Your Personal (Library) Trainer

PLA Virtual Conference - Sign up for sessions!

2010-03-12T14:56:00.008-05:00

Not going to be in Portland for the 13th National Conference of the Public Library Association?

All Cumberland County Library System staff are invited by the Capital Area Library District (CALD) to attend individual sessions during the PLA's 2010 Virtual Conference, and it's being hosted at CADM in the computer training lab! There will be 6 sessions on each day - March 24 and 25 - between 10:45 am and 6:15 pm.

CALD purchased 9 seats per session as an opportunity for continuing education, and each participant will receive 1 CE credit for each session attended. There is a limit of 9 people in the room at any time, so sign-ups are on a first come, first serve basis. Pick and choose the sessions that most interest you!

After the event, each library will be billed for their attendees. It will cost $5 for each person to attend each session. Please try not to cancel at the last minute, because then we’d have empty seats.

View session names and sign up from the CCLS staff Intranet. Find details and links for Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26. Hope to see you there!

MLS Scholarships from PaLA

2010-02-24T14:57:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the continued support of both individuals and corporate sponsors, three MLS Scholarships are available to Pennsylvania residents and Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) personal members who are seeking a Master's degree in the Library Science field that will earn them professional status.

Deadline for submission is May 15, 2010. This $1,500 award requires that twelve credits must be completed toward the degree during the scholarship year. Verification of enrollment in an ALA accredited program and three references are required.

Read more about it on the PaLA website.

Engaging Your Audience with a Poll

2010-02-17T12:54:00.003-05:00

Every so often I come across a really cool (mostly free) tool that I want to share with the world. This is one of them! My thanks to Buffy Hamilton for making a very detailed posting about it on the ALA Learning blog. She starts by saying:

One of the coolest tools I have discovered for engaging teen learners....as well as adult participants in my presentations is the service Poll Everywhere.
Poll Everywhere allows you to pose a question to your audience via an embedded widget on your website or blog; you can also embed a poll directly into a PowerPoint! Your audience members can then respond to your poll via SMS text, Twitter, or the web.

Please read the full post to learn more about it. She give real life examples of putting this tool to use with photos and tutorials. Use of this technology is free for questions allowing up to 30 responses, which is perfect for a small training session or a teen advisory group. And you can customize the auto-responder message for cell phone users. Poll results automatically update on your PowerPoint slide, web pages, blog posts, web forums or almost any other technology that works in a web browser.

If you are a Cumberland County library staff person and decide to use this, please let me know! I'd love to hear about your success or experience.

Bee Alert - Google is Rolling out New Tools!

2010-02-16T16:51:00.003-05:00

Google Buzz is a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more with the world, or your just your friends. Through your existing Gmail account, you can start sharing each time you post from your computer or mobile device. Google Buzz connects to other sites - currently Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, and Twitter - so you can seamlessly share what you're doing around the web. And of course you can edit your privacy settings.

Check it out on YouTube:

You'll want to know more about Google Buzz, because as word spreads (and it spreads the minute you open your Gmail account!), you'll want to be able to assist library customers with questions.

Read more about it on the Google blog. Find information on editing privacy settings at the SaveDelete blog. Or learn how to rid your life of it altogether at CNET News.

Webinars for Policy Makers

2010-02-15T10:38:00.000-05:00

I ran across a couple of online webinar sessions that will not be hosted as CCLS trainings, but may be of interest to library managers and policy review team members. CCLS, with the help of our soliciter, just finalized some policies related to photography and videography in the library, but this still looks like it would be an informative and thought provoking webinar. It is brought to the library community by Infopeople.org:

Library Laws for the Mobile Web Environment
This one-hour webinar will be of interest to library managers, anyone who works public service, those who create content for library social networking sites, and those looking for guidance regarding a variety of situations facing libraries using the mobile web and social networking.

This presentation will be archived, or participate live on Thursday, February 18 at 3:00 pm.

If policy writing and online learning interest you, you might also enjoy the following Infopeople webinars, which are archived and available anytime:

Snuggle up with a Web Conference!

2010-02-08T14:33:00.004-05:00

Just in time for the snowstorm!

Tomorrow and Wednesday, WebJunction is hosting a free two-day online conference called Technology Essentials 2010.

The focus is

"on practical and timely strategies for leveraging technology to help you in a wide range of library services and operations, including:
Staff training
Marketing
Outreach, funding, advocacy
Services and programming
Technology planning
Virtual libraries
Your library's web presence"

Session and speaker information is available on WebJunction and there is still space available for additional registrants.

There are short, one-hour talks on a variety of topics. Log in and use WebEx (client download required) to access the training, and you can come and go to sessions as you like. Use VoIP or a toll free phone number for audio access, and complete the post-conference survey for CE credits.

CCLS staff are asked to use the wireless connection at their libraries, or a home computer connection, in order to avoid overtaxing the CCLS computer network. That is, assuming our buildings are open!

As for me, despite the snow, I'll be participating from some virtual location...either home or office!

Shmoop Overview for Teachers on SlideShare

2010-02-02T17:13:00.002-05:00

Since writing my last post, I found this overview that also looks very informative!

Shmoop Overview for Teachers: Fun, Rigorous Resources for Your Classroom

View more presentations from Shmoop .

Are You Using Shmoop?

2010-02-02T16:33:00.003-05:00

I'm feeling a little out of the loop that I hadn't heard of Shmoop! And I'm not going to claim to be an expert on it here, rather point you in the direction to learn more, and encourage anyone who has had experience with it to comment.

I enjoyed reading about it on CNET and on the Shmoop site, which includes a video explanation of Shmoop and testimonials from users.

Shmoop’s mission is to make learning and writing fun and relevant for students in the digital age. Shmoop subjects span from middle school to college levels, with an emphasis on high school curriculum with free student Learning Guides in literature, poetry, bestsellers, history, civics, biography, and music.

There are also Teacher's Guides with free access to standards-based activities and related interdisciplinary readings and fee access to discussion and essay questions, quizzes, and activities for relating the topic to current events and pop culture.

Shmoop content is written by master teachers and Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and other top universities.

There are Firefox Add-ons for Shmoop and Shmoop online books for your eReader. Follow Shmoop on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or their own blog and learn more!

In this age where Pennsylvania libraries and schools are losing so many resources, I'm curious if this will fill in some of the gaps?

Computers in Libraries - Save 50%

2010-02-02T15:50:00.004-05:00

The 25th annual Computers in Libraries conference is taking place in Arlington, VA at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City on April 12 - 14, and the theme this year is Information Fluency: Literacy for Life.

Check out the Conference at a Glance, and follow progress before, during and after the conference on the CIL Wiki.

Lyrasis members can benefit from a 50% discount on the registration fee. Pay $244 for the full conference fee by registering through Lyrasis (not Information Today) using the fax registration form created just for this special fee. It must be to Lyrasis by March 8 (the form says March 15, but the web site says March 8!) to be eligible.

Looking for another money saving tip? We saved over $1000 by renting a townhouse near a Metro station!

What's the BIG Idea?™ Training - CCLS Staff are Invited!

2010-02-01T13:24:00.003-05:00

Have you always wanted to incorporate math and science into your library programming and resources? What's the BIG Idea?™ will help you make math and science connections to the programs you're already doing with young children and their families. It will help you bring science and mathematics content, skills and processes to almost any interaction you have with them.

With What's the BIG Idea?™ you will:

Increase the number of children attending your programs
Get children excited about math and science
Use hands-on activities to make books come alive
Meet national and local education standards
Have fun!

Children learn math and science by doing math and science. They need to ask questions, have discussions, explore using a variety of materials, collect data and talk about what they're doing. Picture books are a powerful tool to help introduce children to math and science. Make your story hours come alive with math and science activities for young children and their families.

A What’s the Big Idea? workshop will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 PM on Thursday, February 25th at the Hershey Library. Directions can be found on their website, www.hersheylibrary.org. Library staff members should register by February 19 if you are planning to attend, so that the appropriate number of take-home materials can be ordered.

Here is the agenda, in brief:

What IS the Big Idea and how it relates to state standards
Fun graphing activity (we promise!)
Real life experiences of using What’s the Big Idea in a local library
Hands-on exploration of program materials with a special focus on Make a Splash! Summer theme
How to plan What’s the Big Idea programs, including hands-on planning time
Conclusion & evaluation

You will earn 3 hours of continuing education credits for attending. If you have any questions, visit http://www.mothergooseprograms.org to find out more about the What’s the Big Idea? program.

State Budget Cuts Mean Fewer Databases on POWER Library

2010-01-28T10:38:00.004-05:00

While POWER Library’s EBSCOhost database subscriptions officially ended on December 31, 2009, EBSCO has ensured that access to the affected resources was uninterrupted for the standard one-month grace period.

Please be advised that this grace period will end on January 31, 2010. This means all schools and public library sites in Pennsylvania will no longer have access to EBSCOhost databases. This is in addition to the POWER Library databases that have already expired.

You may or may not be aware that CCLS has three representatives working with other librarians in the Capital Area Library System to determine, based on what we are losing and the prices we can negotiate, how some of these resources may be replaced at the local level.

