Time-traveling back to 1995….

My introduction to the virtual classroom was almost 2 decades ago! One of my undergraduate professors decided that he would have us meet virtually for a class session. In 1995, internet was still a novelty. I had my email through school and felt like one of the elite. I recently stumbled upon an email about that first virtual classroom experience, software has changed, but the premise is the same.

From the 1995 email:

“You will be ‘in’ a virtual ‘classroom’ on the ‘Penn’ campus. See who else shows up, identify yourself, and talk to each other. There’s help on line, but the key thing you need to know is that if you type “ at the left margin, whatever you type until you hit will be attributed to you as spoken ‘discourse’ everybody else can hear…(Some strange things may happen to you, but what the heck?) List-lurkers welcome to come along and meet the rest, and I will try to be there myself, but there are time zones and a schedule where I’m lecturing that evening to cope with.”

I attended this session and was frustrated that my slow typing meant that I was always at least a step behind everyone else in the conversation. Then, we discovered what Professor O’Donnell was trying to teach us. Thirty minutes into the session, “O’Donnell” revealed that he was a Teacher Assistant pretending to be Professor O’Donnell. Lesson learned; we never really know who we are talking with online.

Now, I get the opportunity to teach librarians how to use virtual classrooms for meetings and trainings. In March, I went to Valdez, Alaska to teach a conference session on this topic. I must admit that playing the game “Get Out of Valdez” gave me brand-new appreciation for the Pacific Northwest and reinforced my thoughts that the Alaskan librarians are made of awesome. I was welcomed warmly to our northern most state and had the opportunity to meet many Alaskan librarians, from those working in remote villages with a population of 40 to a former Washington librarian who now manages the Anchorage library. Despite concerns that days of snow may prevent us from departing Valdez, we all made it safely out.

The session focused on how to create interactive, fun webinars and I gave the participants several templates that they can re-purpose for their own use. Attendees later told me that I helped them see the simple things that could be done to enhance the webinar experience.

Through my various communities of practice including; I have been able to practice and fine-tune my webinar skills over the years. In the beginning when the Washington training group decided to experiment with web meetings, I was resistant. I knew I would miss seeing my colleagues face to face and the social interaction of those meetings often lead to great new ideas and projects. However, I soon became a convert. Now, while I love seeing my colleagues in person at trainings and conferences, I appreciate the times that we meet virtually.

Plus, there are so many more opportunities for collaboration now that I live much of my life in the “virtual world” of librarianship. I can meet regularly with my fellow Continuing Education state-wide coordinators from around the states and keep up with my local colleagues between our quarterly in-person meetings. I was able to partner with my colleague, Shirley Biladeau, from the Idaho Commission for Libraries to offer a series of eReader webinars for library staff. We are currently partnering on teaching Turning the Page 2.0 in the fall. Without the help of our virtual spaces including the virtual classroom, my job would be a lot harder.

Now, 18 years after my first attempt at navigating the virtual classroom, I am passionate at sharing my knowledge and skills with others. Also, I generally “know” who is in my classroom because we now have VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) that allows me to hear the voices of my peers. And if someone isn’t on a microphone and communicating over chat, I trust they are who they claim to be.

Jennifer Fenton is the Continuing Education/Training Coordinator at the Washington State Library and can often be found glued to a computer screen with a headset facilitating, attending or monitoring various online trainings and meetings.

From the desk of Rand Simmons

It’s National Library Week and also Library Snapshot Day! Today we feature our Washington Talking Book & Braille Library located in Seattle, Washington.

Do you know someone who can’t read standard print?  Someone who is blind, visually impaired, can’t hold a book or turn pages, or has a reading disability?  Then you know someone who needs the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL)!  We are the only library in Washington providing uniquely tailored library and information services for those who can’t read standard print material.

We mail books in audio, braille, and large print across the state and have audio and braille books available for our patrons to download.  WTBBL also has youth services programming, reference, technology instruction and training, book clubs, organizational accounts available for public libraries, schools, retirement homes and much, much more.

