Volume 8, December 20, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) ENERGIZE YOURSELF WITH FIRST TUESDAYS

2) FREE COMMON CORE TOOLS WORKSHOP

3) DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR DIGITAL AGE SURVEY

4) STORYCORPS @ YOUR LIBRARY GRANTS

5) FREE ONLINE COLLECTIONS CARE COURSES

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITY NEXT WEEK

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2013 is nearly here! WSL is pleased to offer the following FREE webinars in January. Happy Holidays!

 Registration is available here.

 First Tuesdays: Burnout: Avoiding the flames

January 8, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT

Library staff trying to keep up with changes in technology, demographics, & services may feel somewhat at sea. In this interactive session, Debra Westwood, Library Cluster Manager, King County Library System will look at how libraries are changing. Debra will help attendees learn about individual and group responses to change and devise specific strategies that individuals and work groups can use to remain buoyant in these difficult seas. Presented by Debra Westwood, King County Library System. Instructions and Login for First Tuesdays session

Designed as a continuing-education opportunity for staff of libraries in Washington State, this free web presentation from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., lets attendees share their skills and successes and learn about new topics. The special-subject presentations, lasting about 60 minutes, are recorded so that others may listen at their own convenience.

 Service Excellence in Your Library

January 10, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT

This spring, Kate Laughlin will be touring with her workshop, Service Excellence in Your Library. Get a sneak preview at this webinar.

All library staff from top to bottom, internal and external, are in a service position. What is it that sets an organization’s level of service apart from others? How can employing these techniques propel the good service we already provide in WA’s libraries into great service? Join us for an engaging look at transforming our library’s culture to one of Service Excellence. Explore how such a transformation occurs, and as an individual, how you can encourage this change. This training emphasizes consistent approaches to service, while providing additional skills to help ensure satisfaction in all customer interactions. It is appropriate to anyone working in libraries, regardless of job position or library type.

Library consultant and trainer, Kate Laughlin, has been working in and with libraries since the late 1990s. In 2011, she had the opportunity to immerse with a focus group of 15 staff from different levels of library work, internal and external. From that intensive work came the creation of Service Excellence training, which is acutely relevant to the work we do in libraries and for our patrons.

TechSoup for Libraries: Washington

January 16, 9:30-10:00 a.m. PT

Whether you’re a regular TechSoup for Libraries user or haven’t heard of them until now, this webinar designed specifically for Washington public libraries will show you something new about the variety of free services offered to libraries and nonprofits.

TechSoup, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is working toward a time when every nonprofit, library, and social benefit organization will have the technology resources and knowledge they need to operate at their full potential.

During this  30-minute webinar, attendees will learn how to register and request over 450 donated and discounted products from more than 50 donor partners — including Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec, and take a virtual tour of other free resources in TechSoup’s tech arsenal including:

• TechSoup’s up-to-date articles and library spotlights
• community discussion forums
• free webinars and tweetchats
• technology news

and more!

This webinar will be of interest to staff in Washington public libraries who want to learn more about how they can benefit from all the free services TechSoup has to offer. Presented by Stephanie Gerding and Brenda Hough.

Legal Research for Information Professionals

January 28, 10:00-11:30 a.m. PT

Legal reference questions can be challenging to answer. This class will help public librarians learn practical skills for approaching these types of questions.

Participants will be able to:

* Translate keywords from reference questions into legal search terms for finding resources

* Describe legal resources available through WA web sites (KCLL, WashingtonLawHelp and others)

* Refer legal questions as appropriate to a law library

Online via Blackboard/Elluminate. Instructions for log-in will be sent to each registrant.

Presented by Kim Ositis, Public Law Library of King County.

Volume 8, December 13, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) RAND SIMMONS NAMED WASHINGTON STATE LIBRARIAN

2) DON’T MISS THE DEADLINE FOR WLA SCHOLARSHIPS

3) ONLINE NW – IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE EARLY BIRD

4) CALL FOR SPEAKERS – BIG TALK FROM SMALL LIBRARIES

5) FREE CLASS – CARING FOR THE MIND

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 8, December 6, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FREE GENEALOGY WORKSHOP

2) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE 2013 DEADLINE APPROACHING

3) GATES MILLENNIUM SCHOLARS PROGRAM

4) AWARDS FOR AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS

5) GRANTS FOR AMERICA’S HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 8, November 29, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS – WASHINGTON RURAL HERITAGE DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

