Cataloging Webinar

Karen Coyle is back to discuss, "What's going on with Cataloging???" Over ten years after the publication of FRBR and two years after the final draft of RDA, we come to a decision point.

The questions that are posed are not just about the adoption of new cataloging rules, but of possible new directions for library data. The report on the Future of Bibliographic Control advised us to increase sharing—between libraries and with non-library communities—and to move our data from silo'd databases to an open web platform.

We will review steps that are being taken to at least experiment with those recommendations: the definition of library terms in a format compatible with the Semantic Web; national and international efforts to create linkable library data for web services; and results from two significant efforts: the World Wide Web Consortium's Incubator Group on Linked Library Data and the U.S. National Libraries test of RDA.

There will be two sites in the Arrowhead Library System region hosting on site webinar viewing, one at the Arrowhead Library System Building in Mountain Iron, and one at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Webinar time is 11 A.M. CDT to 12:30 P.M.

For the Mountain Iron site, register with Rebecca Patton rpatton@arrowhead.lib.mn.us or Linda Wadman lwadman@arrowhead.lib.mn.us. For the UMD site, contact Sue Trettel, 218-726-8130 or strettel@d.umn.edu.

This College of DuPage Press/Library Learning Network event is also available via desktop streaming. If you prefer to participate via your own desktop, please register online through the College of DuPage website. Do not complete billing information section on the form. Windows Media Player is required to view the webcasts.

Call for Artists

How to Share E-books at School

I found this recorded webinar that may be of interest to school librarians wanting to use e-readers and e-books:

ALA Webinar Announcement

The current federal budget environment offers challenges – and, believe it or not, opportunities – for school librarians. You may have heard about the many proposed cuts to school library programs as well as the upcoming ESEA reauthorization (also known as the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind). At the same time, members of Congress and their staff are looking for positive stories from their district, particularly on education and economic issues. Fortunately, school librarians have a tremendous opportunity to tell a story that will matter to legislators. The role you play in preparing America’s youth for 21st century jobs, promoting quality of life and economic development and improving literacy in communities around the country must be understood. Attend this webinar to understand how you can get legislators to listen up and, more important, agree with you on school library policy and funding issues.

Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Time: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EDT (4:00-5:00PM CDT)

Click here to register for this webinar.

Spring Into the Standards

Camp Read-A-Lot

Metronet and MELSA are sponsoring Camp Read-A-Lot for teachers, librarians and school media staff. Tuesday, August 9 will cover Grades 2-5. Wednesday, August 10 will cover grades 6-12. Featured speaker in the afternoon will be award winning author Avi.

There is a $30 registration fee for the program. For more information and to register, visit Camp Read-A-Lot.

Spotlight on Books Reminder

Spotlight on Books Conference, April 8-9, 2011, at Sugar Lake Lodge

The twenty-third annual Spotlight on Books, a conference for adults focusing on youth literature, takes place Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9 at Ruttger’s Sugar Lake Lodge Resort, near Grand Rapids, MN. This year’s event entitled “The Power of Books,” welcomes teachers, librarians, aspiring writers, parents, college students and other adults interested in children’s and young adult literature. The featured authors on Saturday will include nationally known, always popular, award-winning authors, Sarah Weeks, Mike Wohnoutka, and Alison McGhee. More information and registration forms are available at http://nlln.org/spotlight.html .

The conference kicks off Friday afternoon with workshop presenter, Anita Silvey, author of 100 Best Books for Children and 500 Great Books for Teens. Ms. Silvey has devoted 35 years to promoting books that can turn children and families into readers. (www.anitasilvey.com)

Saturday begins with Alison McGhee, a Pulitzer Prize nominee and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Her awards include four Minnesota Book Awards, ALA Best Books for Children, Parents’ Choice Award, and City Pages Artist of the Year. Alison is an associate professor of creative writing at Metropolitan State University, and was a founding member of Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Her latest title, Bink and Gollie, is collaboration with fellow Minnesotan, Kate DiCamillo. (www.alisonmcghee.com.)