You will see these databases disappearing from our Databases tab on HIP and the Searchable Resources page of the web site.

For a limited time, you will find specific database information and the names of our Reference Database team members on the Computer Services News site (Intranet login required.)

WebJunction PA is Here!

2010-01-13T12:58:00.007-05:00

HSLC/Access PA and WebJunction partner to provide WebJunction Pennsylvania (WJPA).

Pennsylvania joins over fifteen other states in this cooperative educational system. Under grant from the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries, library employees, library board members, and trustees in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania receive access to discount online courses.

To access the subsidized courses, eligible persons must create a free account on WebJunction or edit an existing one. Be sure to request affiliation with WebJunction Pennsylvania (found under the My Affiliations tab when editing your account.)

Enrolling for courses through the WebJunction Pennsylvania site provides an opportunity to earn CE credits at a very low cost and no travel time. The WebJunction system keeps track of courses taken and can generate a certificate upon course completion.

Log into the CCLS Intranet site for more information.

Libraries can also apply to spotlighted on the PA home page, and listed in the Pennsylvania Spotlights. Download the form and send it in - full information is available on the WebJunction PA site.

10 Things Every Raiser's Edge User Should Know

2009-12-17T15:17:00.000-05:00

While reading my latest issue of The User's Edge, Blackbaud's newsletter for Raiser's Edge users, I came across some great checklists that will help users be most effective with the software.

All CCLS Raiser's Edge users should check this one out:

Ready Reference: 10 Things Every Raiser's Edge User Should Know - The User's Edge

Each topic has a link to the Blackbaud Knowledge Base (site login required - most users have one and can be emailed usernames and passwords through the site help; if you need one, contact Jonelle.) The Knowledge Base also links to video demos and user guides for some of the topics.

These are all topics covered in the three sessions of basic training offered by the CCLS training services department, but if you'd like a refresher, it's a great resource!

eBooks on the CCLS Web Site

2009-12-11T10:26:00.002-05:00

For those avid bakers out there who don't mind reading a book online, NetLibrary's December eBook of the Month through AccessPA is the full text of The Modern Baker: Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes and Cookies by Nick Malgieri.

You can get to NetLibrary by going to our web site, clicking on Library Collection > Searchable Resources > eBooks > NetLibrary.

Feel free to read it and try the techniques out on me! (PS - CCLS libraries also own one hard copy at New Cumberland Public Library.)

Where I've Been: Usability World!

2009-11-18T17:08:00.004-05:00

So if you've been wondering where I've been and why I haven't been blogging...well...just to scratch the surface, I've been involved in a major web site redesign, planning a state-wide library conference and getting ready to roll out a new operating system and Office suite.

The web site usability testing, which we did with diverse groups of library users from all age and skill levels, was a wonderful learning experience. It led to completely redesigning the site, learning a new content-management system, writing web site policies and providing training to new web site editors. And the work continues as we maintain the site and build the staff Intranet!

I was pleased that our consultant, Kathy McShea, was chosen as a speaker at the PaLA Annual Conference so that our story could be shared. Even if you weren't there, you can see and hear all about it on her web site.

I've got to tell you, I view all web sites with a completely new perspective now... Ours was a site that was organization-centric, the audience was unclear, the navigation was unclear, duplication was a huge problem and we were ineffective in promoting key events and happenings at the library.

Now it is very focused on the needs of library users and centers around them, it's clear which audiences we are targeting, our navigation makes sense and is transparent for the visitor, the duplication has been avoided through unification and targeted direction, and we have found effective ways to highlight important events and information.

Whew! It's been a long ride, but absolutely worth the time and effort!

Tech Training Made Simple with Online Videos

2009-11-18T16:32:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's true. I haven't blogged in over a year... time to get back on the wagon!

I thought I'd start by sharing a link to the presentation I just got done assisting with. I was thrilled, and a little star-struck, to be asked to participate in an online workshop through TechSoup called Tech Training Made Simple with Online Videos. (Star-struck because Lee LeFever from CommonCraft was speaking, and I've been a fan for a LONG time!)

The bold link above is to the training video archive. I hope if you watch it you find something inspiring and informative! Here is a description of the training:

Wouldn’t it be great if complicated technology concepts were explained in a simple way that’s easy to understand? Imagine how something like this could assist you in training sessions for patrons or staff. Well look no further, Common Craft creates explanatory videos “In Plain English” that cover topics like green, money, society and technology.
In this free webinar, Stephanie Gerding from TechSoup will interview Lee LeFever, from Common Craft to learn more about their videos and how they are created. We will also hear how Mary Beth Faccioli from the Colorado State Library and Carolyn Blatchley from Cumberland County Library System in Pennsylvania are using these videos to support the needs of their community.

PaLA SCC Fall Workshop Registration

2008-08-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

The Pennsylvania Library Association South Central Chapter (PaLA SCC) is sponsoring a fall workshop at the PaLA SCC Annual Meeting on October 1 at Elizabethtown College. The brochure is available for download as a PDF. The cost is $17 for PaLA Members, and $22 for non-members.

Register by September 17 by completing the registration form on the brochure, and returning it to the Hershey Public Library (Attn: PaLA-SCC Registration) with a check made out to PaLA.

Below are the agenda details. See the brochure for complete information on this event (and if you don't know to hover over the word "brochure" or "download" above in order to link to the brochure, you might want to attend The Cyber Smorgasbord session!)

Yes, I Can Help You! : Proactive Preparation for Public Service

8:30 am Registration & Refreshments

9:00 am Morning Session: Challenges of the Problem Patron

11:30 am Lunch

12:15 pm Business Meeting

1:15 pm Concurrent Afternoon Sessions:

The Cyber Smorgasbord
Playing it Safe @ your Library

2:45 pm Announcements/Evaluation

Hope to see you there!

Computers in Libraries 2009

2008-08-05T16:04:00.003-05:00

It's not too early to be making plans to attend Computers In Libraries 2009!

The conference will be held March 30 - April 1, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City (Arlington.) Last year a small group of us attended, and we saved a lot of money by accepting the palinet rate (which they will hopefully offer again this year) and renting a three-bedroom house through HomeAway.com that was near public transportation.

Anyone interested in listening to the 2008 presentations in Mp3 format and viewing some of the slideshows can borrow the interactive CD-ROM of the full conference program. It is cataloged as part of the Capital Area Library District Professional Collection, which is located at the Harrisburg Downtown Library (call# 021.2 COM).

Design with the User in Mind

2008-07-29T18:59:00.002-05:00

We are in the process of a website redesign, creating what we hope will be a destination on the web for our users. There is a fairly diverse team of staff working on personas in order to identify needs. We plan to base our work on best practices in the field, and to do extensive usability testing and continued redesign until we have the best site within our ability.

That's exciting, and I do believe we are going through the best, most productive process possible, but this video cracked me up!

Sometimes this is how it feels when designing anything! We focus on the smallest details, and constantly look for feedback continually updating, and still come out with a product that doesn't work for everyone.

I hope if you are reading this you get a chuckle too.

Return of the Blog People

2008-07-29T13:02:00.002-05:00

Many staff members know that I've been maintaining this blog since March of 2006, and I've really slacked off on it over the past year. My reasoning was really based on low participation by the intended audience - CCLS Training Advisory Team members and Library Directors - but I've decided I just need to keep trying.

What inspired me? Well, first of all, I'm writing a grant proposal for training, which will include a Web 2.0 program based on the work of Helene Blowers. I met Helene last year at CODI 2007 when I attended her session called Learning 2.0: Explore, Discover & Play. At that point, she gave me permission to copy any materials she had already created. I have a lot of things pulled together at a wiki I use to keep updated (maybe this will also re-inspire), and just needed a framework for application.

But my real kick-in-the-pants inspiration comes from Michael Stephens and his School Library Journal program called All Together Now. I've been a follower of his teachings for years, saw him speak live for the first time when I attended PLA in Boston and point him out to everyone who will listen as a "library celebrity." What he's doing on SLJ seems like such a simple idea and so easy to do, yet several of us are just blown away by this opportunity to participate. I'm thankful that it is out there to set a benchmark.

While I've been working with Web 2.0 tools since at least 2005, and I've tried to pass on what I've learned, I know new things are cropping up all over and new applications for libraries are appearing every day. Also, in the three years I've been working with Web 2.0 applications, some of the less sophisticated have dropped off and many improvements have been made. I look forward to an opportunity to update my toolbox!

Of course, anyone at CCLS is welcome to participate in All Together Now - it isn't too late! You have three things to catch up on - creating a blog, setting up an RSS feed reader and subscribing to blog feeds, and podcasts (I haven't read this posting yet, but I think it involves subscribing and downloading, not creating, podcasts.) Or you can wait - hopefully our own program, with cool incentives for participation, will begin in the summer of 2009.

If you decide to participate, let me know (comment here!) And if you need help, just give me a shout!

Tools for Website Testing

2008-04-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

In the session "Widgets, Tools & Doodads for Library Webmasters," Darlene Fitchter and Frank Carvone showed off a variety of cool things for personal and in-library consideration, but with our upcoming website redesign, I pulled out the best of the usability tools they mentioned.

VisCheck - a computer simulation of vision issues which shows how the page will display to users with different visual concerns.

