SCRLC LakeNet Effect

21st Century Libraries/Library Systems--Plan! Innovate! Transform! Grant Approved!

2010-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

SCRLC’s Library Services and Technology Act grant application was approved by the New York State Library! The grant, entitled 21st Century Libraries/Library Systems--Plan! Innovate! Transform!, will create learning opportunities and will assist you in providing innovative, effective, and customer-focused services. There are three components to this two-year award:

• The Plan! Innovate! Transform! learning series comprises strategic innovation and planning for 21st century library & information services and includes a component designed to measure, assess, and evaluate services and programs in order to meet customers’ needs. An emerging technologies element incorporates online e-books/e-readers and trends conferences, an e-reader pilot project, virtual reference/SMS text reference support, virtual world librarianship, and DMCA copyright issues including resource sharing. As part of this,
we will be experimenting with various platforms to use in the delivery of distance learning opportunities.

• SCRLC’s Digitizing Boot Camp III will support the Tools of History regional digitization program and offer a series of workshops on project management, copyright, digital imaging, and metadata.

• Online Registration: An online registration system will be implemented to enable you to register electronically and organize and track your learning events.

Here are some dates to keep in mind for your planning purposes:

May-June: Organizational meeting of librarians interested in E-reader pilot project
July: Order and implementation of SCRLC’s online registration software
July: E-Conference on E-Books/Readers
August: Second Life island sponsorship for 1 year
August: Needs Assessment (tentatively August 10)
Sept. 17: Strategic Planning/Innovations Program
October: E-Conference on Emerging Library Trends & Technology
November: 21st Century Customer Service Workshop

Collaborative Text Reference Opportunity!

2009-03-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

Good Day SCRLC Libraries!

South Central Regional Library Council members have an opportunity to participate in a pilot project, InfoQuest, to explore the feasibility of collaborative multi-type text-based reference service, in partnership with the Alliance Library System of East Peoria, the School of Library & Information Science of San Jose State University, TAP Information Services (the organization offering OPAL—Online Programming for All Libraries), and Altarama.
Altarama (http://www.altarama.com) will provide technology and training for project participants and will assist evaluators with non-standard data access and extraction. “Libraries of all types – and the reference services community in particular-stand to benefit greatly from the outcomes of this unique and timely project, “said Arthur Brady, President of Altarama, “and we’re delighted to be an active partner.”

Participating libraries will agree to staff the collaborative service for two hours a week; attend online training sessions and planning meetings; market the service within their communities, and provide feedback about the service. Customizable training and promotional materials will be provided. Librarians will not be using a cell phone to provide service; they will log into a project website or project email address to receive and provide answers to questions.

There are no charges to participate during the first six months of the project. The partnership seeks funding to host the service for a full year. If funding is not secured at six months, participants may choose to drop the service or share the costs of the software with other members, which is expected to be $100-200 per library depending on how many libraries participate.

The deadline for participation is April 15, 2009. Partnership agreement forms will be made available at the meeting and through email for anyone unable to attend. Online training sessions will be held in May and June at a variety of times for the convenience of participants. During June, participants can practice, copy promotional materials provided for the project and begin to promote the service. The service is expected to kick off on July 1 and run through the end of December for the first six months of activity.

If this is of interest to you, please join us for an informational meeting on March 25, 2009, 11AM-1PM EST. The meeting will take place by conference call. If you cannot attend on the 25th, there will be another informational meeting on April 3 from 3-5PM. Contact Diane Capalongo at dcapalongo@scrlc.org or me at mclindbloom@scrlc.org 607-273-9106 for the conference call login details.

Lori Bell, of the Alliance Library System, is the project director, and you may contact her at Lori Bell at lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com.

Why text reference? An increasing number of libraries accept information queries in the form of text messages from users’ cell phones and other mobile devices. According to a 2005 Pew and American Life Project report, Teens and Technology, “Today’s American teens live in a world enveloped by communications technologies; the internet and cell phones have become a central force that fuels the rhythm of daily life.” 85% of teens reported owning at least one of the following devices: blackberry, cell phone, laptop, and desktop computer. In 2005 45% of teens owned cell phones and many owned more than one device that could connect to the Internet. 75% used text messaging. http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/289/press_coverageitem.asp; It is not just teens: The 2005 Pew press release, 34 Million American Adults Send Text Messages on their Cell Phones, reported that 31% of those between the ages of 28-39 used text, 18% between 40-49, 13% of between 50-59, and 7% of those over 60. http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2005/34-million-American-adults-send-text-messages-on-their-cell-phones.aspx . Four years later, I would think that the number of texters has increased among all generations.