The day continues with award-winning children’s illustrator, Mike Wohnoutka. Mike will showcase samples of illustrations for children’s books from initial concept sketches to the final paintings. He will also share personal stories about the joys and challenges of his work. Mike’s charming illustrations can be seen in a variety of books, including Jack’s House, Can’t Sleep without Sheep, and The 12 Days of Christmas in Minnesota. (www.mikewohnoutka.com)

Nationally acclaimed author Sarah Weeks will conclude the featured author presentations, talking about the writing process and what inspires her to write. Sarah has more than 50 titles to her credit, including the novel, So B. It; the picture book, Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth; and her most recent book, As Simple as It Seems. Sarah is an adjunct faculty member at the New School University in New York City. (www.SarahWeeks.com.)

The conference will wrap up Saturday afternoon with a question-and-answer session with the three featured authors and Conference attendees.

Other highlights of the Spotlight on Books Conference include book displays, book sales, author signings, regional authors, book talks, “Lightning Rounds,” networking with colleagues and good food! Credit for continuing education units will be available for all participants.

Visit http://nlln.org/spotlight.html for more information and to register for the conference. Early Bird registration rates are available until February 25^th, and regular rates through April 1, 2011.

Bill Gates: How State Budgets Are Breaking U.S. Schools

Library Discovery Layer

First Meeting of ALS Discovery Layer Evaluation committee was held on February 22,2011 in the Board Room of the Arrowhead Library System.

The meeting consisted of a web presentation by Marshall Breeding which was very similar to in person meeting at the Mountain Iron Community Center attended by many of the school librarians on COMPASS. While Marshall is very knowledgeable about automation in libraries, he is bending over backward not to point ALS in any particular direction. He suggested looking at examples from his Discovery Guide Page.

Some assignments to look at recently implemented discovery systems used around the state were given and will be reported back to the group. You can probably find some, or know of some, and get to them from his page.

It would be very helpful to know what you all expect of this discovery layer. What do you want it to do? What do you think should be included in search results? What would make it more helpful to you and your users? Of course, I know that cost is a major consideration for school libraries and will keep reminding them of that, but we are not really knowing much about cost until closer to knowing what we want the discovery layer to do.

I personally found that the January 2011 Library Technology Reports issue on Web Scale Discovery Services was very much more informative and helpful to my understanding of what the committee should be doing. You can access the issue full text in the ELM databases if you'd like to read it for more understanding of the issues involved. It might help you to help me in bringing to the group issues of importance to you as school media people.

The March issue of Computers in Libraries also is also about Discovery Systems and includes many facets of discovery. It covers implementing ILS discovery systems in libraries, museums, and archives; the library website as a discovery interface; mobile apps as a channel. Stories about technologies and platforms that help patrons surface information from the collections of libraries, museums, or archives. It is also available full text in the ELM databases.

I know I'd like the discovery layer to search more than just our collection and the ELM databases. I frequently end up using Google Books, Google Scholar, and Hathi Trust for verification in interlibrary loan and location. It would be great for me if I could use the ALS search to go out there at the same time as it searches local resources. How about WorldCat? Ebook Vendors? Open access repositories?

What about authentication and rights management issues? Are there any special situations for any of you in this area?

Is local library customization important to you?

Are social features such as the ability to comment or review books, tagging, ratings etc. important to you?

Do you see a need for users accounts or the ability to save a list of results for use at a later time? Save queries? See a list of recently viewed items?

Is there a need for mobile interfaces for use with devices with small screens? What platforms should be supported?

I could really use your input here for these and any other issues you'd like me to bring forward as I represent you on the committee.

School librarians on the ALS COMPASS system should e-mail me with their concerns and issues.

Arrowhead Reading Council Presents: Linda Glaser

Arrowhead Reading Council has been informed that Duluth Public Schools teachers must register for our events through the "News and Views" registration process. Go to the ISD 709 homepage, click on Staff, then Teacher/Staff Development, then "Register Here" in the left hand menu. Non-Duluth teachers can register through KC Pavlisich at Woodland Middle School. Her email is: kara.pavlisich@duluth.k12.mn.us.