2) WANTED – BRANCH LIBRARIAN

3) PUBLIC INPUT NEEDED ON EARLY LEARNING

4) PLA SEEKING FEEDBACK ON DIGITAL LEARNING CENTER

5) FREE WORKSHOP – FUNDING PRESERVATION PROJECTS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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WSL Updates Special Edition for Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Topics include:

1) WASHINGTON STATE LIBRARY FEATURES WASHINGTON’S POET LAUREATE

2) WANTED – READER’S ADVISOR

3) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES

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Volume 8, November 15, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list – Expanded Edition
Note: WSL Updates will be on hiatus next week.

Topics include:

1) LAST CALL – CIVIL WAR EXHIBIT AT CWU

2) ALKI’S FIRST ONLINE EDITION

3) WLA GRADUATE STUDY SCHOLARSHIPS

4) PUBLIC LIBRARY GRANTS FOR TEENS AND NEWS LITERACY

5) ONLINE NORTHWEST 2013 SCHOLARSHIPS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES: NOVEMBER 19 – 30

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Volume 8, November 8, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) MORE CLASSICS IN WASHINGTON HISTORY

2) PROQUEST OFFERS WA WEBINARS

3) SUCCESSFUL FRIENDS GROUPS – WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN’T

4) SONGS TO READ! BOOKS TO SING!

5) PRESERVATION GRANT WORKSHOP

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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From the futuristic desk of Shawn Schollmeyer.

With 100,000 pages contributed each two year grant cycle from over 30 states and reaching for participation by all 50 states, the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) is the biggest digital newspaper project in U.S. history and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC). Each of those 5.2 million pages need related lines of code and metadata along with the page images.  Title, city, date, as well as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) files that turn an image into machine-readable text, allow users to search newspaper content on the Chronicling America website.

That’s a lot of files! Who manages all these files? Less than a dozen people at Library of Congress support the websites & wikis, upload files, and help project managers learn the NDNP digitization process. Here in Washington State, we rely on this handful of people to guide us on best practices for digitization and image standards for our participation in the program.  In September, all the participating states gathered to meet our sponsors, advisors, and fellow awardees to discuss the great ways people are using the content from this project.  At the end of the three day conference, our heads are filled with practical knowledge of processes, resources, and exciting new ideas. While I was there I had the rare opportunity to meet the magicians behind the curtain…

Our main contact for the National Digital Newspaper Program in Washington, DC is Chris Ehrman. Nearly a librarian by birth (his parents are both librarians), Chris began his newspaper experience in the University of Utah Ski Archives , uploading photos and video of America’ favorite winter sport before moving on to the NDNP program in Montana. There he honed his technical expertise learning the selection and upload process for Montana’s newspaper collection, becoming a great candidate for the Library of Congress’ Digital Conversion Specialist position. Chris is our “go-to” man when we have questions about how to resolve the challenges of working with so many files and metadata. If the data checks out OK, Chris prepares the scripts to load files for the automatic ingestion process so the newspaper images will appear in the Chronicling America database. He also supports the LC’s NDNP website.

There are four Digital Conversion Specialists who evaluate and help load our submitted batches of files to the website. Missing pages, cataloging conflicts, or date misprints are among the situations that may flag a batch for further review.  These four take turns validating batches from all awardees for final approval in addition to their specialized tasks, which include validation tool support and digitizing from LC’s own historic newspaper collection.  Chris estimates that they see 150,000-180,000 pages per month, translating to about six terabytes. One of their biggest challenges is to keep the workflow moving and avoid bottlenecks in the system.

Robin Butterhof is another LC specialist. Friendly & energetic, Robin supports the NDNP wiki page that contains the technical specifications, trainings, tools, deliverables, and state by state project information. She is a woman of many talents, having held several different library jobs, including book publishing, reference librarian, non-profit work and consulting, all while attending classes as a library student. Excellent training for the many tasks she juggles daily at LC.

Volume 8, November 1, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS – SUMMER READING

2) EARLY LEARNING SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONS

3) HEALTH AND WELLNESS COMPETENCIES

4) ALA LIBRARYAWARE AWARD

5) AMERICAN LIBRARIES LIVE – A NEW KIND OF DIALOG

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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