WA Secretary of State Blogs

WSL Updates for January 26, 2017

Thursday, January 26th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, News, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for January 26, 2017


Volume 13, January 26, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAIL

2) WE HAVE ZINE WINNERS!

3) SPARKING CHANGE AS COMMUNITY CATALYSTS

4) EDITORIAL CARTOON EXHIBITS

5) READING APPRENTICESHIP CONFERENCE

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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1) WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAIL

The Washington State Library is offering a free, 3-hour, hands-on course designed to teach the following skills:

  • Using email formats to create clarity;
  • Understanding and utilizing the general and courteous “rules of engagement” when composing or replying to email;
  • Performing an audience analysis prior to writing;
  • Composing email that clearly communicates desired actions (e.g., approval, commitment, providing information, etc.);
  • Recognizing and stopping inappropriate, emotional, or harmful email threads;
  • Essential proofreading for tone, punctuation, and grammar.

Identical morning and afternoon sessions will be offered at four locations throughout the month of February:

  • Thursday, February 2, 2017: King County Service Center, 960 Newport Way NW, Issaquah;
  • Tuesday, February 14, 2017: Pierce County Service Center, 3005 112th St E, Tacoma;
  • Thursday, February 16, 2017: Fort Vancouver Regional Library. 1007 Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver;
  • Thursday, February 23, 2017: Spokane City Library, 906 W Main Ave.

Visit www.sos.wa.gov/q/email for exact times, and to register.

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2) WE HAVE ZINE WINNERS!

The Washington State Library received many wonderful entries to this year’s 2nd Annual Historical Zine Contest and the choices were tough, but here are the winners:

  • Grades 4-6: The Grand Coulee Dam, Anna Riley, 4th grade (Bainbridge Island);
  • Grades 7-9: Women’s Rights & Wonder Women from Washington’s Past, Janisa Cook, 7th grade (Bothell);
  • Grades 10-12: Pike Place Market, Adrian Poslednik, 12th Grade (Steilacoom);
  • Adult: 721 Seventeenth Avenue: A Love (Hi)Story, Amanda Demeter (Seattle).

Each winner will receive $75, a certificate of participation and their Zine will be added to the Washington State Library Zine Manuscript Collection. For more information, visit sos.wa.gov/q/Zine.

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3) SPARKING CHANGE AS COMMUNITY CATALYSTS

Remember that “Most Likely to Succeed” award in high school? If you have gone back to a high school reunion you know how unpredictable life’s ups and downs can be. The same holds for community change initiatives. Often it’s the unexpected scrappy little rag-tag groups that succeed. You can dream about change and take your chances on stumbling into just the right partnerships and circumstances, or you can attempt to engineer it.

A new report from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Reinvestment Fund provides insights for libraries and museums to connect with their communities in newer and deeper ways. Produced as part of the Community Catalyst initiative, the 59-page report is a handbook for libraries and museums to position themselves as critical sites within broader social and institutional networks that support community well-being. The report includes case studies and a discussion of conceptual frameworks that can guide libraries, archives, and museums that seek to spark catalytic change in their communities. The report’s full title is “Strengthening Networks, Sparking Change: Museums and Libraries as Community Catalysts.”

For more information and to download the report, use this link: sos.wa.gov/q/spark.

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4) EDITORIAL CARTOON EXHIBITS

On behalf of The Herb Block Foundation, ELY, Inc., a museums services company, is offering five panel exhibitions featuring the illustrations of Herb Block, editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post. We are asking for your help to spread the word about this exciting opportunity to bring these educational and thought provoking exhibits to university and college libraries. There is no rental fee for the exhibitions. The hosting institution is only responsible for the shipping costs. These exhibits discuss the following subjects:

  • Education
  • Civil rights
  • The environment
  • The presidency
  • Democracy

For more information or to apply, visit www.herblockexhibitions.org/exhibit.

