Online Update

Index

Remember to update directory information on SCLS website by Nov. 30
Patrons sought for SCLS project
SCLS monetary assistance with WLA Memberships
WLA/WLTA memberships for trustees at SCLS public libraries
Member/Staff News
MPL tops HAPLR national list, MID & PDS top state list
State Law Library has new brochure detailing services
Reference & Loan Library involved in virtual online reference pilot project
Libraries urged to complete national public library internet survey
Librarians invited to participate in CCBC mock award discussions
LOC announces new series on the digital age
Behavioral performance guidelines updated by RUSA
RUSA releases ‘Best Free Reference Websites’ list
CEs

 

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REMINDER: Friday, Nov. 26, is an SCLS holiday so offices will be closed. There will be no delivery service that day, but for libraries that are open there will be LINK support from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
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Remember to update directory information on SCLS website by Nov. 30

As 2004 winds down, it’s time again to update the 2005 South Central Library System Directory of Public Libraries. This printed resource is made available to member libraries each year, but we need your help to ensure your library’s information in our database is correct.

To facilitate this annual project, we’re asking that you take some time before Nov. 30 to make sure your library’s information is current. Begin by visiting psw.scls.lib.wi.us/pro/directory.html and selecting your library from the list, then review the information presented there. If anything is missing, or needs to be changed, you can update the information by using the online form at psw.scls.lib.wi.us/directories/directoryform.html. If there are no changes, simply enter your library’s name and put “no changes” in the address field. By following this procedure we know that all libraries have reviewed their information.

 

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Patrons sought for SCLS project

South Central Library System is embarking on a project for which we need library patrons who are willing to be videotaped talking about the value of their library and the important role it plays in their lives. Other individuals appropriate for this project would be local elected officials and other civic leaders. It should not be library employees, trustees, or members of Friends groups or library foundations.

You’ve heard the stories of how your library has changed someone’s life, and this is an opportunity to share that valuable information with others. Because of the number of libraries in the system, each library should submit only one name. Please obtain their permission before you forward their name and phone number to me. It would also be helpful to have a very brief description of their comments so we can get sufficient diversity of comments. If we don’t receive enough names we’ll follow up with those libraries that did respond, so it might be good to have one or two names in reserve.

Because of the nature of the project, it will not be possible to include everyone whose name is submitted, but we’ll make every effort to interview as many as we can. The better the story, the more likely it is they’ll be included in the final product.

Please send the names and phone numbers by Dec. 3 to Mark Ibach.

 

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SCLS monetary assistance with WLA memberships

WLA members will receive their membership renewal forms in the near future, and it’s important to remember that SCLS will pay up to $100 toward the WLA membership of directors at SCLS public libraries, or their designees.

To take advantage of this payment, when you receive your renewal form (or that of your "designee"), fill it in completely and send it to Cheryl Becker at SCLS Administration by Dec. 31, 2004. If your membership dues are more than $100, include a check for the difference made out to SCLS -- not WLA.

If you are not a member of WLA, there is no time like the present to become one. Download the membership form at www.wla.lib.wi.us/membership/application.pdf, fill it in, and follow the procedure above.

If you have questions, contact Cheryl Becker, SCLS Public Library Consultant at (608) 246-7973 or by email.

 

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WLA/WLTA memberships for trustees at SCLS public libraries

SCLS will pay the membership fee for trustees at any SCLS public library. If you have trustees who wish (or whom you wish) to be (or continue to be) members of WLA in 2005, send their names and addresses to Cheryl Becker by Dec. 31, 2004.

Renewal forms for trustees are not sent to the individuals or your libraries, but are given to the SCLS office. If you have questions about WLA memberships for your trustees, contact Cheryl Becker at (608) 246-7973 or by email.

 

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Member/Staff News

Judy Taft recently moved into a new full-time library clerk position at the Adams County Library. She was previously a part-time employee at the library.

 

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MPL tops HAPLR national list, MID & PDS top state list

Madison Public Library was rated third nationally in the 2004 Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR) of libraries serving communities from 250,000 to 500,000, one of only two Wisconsin libraries listed in the national ratings. The other was Brown Deer Public Library, which ranked third among libraries serving communities from 10,000-24,999. Wisconsin ranked seventh nationally.

In the statewide rankings, six libraries within the South Central Library System were rated in the top five in their population categories.

• 250,000-500,000—Madison Public Library, first
• 25,000-49,999—Middleton Public LIbrary, first; DeForest Public Library, fifth
• 10,000-24,999—Monona Public Library, second
• 5,000-9,999—Prairie du Sac Public Library, first; New Glarus Public Library, fourth
• 2,500-4,999—Monticello Public Library, second; Spring green Community Library, third; Kilbourn Public Library (Wisconsin Dells), fourth; and Belleville Public Library, fifth

The 2004 HAPLR library ratings are based on data filed by libraries in 2003 for 2002 activities. The Federal-State Cooperative System compiles into a single data set the annual reports from state library agencies for nearly 9,000 libraries nationwide.