Feng GUI - simulates heat tracking on your website (where users are looking the most and their reading patterns); displays things like orientation and density

Browsershots - creates screenshots in different browsers for the website creators to revew; submit your web address and get back the results in screenshots from different types of browsers.

These were all very interesting, and I can't wait to share some of the other sites with a variety of CCLS staff members.

BTW - too late for April Fools, but run your favorite site (or possibly one create by someone you know) through the site LOLinator. Very Cute!

Libraries Solve Problems

2008-04-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

In advance, I ask that you forgive spelling errors...Palm TX free Word doesn't check for me, and this keyboard is tiny!!

Lee Rainie provided a fast-paced, humorous and informative keynote presentation on the first morning of CIL 2008. There was a ton of information, but I particularly enjoyed the resources for advocacy in our libraries during his talk called "Libraries Solve Problems!"

We have 53% of the market share coming into libraries to fill informational needs. Thiis an acceptable market share, but there are opportunities for educating the public as to how we've changed and how helpful we can be. There are people out there who can tell our stories and draw others to our health and government resources, news resources, etc.

We can offer user generated content tools as a way to show our successes and competence. People are eager to give feedback, but desire to use Web 2.0 tools to share the word about our programs and collections.

Those who are not currently our patrons are in a situation to seek us out. If we make them aware of our work (show them that we have solved problems in the past like the problems they have), they will come. They will be comfortable in our environment and we have the skills to mentor them to use a library well.

In the era of social networks, people are looking toward their favorite social networks for opportunities for learning, for news and navigation and for support/problem solving. Libraries and librarians should find a way to be part of social networks.

This is all great stuff that we can translate and apply back at home. I'll be sure to post a link to the study when I get back to a "real computer"!

Computers in Libraries 2008: Free Pass

2008-02-28T10:22:00.004-05:00

From the INFOcus newsletter:

Greenwood Publishing Group is pleased to offer to any librarian a free pass to Computers in Libraries 2008 for the Exhibit Hall. Send an email to kelly.clifton@greenwood.com and the CIL 08 exhibit hall pass and directions how to receive your free pass will be emailed to you. Only the first 200 requests can be honored - so hurry!

Advocacy in Support of Rural Libraries

2008-02-13T21:58:00.005-05:00

The American Library Association requests that citizens contact Farm Bill conferees on the Senate and House Agriculture Committees asking them to keep libraries in rural telecommunications section of H.R. 2419. Specifically, ask them to support the Senate version of the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (H.R. 2419), Section 6302, to include "libraries" in the rural telecommunications program: "Telemedicine, Library Connectivity, and Distance Learning Services in Rural Areas." The conference committee on H.R. 2419 is meeting now and library supporters are needed to keep messages going into the conferees.

Pennsylvania Senator Robert P. Casey is a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nurtition and Forestry and Pennsylvania Representative Tim Holden is on the House Committee on Agriculture. If your Senator or Representative is not one of these two, you are asked to contact your respective Senators and Representatives and ask them to contact Farm Bill conferees to keep libraries in Section 6302 of H.R. 2419.

This amendment acknowledges and would support the important role that public libraries play in providing rural areas access to broadband services, leveling the playing field for rural residents. Read more about it on the ALA Issues & Advocacy website.

"Official Notifications" are Phishing Scams

2008-02-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

Many of us have received many emails on our ccpa.net accounts from (supposedly) Member's 1st Federal Credit Union and the Bank of Lancaster County. Today, Eric (the Computer Guy) sent out this message to all staff, which I want to share here:

Since many of you probably have an account [with Members 1st or Bank of Lancaster County] - don't fall for this.

How do I know it's not legit? I don't give out work email for personal accounts. Also read the last line - doesn't sound very 'bank-like'.

Remember ANY time you get something like this from ANY of your institutions
close the email & ALWAYS go DIRECTLY to their site....the phishers will use a link to take you to a bogus site that may look pretty convincing and then capture your personal information!

There is excellent information on this subject at OnGuardOnline.gov if you want to know more about how and why this is done, how to avoid getting caught and what to do if you think your personal information has been compromised (there is even a fun little game to test your knowledge!)

The message itself will read something like this, and may contain a legitimate company logo:

From: Members 1st Federal Credit Union [mailto:eservices@members1st.org]
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008
To: undisclosed-recipients
Subject: Official Notification

Dear Members 1st Federal Credit Union Customer,

This is your official notification from Members 1st Federal Credit Union, Your online account has expired. If you want to continue using our service you have to renew your online account. If not, your online account will be deactivated and deleted. To
continue click here, complete the renew form with your currentinformation.
Many Thanks and Kind Regards - Members 1st Federal Credit Union - Update
Department

or this

From: Bank of Lancaster County [mailto:service@blcnet.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
To: undisclosed-recipientsSubject: Please renew your BLC services!

Dear Member,

This is your official notification from Bank of Lancaster County that the service(s) listed below will be deactivated and deleted if not renewed immediately. Previous notifications have been sent to the Billing Contact assigned to this account. As the Primary Contact, you must renew the service(s) listed below or it will be deactivated and deleted. Renew Now your Sterling Online and Bill Payer services.

SERVICE: Sterling Online and Bill Payer.
EXPIRATION: January 26, 2008

Thank you for using Sterling Online. We appreciate your business and the opportunity to serve you.

Copyright (c) 2008, Bank of Lancaster County. All rights Reserved.

If you use online services with any financial institution, your best bet is to contact them directly if you receive a message like this and are unsure of it's authenticity.

RSS - Ready for Some Stories?!?

2008-02-05T16:43:00.000-05:00

I've been looking at ways to simplify explanations of Web 2.0 concepts, such as RSS Feeds and aggregators, and I ran across this blog post from 2006 - RSS the Oprah Way. It may be old, but it is very well done. If you just don't get how it works, read this!

Emerging Technologies - 2008

2008-01-30T09:35:00.001-05:00

Key emerging technologies are identified in The Horizon Report - 2008, co-published by the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative and rolled out early this week.

It's all the buzz on the blogosphere, and you can read what others (more informed than I) have to say with a simple search.

Me? I'll be reading it for the first time in a few minutes. FYI - reports from past years, and the workspace for the report, can be found on the Horizon Project Wiki.

Web 2.0 Explained So Well!

2008-01-29T10:34:00.000-05:00

Having trouble wrapping your mind around:

RSS Feeds,
Wikis,
Social Bookmarking, or
Social Networks?

Lee Lefever has created explanations for each of these concepts in easy to understand language and graphics through Common Craft LLC of Seattle, WA.

They are fun to watch, and you might learn a little something! And if you enjoy the first four, visit the Commoncraft website (and/or just click below.)

Check it out!

DTV Reference - Be Prepared

2008-01-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

On February 17, 2009 the United States will complete its Digital TV transition, and the era of analog broadcasting will be over. Library customers may approach your staff seeking answers on how the DTV transition will impact them.

From assistance in using public Internet computers to apply for the converter box coupon to answering questions about why the transition is happening, ALA has posted a variety of helpful materials for making the Digital TV Transition.

Check it out!

ALA Website Design - Input Sought

2008-01-11T15:55:00.000-05:00

The ALA website is under redesign, and the design concept is under review at ALA Midwinter, but also for those of us who aren't in attendance.

View the design concept site, with the understanding that interactivity, site architecture and other features will be up for review at a later time. Note any features that you like or dislike, and complete a survey at the end.

POWER Library Changes Announced

2008-01-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

CCLS Reference Librarians may be interested to learn the following POWER Library changes, which were announced in the HSLC news this week:

New AP Multimedia Interface

The new AP Multimedia Archive Interface (AP Images) is now available through the POWER Library. This new interface provides access to photographs, graphics and audio clips from The Associated Press. Also included in the new interface is the AP Images Calendar. This Calendar visually displays events each month from celebrity birthdays to key dates in history.
A message will be posted in a future Access PA News when complete documentation is ready for you to download from the POWER Library website.

I don't see any help documentation at the site, which is what I assume the are referring to in the last sentence above. The old version had a great help section, so I'm guessing this will also be very good when it becomes available.

One of the big improvements to this version, besides the great speed in which results appear, is the added ability to print the images. It is not obvious, but once you acquire an image on the screen, look for the drop-down arrow in the top, right corner. Click on it, and you will see a list of choices, including PRINT. That is the only way I've located print; it may be hiding other places. Download, however, is very obvious and can be done multiple ways.

Do take time to play with this - it is a really terrific resource for school projects requiring photos.

streaMed Wired MD subscription ends

The Access PA service agreement with streaMed Wired MD patient videos ended as of December 31, 2007 and will not be renewed. With the recent acquisition of EBSCO's Consumer Health Complete with its over 720 videos integrated into the database's search structure (and soon the statewide federated search service), it was determined, in consultation with Commonwealth Libraries, that the investment in this lesser used and more limited access resource would be better spent in other program areas.

w00t!

2007-12-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

Funny that I just learned the term "leetspeak" a few months ago, and now find out it's responsible for creation of the 2007 Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year.

