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News

Celebrations, News, WebJunction Staff, chrystie
Farewell Liz Kellison
April 15th, 2008 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Liz, Chrystie, and Marilyn at ALA07
Originally uploaded by WebJunction

It is with great sadness, but lots of well-wishes for a bright future ahead of her, that we bid farewell to Program Director Liz Kellison. Liz was our first Content Manager and the third WebJunction employee EVER. She’s been with the project since before it began – quite literally! – as she was one of the authors of our original grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with our Executive Director Marilyn Mason. Largely responsible for the initial vision of our service, Liz is famous around the office for promoting “read, learn and share” – i.e., bringing together courses, discussions, and articles all together on a single WebJunction page. Liz has been fun to work with, inspiring as a leader for us and for libraries, and a tireless advocate for our programs and the people we work with. We will miss her dearly, but hope you’ll join us in wishing her well in all her future endeavors. (sniff. sniff.)
News, PLA2008, Rural and Small Libraries
John Wood to librarians: I don’t need to tell you
March 27th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

…about the community-building, life-changing, essential importance of libraries, that is.

PLA kicked off with keynote speaker John Wood, founder of Room to Read and author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. On top of being engaging, energetic, and funny, he really is changing at least a portion of the world. In the eight years since Wood delivered the first load of books on the back of a yak (named Zach) to a remote Nepali village, his organization has established over 5,100 libraries in South/Southeast Asia and South Africa.

For a striking comparison, Wood displayed a bar chart comparing the number of stores opened by Starbucks around the world since 2000 with the number of libraries opened by Room to Read. At first, Starbucks held a strong lead over the fledgling non-profit, but in the last three years, the library effort has surged ahead. More than a frivolous comparison, it’s a challenge that Wood took on, one he dubbed the “Starbucks test.”

“If they can open Starbucks at a rapid rate, why can’t we open schools and libraries at the same rate?”

Photos of kids beaming with excitement shone from the screen; heart-warming stories were told of the priceless rewards that come from empowering kids and communities. It’s inspiring to see what can be done in so short a time. Of course, we gave him a standing ovation.
Conferences, News, Spanish Outreach
Diversity Fair Scholarship
March 4th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

WebJunction is excited to announce we are awarding a scholarship for a past workshop participant and a state trainer from our Spanish Language Outreach Program to attend the Diversity Fair at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June. Scholarship applicants will be selected based on the impact of the outreach activities they have implemented to Spanish speakers following their participation in the SLO program. The winners will receive a scholarship to design and present a poster describing their outreach project at the ALA Annual Conference Office for Literacy and Outreach Diversity Fair Poster Session in Anaheim, CA. The deadline to submit applications is April 11, 2008. The winners will have their project featured as a case study on WebJunction.

Sara Peté, 2007 Scholarship Winner

Former workshop participants and trainers are invited to apply for the scholarship.This is a great opportunity to showcase your library’s accomplishments in Spanish outreach as well as help inspire other librarians interested in creating and sustaining Spanish outreach services at libraries across the country. Check out more scholarship details, get the scholarship application, and read about last year’s winner, Sara Peté from the Olympia Timberland Library.
News, Spanish Outreach
New Pew Report: Information searches that solve problems
January 10th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently released another exceptional report. The new report looks at how people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they need help. The report has many interesting findings about how people search for and act on information they need to deal with complex issues such as health concerns, tax matters, or school enrollment.

One major finding of the study is:
“Compared to those with broadband connections, people who do not use the internet or who only use dial-up connections have different problems and different search strategies when they face personal issues. We call this group the low-access population and they are less successful than those with high-access to the internet in getting the material they need to address these problems.”

The study goes on to report that this “low-access population”, comprised of 36% of the population who do not use the internet or have only dial-up connections, rely more on television and radio for information than those with high-access. Libraries should take note of this finding when thinking about marketing their services to populations on the low access side of digital divide.

