out of your day and learn from the experiences of others. Get started with wireless at your library!

WebJunction Webinar: Introduction to “Shaping Outcomes”
May 29 at 11:00 AM Pacific/2:00 PM Eastern
Join presenter Rachel Applegate as she introduces the online course, ‘Shaping Outcomes,’ which teaches the principles of an ‘outcomes-based planning and evaluation’ (OBPE). The course was originally developed to help LSTA and IMLS grant applicants create stronger grant proposals and stronger programs. Trainers can use the website and extensive instructor’s materials to deliver the course on their own, or enroll at www.shapingoutcomes.org. This webinar will provide an introduction to outcomes-based planning and evaluation.

Learning Webinar: Cultivating a Culture of Learning at the Library
June 10 at 11:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern
How much time does your library spend on “training?” Statistics show that most learning takes place on the job or with a coworker, yet as trainers we spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for and delivering classroom training. In this webinar you will learn why you need to get your staff out of the classroom and instead focus on creating a culture of learning in your library. Presented by guest speaker Lori Reed, Training Specialist for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County.

• How can we get librarians to take advantage of training opportunities?
• Is better marketing the answer?
• Is online education/training the way to go?
• How can you bottle the energy of having a cheerleader proselytize your workshops and training?
• Should institutions make continuing education mandatory to get librarians to take advantage?
• What types/categories of continuing education draw the most attendees?
• Does the trainer’s “name” matter? Would an expert translate to more attendees?
• When workshops partner with state/national organizations does that translate to better attendance? content?
• Feedback is necessary–what can be done with it?

Politics and Networking
Florida Library Association
Orlando, FL
November 13-14, 2007

Librarians need to understand their local political environment and network effectively with politicians in order to thrive in their communities. Participants in this training will learn how to:

• Assess local political issues, explain how local decisions are made, and know how federal, state and local statutes, ordinances and resolutions affect local decision-making.
• Identify key players, build coalitions and work collaboratively.
• Develop negotiation and conflict resolution skills, and understand how values and ethics influence political effectiveness.

Click here for a full class description and instructor bio.

Course Fee:

• $250 for PLA members and partners
• $300 for ALA members
• $400 for non-members

Register Now for Politics and Networking!

More and more people are accessing information and resources from home and work computers. Does that mean the physical library will go away? NO WAY! In this session we will talk about the evolving role of the physical library space. We will highlight innovative and interesting rural library examples. Join the Rural In Focus webinar facilitator, Brenda Hough, and guest presenter Cindi Hickey, Continuing Education Librarian and WebJunction Coordinator for the State Library of Kansas. Find information on joining the webinar in addition to archives of past webinars at Rural In Focus.

The webinar is FREE, and advanced registration is not required, you can just show up the day of. Visit WebJunction for information on how to attend the webinar, and to make sure your computer is ready to help you join the conversation. While you’re there, visit the archive of webinars (scroll down a bit on the page) that you can watch at your leisure.

Serving Diverse Populations
Prairie Area Library System
Rockford, Illinois
October 24-25, 2007

Equip yourself with the skills and knowledge librarians need to effectively serve diverse populations. At the end of the Serving Diverse Populations workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify the key issues and challenges of serving diverse populations; assess a library’s readiness to serve diverse populations; and apply intercultural communication techniques to the delivery of library services.
• Understand how diversity factors impact the delivery of library services and how cultural differences impact people’s perspectives on libraries and library service.
• Develop a culturally responsive library services plan that addresses identified community needs and develop marketing messages that connect with diverse populations.

Click here for a full class description and instructor bio.

Course Fee:

• $250 for PLA members and partners
• $300 for ALA members
• $400 for non-members

The webinar’s speaker, Nina Hess, is a Senior Editor at Mirrorstone, an imprint of the very famous and popular gaming company, Wizards of the Coast (publishers of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and much more). She edits fantasy fiction for children and teens. She is also the author of A Practical Guide to Monsters, which follows the company’s New York Times bestseller, A Practical Guide to Dragons. Needless to say, she is quite the expert.

I was invited to attend a preview of the webinar, and it’s an excellent Fantasy 101 crash course. Nina talks about:

• her experiences working at Mirrorstone (where she works in a “fantasy world”),
• why fantasy is so popular with kids, especially boys, and keeps them reading,
• the different flavors of fantasy plus a little on fantasy vs. science fiction,
• how fantasy and gaming can go hand-in-hand, and how tabletop role-play can lead to more kids in the library *and* more reading,
• program ideas that incorporate fantasy and fantasy reading

This webinar is a great place to start if you’re lost in fantasy, or just need a push in the right direction. Nina also talks about the many resources offered by her company (many of them free!) to help your library begin its journey into fantasy.

The program is coming up soon, so now is the time to register!