Best regards,

AskUs 24/7 Virtual Reference Service

2008-12-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

SCRLC has joined the AskUs 24/7 Virtual Reference program, coordinated by the Western NY Library Resources Council.

The first training session was held on 16 December, and several libraries will be ready to go "live" very soon. If your library would still like to participate, there are still opportunities--just let me know!

See http://www.askus247.org/ for more information about the service.

Writing to Legislators: Be Specific & Include Your Story

2008-11-18T04:52:00.001-08:00

Here is the latest letter that I sent to legislators, specific to the Council, after getting a very generic letter back from one of the senators......

Dear Senator/Assemblyman/Assemblywoman:

I am writing to you regarding our funding situation. We are missing $119,724 in library aid – that is over 22% of what we were supposed to receive. Our missing aid is part of the $20 million cut in Library Aid proposed by the Department of Budget to resolve the funding gap. That would place Library Aid at a level not seen since 1993 and devastate the services we provide.

Indeed, libraries have already contributed their fair share toward reducing the state’s budget deficit. Library Aid has already been reduced twice this year from $102 million to $99 million. Between 1998-2006, libraries and library systems received no increases, while other educational institutions received generous increases.. When we finally received increases, the funds barely made up for eight years of inflation. Now -- when libraries are needed more than ever, when libraries are being used more than ever – more cuts are being contemplated.

We are a multi-type library system, comprised of hospital libraries, academic libraries, museums, specials, school library systems, and public libraries and systems. Some of our resources are used by health care professionals to improve patient care. Other resources are used by students at all levels and in all settings for their research and projects. We also support resource sharing and initiatives to improve access to information for all citizens. We also keep library workers trained and up-to-date in this ever-changing information and technology environment, which in turn helps them serve the public and work smarter, saving taxpayer dollars.

Then there is the situation with the Coordinated Collection Development Library Aid, which is funding legislated by the State and distributed to college libraries to purchase library materials in designated subject areas. The materials are then shared with other libraries of all types – schools, publics and other academic libraries – throughout the state, which increases the benefit for all New York State residents. Non-receipt of this funding would be devastating to the academics.

Our library system is a backbone for our libraries and information infrastructure. We are an example of how the library community has long been a champion and role model for regional cooperation, resource sharing and providing services in a cost-effective and efficient manner, which saves libraries of all types and their users money.

There have been various suggestions for alternatives to further reductions, and some of them seem very reasonable, including:

Impose Temporary Tax on Millionaires;

Use the State's Tax Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund of approximately $1 billion);

Expand the Bottle Bill to include water/juice bottles - approximately $250 million more in revenue;

Eliminate State Empire Zones - state incentives for businesses to locate in certain parts of the state;

Obtain Emergency Funding from US Government.

Thank you so very much for your continued help and support for libraries and library systems. I appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Mary-Carol Lindbloom

Executive Director

South Central Regional Library Council

Clinton Hall

108 Cayuga St.

Ithaca, NY 14850

Phone: 607-273-9106

Fax: 607-272-0740

Email: mclindbloom@lakenet.org

Website: www.lakenet.org

"The South Central Regional Library Council leads, advocates for, and challenges libraries, promoting collaboration in a changing information environment."

NYLA RALLY TO PROTEST FURTHER CUTS IN STATE AID TO LIBRARIES AND LIBRARY SYSTEMS

2008-11-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

When: Tuesday, November 18th 1 pm - 2:30 pm

Where: Well of the Legislative Office Building, Albany

Directions: Vans and cars can find parking in the garages underneath or nearby the Empire State Plaza.( visit <http://www.ogs.state.ny.us/Parking/forVisitor/visitor.html>. For more information).

Buses can drop off attendees at the Madison Avenue side of the Empire State Plaza (between the ESP and State Museum) and park at Crossgates Mall. Attendees would then walk down the length of the Empire State Plaza, go through security check points and go left toward the Legislative Office Building. The Well of the LOB is on the bottom floor near the elevators.

Objective: The NYS Legislature is holding a Special Session at the request of the Governor to consider $1.5 to $2 billion in further cuts to the 2008-09 State Budget.
Library Aid has already been cut twice this year from $102 million to $99 million.

Although we realize the state is facing difficult economic times, libraries and library systems have already done their part toward reducing the state’s budget deficit. Other sources of revenue should be explored and other state funded programs need to do their share to reduce the state budget deficit.