In 2012 WTBBL was honored with the Mayor’s Award and Proclamation for its work empowering individuals with disabilities.  Mayor Mike McGinn proclaimed June 5 as Washington Talking Book & Braille Library Day.

Visit our website (www.wtbbl.org), like us on facebook (www.facebook.com/WTBBL), or visit us in downtown Seattle to learn more about this amazing library and the people who count on it day after day.

It’s National Library Week at the Washington State Library and across our great country.

 

What is Library Development at the Washington State Library? In a nutshell, library development staff members provide “Services to Libraries.” The purpose of our work is to serve the residents of the State of Washington through their local library. We work with all types of libraries; public libraries, academic libraries, school libraries, and special libraries. We serve these libraries through the implementation of statewide projects, by providing training opportunities for those who work in Washington libraries, and through the award of grants to local libraries for the start-up of new services or the enhancement of existing services. We provide any number of additional services to libraries — read more about these services here.

Our work is dependent on the receipt of federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. As such, we would like to recognize and thank the President and members of Congress for their continued support of both IMLS and LSTA. We also need to recognize and thank the staff members who support this federal program at the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The funding Congress provides and the work done by both IMLS and the Washington State Library supports local libraries in opening the world of information and ideas to our communities across Washington.

Throughout today we will share brief overviews of the work we do through Facebook and Twitter.

Follow what is happening nationally this week using the Twitter hashtag #nlw13, or through the American Library Association, atyourlibrary.org.

 

On April 9th, 2013, at the invitation of Library Associate Gayle Shonkwiler, Patricia  Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson shapeshifter series, visited the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. The presentation was very well received and liked by the 30 inmates in attendance. Patricia read from her newest best seller “Frost Burned” which was just released in March.  After the reading she answered questions about everything from her books, how to write, how to get published and character development. Patricia thoroughly enjoyed her visit and donated the seven book series to the CRCC Branch Library.

Patricia Briggs website gives her perspective of her visit, so check it out.  Spoiler alert, she had a good time.

Volume 9, March 28, 2013 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) EVERYONEON IS HERE – HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR TOOLKIT?

2) FIRST TUESDAYS – TAKE THIS JOB AND SHELVE IT!

3) GET YOUR CAMERAS READY FOR SNAPSHOT DAY

4) CELEBRATE PRESERVATION WEEK WITH FREE WEBINARS

5) PAID PRESERVATION INTERNSHIP FOR GRADUATE STUDENT

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

Volume 9, March 14, 2013 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) DIGITAL LITERACY IN WASHINGTON LIBRARIES

2) GRANTS FOR EARLY LEARNING

3) OCLC ANNOUNCES ILL TRAINING

4) BOOK REPAIR CLASS AT HIGHLINE

5) CALL TO ACTION – EVERYONEON DIGITAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

American Libraries celebrate Women’s History Month!

We salute the new Secretary of State Kim Wyman—the second woman to hold that position in Washington State.  Kim served as Thurston County Auditor for 12 years prior to her election.

Dear Dewey-WSH Newsletter March 2013

Spokane voters handily approved raising taxes for library services in a February 12, 2013 election to preserve smaller branch libraries of the Spokane Public Library from closure. Now these branches will increase their hours of service.

Generally voters made wise decisions regarding their local libraries in 2012. Other funding levy elections will keep the doors of the Ocean Shores Library open (approved 51.73% 08/07/2012) as well as in Castle Rock where the Library got approval to continue opperating (approved 62.32% 2/14/2012). Voters in Ocean Shores rejected the measure in April but changed their minds in August.  The successful levy measure in Seattle will allow the Seattle Public Library to regain losses from budget reductions (approved 64.17% 08/07/2012).

Voters approved a partial-county library district in Sedro Woolley (approved 60.14% 11/06/2012) in an area where creating a unified county-wide library district has been difficult to achieve. Voters in the City of Morton agreed to annex into the Timberland Regional Library (approved 72.75% 11/06/2012) and Lamont voters agreed to join the Whitman County Rural Library District (approved 96.88% 11/06/2012). In King County voters in Enumclaw agreed to annex into the King County Library system (approved 50.71% 04/17/2012).