Event details:
A Practical Guide to Fantasy
Friday, September 28, 2007
11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Eastern Time [10 a.m. CT / 9 a.m. MT / 8 a.m. PT]
To Register: Send your name and contact information to . You may either email or call in your credit card information at 914-241-2117.
Cost: $50 per person
Group discounts:
10-49: $45/person
50-99: $40/person
100+: $35/person

What you’ll need: This is a Web-based seminar. Registered participants will receive participation instructions, log-on information and a toll-free number to dial in by telephone for the audio portion of the seminar upon payment of the registration fee.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Library Surveys
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET
“Surveys can be rich sources of information about your community’s needs and your library’s services and resources. When should you conduct a survey? What are the essential elements of an effective survey? How can you best evaluate your survey results? Colleen Eggett, Training Coordinator from the Utah State Library will be presenting and she has developed a Participant Guide as an option for those attending this session.”

If you’ve never attended a WebJunction webinar before, take a few moments to review the joining the webinar instructions in advance to make sure you’re all set up for the session. Also, feel free to post questions and comments here.

This session was an interesting one, but from my viewpoint, it’s one that got better as it went along. The first speaker, Lori Ayre, focused on things that I didn’t think really fit with this topic. She even said that she was going to talk about technologies “with levers and buttons, not we applications”. She covered things like central sorting systems, automated check in, and remote physical library service points, like book dispensers at airports, and library kiosks. And in my opinion, though interesting, this would’ve been better suited to the session on transforming your library space.

Anyway, next up was Casey Bisson who talked about the cool things he’s doing at Plymouth State University, and highlighted other library systems that have done innovative stuff in their OPAC. He began his talk with the statement “the library is more than about books – so should our library websites”. He said something I totally agree with: “the website is not a marketing tool; it’s a service point – as important as our physical library branches.” He highlighted small but innovative Tamworth Public Library, whose director utilizes a blog feature on their website to reflect questions received from customers. The example was regarding a particular gardening question received. Well instead of just answering the query (with book titles to try) for the one customer, this became a blog entry that all of their customers (and the rest of us!) can read and comment upon. What a fantastic approach to anticipating community information needs, and really making the most out of staff time spent doing readers advisory and/or reference work! He also carried a theme which I felt lends itself to the “Wisdom of Crowds” philosophy – epitomized, I think, by showing us the example of Beyond Brown Bag digital initiative that goes beyond the usual scanning and indexing of historic photographs, but then allows people to comment on the pictures themselves. It’s a fabulous project with over 11,000 pictures documenting the history of the Brown Paper Company of Berlin, New Hampshire from the late nineteenth century through the 1960s. This project allows everyone – but particular the older citizens in the area – to comment on the people in the picture, as well as what the picture is demonstrating or showing (the story behind the picture). What an inspiring way to use 2.0 technology to encourage connections and conversation about a city’s history – seen through the eyes of the people who worked there. Fabulous.

The third and final speaker of the session was Roy Tennant, whose respected reputation preceeds him, and I was not disappointed. His first main point was:
1) Technology is a tool… 2) used by people… 3) to accomplish goals

He then went on to elaborate why this very statement creates a tricky business: it can mean significant risk, we humans are messy and unpredictable, and there is a complicated mix of organization mission and vision, people and their abilities, society, and technology. Each of these variables change rapidly, independent of one another. Since this is a game of tradeoffs, Roy suggests that before making decisions consider the following:
-Understand the needs of your users
-Consider your mission and priorities
-Choose where to make a difference
-Get good advice from folks in the know
-Know your sources of support
-Consider a pilot or prototype
He then talked about finding the right people to help implement techology changes in your organization. The characteristics he advocates are:
-an ability to learn constantly
-demonstrated flexibility
-project management experience
-deep technical experience
-excellent communication skills
-enthusiasm.
Roy also made it clear that he would avoid folks that are always adopting the “latest and greatest” – there needs to be a balance between seeing something cool to look into, and rushing into implementing it in your organization because it looks so cool.
He then talked about the goal of creating agile organizations. He had the following tips:
-use committees for communication…
-and use task forces to accomplish work. These groups are specific and focused, and disband after the project/task is complete
-use the best people for the job (regardless of where they are in the “pecking order” of your organization)
-reward innovation (don’t directly or indirectly punish it)
-punish loitering (defined as folks just taking up space)
-take risks (and heavens, stop striving for unattainable perfection!)
-invest in infrastructure (lose your “poverty” mentality and stop trying to run your critical technologies on a shoestring budget. This is particularly critical for your human resources)
-invest in your staff (offer training opportunities and create an environment where staff is encouraged to play, learn, and have fun!)
-realize that not all changes are created equal (meaning: choose your battles)
-be opportunistic (exploit opportunities) and entrepreneurial (create opportunities)

Roy then finished his presentation with sharing the rules HE follows to keep himself running strong:

Learn only enough to get by. (What? We don’t have to learn it ALL…RIGHT NOW? I realize that this is simple common sense, but honestly I think we need to tell ourselves and our collegues this every day if necessary. Librarians are by nature “A” students, and in our attempt to be thorough and knowledgable, we are killing ourselves with unrealistic expectations.
-Learn when you have a problem to solve (He elaborated by saying he learns “just in time” – NOT “just in case.” Again I say a firm AMEN to that! How many times do we time our learning so that there’s no way to practice or apply what we’ve learned to a real life solution? That’s a perfect opportunity to fall prey to the “Use it or lose it” reality.)
-Find somebody experienced to show you 3 things about… (Well, anything, really. This encourages us to seek out collegues across the building or across the country to become “mini-mentors”. Then to return the favor. It forces us to admit that we DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING, and whew! what a relief to let that go, right?)
And the FINAL nugget ‘o truth:
Use what you learn, write it down, or kiss it goodbye (I’ll elaborate upon this to say that I believe there are times when each of those actions are completely appropriate. And I hope you notice what is NOT listed as an option: obsessing about things “slipping by” you and stress about keeping multiple balls in the air. Decide which balls to keep up in the air yourself, pass some off to your co-workers, and darn it – let some fall…and don’t rush to pick them up – just see what happens…)

Nancy Pearl
First I arrive bright and early to see Nancy Pearl speak. It was fascinating to hear how each of her books came into being, especially her lastest book, Book Crush. She gave some suggestions of books for children and teens such as :
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz
The Paperboy by Pete Dexter
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Lee
Each Little Bird that Sings by Deborah Wiles
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
The Great Good Thing by Rod Townley
Ragweed by Avi
The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck
Thirsty by MT Anderson
Feed by MT Anderson
Looking for Normal by Betty Monthei
Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis

Off the Chain: Reader’s Advisory for Exploding Genres
I really enjoyed this program. I won’t go into too many details because one of my fellow bloggers have done a great job detailing the program. I know that RUSA/PLA CODES will be having the handouts from their program on their websites. I found the program very interesting and has given me more authors and books to add to my list of books to read. I liked the many ways of finding out about new literature online, such as lit blogs and email lists as well as MySpace.

English Only: Censorship and its Impact on Latino Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries
I came into this program about half way through but I am glad I did. This program was given by AFL REFORMA. I missed the presentation part, but I did come in just as they started the discussion groups for different types of libraries. The public library discussion group was led by Rose Trevino. This gave people from different library systems a chance to ask questions and talk about how their library systems have their foreign languages materials placed in the collection and any programming that they have in foreign languages. Suggestions were also given on how to start a collection or to grow your current collection.

Future Friends: Marketing Reference and User Services to Generation X
This program was given by RUSA RSS. The handouts for this program will also be posted on RUSA’s blog. First the presenters went into defining Generation X and the facts about this generation. They then presented what this particular generation are looking for when it comes to services and potential segments of this generation. After defining Generation X, the presentation then went into how this would pertain to advertising to this generation and the different stages to planning advertising.
The next part of this program had St. Charles Library system in Illinois talk about their programs that they have for 20- and 30-somethings’ as well how they market those programs. They also gave examples of different programs, such as a cooking for 1 or 2 program, white elephant exchange, creating a safe online presence, a course on wine, and an history crawl of the town. Then they followed with some of the challenges that they have had with marketing as well as what they have learned.
Following this presentation was another presentation on the Young Friends of the Kansas City Public Library a.k.a BooksEnds. They went over what the group was and also how they marketed to their Generation X population.

Final Thoughts on ALA Annual Conference 2007
Unfortunately this was my last day at the conference. After attending different programs on Sunday, I took the time to go to the Library School Reunion Event at the Rennaissance Mayflower Hotel. It was great being able to see some fellow alumni from University of South Florida along with some of the professors that I had taken classes from. It was a good way to end my last day at the conference. I have had a blast at this year’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. I am looking forward to the next time I can attend an Annual Conference. I have found out a lot of useful information to take back to my library. I also have had a great time blogging about my experiences and the different programs that I have attended. So it’s been fun and I hope all those staying through Tuesday ave a great rest of conference. This is Catherine Moffatt signing off.

On behalf of GODORT and its International Documents Task Force I would like to invite PLA members to a preconference on International documents to be held Thursday, June 21, 2007 at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. as part of ALA’s Annual Conference. Registration is available through ALA by registering for the 2007 Annual Conference at: http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2007a/home.htm

As the International Government Organizations disseminate more of their information on the Web for free, we all have an opportunity to incorporate international government information into our library work.

The tentative schedule [included with the original email, here only linked to] is available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/godort/godortcommittees/godortprogram/preconf2007.htm

Thank you,
Chuck

Thank you, Chuck, for inviting us!

If you are a public librarian attending this preconference, and are interested in writing about it on the PLA Blog, drop us a line and let us know.