Contact Info: If you are interested in attending the Rally, contact your local library system to find out whether they are organizing transportation to Albany or the NYLA office at 518-432-6952.

In addition, we have posted a letter on our website to send to the Governor and state Legislators urging them not to cut Library Aid again. Visit <www.nyla.org> and click on Contact Your Elected Officials button to advocate for libraries.

Michael J. Borges
Executive Director
New York Library Association
252 Hudson Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
(518) 432-6952, ext. 101
(518) 427-1697 Fax
director@nyla.org

One-Two-Three, Cha Cha...... com???

2008-08-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

One-two-three, Cha cha-…..com??? www.Chacha.com , that is.

“Wanted: Night Surfers; Brainiacs; Smarty-Pants; Sports Fans; Good Students; Know-It-Alls; Experts; Info Junkies; Clever Moms; Inquiring Minds; Einsteins; Puzzle Solvers; Newshounds.” Provide your name, areas of interest, level of education, availability, and explain why you would be a good guide, and you might be dancing to the sound of cellular ringtones!

Featured recently on NPR’s On the Media, through chacha.com you get answers from a real person by calling or texting from your cell phone. The piece included a discussion of the reliability of answers received through chacha and the similarities/differences between that and such services as Yahoo Answers. No mention of librarians except toward the end when host Mark Phillips commented on a future Desk Set-like environment (not that Desk Set was mentioned)…. “And maybe it’s better that way. If you’re wondering about a director’s last film, it’s nice sometimes to do a search, get sent to IMDb and see a list of all her films. Each answering service, including the old-fashioned Google Search or, God forbid, a trip to the library, has a time and a place.”

I got to thinking how easy it would be to incorporate texting into reference operations and thought that one of my Illinois colleagues might be doing just that. I was right. Cruising onto the Arlington Memorial Public Library's website, I found a plethora of options for reaching a reference librarian—virtual reference, IM, phone, email, and yes—SMS! Not being a very good texter, I chatted them up instead, and learned that it really was pretty easy to do. Bill P also pointed me to a Library Success webpage providing more info about libraries actually doing this. Thanks, Bill!

I hope that OCLC’s virtual/remote reference service, QuestionPoint, will incorporate SMS into a future release. As a global community of librarians available around the clock, it is the natural, credible alternative to the answer websites.

Should librarians really get into the SMS business? Yes. Sure, texting has its limitations and we cannot use it to answer complicated questions. We can help them as much as possible and then send them to the bricks and mortar library, or a librarian-staffed remote reference service if necessary. That positive interaction will make them more likely to go there. We need library supporters among all generations and communication styles. Texting won’t replace reference as we know it—it is one more aid to place in our toolbox to link our users--and non-users--to the information at their point-of-need.

Above all, we need to get the message out to our users that we are available to them through various media... that a "trip to the library" can be as close as their keyboard....or even cell phone.

Libraries Shine in Tough Economic Times

2008-07-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last night, NPR's All Things Considered carried a story entitled "Libraries Shine in Tough Economic Times," focusing on the nationwide trend of increased library use in this period of a slowing economy. Boyd County, Ky., Library Director Debbie Cosper is interviewed. Research, Internet use, and books circulated are all up.

ALA's Wellness Circle Initiative

2008-07-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Wellness, an initiative of out-going ALA president Loriene Roy, will be carried forth by ALA’s Allied Professional Association. ALA-APA will maintain the resources and tools that were developed by the Wellness Circle. The address is www.ala-apa.org/wellness.

Among the resources: 1) The Wellness Passport 2008 for all library workers; 2) Workplace Wellness Inventory; 3) stories of how individual library workers and their organizations journeyed toward wellness….and much more!

What do libraries have to do with wellness, anyway? Well, everything! If we feel good, we are more productive and happier, which energizes our work environments and makes for happier customers. Another benefit may be reduced health insurance costs--certain plans even offer incentives for organizations having wellness programs. When the library community models healthy behaviors, society benefits and we help achieve the goals of the Healthy People 2010 project, which is a national effort to “ensure that good health, as well as long life, are enjoyed by all.” The Medical Library Association is one of the many partners in this national initiative.

SUNY Staff and Faculty & NYSL E-Resources

2008-07-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Nora and I visited the New York State Library today for an orientation program. The visit was very productive, we learned a lot, and have a new understanding of NYSL operations and programs. They also have a great rare books and manuscript collection!