I knew the term "w00t!"...I've even been using it, and spelling it, correctly for some time now, and I knew it had it's origins in gaming. But I didn't know until the M-W announcement that it's origin was in leetspeak (or, as I later learned, properly called 1337 speak.)

Knol - Information Authority or Just Another Notch in Google's Belt?

2007-12-18T12:30:00.000-05:00

Have you heard about Google's new experimental web service? It was quietly announced last Thursday, and there is a lot of buzzing about it in the blogosphere.

Knol (short for knowledge) is designed to be an introduction to knowledge - the first thing someone who searches on a topic will want to read. The New York Times covered it well, and of course there is information about it on the Google blog. Google states that it will, "encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it."

Only the author of an entry will be allowed to edit a Knol article; Google will provide authoring tools, store the information, allow others to comment and suggest edits and provide traffic via their search engine. The experts who author the postings will state their own credentials when posting. Each Knol will be a web page created using Google-supplied tools and layout, hosted by Google, and including content, links, and an author biography.

It is still very much experimental, and by invitation only at this time, but I think librarians will want to be very aware of what is going on with Knol and keep an eye on how library customers are using it.

ALA Midwinter (Philadelphia) Training Opportunities

2007-11-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

ALA Midwinter will be in Philadelphia this year, and there are many training opportunities for our staff that we would normally not have "train-ride-away" access to. Look it over! The conference takes place January 11-16, and advance registration closes at the end of the month.

Dec. 5 Webinar: Gale's Health & Wellness Resource Center

2007-11-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

Gale is offering a 1-hour webinar session that will highlight new features in Gale's Health & Wellness Resource Center. I will be hosting it at CADM in the computer training lab on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM.

If you are interested in attending this session, please register by November 30.

Gale's Health & Wellness Resource Center has established itself as the "go-to" medical reference in libraries everywhere. Providing easy-to-find answers via an intuitive and customizable interface makes this an ideal resource for researchers of all ages and levels of study. The new and updated Health & Wellness Resource Center, with its Alternative Health Module, includes even more references, full-text journals and the new Disease Profiler module. From medical students to the curious, Health & Wellness Resource Center leads your library's patrons to the medical information solutions they're looking for - quickly and accurately!

Learn how recent updates to Gale’s Health & Wellness Resource Center can better help your patrons find health and wellness information as quickly as an Internet search but with the accuracy of library-quality results.

Specifically, Health & Wellness Resource Center features:

A new, updated interface
Additional browsing opportunities, with a streamlined design that offers more graphics and highlights current news headlines
Video results under a new Videos tab
Newspapers, newsletters and newsfeeds populating a new News tab
Improvements to the printing, e-mailing and viewing options available at the document level

Health & Wellness Resource Center maintains an index of more than 1,100 health and medicine magazines and journals – 544 of which are peer-reviewed – and 626 of which are active full-text titles. Come see what's new!

PaLA - Wild, Wild Web Session

2007-10-17T10:07:00.001-05:00

Jayne Hitchcock is offering us a boatload of very practical, applicable information on online abuse issues, safety tips and mechanisms for dealing with the dangers, threats and scams.

My most eye-opening issue was Leetspeak, and I've already emailed our teen librarians to let them know about it. It's a language created by teens because parents have become too sophisticated and now understand regular text message shortcuts.

The WHO@ website has tons of information, including a downloadable brochure with online and off-line safety tips. It is so worth looking at!

Back to Blogging - PaLA 2007 Conference

2007-10-15T09:07:00.000-05:00

Sitting in on a session with John Houser of PALINET, I'm inspired to post a link to his information on Low-Cost Techniques for Creating an Interactive Website.

So glad to see him promoting Drupal & Google Custom Search. I'm a fan of both.

Enjoyed learning about Siteground & cPanel. Didn't like his comment on the pricing. It's $75/yr with regular traffic and the price goes up with heavy traffic, ''but most libraries don't really get heavy traffic.'' WHAT?!?

2008 LSTA Grant Writing Workshops

2007-05-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

For any CCLS Libraries interested in applying for a 2008 LSTA Grant, the Office of Commonwealth Libraries will be offering a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant writing workshop for the 2008 LSTA applications.

Registration brochures will be available soon, but for those of you who would like to mark your calendars, our local training is offered on Friday, May 25, 2007 at PaTTAN in Harrisburg (6340 Flank Drive.) Additional workshop locations and dates are June 18 and 19 in Valley Forge and Pittsburgh, respectively.

The workshops themselves are free, but registration will be required.

The guidelines for the 2008 grant applications are now available on the LSTA page of the Pennsylvania Department of Education's website. Go to the PAPowerPort, type LSTA into the PA Keyword box at the top of the screen, and click OK. This will take you to the LSTA page, where you will find links to the guidelines.

If you have questions, it is best to contact Constance Cardillo, Grants & Contracting Manager, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries. Her address is 333 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17126-1745; Phone: 717-783-5746 and Fax: 717-787-2117.

Computers In Libraries - Tuesday Keynote

2007-04-17T08:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a VERY busy day for me at CIL, and I was unfortunately in a room with weak Internet access most of the day.

This morning, the day started with an excellent pinch-hitter presentation by Andy Carvin (NPR). His presentation is online. Hopefully I'll have ability to post throughout the day.

More on the Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference

2007-03-21T09:02:00.000-05:00

The conference now has a blog - even if you can't attend, you might find some useful information here!

Using District Electronic Resources: Morningstar

2007-03-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

Staff in the Capital Area Library District may register for a FREE workshop, Using District Electronic Resources: Morningstar, by choosing one of the options below.

Wednesday, April 4, 9:45a.m.-11:00a.m. in the Gates Lab at the East Shore Area Library

Wednesday, April 18, 1:15p.m.-3:00p.m. at the Cumberland County Library System Administrative Offices Computer Training Lab

Attendees will earn 1.25 hours of CE credit during this presentation, which uses Microsoft Live Meeting as a virtual training tool. Sumita Ghosh from Morningstar will walk you through the resource, showing you how to use the basic features of Morningstar.com Library edition as well as the types of information that library users might use the resource for. There will be time allotted at the end of the workshop for hands-on practice of the skills just learned.

Who Should Attend?
All interested staff in the Capital Area Library district can attend with permission from their manager/supervisor. This workshop is best for those who will be using or assisting patrons with financial research and Morningstar online.

Prerequisite for this Workshop:
You will benefit most from this class if you have a basic knowledge of investing and investing terminology. Please take some time prior to the workshop to become familiar with at minimum the 100 level courses in Stocks, Funds, and Portfolio so you will understand the basic vocabulary of investing used in Morningstar Online Library Edition.

Notes on Registration: Because this is a hands on workshop in a lab setting, registration is limited and will be accepted on a first come/first served basis. Limited registration also means that if you register and need to cancel with last minute notice, please try to send someone else from your branch/library in your place to take full advantage of workshop seats.

Some attendees may be asked to share a computer for the instruction if demand requires additional seats.

Morningstar.com Training for Staff

2007-03-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

As you may have heard, Morningstar.com Library Edition has been purchased for libraries in the Capital Area Library District. Cumberland County Library System is in the process of getting IP addresses authenticated, and then we will be ready to roll, but there is a lot to learn about this database before most of us will be comfortable using it with the public.

At the February CSAT/LSA meeting, each library was handed a CD with training materials, recorded training sessions, PR materials (logos, posters, table tents, etc.), cheat sheets and more. All staff members are welcome to look that information over to get started.

A link to Morningstar is on the LSA Manual page of the CCLS Staff Intranet.
Links to the material on the CD (except the recorded trainings) are on the Staff Resources page of the Intranet.

There are two trainings which will be offered by the District using live, online communication tools. Please look for announcement of these trainings from Carrie Haverman (I will forward it to TAT members, and add it to this blog to make sure everyone learns about it.)

They are scheduled for:

Wednesday, April 4 at ESA (10:00 AM in the Gates Lab)
Wednesday, April 18 at CADM (1:30 PM in the Computer Training Lab)

Mark your calendars now, and share these dates with Reference staff at your library who may be interested in attending.

March of the Librarians

2007-02-19T14:40:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to my friend Jen for passing this on...I watched it on Saturday, and snickered through the whole thing! It's a brilliant use of Web 2.0 tools for a Library 2.0 crowd!

PaLA Youth Services Spring Workshop

2007-02-16T11:09:00.000-05:00

Information and the registration form for the 2007 Spring Continuing Education Workshops sponsored by the Youth Services Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association are now available.

These workshops will include ready-to-use program ideas and samples, hands-on participation and time for group discussion, and will be held in five locations throughout the Commonwealth. Each location will feature the following topics in this day-long event:

Only a Few? Look What You Can Do!: Tips and tricks for those who are flying solo in their library service to children
School-Age Programming Made Simple
Great Books 2006: Beyond the Winners Circle
CSI @ Your Library
Library 2.0 (not offered at Shaler)

The cost is $15. for PaLA members and $18 for non-members, which includes morning coffee and lunch. The events closest to CCLS libraries are in Norristown on May 11, and Williamsport on May 25, and the registration deadline for these two locations is April 20. See the registration form for more details.