Although this study did not include Spanish speakers, we know from past reports from the Pew Hispanic Center, that Spanish-speakers are more likely to be part of the “low-access population.” Working with the local Spanish media to get the word out about library services is key to reaching this audience. For tips on working with the Spanish media check out the Resource Packet from our Spanish Language Outreach Program workshops.
Community Building, Conferences, Meet Ups, News, Online Collaboration, Social Computing, Web 2.0, chrystie
connecting with old friends at WJ Arizona
November 15th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

My last fall trip is just now over. I’ve been sitting in my house for, I don’t know, twenty minutes or so, and I’m very happy to report that the trip and the talk went very well. For the first time I tried pulling together some of the ideas and research for my (extra-curricular) Libraries Build Communities project into a talk about the community building we do at WebJunction - the two are obviously very connected for me but not necessarily for everyone. But guess what? It worked! I was relieved and pleased that it seemed to be the right mix of community building for library staff and community building for patrons. Viola! Connections made!

I left out the Putnam stuff I’ve been talking about in some of my recent presentations and instead focused on our community building roots and how in-person community building and online community building share the same principles and practice; then I connected what our patrons are doing with web2.0 tools to what library staff are doing with the same, and with projects like WJ.

I was a little nervous about the mix, with only one hour for a joint presentation with my co-presenter, Mala, the team lead for WebJunction Arizona, but at the end of it all, one of our audience members come up and says something like: thank you for your overview of social networking and what it means for WebJunction; now I understand why this stuff is important. I work in a rural library and I’m trying to help my community understand how to use this stuff and understand what it’s all about; this was really helpful.

Does it really get more libraryland luscious than that? Maybe. I’ll be here for it if it does. I only posted a few pictures from this very short visit, but you’ll find them here. Many, many thanks to the organizers of AzLA for having me. I had a great time and it was wonderful meeting and talking with so many of you and your library staff in Arizona.

(reposted on Libraries Build Communities)
News
The Librarians: “Love, betrayal, revenge”
November 14th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

Mary Ann Van Cura of WebJunction Minnesota alerted us to this important media breakthrough:

The Librarians is a dark new TV comedy about a suburban public library. Since libraries aren’t the typical fare for prime time TV, the news announcement, forwarded by Jim Weikum (Arrowhead Library System), caught my attention. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=307003

The show is produced and broadcast in Australia. Thanks to the Internet and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, each week one could watch the latest episode in full online! (A high speed Internet connection is needed to view the episodes.)http://www.abc.net.au/tv/librarians/#/films/

First episode: Oct 31, 2007 (Available now for viewing.); Next episodes: November 7, 14, 21

I haven’t seen a full episode yet, but the photos, clips, and quotes from the interactive website are intriguing. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/librarians

“Love, betrayal, revenge. Strictly non-fiction comedy.”

“If a talking book remains unborrowed in a library, does anybody hear it? - Marjorie Jonas”

View the last episode or peruse the website and share your thoughts here. Is it a good thing or not that librarians are cast in this dark light?

- Mary Ann Van Cura, State Library Services
http://webjunctionworks.org/mn/blog/index.php/2007/11/07/the-librarians-love-betrayal-revenge/
News, chrystie
oh no! mover & shaker nominations lost
November 8th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

LJ apparently had a server mishap last week and all Mover & Shaker nominations input before November 5 were l.o.s.t. So, please, if you nominated someone for Mover & Shaker this year, you’ll have to go back and do it again.

This from Marylaine Block (to George by email posted here):
We are assured that the electronic nomination form is working, but if you prefer, you can supply all the information requested on the form and either fax it to 646-746-6734, or send it in an e-mail to Francine Fialkoff. The deadline has been extended to November 28.

So sorry to LJ - I hope you have a good turn out of do-overs!
Community Building, IL2007, Meet Ups, News, chrystie
IL2007 & WebJunction Job Opps
October 30th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

Whew! What a whirlwind! Libraryman and I had a great time with our program yesterday (thoroughly documented, so I won’t go into it, other than to say…) We’ve heard from a number of people that they liked what we talked about! Yay. Community building is really behind so many of the tools and best practices at place here; it was really rewarding to start the day off with a conversation about ‘why’ and ‘how’ we do social networking (online and off). IL has a great audience and it’s a lot of fun to be here and share ideas and projects with everyone.

