Less than a month into a whirlwind tour of over 40 libraries around the state and the Gadget Menagerie is officially a big hit in libraries. January kicked off the Gadget Menagerie with visits to Skagit and Lincoln Counties as well as the Ritzville Library and Mid-Columbia Libraries. Now, we are preparing for a super-busy February with visits to Gonzaga University, Richland Public Library, Timberland Regional Library, Washington State Library, Spokane County Library District, Sno-Isle Libraries and Everett Public Library. Wow, that’s exhausting just at a glance!

Sedro-Woolley staff show off devices at the Gadget Menagerie

The exciting thing about the Gadget Menagerie program is that it is not only for staff, but also for the public. Libraries wishing to offer a public program are partnering with Washington State Library staff to bring the Gadgets to the library for patrons as well. Working directly with library users has been a joy. It is so much fun to help people discover the world of eReaders and tablets. Everyone has different needs when it comes to using a tablet and our job is to help people understand how they are all similar, yet different. Is this a contradiction in terms? Perhaps, but it is very true.

By working with staff and encouraging them to approach devices in a “device agnostic” manner, we hope to get staff more comfortable helping patrons coming to the library on a daily basis with various devices. Each day of the Gadget Menagerie, we are learning more about devices and about our communities.
Devices in the current menagerie include: Kindle, Nook Touch, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD, Galaxy Tab 10.1, iPad Mini, Microsoft Surface RT and a Chromebook.

New devices are coming soon and will include more android-based tablets. Patrons and students may bring their own device or explore one from the Washington State Library.

Just a few of the available devices at the Gadget Menagerie.

At the public workshops, we assisted many people with their own devices and showcased the gadgets from our menagerie. An 83-year old woman wanted to compare tablets. After working with the various tablets in the Menagerie, she was able to narrow her interest down to 2 tablets. At another session, a 70-something farmer wanted to know when high speed internet would come to his county and town. He loves technology and has quite a few of his own gadgets already. He enjoyed showing us what he liked about the different tablets and was enthusiastic when telling us that when high-speed internet comes to his town, he’d be able to do so much more with all his high-tech toys. When the local librarian asked him “How did you get so tech savvy?,” he responded with, “My grandkids, and I have a lot of them!”

Our youngest patron at the Gadget Menagerie was 9 years old. She had a tablet and wanted to learn about YouTube. Unfortunately, since she has no access to internet at home, her tablet has limited functionality when items aren’t downloaded directly onto it. She loves coming to the library and now knows that she can bring her tablet in and use the library’s wi-fi to download what she needs and ask the friendly staff for help.

So, by now you are probably wondering, what exactly is this Gadget Menagerie?

The Washington State Library is partnering with local libraries across the state providing gadget training for library staff. Library patrons and students will be given similar training focused on the needs of the device user. Over 40 locations and 70 trainings are scheduled for the Gadget Menagerie through June 2014.

“We are very excited to be able to provide this training,” State Librarian Rand Simmons said. “We hope these skills will be beneficial to both library staff and those who rely on library resources.”

Staff at the Burlington Public Library study devices at the Menagerie.

Library staff will learn how various eReaders, tablets and other devices work. They will discover what these devices have in common, how they differ, and learn basic operating tips. Staff will learn basic troubleshooting and tips for helping patrons with their devices, including how to download books from the library.

The Gadget Menagerie will familiarize local library staff with the variety of gadgets available, allowing for staff to be more comfortable and skilled in helping library patrons.

Not all libraries are offering both types of training; some libraries are focusing only on staff training since they either already offer public workshops or don’t have the resources to offer trainings at this time.

These trainings are funded by the Washington State Library via the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

For this project, which is part of the Washington State Library Digital Literacy project, we are actively encouraging feedback and stories. So far, 100% of the public attendees say they have learned something valuable and would recommend the program to another. Comments from the public vary, but this one is very typical of the responses we have been receiving; “It was useful to have knowledgeable persons explain the equipment-what they will and will not do. Thank you for bringing the variety of devices.”

As one staff person said in a thank-you note, “We couldn’t have asked for better, more useful, hands-on training!”

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.

“If you are going to circulate eReaders to middle schoolers, consider buying “bomb proof” covers for each eReader device.” This is the advice that a school librarian tendered after participating in the eBook Pilot project which concluded in May, 2012. The objective of this pilot project was to distill the experiences of academic, public, and school librarians as they experimented with circulating eReader devices and training staff and the public on how to use these devices.