Bloomin' Rural Libraries

2007-02-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

Bloomin' Rural Libraries - part of the Gates Rural Library Sustainability Project - is coming to the Hotel Carlisle on Wednesday, April 11. CCLS member libraries may be interested in attending this presentation - each library may send two participants.

The descriptions I've read are pretty vague, but include things like networking with other rural library staff members; discovering new resources for rural libraries; learning strategies for funding, outreach and advocacy; discovering planning techniques and technology tools.

It is a free workshop - lunch and travel reimbursement - and attendees will be entered into a drawing to win a free trip to ALA Annual Conference in June 2007.

Please contact me if you would like a copy of the registration form; an agenda is below. If you have questions about this event, please contact Jim Hollinger or Diana Megdad. This event is sponsored by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, Bureau of Library Development, and registrations are handled through them.

Agenda
9:00 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
9:55 a.m. Why Are We Doing This?
10:15 a.m. The Continuum
10:45 a.m. Exploring the Continuum
11:45 a.m. LUNCH
12:45 p.m. Introduction to WebJunction
1:30 p.m. Brainstorming
3:00 p.m. Action Planning
4:15 p.m. Follow-up and Evaluation

Get A Clue @ Your Library

2007-02-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

The 2007 Summer Reading Workshop for our area will be held on Friday, March 2 at Harrisburg PaTTAN. I first announced it on December 4 via email, but if you haven't registered yet, you still have until February 16.

From the brochure:

It’s time to rev the engines and get energized for Get a Clue @ Your Library. The 2007 committee will start the day off with some stimulating ideas you can use this summer. It is also time to take a good, hard look at summer reading in your library—what you do, why you do it, etc. Carole Fiore former Youth Services Consultant for the state of Florida and author of Fiore’s Summer Library Reading Program Handbook will work with you to explore why summer programs are important to the overall library program. Traditionally, youth serving library staff put an inordinate amount of effort into creating summer programs – but they wind up serving the same audience. Find out why reaching other segments of the community is important. Learn how to build on community connections and come up with alternatives that may not be as labor intensive for staff.

Registration forms can be found on the Commonwealth Libraries website, and questions should be directed to Susan Pannebaker.

Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference

2007-01-23T09:19:00.000-05:00

Insights: Focus on the Future, the Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference, will be held May 7 and 8, 2007 at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries (in partnership with the state libraries of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and the the regional library network PALINET) is planning this conference about the future of libraries. Save the date, and keep an eye on the Commonwealth Libraries website for more information.

Register for an E-Audiobook Roundtable Discussion

2007-01-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

What: E-Audiobook Roundtable Discussion for Capital Area Library District Staff

This meeting is a chance for you to talk with other staff from around the District about their experiences with e-audiobooks. Bring your comments, experiences, and anecdotal stories to share. Bring handouts you developed, troubleshooting tips, suggestions, FAQ's, and more to swap and share with others.

When: Friday, February 16 at 2p.m.-4p.m. (est.)

Where: Joseph T. Simpson Public Library in Mechanicsburg

Who is the Presenter?

YOU, as registered attendees, are the presenters. This is a forum for you to share with others your solutions for common problems and more. Carrie Haverman, District Consultant, will facilitate the meeting.

Who Should Attend?

All interested staff in the Capital Area Library district can attend with permission from their manager/supervisor. This meeting is best for staff who have worked with patrons and with e-audio.

Sign up today to attend. Registration is only limited to interest and the size of the room.

Cost: This roundtable discussion is FREE for all district staff.

Social Networking Websites and Teens

2007-01-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

A Pew Internet and American Life study of the use of social networking websites by 12-17 year olds is now available in PDF. The survey was conducted by telephone between October 23 and November 19, 2006. It may be interesting for library staff to read how teens report their use of these sites.

Webinar: Caught in the Copy Triangle

2007-01-04T09:46:00.000-05:00

The PA Department of Education is offering a 1.5-hour live webinar called Caught in the Copy Triangle:

The Internet has put more and more materials at the fingertips of educators but sometimes we end up with sticky fingers and use materials that are restricted by copyright. How is an educator to know what they can use legitimately? This presentation will provide a brief but thorough overview of how copyright and fair use laws impact teachers and students in the K-12 environment. There will also be an introduction to the Creative Commons and other current movements to change the way in which Intellectual Property rights manage the free flow of ideas.

It is scheduled for Monday, January 22 at 3:30 PM, and is eligible for Act 48 credit.

To ease bandwidth issues and need for others to worry about technical arrangements, I am hosting this session at CADM (Administrative Offices for the Cumberland County Library System, located in Carlisle.)

If you wish to attend the CCLS viewing of this webinar, please complete the registration by January 10.

You are more than welcome to attend at your own library, but you will need to use your own equipment on your library's wireless Internet connection. To do that, register yourself using the PDE link.

Grant Application Webinar

2007-01-03T16:32:00.000-05:00

On January 30 from 9:30am to 11:30am in the CADM Computer Training Lab, we will be hosting the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund Grant Application Webinar. Information was emailed to Training Advisory Team members, Directors and the District mailing list.

Register to attend the CADM session by January 15; confirmations will be sent on January 16.

You are more than welcome to attend at your own library, but you will need to use your own equipment on your library's wireless Internet connection. To do that, register yourself with PDE.

Drexel Information Session

2007-01-03T16:29:00.000-05:00

CCLS is a PALINET member, therefore, your library staff can attend classes at Drexel with a 20% tuition reduction. If you have any library staff interested in attending library classes at Drexel, encourage them to check this out.

Remember that, because of bandwidth issues, the online session should only be viewed on home computers or using personal equipment on the wireless network at your library.

Drexel University is Hosting an Online Information Session for PALINET Members on Thursday, January 18th. Through an educational partnership with Drexel University, members of PALINET have the opportunity to further their education and advance their professional skills conveniently online through Drexel University, while enjoying a 20% tuition reduction off the regular Drexel University rates.

Learn more by visiting www.drexelinfo-palinet.com or join us for Drexel’s online information session on Thursday, January 18th from 7:00 to 8:00 PM (EST).

Attendees will hear from Maura Buzad, Business Development Associate, as she discusses the key highlights of Drexel’s online degree programs in addition to the many benefits that exist for members.

To register for Drexel University’s online information session, please visit www.drexelinfo-palinet.com and click on the button on the top left to complete a short registration form.

LibWorm

2006-11-27T12:36:00.000-05:00

Two days ago, while I was still digesting turkey leftovers, Michael Stephens was hard at work posting interesting things to his blog. He shared news of a new search engine which library staff should check out - LibWorm. From the LibWorm "About" page:

LibWorm is intended to be a search engine, a professional development tool, and a current awareness tool for people who work in libraries or care about libraries. LibWorm collects updates from about 1400 RSS feeds (and growing). The contents of these feeds are then available for searching, and search results can themselves be output as an RSS feed that the user can subscribe to either in his/her favorite aggregator or in LibWorm's built-in aggregator.

Interesting to me, I tried a few searches, and one of them was Ms. Information (my alter-ego) - nothing came up. But there are two Miss Information's out there (which WAS my alter ego from 1996 - 2002 and recently recycled), and one has a Mister Information who also posts to her blog.

Anyway, that's all an aside...

I encourage you all to check out LibWorm. I used it to seek out the first posting of LibWorm, and it appears to be an announcement by one of the creators. Should be a fun thing to keep an eye on, and an excellent resource along with LisZen and Phil Bradley's Google Search.

Phone Number Change

2006-11-22T15:09:00.000-05:00

On December 8th, Cumberland County’s toll free number for calls to the main switchboard will change to 1-888-697-0371.

This single number replaces the current West Shore toll free number (697-0371) and the Shippensburg Area toll free number (532-7286). Unlike the current numbers, the new numbers will be toll free from anywhere in the US.

The old numbers will be answered by recordings informing callers of the new numbers for at least a year.

CODI 2006 Podcasts

2006-11-22T14:09:00.000-05:00

A few choice CODI 2006 sessions were recorded, and the podcasts are now posted on Luke Rosenberg's The Gordian Knot. Apparently there are a few more in the works, and some will be hosted on the SirsiDynix website.

The available podcasts are First Timer's Breakfast, Java Without Java, Getting Your Acq Together and A New Server CPU for You. There are links to accompanying handouts and slides - if you are an interested CCLS staff member, and passwords are required, please contact me and I'll download you the copies you need.

eAudiobooks Demo with Miss Information

2006-11-16T17:20:00.001-05:00

eAudiobooks at CCLS libraries made their public debut on Thursday, November 9.

Remember that patrons can use this service to download books to their home computer and transfer them to portable devices. They can sign up for an account using an library computer, and staff can point them in the right direction for help, but it is generally a home service to our borrowers.

I hope you enjoy using eAudiobooks!

CODI 2006

2006-11-16T17:20:00.000-05:00

Barbara, Jonelle and I all attended CODI 2006 - the conference held by users of the Horizon software. You can find information on our Intranet, including notes from the sessions we attended (I'm a little behind on mine, but will get everything posted soon!) A login is required.

I also have lots of photos to upload, but I found this one on someone's Flickr site, and edited it a bit so you can see who was there. Staff from DCLS and CCLS make up the small U in the center of this photo.

