Volume 7, March 31, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) RESOURCE SHARING GRANT Q&A SESSION

2) FIRST TUESDAYS – SEARCH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

3) FUNDING FOR LIBRARY SUPPORT STAFF CERTIFICATION

4) NEW YORK TIMES AVAILABLE THROUGH LIBRARIES

5) MAKING SENSE OF THE CIVIL WAR

6) CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK (SOME FREE, SOME NOT)

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Volume 7, February 24, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS – AUTHORS, ILLUSTRATORS, AND LIBRARIANS, OH MY!

2) SIMPLY WASHINGTON – NEW & IMPROVED

3) LIBRARY LEGISLATION TRACKER

4) DOE GRANT – IMPROVING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL LIBRARIES

5) FREE WEBJUNCTION COURSES – MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 7, February 17, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FREE GENEALOGY EVENT – BING CROSBY’S FAMILY HISTORY

2) WLA ANNUAL CONFERENCE – REGISTER NOW

3) PUBLIC RECORDS & OPEN MEETING FORUM

4) FREE WEBWISE CONFERENCE

5) HOST THE KING JAMES BIBLE TRAVELING EXHIBIT

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 7, January 27, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS – INNOVATION AT WTBBL

2) LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY

3) FREE GENEALOGY EVENT – BING CROSBY’S FAMILY HISTORY

4) WASHINGTON LIBRARY SNAPSHOT DAY

5) VIDEO CONTEST – ESPECIALLY FOR TEENS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Last Friday I had the pleasure of [virtually] being part of a panel at the WLA / PNLA conference in Victoria. The panel was called “Reference Service Innovations: Present and Future”, and my fellow panelists and I were given some excellent questions to consider.

Since I wasn’t sure how the technology would play out (I was a virtual presenter on a panel that was otherwise physically present AT the conference), I recorded the questions with my answers and sent them along so that I could be represented even if the technology failed. Thankfully, it didn’t, and I’m happy to have my thoughts recorded so that I can share them here with you.

The questions were provided by Heather McLeland-Wieser at the Seattle Public Library. These answers represent some of my thoughts on the future of reference service. I hope they’re of interest, and that you’ll share your thoughts as well in the comments.

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The Washington Library Association hosted a great webinar today with Mary Ross, who talked about how to effectively create audience-focused presentations. The tips that Mary suggests seem spot on, and I’m including them with my notes below in the hope that they will be useful to Washington library staff who want to step up the interactivity and quality of their presentations.

About 50 librarians attended the webinar, which seemed like a great number to me. If you were one of them, please share your thoughts in the comments below. Whether or not you were able to attend, what do you think? Are your presentations really focused on your audience? What could you be doing better to make sure your presentations are meeting audience needs? What are you already doing that’s awesome?

My notes from the webinar (after the break):

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Volume 6, May 27, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) NO LIBRARY IS AN ISLAND – THE 2010 PNLA/WLA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

2) WASHINGTON LIBRARIES RECEIVE FREE LYRASIS TRIAL MEMBERSHIP

3) BRUSH UP YOUR PR SKILLS – JUNE FIRST TUESDAYS

4) FREE BOOK – GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES

5) TECHNOLOGY AND ITS IMPACT ON THE FUTURE OF LIBRARIES

6) POWER TO THE USER – INTERACTIVE ONLINE REFERENCE SOURCES

7) RE-TOOLING FRONTLINE STAFF WITH E-GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

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