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5) READING APPRENTICESHIP CONFERENCE

The third annual Regional Reading Apprenticeship® Conference, Metacognition & Mindfulness: Academic Literacies for the 21st Century, will be held March 10, 2017 from 3 to 7 p.m. and March 11, 2017 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Renton Technical College. As an example of a session described as a must-attend for librarians and English composition instructors, consider the following:

“Thinking About Thinking About the Research Paper: Engaging Metacognition Throughout the Student Research Process,” presented by Zoe Fisher, University of Denver. Participants will:

  • Identify Reading Apprenticeship routines to use at various points in the research process, including searching for sources, reading sources, and integrating sources;
  • Model and practice RA routines to use in the classroom;
  • Reflect on how to integrate RA routines into existing research paper assignments.

For a full schedule, and to register, visit www.rtc.edu/3rd-annual-reading-conference. Early-bird discounted registration is available until February 1.

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6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, January 30

Tuesday, January 31

Wednesday, February 1

Thursday, February 2

Friday, February 3

For more information and to register (unless otherwise linked above), visit the WSL Training Calendar at sos.wa.gov/q/training.

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WSL Updates for January 12, 2017

Thursday, January 12th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, Grants and Funding, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for January 12, 2017


Volume 13, January 12, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) LSTA ANNUAL REPORT

2) WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAIL

3) FREE COMPUTERS – MIA LAB GRANTS

4) TEEN VIDEO CHALLENGE

5) IMLS GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for Nov 2009

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries | Comments Off on Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for Nov 2009


Ask-WA Statistics – November, 2009

November Survey Comments Wordcloud Ask-WA slowed down a bit in November compared to October, but since we were super-extra busy in October, that isn’t saying too much. November numbers were still well ahead of September, August, and July numbers, especially in terms of chat sessions requested. In numbers:

  • Email questions received: 3743
  • Chat sessions requested: 4912
  • Chat sessions accepted: 3645
  • Qwidget requests (% of total): 965 (19.6%)

As a cooperative we maintained an answering percentage of 74% for the month, which is down significantly from previous months, and falls just below our goal percentage of 75%. This is due to some drag in the public cooperative, but I’m sure we can dust ourselves off and bring the numbers back up! Chat continues to dominate email, though both services remain well-used. Qwidget traffic dropped this month to just under 20%, down from a fairly consistent 25% in previous months.

The word cloud highlights some of the most-used words left in survey comments throughout November. Some great words this month include: wonderful, excellent, fast, quick, great, impressed, and love.

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Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for Oct 2009

Monday, November 16th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries | Comments Off on Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for Oct 2009


October Survey Comments Wordcloud Ask-WA Statistics – October, 2009

Ask-WA picked up significantly in October, beating September and August in every category. Except Qwidget requests, which remained about even, percentage-wise. In numbers:

  • Email questions received: 4287
  • Chat sessions requested: 5303
  • Chat sessions accepted: 4343
  • Qwidget requests (% of total): 1282 (24.2%)

As a cooperative we maintained an answering percentage of 81.9% for the month, which is down nearly 5% from September (probably because of the increased traffic), but remains well over the goal rate of 75%. Keep up the good work! The email aspect of the service continues to enjoy plenty of traffic, though the chat service blossomed this month and beat email by over 1,000 questions. Qwidget traffic remains consistent at around 1/4th of the total chat traffic.

The word cloud highlights some of the most-used words left in survey comments throughout October. The larger the word, the more it was used, so it’s nice to be able to easily pick out (because of their size), words like: great, helpful, wonderful, excellent, useful, impressed, nice, easy, and love.

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Join Ask-WA for Free in 2010

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, Technology and Resources | Comments Off on Join Ask-WA for Free in 2010


AskWa_WSVRC Dear libraries of Washington State,

Are your users on the internet? I’m willing to bet that a lot of them are.

Do they use chat software to communicate? IM tools like ICQ and AIM have been around since 1996/1997 (respectively), and companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! all provide IM services. Chat and IM aren’t new, and lots of people use them to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues.

Chat and email are probably the two most-used methods for online communication.

So, can your users employ these methods to contact your library? To ask you questions? To tap into your expertise?

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