Free Library 2.0 Class

2006-11-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

Five Weeks to a Social Library is the first free, grassroots, completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries.

Five Weeks to a Social Library will take place between February 12 and March 17, 2007 and will be limited to forty participants. However, course content will be freely viewable to interested parties and all live Webcasts will be archived for later viewing.

Anyone interested in learning more about this course, or interested in applying, should visit the site!

Where did October Go?

2006-11-06T16:46:00.000-05:00

If you read this blog, you probably think I fell off the face of the earth... I did not. Here's where I've been and what I've been doing:

October 3-7: CODI Conference in Salt Lake City
The staff members in attendance will be posting notes to the CCLS Intranet, and interested CCLS staff members will have access to read the information.

October 9-20: Hawkwatching in Veracruz, Mexico

October 25: Staff Development Day

October 26 to present: catching up! Lots of eAudiobook and Telemessaging stuff to do.

November 3: Speaking on Library 2.0 at the Berks County Library Association meeting

And I've been working at the SIM Reference desk several nights and both weekends since I've been home, so I'm a little beat now...

Alliance Library System and Second Life Library/Info Island Grand Opening

2006-10-04T19:15:00.000-05:00

If anyone reading this has an opportunity to attend, please tell me all about it! I'll be in a secluded remote location without Internet access : (
=====================================
The Alliance Library System and the Second Life Library/Info Island collaborative group of librarians are pleased to announce the grand opening and a host of activities planned for Second Life residents scheduled October 12-14, 2007. All events will be held in Second Life and are free to residents.

“We have been working on this project with partners from around the world for six months,” stated Kitty Pope , Executive Director of the Alliance Library System. “We are grateful to all the librarians and others who have put in huge amounts of time to make this happen and we are pleased with the reception the library has received in Second Life.”

Gonzo Mandelbrot, Coordinator of Grand Opening Activities said, “We have a variety of activities, events and tours that people can pick and choose from or they may attend everything. The goal is to highlight all the different aspects of the library and Info Island and all that is available there.”

A detailed schedule of events is provided below. If attendees have questions about specific locations, come to Info Island . We will have tour guides there who can show people to the event location.

Thursday, October 12 – Virtual Worlds and Education: The Cutting Edge – 4 pm sl – 6 pm sl – Speakers: Pathfinder Linden, Kitty Paul, Puglet Dancer, Professor Boliveau, Lorelei Junot and Maxito Ricardo – Puglet Dancer and Kitty Paul will cut the ribbon to begin grand opening ceremonies at Info Island open air auditorium (Info Island 143, 82, 34)

Friday, October 13 - Virtual Worlds and Alternate Realities – Where Do Libraries Fit In? – 7:30 a.m. sl – 1:30 pm. sl – A variety of wonderful speakers with keynote by Pathfinder Linden - Info Island open air auditorium(Info Island 143, 82, 34)

Friday, October 13 –
5:00-6:00 p.m. sl – Scary Movies at Second Life Pantheon Picture House ( Info Island II, 98,71,24)
6:00-8:00 p.m. sl – Costume Ball at Info Island Mystery Manor – prizes for best costumes! ( Info Island , 214, 163,33)

Saturday October 14 –
8:00 a.m. sl – Opening of Caledon Branch – 19th century library (Caledon Tamrannoch (211,31,22)
9:30 a.m. sl – Grand Opening of Second Life Library Medical Library – special events ( Info Island 165, 204, 33) – Bioterrorism demonstration

Speakers: Moriz Gupta and Sojourner Truth
12:00 p.m. sl – Second Ribbon Cutting and special speaker – Info island Open Air Auditorium ( Info Island 143, 82, 34) – Katt Kongo, editor, Metaverse Messenger
3:00 p.m. sl – Talis SciFi & Fantasy Portal Opening – special events ( Info Island 29, 62, 33)
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. sl – TX950 Beach party and celebration – dancing refreshments, fun ( Info Island 85, 33, 23)

Throughout the day – Tours , scavenger hunts, information kiosks – come and have fun!

For further information, please contact Gonzo Mandelbrot or Lorelei Junot.

POWER Library Tutorials

2006-10-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

No time to take a class? Try these out! 3-5 minute POWER Library tutorials are a great introduction for anyone interested in learning a little about these databases.

This project was partially funded by Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds administered by the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries. Additional funding and support provided by the James V. Brown Library, Williamsport, PA.

Stress, Sanity and Survival

2006-10-02T09:05:00.000-05:00

The HP Learning Center just opened enrollment for an online class called Stress, Sanity and Survival. There are 8 lessons that can be covered between October 12 and December 1.

Stress is a normal, life-preserving instinct that has allowed human beings to survive for thousands of years. But too much of anything is harmful. You can't escape stress, but you can learn to harness it. In this course you'll learn the LifePACT, four practical principles that can inoculate you against the drain of everyday hassles. You'll learn to take charge of your life -- and replace your old habits of reacting to the ups and downs of life with a powerful set of tools you can begin using immediately.

Find this, and many more online classes at the HP Learning Center homepage.

Childen & YA eAudiobooks are now in the collection!

2006-09-29T12:40:00.000-05:00

Great news! Children's and Young Adult collections are now active in Netlibrary/Recorded Books.

As soon as our libraries are live and promoting the service, your borrowers will have access to the children's and young adult titles including unabridged recordings of:

some of the American Girl books
many Judy Moody (by Megan McDonald) titles
most of the Horrible Harry (by Suzy Kline) series
many history titles from the History of US series by Joy Hakim
select titles by Brian Jacques, Lurlene McDaniel, Jerry B. Jenkins, Paul Zindel, Joan Lowery Nixon, Jacqueline Woodson, and many more.

See for yourself what children and young adult titles are now available!

Young Adult: http://www.netlibrary.com/RecordedBooks/SubjectBrowse.aspx?category=YoungAdult
Children: http://www.netlibrary.com/RecordedBooks/SubjectBrowse.aspx?category=Children
As always, the classics are also a great collection to promote to young adults: http://www.netlibrary.com/RecordedBooks/SubjectBrowse.aspx?category=Classics

Staff Development Day - Registration Closed

2006-09-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

Please take a moment to look over the list I emailed to all TAT members and directors to make sure everyone from your library who should be registered is registered. You can use the filter arrow at the top of the library column to view only your library's listing.

By 9 AM on Monday, send me any additions or corrections to your library's listing. Once they are confirmed, I will send out the volunteer listings to the people coordinating registration and store, send out the sandwich order and send everyone registered a confirmation.

Thanks for your help with this - the committee has put a lot of thought and work into providing a nice day for your staff, and I hope everyone is looking forward to attending!

Work Wanted

2006-09-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

No - not me. I have enough of my own, thank you.

There is a special group of Claremont Nursing & Rehabilitation Center residents who refer to themselves as the “WORKER BEES OF CLAREMONT”. They enjoy simple clerical tasks such as folding letters, stuffing envelopes, sealing envelopes, address labeling, inventory counting, sorting, correlating, name and address stamping of envelopes/brochures, and putting brochure or pamphlet packets together. This work is performed voluntarily for therapeutic benefit.

The Worker Bees invite libraries to use their services.

They can do your job either at your site or at Claremont. Their motto is “BUSY BEES ARE HAPPY BEES”, and they especially enjoy ongoing projects.

Please contact Debra Kase, Manager of Activities, with any questions or to make arrangements for your next job. She has a ccpa.net email address, or you can call her at 717.240.1952.

Sleeping for Two Months

2006-09-28T15:30:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't been. I just haven't been blogging.

But I'm back!

New (local) Library Blog

2006-07-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

The Duke Street location of the Lancaster Public Library is providing Reader's Advisory service through a blog: http://lplbooktalk.blogspot.com/. Check it out!

Just-in-Time Webcasts

2006-07-22T13:29:00.000-05:00

Two new webcast trainings have just been announced! All training advisory team members and directors were emailed information on registering for these workshops.

Are you ready for ISBN-13? (August 15 at 3 pm)
Register by August 8, 2006

Presenter: Karen Swetland, Reference Coordinator at the University of South Carolina Upstate Library.

In January 2007 the old familiar ten digit ISBN will be replaced by a new numbering scheme. Is your library prepared for this change? During this session we will explore the following: Why will agencies across the world implement a new thirteen digit numbering scheme? What will the new ISBN-13 numbers look like? Is there a conversion tool? How will the new ISBN-13 impact your patrons at the reference desk, book purchases, interlibrary loan and beyond? Libraries are entering a new era … are you ready? Join us for an introduction to ISBN-13 and its impact on libraries.

Delivering Top-Notch Technology Training for Your Patrons (Aug. 18 at 11 am)
Register by August 11, 2006

More libraries are offering technology training for staff and patrons. Learn how to use interactive techniques to address varying skill levels, adapt to multiple learning styles, and deliver technology with greater impact.

Brenda Hough, Technology Coordinator at the Northeast Kansas Library System, Michael Porter (aka Library Man), Training and Support Coordinator at OCLC Western , and Rebecca Richardson, Technology Training Specialist at the Purdue University Libraries will be the presenters.