Among the myriad pieces of information coming out of the various meetings is that employees--including faculty--of SUNY four-year colleges and universities and statutory colleges can obtain borrowers cards entitling them to use e-resources that are otherwise unavailable remotely. That is different from the NOVEL databases, which are available to all eligible residents of NYS. For more information, click here.

From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America

2008-07-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

You can download OCLC's latest membership report here.

Among the findings:

"Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation
"Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support
"Voters who see the library as a 'transformational' force as opposed to an 'informational' source are more likely to increase taxes in its support ."

The report suggests that targeting marketing messages to the right segments of the voting public is key to driving increased support for U.S. public libraries."

Perspectives on the Future of Libraries Panel Discussion

2008-07-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

Held Saturday, June 28, 2008 Anaheim Convention Center, ALA conference.

How can we not only survive, but flourish and make it a great one? The panelists, who addressed our future in a spirited and sometimes controversial way, were Joan Frye Williams, President, Joan Frye Williams Consulting; Stephen Abram, Vice President of Innovation, SirsiDynix; and José-Marie Griffiths, Dean, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. R. David Lankes, Associate Professor & Director of the Information Institute, Syracuse University, presented concluding observations, Directions in Participatory Librarianship.

Moderated by Roger Levien of Principal, Strategy & Innovation Consulting, the panelists were asked to consider four questions in their responses:

1. What might libraries look like in 10, 20, or 30 years?
2. Which trends in information technology or society are most important or most interesting for the future of libraries, and why?
3. Given the evolution in information technology and online services, what are the most promising opportunities for libraries in the coming decade?
4. What do the workforce trends today imply about the library services that are delivered tomorrow? And what can be done today to better prepare us for delivering relevant services for the library of the future?

Boiled down and condensed, the basic message wasn’t a particularly new one—our future is about relationships—how they are established and sustained. We know that, but sometimes it seems to get lost in technology. Indeed, technology can help us develop and sustain relationships, but in the end it is all about the human-to-human contact. And trust.

The first panelist, Joan Frye Williams, believes that in the library of the future, relationships to information objects will be less important than relationships with our customers. She reminded us that libraries are trusted and authentic—and that those are great ingredients for a relationship-based service model. Joan advised us to worry less about managing documents and commodities and to be more careful of “relationship.” What do we call the folks walking through our doors? Patrons? Library users? Customers? Williams conducted a survey among the public, and they overwhelmingly suggested “member.” They have a card, after all. The opposite of “member” is “guest.” Libraries are not only places to “find stuff” but to “do stuff.” That will become increasingly important. The future library must be great at creating virtual and physical working environments, and actually co-creating them with the users/members. Williams projects that libraries will be in the ideas business and that the emphasis will be on thought processes, not on the artifacts. The information business may be off-shored, but not the process of creating ideas.

“Take two books and call me in the morning.” Williams also mentioned that due to a larger population of seniors, there will continue to be a rise in the wellness and health area--we should be advocating the role of the library in keeping our brains alive, i.e., “libraries as massive Alzheimer’s prevention places. “

Stephen Abram presented his remarks from the year 2021, looking back to the year 2008, a time when we finally got it right. We became specialists—not everyone was expected to know how to do everything. We also became less anonymous--more of us donned name tags. People could name their doctor, lawyer, and finally knew the name of their librarian. Reference librarians moved out from behind the reference desk, organizational structures changed to facilitate team work, wikis on the web were built collaboratively to put up program ideas, and human greeters were in place. He reminded us how easy it was to use a credit card, but how we had needed a different card for each library. It didn’t make it easy for people to use a library. We stopped our shallow conversations, found our core (questions), placed everyone into an information literacy program, and underwent transformational librarianship. Abram also mentioned that now we can put LC holdings on a cell phone, we need to focus on helping (i.e.,the relationship aspect). In fact, after creating our rather comprehensive database of our collective holdings, Abram wondered why we don’t have a similar database for questions. He also suggested that despite having locally funded libraries, libraries need to find ways to collaborate on the infrastructure so that when disaster strikes, as it did that year with Midwest flooding and before that in the Gulf, libraries can still maintain their online presence.

