Volume 7, December 15, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) DO YOU HAVE STAR POTENTIAL?

2) THE WILD AND WOOLY WORLD OF EBOOKS

3) PRESERVING NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES

4) GRANTS FOR HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

5) PRESERVATION INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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1) DO YOU HAVE STAR POTENTIAL?

Libraries are being reshaped. Traditional services and collections are being re-examined and profoundly re-envisioned. New models of service are being demanded and implemented. As long-time leaders retire, strong leadership skills are needed to manage this massive wave of change. At the same time, library leaders must also deal with significant changes in staffing, rapidly developing technologies, and scores of emerging standards. In addition, they must consider numerous external fiscal and social factors while simultaneously championing their own organizations and the library profession as a whole.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will be holding a virtual symposium, Launching Your Star Potential: Leadership for Today’s Libraries, during their Midwinter Meeting. The symposium will:

• Familiarize attendees with basic leadership styles, strategies, and skills;
• Provide practical suggestions for managing complex organizations at a time of profound change and at a time of continuing economic constriction;
• Introduce techniques librarians can use to provide leadership for a diverse workforce;
• Learn to consider alternative leadership techniques and become acquainted with the skills needed to develop as library leaders.

Symposium information:

• When: Monday, January 9 – Friday, January 13, 2012, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PST;
• Registration required. Fees range from $39 to $99 for single sessions, up to $156 to $450 for all five sessions. Registration is free for students. For additional information and to register, visit www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/Star.

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2) THE WILD AND WOOLY WORLD OF EBOOKS

In the past couple of years, interest in ebooks has exploded to become one of the most exciting developments for libraries to come along in decades, and also the most challenging. Do you:

• Feel confused by the variety of ebook formats and readers that are available to your patrons?
• Want to improve support to patrons who are clamoring to download ebooks to their phones, e-readers, and tablets?
• Find it difficult to keep up with the many “game changing” developments in the ebook publishing world?
• Need to fine tune your collection development and circulation policies to accommodate the addition of ebooks to your collection?
• Have a plan in place to promote your ebook collections and to teach staff the skills needed to support ebooks.

Infopeople’s The Wild and Wooly World of Ebooks in Public Libraries is designed to help librarians in the beginning stages of supporting ebooks in their collections navigate their way through the complexities of this emergent, exciting, and increasingly important new library service. Through assignments and discussions, participants will learn about common ebook terminology, selection considerations, and best practices for promotion of ebook collections. Coursework will include developing a training outline that can be used to teach staff the skills needed to better support ebooks in public libraries. This four-week online course will cover:

• Week 1: Introduction to Ebooks and Selection Considerations;
• Week 2: Collection Development and Ebooks;
• Week 3: Web Access and Marketing;
• Week 4: Staff Training and Education.

Course information:

• Dates: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – Monday, February 13, 2012;
• Fee: $150;
• Instructor: Sandy Bolek;
• Time commitment: 2 ½ hours per week (10 course hours, total).

For additional information and to register, visit www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/wooly.

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3) PRESERVING NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration for Native Americans (ANA), of the Department of Health & Human Services, announces the availability of fiscal year 2012 funds for community-based projects for the Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance program. These grants, which support the revitalization of Native American languages to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of these languages and the cultures of native peoples for future generations, fund projects that:

• Support assessments of the status of the Native American languages in an established community;
• Support the planning, designing, and implementing of Native American language curriculum and education projects to support a community’s language preservation goals.

The approximate total funding for FY 2012 is $3,000,000. It is estimated that twelve awards, averaging $250,000 each, will be made. A local match of at least 20 percent of the total approved cost of the project is required. Applications are due no later than Tuesday, January 31, 2012. For additional information, go to www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/ANA.

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4) GRANTS FOR HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Division of Public Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) offers support for a wide range of public humanities programs that engage citizens in thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history. Projects must be well grounded in scholarship and illuminate ideas and insights central to the humanities. A few examples of projects that may be funded by grants include:

• Traveling exhibitions that are presented at multiple venues;
• Long-term exhibitions at one institution;
• Interpretive web sites or other digital formats;
• Interpretation of historic places or areas;
• Reading and discussion programs.

The NEH is currently accepting applications for two categories of grants for America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations:

• Planning grants are available for projects that may need further development before applying for implementation. This planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, and beta testing of digital formats.
• Implementation grants support the final preparation of a project for presentation to the public. Applicants must submit a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital project, which demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject. Applicants for implementation grants should have already finished most of the planning for their projects, including the identification of the key humanities themes, relevant scholarship, and program formats.

For additional information about planning grants, visit www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/NEHplan. For more information about implementation grants, go to www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/NEHimplement. Applications for both grants are due no later than Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

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5) PRESERVATION INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE

Iowa State University is accepting applications for the 2012 Lennox Foundation Preservation and Conservation Internship. This 12-week internship is intended to give current graduate students and recent graduates of preservation and/or conservation programs the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge of care and treatment of library and archives materials in an academic library. Interns will learn about the overall functioning and organization of the Preservation Department and will undertake and complete a project based on their interests and skills, and the needs and capabilities of the Department. The Lennox Foundation Internship provides a $3,200 stipend and university housing for 12 weeks.

Eligibility and requirements:

• Applicants must currently be graduate students in good standing, in a program of library and archives preservation administration or conservation, or a recent graduate of such a program;
• Applicants must have completed at least four preservation or conservation courses before the anticipated start date of this internship;
• Applicants must commit to 12 consecutive weeks of full-time employment as interns;
• Internship must be completed between March 1 and November 15, 2012;
• Intern will be required to submit a final report or project at the end of the internship;
• Applicants must have student or working visas if not U.S. citizens.

For additional information, visit www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/Lennox2012.

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6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Wednesday, December 21:

• Best Youth Books of 2011 (NCompass Live); 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. PST;
• ProQuest Administrator Module (ProQuest); 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PST: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ194;
• Introduction to the New ProQuest Platform (ProQuest); 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. PST: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ195;

Thursday, December 22:

• Managing Your migration (ProQuest); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PST: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ196;
• My Research (ProQuest); 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. PST: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ197.

For more information and to register (for those not linked above), visit the WSL Training Calendar at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/training.

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