Their collective wisdom includes information on the following:

• Circulation of eBooks
• Developing eReader Collections
• Policies, Procedures, & Resources
• Promotion & Marketing
• Purchasing eReaders
• Technical Aspects
• Training

Read more on the eBook Pilot Project’s Purchasing Tips page.

Electronic government publications in the Washington State Library online catalog can be downloaded to desk and lap top computers and handheld devices, such as, Kindle* and Nook*.  There is no charge to download a state or federal government publication.  In most cases, Washington State and U. S. government publications do not have copyright restrictions.  The downloaded publication can be searched by key words and simple phrases.  Publications with hundreds of pages can be stored and accessed conveniently on a computer or handheld device as long as needed for a class or project.  The file can be deleted when no longer in use, but the publication will be preserved for future use in the Washington State Library (WSL) online catalog.

For some devices, pdf files must be converted to electronic publications format.  Calibre, a free software program, can be downloaded to convert pdf files to an epub format which ereaders can use.

Washington State government publications — the links below are to the catalog records in the WSL online catalog.  Click on the link that reads “View online version” to read the publication with the option to download.  The catalog record provides information on which agency produced the publication and the publication date, scope, etc.

A 10-year Retrospective of Washington’s Labor Market Experience under the North American Free Trade Agreement

What does Washington State get for its Investment in Bonuses for Board Certified Teachers?

Freedom Tails  (It is difficult to tell what this publication is about with just the title, but there is a lot of information in the catalog record.)

Listed below are three more examples of Washington State government publications; these are direct links to the publications, but records can be found in WSL’s online catalog:

Use of Social and Health Services by Children of Incarcerated Parents

Stakeholder recommendations for efficient water rights processing and effective water management

Washington State Patrol Retirement System Pension concerns study

Some samples of U.S. government publications:

Raising the Ages of Eligibility for Medicare and Social Security  This link is to the WSL online catalog record for this publication.  Click on the link that reads “View online version” to read the publication with the option to download.

Or, click on this link to WSL catalog record for Unauthorized Hair Samples Submitted for Analysis and solve the case of the “unauthorized hair samples”.  (Could it be a job for Lady Godiva?)

Listed below are three more examples of federal government publications; these are direct links to the publications, but records can be found in WSL’s online catalog:

Indian issues:  Spokane Tribe’s additional compensation claim for the Grand Coulee Dam: Testimony before the Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate

Coastal Habitats of the Elwha River, Washington – Biological and Physical Patterns and Processes Prior to Dam Removal (This publication takes awhile to download).

Assessment of Soil Disturbance in Forests of the Interior Columbia River Basin:  A Critique

For more information, contact Public Services at Washington State Library.

*These products are listed as examples only.  The Washington State Library does not recommend or endorse any products listed.

eBooks (and eReaders) have been getting a ton of press over the past couple months, and I have a feeling that they will continue to do so throughout the year. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is happening in Vegas right now, and a lot of the buzz coming out is about ebooks and readers. In case you haven’t been paying attention, though, I’d like to highlight some of my favorite articles and thoughts on ebooks to date and for the coming year.

First, and you’ve probably read parts of this, Sherman Alexie was interviewed for Mother Jones, and he has some particular remarks about a particular ebook reader that are quite risqué. I won’t reprint them here, but the entire interview is worthwhile and available at motherjones.com.

Robert Darnton gives his case for books at Publisher’s Weekly, and says the following about ebooks:

“I want to write an electronic book. Here is how my fantasy takes shape. An “e-book,” unlike a printed codex, can contain many layers arranged in the shape of a pyramid. Readers can download the text and skim the topmost layer, which will be written like an ordinary monograph. If it satisfies them, they can print it out, bind it (binding machines can now be attached to computers and printers), and study it at their convenience in the form of a custom-made paperback. If they come upon something that especially interests them, they can click down a layer to a supplementary essay or appendix. They can continue deeper through the book, through bodies of documents, bibliography, historiography, iconography, background music, everything I can provide to give the fullest possible understanding of my subject. In the end, they will make the subject theirs, because they will find their own paths through it, reading horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, wherever the electronic links may lead.”

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