An advisory vote regarding location of the Renton Library (King County Library System) indicated that the Cedar River location was preferred over the location west of the Piazza (76.4% 08/07/2012).

The success of these elections is heartwarming. It indicates that voters continue to be willing to support their libraries financially and to vote for increased library service through creation of library districts and through annexation.  That is my perspective. I’d like to hear yours.

Rand Simmons
State Librarian

 

Volume 9, February 21, 2013 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS – BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION

2) FREE BOOKS FOR DISCUSSION KITS OR COMMUNITY READS

3) 2013 LSTA GRANT CYCLES OPEN MARCH 1

4) WSL OFFERS LSSC ASSISTANCE AWARDS

5) OCLC WORLDSHARE ILL TRAINING

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

recently added to the circulating Pacific Northwest collection…

 

Stories from Jewish Portland. By Polina Olsen.

Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o723142763

Mills and markets; a history of the Pacific coast lumber industry to 1900. By Thomas R. Cox.

Seattle, University of Washington Press [1974]

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o915839

7 steps on the road to economic recovery: key recommendations to improve Washington’s small business climate.

Seattle, Wash.: Washington Policy Center, [2012]

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o827730604

Murder at Hogans Corner, Washington: an American destiny. By Wallace Louis Exum.

Snohomish, Wash.: Snohomish Pub. Co., c1992.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o30698667

Legal executions in the Western Territories, 1847-1911: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. By R. Michael Wilson.

Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, c2010.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o529958048

Legal executions after statehood in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon: a comprehensive registry. By R. Michael Wilson.

Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o635492295

Clallam County schools east to west. By Irene Wyman.

Port Angeles, Wash.: Totak Press, [2011], c2010.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o826338908

Great railroad tunnels of North America. By William Lowell Putnam.

Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, c2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o635492357

Foss: a living legend: a historical perspective of Foss Maritime Company. By Bruce Johnson

[Tacoma, Wash.: Foss Maritime Company, 1990]

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o38579650

A guide to the rockfishes, thornyheads, and scorpionfishes of the northeast Pacific. By John L. Butler, Milton S. Love, Tom E. Laidig.

Berkeley: University of California Press, c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o793222022

White spirit bear. By “Grandma Tess” Tessa Tessier.

Surrey, B.C.: Hancock House Publishers, c2000.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o43284062

Canoe legacy: carving a Salish style canoe. By Duane Pasco.

[Poulsbo, Wash.?]: Duane N. Pasco and Betty C. Pasco, 2010.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o826647946

More from Macrina: new favorites from Seattle’s popular neighborhood bakery. By Leslie Mackie with Lisa Gordanier.

Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o775415527

Ric Gendron: rattlebone. By  Ben Mitchell; with contributions by Ric Gendron, Joe Feddersen.

Missoula, Mt.: Missoula Art Museum; Seattle, Wash.:

[distributed by] University of Washington Press, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o798407693

Edward Lange: an early artist of Olympia and Washington State. By Drew W. Crooks.

Olympia, Wash.: Tenalquot Press, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o826379024

Where snowflakes dance and swear: inside the land of ballet. By Stephen Manes.

New York: Cadwallader & Stern, 2012, c2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o824379546

Golf in Oregon: historic tales from the fairway. By Bob Robinson; foreword by Peter Jacobsen.

Charleston, SC: History Press, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o788250842

Jack Straw writers anthology. (Vol. 13) By Donna Miscolta, curator.

[Seattle, WA]: Jack Straw Productions, c2009.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o827624014

Jack Straw writers anthology. (Vol. 14) By Jared Leising, curator.

[Seattle, WA]: Jack Straw Productions, c2010.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o761224539

Jack Straw writers anthology. (Vol. 15) By Susan Rich, curator.