For more information about the annual ranking, which is compiled by Thomas J. Hennen Jr., director of the Waukesha County Federated Library System, visit www.haplr-index.com.

 

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State Law Library has new brochure detailing services

The Wisconsin State Law Library recently announced the availability of a brochure that details its services, which are available to libraries and individuals. For more information about the library, visit wsll.state.wi.us.

To obtain copies of the brochure for distribution to patrons, contact Connie Von Der Heide at Connie.VonDerHeide@wicourts.gov. The library, which is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., is located in the Risser Justice Center, 120 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Madison.

 

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Reference & Loan Library involved in virtual online reference pilot project

Wisconsin’s Reference and Loan Library is involved in a national pilot project called Government Information Online, which is an effort to establish a viable model for online cooperative virtual reference and information service that specializes in answering questions about government information.

More than 30 libraries across the country are involved, representing public libraries, academic institutions, and state library and archive departments. All of the project participants are official depository libraries that participate in the U.S. Government Printing Office’s Federal Depository Library Program, and many are also official depository libraries for their respective state governments.

For more information about the project, visit govtinfo.org.

 

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Libraries urged to complete national public library internet survey

Researchers from Florida State University's Information Use Management & Policy Institute have developed a new national survey of public libraries and the internet. Public libraries nationwide are invited to participate, and library directors should receive information about the survey soon.

The Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning encourages libraries to complete the survey as soon as possible. There are about 20 questions related to Internet access and use in your library, so the online survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.

Once complete, this survey will give library professionals new tools to better understand and communicate the library's role in providing access to the internet and digital information, as well as the impact this service has on individual communities. The data also will give national and state policymakers, library supporters, researchers, government and private funding organizations and other stakeholders a better understanding of libraries’ issues and needs in relation to providing Internet-based services and resources.

For more information about the study, which is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the ALA, visit www.ii.fsu.edu/getann.cfm?annID=16&pageID=5. Survey results will be posted at webjunction.org in early 2005.

 

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Librarians invited to participate in CCBC mock award discussions

Each year the CCBC holds mock award discussions to provide librarians, teachers, university students, and others with the opportunity to talk about books eligible for the upcoming American Library Association book awards using the criteria for each award.

The CCBC will hold the following award discussions:

• Coretta Scott King, Dec. 1
• Caldecott,  Dec. 8
• Batchelder, Dec. 15
• Newbery, Dec. 16
• Printz, Jan. 6, 2005

The reading lists and registration information for this year's CCBC award discussions are now available on the CCBC website at www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/awardisc.htm.

For more information contact Megan Schliesman, librarian, Cooperative Children's Book Center, at (608) 262-9503 (schliesman@education.wisc.edu).

 

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LOC announces new series on the digital age

A new Library of Congress series of live discussions on the digital age is being broadcast on C-SPAN on select Mondays through March 2005. The series will examine how the digital age is changing the most basic ways information is organized and classified, the goal being to educate the public about what the digital age means in their lives.

The events, hosted by the Library of Congress' John W. Kluge Center, will include a featured speaker, followed by a panel discussion, then a question and answer session with the audience at the venue and C-SPAN television viewers. Viewers are invited to e-mail questions to the experts at digital@loc.gov.

Program dates and featured speakers are:

• Dec. 13 -- Brewster Kahle, digital librarian, director and cofounder of the Internet Archive Kahle;
• Jan. 31 -- Brian Cantwell Smith, dean of the faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto, and the author of "On the Origin of Objects";
• Feb. 14 -- David M. Levy, professor at the Information School of the University of Washington, and the author of "Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age";
• March 3 -- Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford Law School, founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, and author of "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace";
• March 14 -- Edward L. Ayers, dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia Ayers, and author (with Anne S. Rubin) of "The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War"; and
• March 28 -- Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of "When Things Start to Think."

For more information, including more detailed descriptions of each program, visit www.c-span.org/congress/libraryofcongress.asp.

 

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Behavioral performance guidelines updated by RUSA

"Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers" (first published in 1996) have been updated and revised. Intended for use in the training, development, and/or evaluation of library professionals and staff, the Guidelines have subsequently been favorably evaluated by the profession, and currently enjoy widespread acceptance as standards for the measurement of effective reference transactions.

The guidelines are available at www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/referenceguide/guidelinesbehavioral.htm.

 

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RUSA releases ‘Best Free Reference Websites’ list

The Best Free Reference Websites, 6th Annual List, was printed in the Fall 2004 issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly. RUSQ is available in EBSCOHost, but this issue wasn't available there as of today (Nov. 19). The list also should be available soon on the ALA website at www.ala.org/RUSAMAINTemplate.cfm?Section=RUSA.

 

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

For more information about marketing and public relations, contact Mark Ibach at (608) 246-5612 or by email.