Online Update

Watch for System Celebration registration materials

Mark your calendars now for System Celebration 2005, which is scheduled Sept. 15 at Morels restaurant in Middleton. This is our annual thank you to the staff, trustees, and mayors/village presidents of SCLS member libraries for their support and efforts throughout the year.

This year’s program will include singer and storyteller Stuart Stotts, a long-time favorite among Summer Library Programs and libraries in general. He will perform some of his original songs and share stories from his new book about Wisconsin librarian Lutie Stearns.

We are developing registration materials, which will be mailed soon to all member libraries and trustees. We’ll also post an online registration form on our website and announce availability in a future issue of Online Update.

More information about System Celebration 2005 is available at www.scls.info/about/systemceleb/.

 

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Eleanor Carberry named Honorary Trustee at Waunakee Public Library

Eleanor Carberry finishes a job once she starts. She was appointed to the first Board of Trustees for Waunakee Public Library, and more than 60 years later she was still serving.

The library’s board recently named her Honorary Trustee in recognition of her dedication, and purchased a piece of stained glass art for the library in her honor. “Winter Birches” by Waunakee artist Don Spencer was selected by Carberry’s family and now hangs in the library’s reading area. She showed the same dedication to her family and job at Koltes Lumber, and also to her bowling league, winning no less than 140 tournament medals through the years.

“Eleanor’s commitment to the library is evidenced by our growth, and she has seen us through many dramatic changes,” said Louise Bauer, director of the library since 1977. “She believed that what was good for the library would be good for the community.”

Last week, South Central Library System director Peter Hamon presented an honorary library science degree to Carberry in recognition of her 60 years of service. The Wisconsin Library Association also recognized Eleanor for her years of service at the 2004 annual meeting.

 

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LINK discussion list now available

link-discuss, an open list for group discussion in the LINK library community, is a means of discussing important issues related to LINK libraries.

To subscribe to link-discuss you must complete an online form, after which you will be sent an email requesting confirmation. This process prevents someone else from subscribing you to the list. link-discuss is a private list, which means that the members list is not available to non-members.

To sign up for link-discuss, visit http://lists.scls.lib.wi.us/mailman/listinfo/link-discuss.

 

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Photos sought for Online Update

It’s rare that a week goes by when something exciting, fun or memorable doesn’t happen at your library. And in most cases you’ve taken photos to remember the event. How about sharing them with your peers at other libraries by submitting them for publication in Online Update?

All you need to do is e-mail the digital photo (or send us a print through delivery) and include information for the caption. If you think it warrants an article, just send a little more information and we’ll take care of the rest. We’ll return prints to you when we’re finished.

We’re interested in photos of employee/trustee honors, retirements, new employees, patron programs, fundraising projects, and other items you believe warrant photos in Online Update. If you have questions, contact Mark Ibach at (608) 246-5612 (or by email).

 

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Member/Staff News

Monroe Public Library has a new phone system, and new phone numbers. The library’s main phone number is (608) 328-7010. The library is still in the process of setting up mailboxes to receive individual voice messages, so if you want to reach anyone on the staff just call the main number and your call will be transferred.

Lisa Selje, director of the Angie W. Cox Public Library in Pardeeville, has been named the interim library director in Cottage Grove. She began her duties this week to help that community move forward with the purchase of the land and selection of an architect for a new library. She will continue as the director in Pardeeville, for the time being, with slightly reduced hours.

 

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Training opportunities for BadgerLink databases

Be sure to check the Continuing Education schedule for new hands-on training sessions that will be offered this fall in Madison, Stevens Point and Nekoosa. There will be training sessions on newspaper research, humanities sources, and ethnic information found in Proquest, EbscoHost, and other databases. Online registration for these sessions will be available soon.

And here’s a reminder about a “painless” way to keep up-to-date on the many features available through Ebsco and Proquest: Both of these services offer tutorials, patron training documents, announcements and other useful support materials on their websites. To check out the latest from Ebsco, visit http://support.epnet.com/CustSupport/Customer/Search.aspx, and look for links to their tutorials and support materials at the top of the page.

Proquest also has online training opportunities. You may sign up for free, one-hour tutorials on Proquest Newspapers or Ancestry Library, or find patron-training materials at their Training Resource Center, at http://training.proquest.com/trc/training/. Links to these two handy sites are provided on the SCLS Continuing Education page under “Other CE Opportunities.”