Otherwise, IL2007 has also been fabulous - I’ve had a great time connecting with people that I haven’t seen for a while, as well as spending time with people that I know online better than I do in person. I always take a chunk of breakfast/lunch/dinner slots while I’m here at this conference to talk in person specifically with people that I’ve known or met online over the year before - it’s fun! This year I’ve met with Amanada, Jennifer, Josh, David, Robin, and a few others that I’ve maybe seen around before but really became ‘friends’ with in the last several months - either through facebook, twitter, or the WJ. Not to mention the folks that I know well, but don’t see very often - great connecting with these folks as well. Heck, even the people I see every day, I end up having inspirational conversations with. It’s such a wonderful source of new energy and innovation to get away from daily activities - get out there and talk to people (even the same people!) in a new context. THANK YOU to OCLC and WebJunction for making this an important part of our roles in the cooperative; it really makes a huge difference! “I love my online community” (and it gets bigger all the time) is the only thing I have to say about that!

One project I’m working on now (also with libraryman, and with cindi trainor (current WJ member spotlight) and michael sauers (traveling librarian)) that I’m super excited about is a series of interviews with “veteran” library professionals - the innovators of earlier times - that we can publish as primary resources (oral histories) and excerpt as a popular series, beginning sometime next year. It’s the most exciting project that I’m currently involved in, really, and it’s great to be here with colleagues - gathering new ideas (and names) for those interviews. Stay tuned for more info … I think there will be a lot of ways the WJ community can get involved in this project once it takes off.

I’ve also been encouraging anyone who’s interested in working in the social networking, community building, or learning areas to check out our open positions right now (on OCLC’s career site). See something you like? Please apply. Three positions are currently open in the Community area; we’d love to hear from you!

Back to conferencing …
Featured Guest Post, News, Staff Training, Tech, Webinar
Guest Blogger: Stephanie Gerding
October 15th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

I’m delighted to be the first guest blogger on BlogJunction! We hope you will join us this Wednesday for the next WJ Learning Webinar that will be based on my new book (being released on the same day!), The Accidental Technology Trainer: A Guide for Libraries. We’ll discuss how learning, participation, and retention can be increased in your library training programs!

No matter what type of library you work in or what kind of training you do, join our learning community to share tips and advice.

Compliments of the publisher, InfoToday, we will give away 5 copies of the book during the webinar. You just need to pre-register and then join the webinar to be included in the drawing. Over 100! people have registered, some who are new trainers and some with lots of experience, and I look forward to sharing and learning with everyone.

The Accidental Technology Trainer
October 17, 11 AM – 12 PM PT / 2 – 3 PM ET
Free via WebJunction’s Live Space
Register here (optional)

I’ll be back with more posts to keep the conversation going. Feel free to leave your comments and question here, before or after the session!

More soon,

Stephanie Gerding
Photo outside her home in sunny Phoenix where everything is in bloom
Conferences, News, Online Collaboration, WebJunction Staff, chrystie
WebJunction Illinois - ribbon cutting
October 11th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

Today at the Illinois Library Association’s annual conference, WebJunction Illinois was publicly unveiled at a ribbon cutting ceremony. Community Partner team leads Dawne and Lisa were joined by our very own Rachel, Lisa, and Kevin - giving WJ-IL a great kick off!

The WJ-IL home page looks great (check out the video and the toolbar -first WJers to do these!). We’re excited about all the ways the IL State Library has customized their WJ service for library staff there, and we really look forward to working with them to build out our online communities for library staff development. We expect our work with IL to not only push us forward with new tools and formats, but also provide a model for delivering online community services through a single spot for the whole state.

Congrats to the state library and especially to Dawne and Lisa - you’ve worked hard and it shows!! Welcome to WebJunction - we’re glad you’re here!
News, Online Collaboration, Spanish Outreach
An emerging leader among us!
October 5th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

WebJunction’s very own Emily Inlow has been selected to be part of the 2008 ALA Emerging Leaders Program! Emily is the Curriculum and Community Developer for our Spanish Language Outreach Program. EL’08 will kick off at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia and will culminate at the 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim. EL provides new librarians with training and projects to jump-start their leadership in ALA and the profession. New leaders are expected to put their leadership skills to use by accepting a term of service on an ALA or chapter committee, task force, working group, or project team.

Stay tuned to hear about the projects that Emily will be working on for EL. Whichever committee or task force she chooses to work with will benefit from her passion and skills. Congratulations, Emily!
Library Services, News
Attention: map-loving libraries
September 27th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

I have loved maps for as long as I can remember. I’m fascinated by the symbolic, two-dimensional representation of the three (and even four) dimensions of our world. If I worked in a library, I would jump at this offer from Adventure Cycling to get a set of maps from the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Program.