Following the August 18 webcast, there is an opportunity to get to know other regional library staff at the PaLA Ice Cream Social. Plan to join us at the PaLA headquarters in Mechanicsburg at 2:00 PM!

OCLC Presentations from ALA Annual Conference

2006-07-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

The ALA Conference presentations by OCLC researchers are now available online. They include:

PA Public Library Funding

2006-07-18T10:58:00.000-05:00

Here is a little snippet from an email I received while on vacation:

Pennsylvania’s General Assembly passed the final budget (H.B. 2499, P.N. 4513) includes an all-time record-high amount for public libraries! After
a huge blow in 2002-03 which forced some libraries to close their doors and
many others to fire / lay off staff and, more importantly, cut services to
the public, this is wonderful news. There is some bad news in the allocation
of the dollars, but the biggest nail-biter is over (for this year!) Hooray
for our public library users!

Great news!

Library 2.0 Extravaganza Recap

2006-06-21T10:06:00.000-05:00

Six staff members from the Capital Area Library District (representing each of the three counties!) attended this live webcast event on June 15 in Carlisle.

The Library 2.0 Extravaganza slides and audio are available as archives online. Because of bandwidth concerns, CCLS staff are asked to refrain from downloading the audio portions on workplace computers. Use your home connection, or if allowed and available at your library, use your wireless connection.

It's GREAT information, but not worth slowing Horizon down to a crawl!

Connecting Boys with Books

2006-06-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

The Dauphin County Library System, through their outreach efforts to schools and in cooperation with Commonwealth Libraries, is hosting a workshop entitled Connecting Boys with Books with acclaimed speaker and author Michael Sullivan.

School teachers, school librarians, and public librarians are all invited to attend this workshop. The cost is $20.00 and includes lunch.

To obtain a registration form, see your CCLS training advisory team member or contact Carol Johnston, DCLS School Services Coordinator. Register by July 31!

Free Grant Writing Training

2006-06-21T08:56:00.000-05:00

August 15 and 16 from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Learn the art and science of grant writing from trained HUD staff. Receive personal instruction on how to become more competitive for federal grant funds.

This two-day workshop is designed to strengthen your grant writing skills and give you the tools necessary to apply for both public and private sector funding. Key staff will instruct you on how to be competitive in securing federal grants.

It will be held at Franklin and Marshall College, 1 Campus Drive in Lancaster, PA.

This is not a library-specific program or endorsed by the Cumberland County Library System.

Wikipedia as a Source

2006-06-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed reading this post concerning Wikipedia (entitled Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation), but even more, I enjoyed the comments. Thought I'd pass it along to anyone out there reading my blog.

Google Spreadsheets!

2006-06-07T18:35:00.000-05:00

Google, who recently acquired Writely, is now testing a product called Google Spreadsheets.

Users will be able to create new spreadsheets from any Internet computer, edit them anywhere and invite others to view and edit in real time! Existing spreadsheets in CSV or XLS formats will also upload without losing formulas or formatting.

Exciting prospects for the future, and I imagine it will make some of our library customers very happy!!

PaLA South Central Chapter Meeting

2006-06-06T16:38:00.000-05:00

I've been away from the blog for awhile, dealing with a family situation, and I'll try to post regularly until vacation time!

Last Thursday afternoon I had the pleasure of speaking to 57 librarians and library staff from across Pennsylvania during the Spring meeting of the PA Library Association South Central Chapter.

I found it thoroughly enjoyable presenting Upgrade Your Library! and hope the participants left with the inspiration to explore new directions in technology.

Brochure description: Move on up to Library 2.0 when you learn to define and begin implementing new technologies and services. Demystify blogs, wikis, RSS, IM, podcasts, social networking and so much more. Simple solutions for tight budgets, and resources to learn more will be part of this introduction to tools that enhance your library.

If you were there, or if you feel inspired to add to the wiki, email me and I'll send you the password.

MySpace Defined (and other uses for YouTube)

2006-05-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

This is a lighthearted and mostly true explanation of MySpace. Well done "investigative reporting" on the part of The Daily Show, and it got me back to looking at YouTube.

I stayed up too late the other night searching YouTube for other work-related videos (with terms like "library") and came up with a wide variety of things. I really laughed over this little musical number, and nearly cried watching police who took refuge in a library during Hurricane Katrina.

Off the Shelf: The CCLS Staff Newsletter

2006-05-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

The Spring 2006 issue of Off the Shelf is now available to staff on the Intranet (user name and password required.) As always, it is full of information for CCLS staff!

Stories include:

Go Beyond Google: Exploring NetLibrary and ILL options
STAR Update: Looking Lively in Large Print
One Book, Every Young Child
Technical Services Update: ISBNs Demystified
Collection Development: MP3 Audio Books Hit the Shelves
Customer Service: Dealing with Difficult People
New Services: Grant-funded Collections for Children and Personal Wellness
One Book, One Community: Our Region Reads
Email Shortcut: Entering Addresses Quickly and Easily
Changing Faces: Staff Turnover October 2005-March 2006
CADM Staff Picks from 2005
Continuing Education for CCLS Staff (Databases, Email Management, Social Networking Tools, Microsoft Word, Webcasts for Library Planners, Library Management Webcast Series, In-Service Day)

If you have ideas for future issues of Off the Shelf, please contact me!

Horizon: Status Lists Updated

2006-05-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

It's been 15 days since we've started having major email problems, and most staff have been without it since Tuesday night, April 25. I hope some staff members are reading this to get training news.

Today Barbara and I updated the Status List in Horizon. It seems that some people are using "m" (previously labeled "system use only - item missing") as the status for "mnf" (missing-not found.)

"mnf" is the status that staff should be using for items that are not found on the shelves; never "m", and never our newest status, "mi". Our Horizon server will put things in those statuses when it becomes necessary. We lose valuable information when things go into "m", so it is really important not to use it.

We changed the description of "m" and "mi" to start with the words "server use only" in hopes that staff will understand that staff don't use these. It's also clearly stated on the various documentation sheets. This password protected link on our Intranet has an Item Status List area with links to the Full Status List with detailed description of use, a Full Status List one-page handout, and documents called "Set by Local Staff" and "Set by Horizon and CADM") It should be clear which ones should not be used by staff.

Please update any printed documentation that you have!

Second Life as a Learning Environment

2006-05-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

More of my online contacts are appearing on Second Life! I recently blogged about the Online Library, and now I see that TechSoup.com is living there in a new satellite community, and will be holding online events.

In the Tech Soup forum, they share that Creative Commons has had some great guest lectures on Second Life. I also just learned that Relay for Life has a team there ("SL residents set up and decorate campsites, and sell small items to help raise Relay money just like at your local relay. However, since this is a virtual environment you may see some teams offering blimp rides, or holding sailboat races inside the park.")

If I could find a way to incorporate it into real job-paying life, I'd probably become a member of Second Life - it sounds like way too much fun, and perhaps the place to be for online learning. Maybe one day one of our local libraries will take this up!

Register for Access PA Database Fall 2006 Training

2006-05-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

CCLS Staff have been without email for approximately 8 days, so I can't email this information out right now, but maybe someone who needs this information will be reading my blog...

Online Registration for the Access Pennsylvania Database Fall 2006 training sessions opened today. Our local training is on September 12 (Refresher) and September 13 (Beginner) at the Holiday Inn - Harrisburg/Hershey. There is a complete list of Access Pennsylvania Database Fall 2006 Training sessions on the Access PA website.

Once you have decided on a session, click on the links labeled "Click Here for Training Registration." Make sure to read the instructions provided on each page of the Registration program as you move through the process. Keep in mind that the deadline for registering is one week before the scheduled class, however space is limited and seats will be filled on a first come basis.

These training sessions, with continental breakfast and lunch provided, are free to attend. Sign-in will begin at 8:15 am, with all sessions beginning promptly at 9 am and ending at 3 pm. Each library should send at least one staff member.

It is recommended that librarians and support staff that have never received formal training attend a Beginner session which will cover only Access Pennsylvania Database systems (and will not include POWER Library).

The Refresher sessions are for experienced users and will include an update on the Access Pennsylvania Database systems in the morning and an update on POWER Library in the afternoon. You must attend both the morning and afternoon parts of the Refresher training session.

If you have questions about AccessPA Training sessions, please contact me.

Second Life Virtual Library

2006-04-28T12:43:00.000-05:00

My friend Chad use to have a Lego town, and all of his friends lived in it - they all had jobs, homes and functions in his Lego world. They moved and changed, and they "really" lived there.

Being on Second Life must be kind of like Chad's Lego town - a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. And now, Alliance Library System and OPAL are teaming up to extend book discussions, training sessions, and other library programs to current virtual residents in the Second Life virtual reality game.

Although there were already libraries on Second Life, none offered programs or services. Alliance and OPAL will start with programs currently offered online to librarians and library users, and hope to offer library services in the future.

I think this is an amazing way to apply the concept of Library 2.0! Read more about it in the April 25 edition of Metaverse Messenger - a real life newspaper for a virtual world.

Top 10 Windows XP Tips

2006-04-27T14:04:00.000-05:00

This won't help CCLS staff at their workstations. However, personal users of Windows XP who are chomping at the bit for the new (and improved?) Vista operating system might want to try these tips to keep your Windows XP running smoothly until Vista is released.