--Mary Wepking, Continuing Education Coordinator

 

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DPI E-rate plan approval memo available online

Now that the July 1, 2005, E-rate funds have started to flow, libraries may need a copy of a memo from the Department of Public Instructions Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning (DLTCL).

This memo (available here as a PDF file) states that our system technology plan is approved by DPI for federal E-rate purposes. If member libraries ever receive a request from the federal Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) for a copy of your technology plan approval letter, send them the memo. According to Robert Bocher at the DLTCL, any such request is not likely until later this fall.

All library system technology plans meet the SLD's option allowing a system plan to cover individual member libraries' E-rate applications. This option has been in place since 2001.

When completing question #8 on E-rate Form 486, which asks for the technology plan approver, enter Robert Bocher, Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

 

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Wireless networking information available at WebJunction

Thinking about adding a wireless component to your network? Wireless opens up lots of public access computing possibilities -- along with some technical and management challenges.

During the past several months numerous member libraries have asked for information about wireless networking, which is WebJunction’s July focus. Libraries can read "Ten Steps to Wireless Internet Access in Your Library" at http://webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=11027.

You are reminded that wireless network technology is not an option with the LINK network, but only with a library’s onsite network.

 

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Library Journal seeks ‘Best Small Library’

Library Journal is seeking nominations for the second annual Best Small Library in America, cosponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This new award, which went to the Haines Borough Public Library in Alaska in 2005, acknowledges the outstanding work small and rural libraries do every day. The deadline for nominations is Nov. 1, 2005.

For complete guidelines, visit www.libraryjournal.com or contact Rebecca Miller at (646) 746-6725 (miller@reedbusiness.com).

 

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

Upcoming CEs

August 25 -- Reader's Advisory on the Latest Titles and Hot Authors, with Jane Jorgenson, Reference Librarian, Madison Public Library-Ashman Branch, 9:30-11:00 a.m., SCLS Administration & Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point.

September 7 -- Badgerlink: Newspapers, with Linda Miller, 1:30-4 p.m. SCLS Training Room E.

September 9 -- An Early Literacy Symposium for Youth Services Librarians, with Jane Marino, director of the Bronxville (NY) Public Library and author of "Babies in the Library" and other books for the very young child, 9 a.m.-noon, American Family Insurance, Building "A" Training Center, 6000 American Parkway, Madison.

September 21 -- Reference USA Business, with Tana Elias, Madison Public Library, 9-11:00 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

September 22 -- Bridging the Generation Gap (compressed Video Broadcast), with Deborah Spring Laurel, Laurel & Associates Ltd., Madison (WI), 9 a.m.-noon, with broadcast sites at SCLS Administration and Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point.

September 26 -- Ancestry Library & HeritageQuest, with Jean Anderson, Sun Prairie Public Library, 9-11:30 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

September 29 -- Badgerlink: Newspapers, with Linda Miller, 9-11:30 a.m. (tentative), Charles & Joan Lester Library, Nekoosa.

October 5 -- What Do I Read Next, with Liz Amundson, Madison Public Library, 9-10:30 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

October 14 -- Literature Resource Center (LRC), with Dawn Foster, Portage Public Library, 9-11:30 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

October 20 -- The Boomers are Coming! What Do They Want? (compressed video broadcast), with Allan Kleiman, Chair, RUSA/RSS Library Service to an Aging Population Committee (ALA) and Head of Reference, Westfield Memorial Library, (NJ), 9-11:30 a.m., SCLS Administration & Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point.

November 8 -- Badgerlink: Humanities, with Linda Miller, 1:30-4 p.m., SCLS Training Room E.

November 11 -- Reference USA Business, with Tana Elias, Madison Public Library, 9-11:00 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

November 17 -- Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales: 2006 SLP Workshop, with Kathy Ross (keynote), Geri Ceci Cupery, Kim Ropson, and Karen Wendt, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Olbrich Gardens, Madison.

November 30 -- Badgerlink: Humanities, with Linda Miller, 9-11:30 a.m. (tentative), Pinery Room, Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point.

December 2 -- Badgerlink: Ethnic Information, with Linda Miller, 9 - 11:30 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

 

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