Online Update

Index

LRC usage comments positive, database retained
2003 Library Statistics provide valuable background information for listening sessions
New eBook Quickstart Guide now available
UW-Madison offers budget workshop
2-1-1 is phone resource for Dane County Libraries when human services questions arise
Register now for PLA 2005 Spring Symposium
Making Copyright Work for Your Library
Upcoming CEs

 

LRC usage comments positive, database retained

Back in May we informed members of our process for reviewing existing databases, and invited you to help evaluate the Literature Resource Center (LRC) by reviewing usage statistics and sharing your comments about the LRC database.

I would like to thank all of you who sent in comments at that time. At its June meeting, the SCLS Reference Committee reviewed all of your comments and the usage statistics. Since usage continues to go up, and all the comments were positive, it was an easy decision for the committee. The Reference Committee's recommendation to retain LRC was ratified by PLAC at its August meeting.

In case you're not too familiar with LRC, perhaps the following examples of comments will help illustrate its usefulness to you and your patrons:

• "I used LRC recently to find a picture of an author in less than 5 minutes, after a patron spent hours at home searching the Internet."
• "I am presenting a program...to book groups on finding book and author information from home, and plan to demo LRC to them. I value it highly (and valued it even more when I worked at [a branch library] and didn't have much in the way of print resources on authors!)"
• "I have utilized this database as both a library paraprofessional and as a student in the library program at UW-Madison. On both fronts my experience with LRC has been extremely positive."
• "I love this database, and I have had some good feedback from high school students who have used it."

LRC is available from the SCLS databases page at www.scls.lib.wi.us/cgi-bin/pbauth.cgi.

--Cheryl Becker, SCLS Public Library Consultant

 

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2003 Library Statistics provide valuable background information for listening sessions

As you prepare for the remaining two Library Listening Sessions in your area, you may want to review the 2003 public library services statistics update in the latest issue of Channel (from the Division or Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning). There is a 3-page pdf of that information available on the SCLS website at psw.scls.lib.wi.us/temporary/library_statistics_03.pdf.

This report provides excellent background information on library usage from a statewide perspective, and will be useful as you prepare to ask or answer questions during the listening session in your State Senate District.

Below are the dates for the upcoming meetings:

• Senate District 16 and Assembly Districts 46, 47 & 48 -- Oct. 16, 1 p.m., DeForest Public Library, 203 Library St.
• Senate District 26 and Assembly Districts 76, 77 & 78 -- Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m., Madison Public Library: Sequoya Branch, 513 South Midvale Blvd.

Contrary to earlier announcements, there will be no listening sessions for Senate District 24 (Adams, Portage & Wood Counties) or Senate District 14 (Columbia County & Baraboo.

Background materials on library issues are available as pdf files at psw.scls.lib.wi.us/pr/listening/index.html. Microsoft Word versions of the press releases for the Library Listening Sessions already scheduled also are available on this page. If you need additional copies of the color posters to promote the session in your Senate District, contact Mark Ibach, Marketing and PR Coordinator, at (608) 246-5612 (mibach@scls.lib.wi.us).

 

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New eBook Quickstart Guide now available

If you have patrons interested in using eBooks, and you’d like a quick and easy tool to help them make the most of their experience, we have a new resource that will be of assistance.

SCLS has produced a new eBook Quickstart Guide that covers the following topics:

• What is netLibrary?
• Logging In
• Searching for an eBook
• Viewing an eBook
• Creating an eBook Account
• Checking Out an eBook
• Adding Notes to a Page Within an eBook
• Finding Help

In addition to this quickstart guide, the South Central Library System has new eBook brochures available to help promote the resource in your library. Copies of these were distributed to libraries, but if you need more they are available. The eBook Quickstart Guide and brochures are available free of charge. To obtain copies, contact Mark Ibach, Marketing & PR coordinator, at (608) 246-5612 or by email.

netLibrary is provided by the South Central Library System and the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium.

 

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UW-Madison offers budget workshop

How much are library services and programs actually costing you?  How can you realize -- and justify -- these costs when budgets are being cut? To help answer these and other questions, the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies recently announced the workshop Library Finances: Planning, Getting, and Spending Your Budget.