José-Marie Griffiths would like to see a future for librarians. She indicated that the number of librarians employed outside of libraries is growing faster than within, but that they still advocate for library services. She feels that collections are our underpinnings, even if they do not have to be in one location, and that once we lose the notion of “collection,” we may lose the “library.” The concept of libraries as trusted institutions was broached with this speaker as well, in that we need to maintain this centuries-built value. We are more trusted that corporations and the Internet. Griffiths suggested that the “control” part of bibliographic control should be banned to allow for more opportunities for resource discovery. Discovery and access services are fundamental to the fabric of libraries. She mentioned the physical library’s place being increasingly important in all sectors—that visits are up. Griffiths reminded us of the multigenerational aspect of libraries, i.e., that we serve folks across the lifespan, which provides a tremendous opportunity for many areas, including community education and economic development. Griffiths believes that our greatest threat is the lack of understanding as to what libraries are and what librarians do.

David Lankes. Continuing on with the theme of “relationship,” in his talk on participatory librarianship, David reminded the audience that knowledge is created through conversation; that libraries are in the knowledge business; therefore, we are in the “Conversation Business.” Those conversations can be in the library, online, or even marked in legislation. The library serves as a facilitator of conversation; true facilitation with the community means share ownership. Libraries should invest in tools of creation over the collection of artifacts, i.e.,library users need the ability to make their own artifact whether it is a youtube video or a piano composition (Lankes suggested that our music collections include pianos). He suggested nothing less than a Dewey-level shift in our relationship of items, and that perhapstime should organization materials rather than tags.

LJ ‘s report is here:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA65`74501.html?nid=2671&source=title&rid=1677995960&

ALA Conference2008: Top Tech Trends

2008-07-07T05:43:00.000-07:00

The ALA is always high-energy and packed full of useful information and thought-provoking programs. The conference is spread out among many locations, and it can be challenging to attend everything you want.

This year, I lucked out and got to most of the programs I had hoped to see, including Top Tech Trends and the Future of Libraries.

Top Tech Trends. Open source software/issues, open access/open data/ownership/bibliographic control/Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), bandwidth matters, mobile devices, and social software/networking/discovery/archiving were all bobbing around in the top tech trends soup stirred by the panelists. Makes one’s head swim! Here are a couple of links to the Tech Trends – the Future of Libraries will follow! (Hmmm....maybe literally!)

LITA—Library and Information Technology Association--sponsors the Top Tech Trends and has a blog listing http://litablog.org/category/top-technology-trends/. You can download an audio and read blogs from some of the panelists, as well.

The Library Journal article provides an overview of the program:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6575556.html

JEFFREY CANNELL APPOINTED ACTING STATE LIBRARIAN

2008-06-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

JEFFREY CANNELL APPOINTED ACTING STATE LIBRARIAN

Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills has announced the appointment of Jeffrey W. Cannell, Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education, as Acting State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries following the retirement of Janet Welch earlier this month.

The announcement was made at the June meeting of the Board of Regents.

Jeffrey Cannell has served as Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education since his appointment in March 2007. The New York State Library, the State Archives, the Office of Educational Television, and the New York State Museum comprise the Office of Cultural Education.

During Cannel’s tenure as Deputy Commissioner, the legislature approved new funding for public library construction grants, increased aid for library systems, and increased school library materials aid.

Mr. Cannell has led development of a plan to establish safe and secure storage for New York’s historic and cultural treasures and has worked to secure funding for curriculum based education programs in Museums and other cultural institutions.

He has worked with the Board of Regents to secure more support for outreach and educational programs provided by New York’s public television stations and to expand the NOVELny pilot project into a Statewide Internet Library.

Prior to his appointment as Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education, Cannell was Director of the Albany Public Library and had an extensive career in library administration. He served before that as Director of the Wayne County Public Library in Goldsboro, North Carolina; Manager of the Cliffdale Branch of Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center, Fayetteville, North Carolina; Branch Manager of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Bookseller for a number of enterprises; and Reference Librarian at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Comparative Literature and a Master of Library Science, both from the State University of New York at Albany.

A search is currently underway to permanently fill the position of New York State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries.

Candidates are being sought and qualified individuals are urged to apply. For information on the position and how to apply, go to the New York State Education web site at http://www.oms.nysed.gov/hr/flyers/OCE683.htm.

Valerie Chevrette

Communications Coordinator

New York State Library/Office of Educational Television Room 10D36 CEC Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12230

518/474-5961

518/486-2152 (fax)

Good Day!

2008-06-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Greetings, everyone!

I am experimenting with Blogger.com, thinking it might be another way to keep in touch with the SCRLC membership and to provide useful information. If all goes well, I will also publish an "on the road" series from ALA!

Cheers,

Mary-Carol