[Seattle, WA]: Jack Straw Productions, c2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o827624072

The hounding. By Sandra de Helen.

Lexington, KY: www.sandradehelen.com, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o822569856

Pittock: the voice of Portland. By Alexander Fontana.

[S.l.]: PwrPen, c2012 ([United States]: lulu.com

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o826412523

Be brave, Tah-hy!: the journey of Chief Joseph’s daughter. By JackR. Williams; illustrations by Jo Proferes.

Pullman, Wash.: WSU Press, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o805654814

100 tricks every boy can do: how my brother disappeared. By Kim Stafford.

San Antonio, Tex.: Trinity University Press, c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o777661269

Fodor’s Vancouver & Victoria. By Paige Donner, Carolyn B. Heller, Chris McBeath; Edited by Mark Sullivan, Marcia Hart

New York: Fodors Travel Publications, c2013.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o777660180

H.M. Chittenden: a western epic, being a selection from his unpublished journals, diaries and reports. By Hiram Martin Chittenden. Edited with notes and introduction by Bruce Le Roy.

Tacoma: Washington State Historical Society, 1961.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o608594256

Railroad semantics: Oregon Trunk, Fallbridge, Brooklyn, Cascade, Black Butte, Valley Subs. By  Aaron Dactyl.

Lansing, Kan.: Microcosm; London: Turnaround [distributor], 2013.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o811732482

A history of Saar Pioneer Cemetery and its inhabitants.

[Kent, Wash.]: South King County Genealogical Society, 2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o794181510

Packtrains & airplanes: memories of Lonesome Lake. By Trudy Turner.

Surrey, B.C.: Hancock House, c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o707818055

Empires, nations and families: a new history of the North American west, 1800-1860. By Anne F. Hyde.

New York: Ecco Press, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o788292750

Lost Butte, Montana. By Richard I. Gibson.

Charleston, SC: History Press, c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o794712015

Wending the way from Wapato Gap: chronicles of coping with life, strife– and wife. By  George Edward Ing.

Yakima, WA: Good Fruit Grower, 2004.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o54103913

Gold Beach and South Curry County. By Meryl Boice.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o796757449

The artists’ guide to Seattle: insightful interviews with twenty-two of Seattle’s most influential artists about their favorite local destinations.

Seattle, WA: Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, c2009.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o827577375

Asian American heritage. By Past Forward Northwest Cultural Services

[Seattle, Wash.: Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2010]

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o827590224

Native American heritage. By Past Forward Northwest Cultural Services

[Seattle, Wash.: Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2010]

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o827616754

Portland in the 1960s: stories from the counterculture. By Polina Olsen; with a foreword by Joe Uris.

Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o801928850

Eagle. By City of Eagle, Idaho.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o805050349

KIDO, Boise’s First Radio Station. By Art Gregory.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o794708057

Jerome, Idaho. By Linda Helms.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., 2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o823606099

Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park. By Melissa McGinnis, Doreen Beard-Simpkins, and the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o796757521

Longview. By Dennis P. Weber with Karen Dennis and Sue Maxey.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o805055605

Langley. By Robert E. Waterman and Frances L. Wood.

Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o805055603

Croatian fishing families of Anacortes. By  Bret Lunsford.

Anacortes, Wash.: American Croatian Club of Anacortes, c2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o769131298

Century 21 city: Seattle’s fifty year journey from World’s Fair to world stage. By Michael Luis.

Medina, WA: Fairweather Publishing, c2012.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o820562465

Pacific Coast history, Volumes I and II. By  B.F. Alley and J.P. Munro-Fraser; [edited by Mark E. Parsons]

Hadlock, WA: Parsons Pub. Co., 2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o778373592

Spokane, our early history: under all is the land. By Tony and Suzanne Bamonte.

Spokane, Wash.: Tornado Creek Publications, 2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o759122758

Fred Beckey’s 100 favorite North American climbs.

Ventura, Calif.: Patagonia, c2011.

http://cals.evergreen.edu/search~S2/o711051592