Online Update

Index

Workshops will address migration to OCLC from WISCAT ILL
System Celebration photos available online
SCLS wireless lab reservation dates available
Member/Staff News
Trustee training materials available online
Lodi Library hosts author James Campbell
Stoughton Library informs municipal co-workers about library services
Wisconsin Book Festival announces slate of authors
Ancestry Library trial underway
Free Access to Spanish-Language Databases available Sept. 15-Oct. 15
CE grant funds eligible for workshop
Upcoming CEs

 

Workshops will address migration to OCLC from WISCAT ILL

As you know, SCLS will move to OCLC (using FirstSearch WorldCat) from WISCAT ILL for placing and managing interlibrary loan requests. In the next two weeks, two identical WisLine Web workshops will be offered.

ILL staff at SCLS member public libraries should plan to attend one of the sessions titled “Using FirstSearch WorldCat to Place Interlibrary Loan Requests.” The first is scheduled Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 1-3 p.m., and the second will be held Wednesday, Sept. 22, from 1-3 p.m.

These will be web workshops in conjunction with a phone conference. To participate in a workshop, you must have the following available to you:

• internet access (56k modem or faster)
• web browser
• separate phone line and telephone (preferably with a “mute” feature) for the audio portion of the presentation

To register visit www1.uwex.edu/ics/wlwreg/wlw_welcome.cfm. From the main registration page, choose New Registrant (if this is the first time you’ve attended a WisLine session) or Returning Registrant (if you have registered previously). New registrants must create a username and password. Returning registrants will enter the username and password they chose previously. Click on “Log in” to continue the registration process.

Both new and returning registrants will be taken to a list of events. Scroll down the page to the list for “South Central Library System,” then click the link for the date of the correct event. New registrants must fill out the registration form completely. The contact information for returning registrants will already be filled in, but this information can be edited by clicking “Clear” at the bottom of the page. Click “Submit” to register. You'll receive an e-mail verification containing instructions for entering the conference.

Several people may attend at one location using the same computer and speaker phone. Only one person should register, then he or she can put a list of all other attendees in the "Miscellaneous" box on the registration form. If several people would prefer to attend at SCLS Administration, contact Cheryl Becker, Public Library Consultant, at (608) 246-7973 or by email.

If you cannot attend either of these sessions, contact Cheryl Becker and she will work with Madison Public Library Interloan staff to arrange an alternative for you. Training is required because libraries will no longer be using the SCLS online ILL request form. Although we recommend that all SCLS public libraries use WorldCat, and not WISCAT ILL, for placing and managing ILL requests, you are welcome to continue to use WISCAT ILL independently. Visit www.scls.info/ill/oclcmembers.html#alternatives to read more about this alternative. If you intend to continue using (and paying for) WISCAT ILL, inform Cheryl Becker no later than Oct. 15. You will stop placing requests via WISCAT ILL by Nov. 1, 2004, unless you notify Becker by Oct. 15 as described above.

For more information about this change, and the proposed timeline, please see "Transition to OCLC: Information for SCLS member libraries" at www.scls.info/ill/oclcmembers.html. Here you will find the following.

• Background
• Terminology
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Documentation and Training
• Implementation Schedule
• Alternatives

 

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System Celebration photos available online

About 190 library representatives and guests from the South Central Library System attended the 2004 System Celebration, held Sept. 9 in Roxbury at the Dorf Haus Restaurant. For a complete list of award recipients, visit www.scls.info/about/systemceleb/index.html. Photos of award recipients, as well as links to the award presentation announcements, are available at www.scls.info/pr/aroundscls.html.

The featured speaker of the evening was researcher Josh Morrill, Ph.D., who talked about the survey conducted on behalf of the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium. The report studied the perceptions of Wisconsin’s population toward libraries and library use. A short scientific survey was developed for telephone administration, and 611 individuals statewide agreed to complete the survey. This population included both library users and non-users.

According to Morrill, the survey results provide valuable support for the important role libraries play in communities, and he urged libraries to use the data to their advantage. For more information about the survey results, visit www.wplc.info/current/survey2003/.

 

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SCLS wireless lab reservation dates available

The SCLS wireless lab is now available for reservations November 2004 thru March 2005. There are no available dates for September and October 2004.

The System has two wireless computer labs and one presentation package. Each computer lab contains one instructor laptop and six student laptops. Every laptop includes Windows 2000, Acrobat Reader, and Office 2000 (which includes Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Word). The Internet browser is Internet Explorer.

Each lab also includes a wireless LAN (local area network) that allows a single connection to your internet access, as well as a multimedia projector, ethernet cables, power cords, and surge protectors.

The presentation package contains one instructor laptop with Windows 2000, Acrobat Reader and Office 2000, a multimedia projector, power cords, and surge protectors. Internet access is available upon request.

The equipment can be reserved six months in advance, and is shipped through delivery the day prior to your use date. Libraries that request any of the equipment and have not been trained to use it must schedule a training date prior to their initial use. For more information, or to schedule the equipment, contact Donna Hussin, CE Coordinator, at (608) 246-5613 or by email.