Blogs as Pathfinders

2006-04-27T11:16:00.000-05:00

What an interesting way to utilize blogging technology! Blogs as Pathfinders can be appreciated by tech savvy librarians everywhere.

Google Search Strategy Posters

2006-04-19T08:21:00.000-05:00

If this doesn't go against your moral fiber for delivering reference service, you might consider using a resource from the Google™ Librarian Center. These search strategy posters can be printed and freely distributed.

Scholarships and CE Grants for Library Staff

2006-04-18T09:43:00.000-05:00

Toni Stabinski, 2006 Chair of the PaLA Scholarship and Continuing Education Committee, announced today that there is scholarship money available from the Pennsylvania Library Association and our generous supporters Brodart and Boyds Mills Press.

Members of your staff may apply for funds to support:

graduate courses toward a Masters degree in Library Science or undergraduate courses leading to state certification (deadline May 15th),
PaLA conference attendance (deadline August 15th), and
continuing education (no deadline).

Web Site Reading Patterns

2006-04-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

I heard about this phenomenon when I attended a talk by Stephen Abram on March 15. Now the latest issue of OCLC Abstracts shares the whole story!

Heatmaps from user eyetracking studies show that we read websites in an F-shaped pattern. Specifically, readers make two horizontal swipes across the page, then one vertical scan down the left-hand side of the page. The Nielson Norman Group, who published this report, is holding four one-day tutorials on Eyetracking Web Usability.

Best Blogs 2006

2006-04-10T15:12:00.000-05:00

Blake Carver's list of "2006 Best Blogs" (in the library world) is out on LIS News, and the wiki includes a huge list of blogs by libraries and librarians.

Finding blogs to be an overload of information? Sign up for a service like ZapTXT to filter through your RSS feeds and deliver only postings of interest to your email, cell phone or instant messaging service. (I've not tested this myself, so if you try it first, tell me what you think!)

A little praise for my alma mater...

2006-04-08T07:55:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday, so I'm posting a little something that isn't [directly] work related.

When I was attending University of Pittsburgh SIS, we were fascinated by a little something called the World Wide Web. Making a homepage seemed like a big deal - writing HTML code and loading things on servers required brains, talent and wired equipment. Oh, how the world is changing when I can blog on my PDA from a coffee shop or train staff from a remote location using a webcam and VOiP.

It's great to see students using technology to share promotion of traditional library services. Last year I was impressed when former Bosler Library staff member Jessica Laganosky shared the Pitt Crew video with me (book cart drill teams are a fun way to represent "traditional service" in light of automated book handling systems at places like Seattle Public!)

This year I am really impressed with how one group of students tackled their LIS 2830 Marketing and Public Relations for Libraries class assignment - a fun little video posted on YouTube to promote National Library Week. It's a great sketch about the library changing the world of one young man...and as I see in our libraries every day, it's an absolutely true story.

The materials we provide help people grow. Whether they are looking for life enhancing experiences or not, they are getting them every day in our libraries.

My congratulations to Dr. Susan W. Alman, who teaches the LIS 2830 class, and Dr. Christinger Tomer, who helped the students provide this in "vodcast" format. They are both excellent professors who should get a lot of credit for shaping the lives of librarians around the world. Both gave me experiences that strengthened my confidence as a library professional, and I am sure this fun experience in vodcasting will open a new door for these students.

Podcasting: The Short Course

2006-04-07T11:32:00.000-05:00

In light of the podcasting web seminar that CCLS staff attended yesterday, I found the Information Outlook column, "Podcasting: The Short Course" on Stephen's Lighthouse to be very interesting supplemental reading.

EBSCOhost - Improved Features

2006-04-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

I learned about these recent changes by stumbling upon them, but couldn't find the words to describe all of the wonderful new features. My thanks to Sue, a staff member in the Bosler Data Den, for pointing me to an article in Information Technology Today.

The revision adds:

clustering of search results,
RSS feeds for Journal alerts (my favorite - no more waiting for shared professional journals…skim them online in my aggregator!),
expedited access to full text,
grouping of databases by subject for federated (cross-file) searching,
alternative citation format outputs,
improved personal account maintenance,
context-sensitive help, and
a new Visual Search option from its partner Groxis

Check out the article, check out EBSCOhost in POWER Library and look for classes to come at CCLS!

Scholarships for National Storytelling Conference

2006-04-06T13:24:00.000-05:00

Join storytellers from all over the world at the National Storytellers Network (NSN) 2006 Storytelling Conference on July 20-23 in Pittsburgh, PA.

Sixteen $250. scholarships (in the form of reimbursement) are available to Pennsylvania residents through the generosity of the PA Council on the Arts. The deadline to submit an application has been extended to April 15.

Discussions on OCLC Study

2006-04-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

PALINET is hosting four discussions on the OCLC publication Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005).

Cathy De Rosa, OCLC Vice President, Marketing and Library Services, will be talking about this research and how it can influence our future library services, followed by discussion, at two free events:

Free Library of Philadelphia on Thursday, April 20, 2006; 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh on Friday, April 21, 2006; 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

To RSVP for either session, reply to harnish@palinet.org and indicate which session you will attend.

Two additional discussions on the Perceptions document are scheduled for the PALINET Member Meeting on June 6, 2006, at Seton Hall University (NJ) and one in Maryland (time and place to be determined).

If you can't attend a PALINET session, consider attending the SirsiDynix archived webcast Understanding The Libraries Brand: The OCLC Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources Report, which will be held at CCLS on April 19. Alane Wilson, OCLC Senior Library Market Consultant, will present. The registration deadline has passed, and RSVPs have been sent, but just contact me if you would like to attend!

Finally, if you like Podcasts, you might enjoy listening to a 45-minute conversation with George Needham, George is Vice President for Member Services at OCLC. This comes to us from Talking with Talis.

PLA: Fun with WebJunction

2006-04-05T12:10:00.000-05:00

WebJunction Girl, originally uploaded by WebJunction.

The PLA WebJunction reception had a great photo opportunity for attendees. Check out the whole gallery!

Multidistrict Workshops - Spring 2006

2006-04-05T10:51:00.000-05:00

As promised at our last TAT meeting, I sent a list (via email) of all multidistrict workshops outside our area (as well as ours in Grantville!) to CCLS training advisory team members and library directors.

Please look them over, and share them individually with the appropriate staff members in your library! Registration dates and costs vary - please see the email for details.

Market Your Library for All Its Worth - April 24 in Grantville
Extreme Library Makeover - April 25 in Williamsport
Time and Task Management - April 27 in Monessen (south of Pittsburgh just off I-70)
Emerging Technologies - April 28 in Bethlehem
Book Start: Child Development 101 and Beyond - May 11 in King of Prussia

Catalog Enhancement - Series now displays!

2006-04-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

Ever since we migrated to Horizon, it has been difficult for CCLS staff and customers to identify series titles in the catalog. Today, enhancements have been made today to help alleviate these difficulties.

The series title now displays in the search results list when you search on an individual title, if it's a part of a series, and also when you search by the author, in both Horizon and HIP.

Example: if you do a search on the title Jeweled Spur, you'll see that it's part of the House of Winslow series. Or, if you search on the author Morris, Gilbert and display the list of his titles in our catalog, you'll see that Jeweled Spur (and other titles) are part of the House of Winslow series.

Congratulations to Barbara and Dave for this breakthrough which will help us help our library customers!

Webcast: Ten Top Technologies for Librarians

2006-04-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

CCLS Staff are invited to attend the live webcast Ten Top Technologies for Librarians in 2006 on Thursday, April 6, 2006 beginning at 3:00 PM in the CCLS computer training lab.

What trends should librarians be watching? What's the next big thing? Join librarian and Tame the Web blogger Michael Stephens for a discussion of ten technologies to be aware of in 2006 and beyond. We'll touch on user-centered planning, changes to integrated library systems, conversations, communities, and the Cluetrain. This event is sponsored by
the Alliance Library System.

If you haven't registered, just email me and let me know you'll be attending!

iPods & Podcasting in Education Webcast

2006-04-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer executives Pete Oyler (Development) and Brannon Stegall (System Engineer) will be presenting at our webcast iPods and Podcasting in Education on Thursday, April 6 at 10:00 AM. CCLS staff members who haven't signed up yet are still welcome to attend this live presentation in our computer training lab!

Thanks to the Pennsylvania Department of Educations' Bureau of Educational Technology and the Chester County Intermediate Unit for including us in this live conference!

Free Access to Gale Databases during April

2006-04-04T14:40:00.000-05:00

In celebration of National Library Week (April 2-8), Thomson Gale is giving libraries across the country access to nearly 70 Thomson Gale databases throughout April.

These databases cover a variety of information topics, including those for students who need help with homework or who need to conduct research for assignments; history, biography and literature databases that provide access to the people, events and voices that shape our world; business, organization and legal databases; and general knowledge, Spanish-language and health databases.

Try it out using the portal (linked above) or visit www.AccessMyLibrary.com.

Meeting training needs through Podcasting

2006-04-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the self-guided audio tours offered in art galleries and museums, two hospitals in England are use podcasting to train staff!