Through a grant and a partnership with the National Parks Service, 275 of these 8-map sets are being offered to libraries. As the lucky owner of a set of Adventure Cycling maps from the Underground Railroad Route, I can attest to the uniqueness and loveliness of the maps. They illustrate detailed segments of the route, with lots of cartographic information, including distance, elevation, historic landmarks, and field notes about Lewis & Clark’s experiences along the trail.

The supply is limited so don’t procrastinate too long. Get the information about the link and purchase code and go for it!
News, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Spanish Outreach
Hot off the press
August 31st, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

This week my very own copy of the newly revised Serving Latino Communities: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Libraries, Second Edition arrived in the mail! This practical guide written by past REFORMA presidents Camila Alire and Jacqueline Ayala offers a wealth of information and should be required reading for library staff who want to better serve their Latino communities.

On September 11th, WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach Program will host authors Alire and Ayala for an hour long webinar as part of our monthly In Depth Webinar Series. The authors will discuss fund-raising strategies from their just published book. They will share tips and best practices for finding funding for services and programs for Spanish speakers in your community.

WebJunction is also featuring excerpts of Serving Latino Communities on the following topics: Addressing Management Issues, Recruiting Latino Trustees, and Evaluating Materials for Latino Children and Young Adults. For more info on serving your Latino community don’t miss our Management for Outreach Resources
Library Services, News, Online Collaboration, Spanish Outreach
Three Summer SLO Things
June 20th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

Summer is officially here! The Spanish Language Outreach Program has several cool summer happenings:

Follow-Up Session at ALA
If you are attending ALA be sure to join us at our Follow-Up Session for SLO Workshop Participants, Trainers, and Coordinators on 6/24. Program participants (or anyone interested in outreach to Spanish speakers!) from all over the country will come together to talk about their outreach activities and share resources. See the WJ ALA Events page for more details.

Summer Webinars
Our monthly webinars are not taking a break this summer! If you missed the June webinar on Effectively Addressing Anti-Immigrant Sentiment be sure to check out the archive and resources. In July, nationally recognized trainer, Yolanda Cuesta, will share best practices for customer service in a multicultural world. Our August webinar will feature Gail Kuoame, Consumer Health Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Region of the National Network of Medical Libraries. Gail will share resources and information on how English-speaking librarians can help Spanish speakers find online health information.

Round 3
The final round of the Spanish Language Outreach Program kicks off this summer with 17 states: West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Utah, Oregon, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, Wisconsin. We are looking forward to working with all these states to deliver over 150 in-person workshops beginning this fall. Stay tuned for introductions from all the Round 3 trainers later this summer.
ALA2007, Marketing, News, Spanish Outreach
Resource Party
May 23rd, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

We are very excited about our partnership with the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter to sponsor this year’s PIÑATA DE RECURSOS/RESOURCE PIÑATA Exhibit. The event highlights outstanding Spanish language library marketing and public relations materials and will be held at the REFORMA Fundraiser Reception in Washington, DC on Sunday, June 24, 2007. And did I mention the REFORMA Reception is at the Venezuelan Embassy!

At the PIÑATA DE RECURSOS/RESOURCE PIÑATA Exhibit, guests will view the materials and take ideas back to their libraries. We will also post all of the materials on WebJunction after the event (stay tuned!). Submissions can be from all types of libraries and we welcome all Spanish language library materials. Contact Elena Tscherny for more information about submission guidelines and deadlines.

We hope to see there!

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Celebrations, News, WebJunction Staff, chrystie

News, PLA2008, Rural and Small Libraries

Conferences, News, Spanish Outreach

News, Spanish Outreach

Community Building, Conferences, Meet Ups, News, Online Collaboration, Social Computing, Web 2.0, chrystie

News, chrystie

Community Building, IL2007, Meet Ups, News, chrystie

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Conferences, News, Online Collaboration, WebJunction Staff, chrystie

News, Online Collaboration, Spanish Outreach

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Library Services, News, Online Collaboration, Spanish Outreach

ALA2007, Marketing, News, Spanish Outreach