 

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Member/Staff News

Lisa Cihlar, who has served as director of the Monroe Public Library for the past seven years, left her position last Friday, Sept. 10, because of health reasons. The library is conducting a search for a new director.

Leah Fritsche is the new assistant director at Deerfield Public Library. She worked previously as the children's librarian at Watertown Public Library.

Trisha Priewe has joined the staff of the Lodi Woman’s Club Public Library as assistant to the library director. Her background in public relations and advertising is already helping the library get some great local press. Celine Metzig has started working at the library as a part-time librarian. She also works part-time at the Rio Community Library.

Denise Anton Wright is the new director at New Glarus Public Library. She worked previously for the Alliance Library System in Bloomington, Illinois.

 

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Trustee training materials available online

Earlier this summer, all SCLS public library directors were sent a packet of information for their adaptation and use for training their library trustees -- especially new trustees. Most of the information is available at www.scls.info/management/trustees/.

If you have questions about trustee training, contact Cheryl Becker at (608) 256-7973 or by email.

 

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Lodi Library hosts author James Campbell

Author James Campbell will present a special program on his popular book, “The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness,” at the Lodi Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. Refreshments will follow the program, and Campbell will be available for questions and book signing. Copies of his book will be available for purchase.

 

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Stoughton Library informs municipal co-workers about library services

The Stoughton Public Library hosted the monthly City of Stoughton staff meeting on August 26. As part of the hosting responsibilities a program or tour is conducted as a form of inner departmental training. Marilyn Granrud of the Stoughton Public Library staff used the SCLS wireless lab to give a presentation on the library's website, and how to use LINKcat and the various databases available through SCLS. After the presentation, the City of Stoughton staff had time to explore and do various searches using the SCLS wireless lab.

--As reported by Marilyn on the wireless lab Public Library Training Report Form

 

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In anticipation of the third annual Wisconsin Book Festival (Oct. 6-10, 2004), the Wisconsin Humanities Council recently announced a preliminary list of attending authors. The Wisconsin Book Festival is an annual, free, public festival that celebrates the written word, writers, reading, and books. Last year the Festival attracted more than 14,000 people to its six-day event, transforming downtown Madison into a vast public literary salon.

Confirmed participants for this year’s festival include: Jon Lee Anderson, Jeffrey Eugenides, Mark Winegardner, Richard Bausch, Charles Baxter, Edmund White, Nell Freudenberger, Joseph Ellis, Sonia Sanchez, Jane Siberry, Mark Derr, Anthony Doerr, Davy Rothbart, Tenaya Darlington, Stephen Elliot, Heather Skyler, Kashmira Sheth. 

More information, including up-to-the-minute author announcements, is available on the Wisconsin Book Festival website at www.wisconsinbookfestival.org.

 

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Ancestry Library trial underway

Library staff members who are regular AncestryPlus users are encouraged to take a look at the trial version of Ancestry Library that is now available online. Our decision to purchase Ancestry Library as a replacement to AncestryPlus will largely be determined by feedback to this trial.

To access the trial, go to http://trials.proquest.com/ptc?userid=727161. If you are asked for a password, use “sclstrial” (without the quote marks).

Send your impressions of Ancestry Library to Stef Morrill.

 

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Free Access to Spanish-Language Databases available Sept. 15-Oct. 15

Thomson Gale opens new worlds of research to Spanish-speaking students and researchers with two unique Spanish-language databases. The Consulta and ¡Informe! databases from Thomson Gale will be available free and accessible from any Internet-connected computer during Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, 2004.

• Consulta -- A Spanish-language collection of reference content, magazines and primary documents that can be searched using an English or Spanish interface
• ¡Informe! -- Search the world's most popular Spanish-language magazines and journals -- 132 titles -- not translations

For more information, visit http://www.gale.com/heritage/comingsoon.htm.

 

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CE grant funds eligible for workshop

Continuing education grant funds from the South Central Library System can be used for the new “Planning for Results” one-day workshop, scheduled Oct. 19. Does your library need to develop a new operational plan? If you thought that planning was too hard or too time-consuming to be practical for your library, this workshop is for you!

The Public Library Association's (PLA) new “Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach” (ALA Editions, 2001) incorporates the experiences and recommendations of many librarians who used the 1997 version of Planning for Results to make this a uniquely informative planning tool. The new “Planning for Results” presents a simplified process that most library managers can complete in a few short months.

PLA is sponsoring the one-day workshop taught by the author of the book, Sandra Nelson, in New Orleans. This hands-on workshop will introduce public library staff members to this streamlined planning process. Participants will leave this workshop with the skills needed to begin to plan for results.

This program is appropriate for library managers and trustees. The cost for PLA members is $175 and the registration deadline is Sept. 24.  For more information or registration materials, visit www.pla.org. Space is limited so sign up today.

For information about obtaining a CE grant for this training contact Donna J. Hussin, Continuing Education Coordinator, at (608) 246-5613 or by email.

 

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Continuing Education -- www.scls.info/ce/