This workshop examines the challenges and complexities of the library budget and the range of activities for costing concepts and accounting practice within the framework of creative budgeting and the political process.  Opportunity is provided for experiential learning through simulation exercises and discussions. Instructors are Peter Hamon, director, South Central Library System, and Al Zimmerman, consultant, Public Library System Administration and Finance, Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning at the Department of Public Instruction.

Participants will learn;

• key elements necessary to deal effectively with financial management;
• to design budgets in the context of a community situation; and
• to prepare and defend a budget in a constantly changing political environment.

The workshop was originally scheduled Oct. 20, but has been rescheduled to March 18 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, in Madison. For more information, or to register, visit www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/ces/finance.html. The registration deadline is March 12.

 

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2-1-1 is phone resource for Dane County Libraries when human services questions arise

For nearly two and one-half years, 2-1-1 phone service has been available in Dane County, with the service provided by United Way of Dane County's United Way 2-1-1. By dialing that simple, easy to remember phone number, individuals in need of essential services -- from finding substance abuse assistance to securing adequate care for a child or an aging parent -- can get the help they need.

For example, 2-1-1 can offer access to the following types of services:

• Basic Human Needs Resources -- food banks, clothing closets, shelters, rent assistance, utility assistance;
• Physical and Mental Health Resources -- health insurance programs, Medicaid and Medicare, maternal health, Children's Health Insurance Program, medical information lines, crisis intervention services, support groups, counseling, drug and alcohol intervention and rehabilitation;
• Employment Supports -- financial assistance, job training, transportation assistance, education programs;
• Support for Older Americans and Persons with Disabilities -- adult day care, congregate meals, Meals on Wheels, respite care, home health care, transportation, homemaker services;
• Support for Children, Youth and Families -- childcare, after school programs, Head Start, family resource centers, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring, protective services; and
• Volunteer Opportunities and Donations.

Libraries in Dane County should direct patrons to the 2-1-1 phone resource when questions of a human/social services nature arise. Wisconsin did not originally adopt a statewide implementation approach, so the 2-1-1 service is not yet available in all areas. However, the statewide organization 2-1-1 Wisconsin is working to expand the service to all Wisconsin counties.

 

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Register now for PLA 2005 Spring Symposium

Registration for PLA's 2005 Spring Symposium in Chicago is now open. This year's symposium features a new format that includes a mix of several half-day programs, all-day programs, and day-and-a-half programs.

The event, which will be held March 7-9, 2005, at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago, also will feature an opening general session, an author luncheon, a PLA store, and several networking opportunities. More information about this event and the preliminary programs is available at www.ala.org/ala/pla/plaevents/plaspringsymp/pla_spring_symposium.htm.

As for travel to Chicago, some options include Van Galder bus service from Madison and Janesville, the Metra from Harvard, IL, or carpools.

The symposium is CE grant eligible. The system will not handle group registrations unless there is sufficient early interest. For more information contact Donna Hussin at (608) 246-5613 or by email.

 

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Making Copyright Work for Your Library

A new videotape resource from the American Library Association can help libraries take the complexity out of copyright law, and discusses the key principals that should help guide library policy in relation to copyright.

The video covers the topics of fair use, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), digital licensing, TEACH Act and distance education, and the Internet. It includes scenarios to illustrate some problems currently experienced by librarians. Questions from participants also help clarify concerns of librarians dealing with print and electronic reserves, using videos and other formats as teaching resources, linking to Internet resources, etc.

Presenters are: Carrie Russell, copyright specialist, ALA Washington Office; Kenneth Crews, professor, Indiana University School of Law; and Edward Valauskas, Follett Chair in Library and Information Science, Dominican University.

The VHS tape, which runs about 2 hours, was produced Sept. 24, 2004, by the College of DuPage in conjunction with the American Library Association, Office for Information Technology Policy, and NILRC (Network of Illinois Learning Resources in Community Colleges).

To request a copy of the tape, contact Donna J. Hussin, Continuing Education Coordinator South Central Library System 5250 East Terrace Drive, Suite., A-2, Madison, WI 53718-8345; (608) 246-5613 or by email.

Another option ALA has made available is streaming video. You will need Microsoft's Media Player and an internet connection of at least 100K. If you choose this option, it must be viewed at home or on a non-LINK computer in the library. If interested, go to www.cod.edu/teleconf/ALA/INDEX.HTM and click on the appropriate link. Copies of the speakers’ presentation slides are available at this URL.

 

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Continuing Education -- psw.scls.lib.wi.us/ce/