Discover free and inexpensive trainings available online and around the state; compiled by Jennifer Fenton, CE/Training Coordinator, Washington State Library

Featured Free Trainings:
Registration information for the below trainings and webinars is available at: http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/libraries/training/trainingCalendar.aspx

Washington State Library is pleased to offer the following FREE online training in February:

 First Tuesdays: Building Library Support Within Your Business Community 
 February 5, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT

The Spokane Public Library is receiving 5-10 reference referrals per day from the greater Spokane business community, and it is increasing. Come find out what efforts led to this surge of library usage by the local business community and how you might replicate it in yours. Participants will learn how to engage with their local business community, develop a sense of what works well to draw them in, and discuss strategies to put the gears into motion! Presented by Mark Pond, Spokane Public Library.

 Commencing an Action in Superior Court: WSL Webinar
February 25, 10:00-11:30 a.m. PT

Can you sue? Should you sue? How do you file a lawsuit? Learn the basics for filing a lawsuit in Superior Court, including alternatives to filing a lawsuit, along with how to format your pleadings and resources to help you fill out your complaint. Presented by Stina McClintock, Public Law Library of King County. To log-in for this Elluminate session, please make sure pop ups are enabled and Java updated. Then, use this URL the day of the class to log-in. https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008170&password=M.CDF538AEB120639EDF0169D3F63E19

For these and many more free and low-cost trainings, visit the Washington State Library Training calendar which is constantly being updated, so check back frequently.

Other vendors:
Basic PC Troubleshooting: TechSoup
February 12, 11:00am-12:00pm PT

Does your library or organization provide computers for the public? Would you like to know more about basic troubleshooting on a Windows PC so you can minimize downtime? This introductory level webinar will introduce you to tips and techniques that will help you understand how to fix common problems. The presenter for the session is Joe Olayvar, who is a Technology Consultant for the Washington State Library.

WebJunction Washington Courses (must be logged into WJ WA to view courses):

WebJunction has launched the new site; here is some information to help you understand the new WebJunction Washington. There are now two sites, the portal page which does not require a log-in and the course catalog which requires affiliation with Washington to access free courses. Courses are unlimited.

New portal website: http://www.webjunction.org/partners/washington.html

FREE COURSES: New Learning Management System for courses:

• New members: https://www.webjunction.org/find-training/request-access/
• Existing WJ WA members: To sign in, go https://oclc.plateau.com/plateau/user/login.jsp                                           User ID: USERID; Password: WebJunction

Video introduction to WJ Courses: http://blip.tv/webjunction/introduction-to-the-webjunction-lms-6034159

Early registration for the March WebJunction webinar is now open:
Signature Events for Small Libraries

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 ♦ 11 am Pacific ♦ 60 min
Early Registration: http://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/Signature_Events_for_Small_Libraries.html

      From “chocolate in the stacks” tastings to 5K runs to off-site literary dinner parties, small libraries are getting
creative in offering signature events that raise funds and create friends. This webinar will be a “show and tell” of library
fundraisers, with quick tips on how to get started in your community.

     This webinar, hosted by WebJunction in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries, is an encore
presentation of one of the most highly-rated sessions at the ARSL conference.

     Presented by: Cassie Guthrie, Executive Director, Pioneer Library System (NY)

For many more free and low-cost trainings, visit the Washington State Library Training calendar which is constantly being updated, so check back frequently.

For more information on these and many more CE events, continue reading..

 Training Opportunities in February 2013

For full information, please click on the link or visit http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/libraries/training/trainingCalendar.aspx

       *Please note that all times are listed in PT on this list, some webinar registrations will reflect other time zones

2/1/2013:  UX Design for Digital Books: Creating Engaging Digital Reading Experiences

2/1/2013:  Take a tour of the new Microsoft Office

2/1/2013: Seven Futures of American Education: Improving Teaching and Learning in a Screen Captured World 

2/5/2013: First Tuesdays

2/5/2013:  Jump Start Your Grant Seeking

2/5/2013:  Managing Difficult Volunteer Transitions 

2/5/2013:  Grantseeking Basics

2/5/2013:  Streamlining Nonprofit Organizations: It’s All About the Cloud

2/6/2013:  Digital Preservation, Part 1: Inventory and Selection

2/6/2013:  Collaboration: What Works and Why

2/6/2013:  Trustee Orientation

2/6/2013:  Changing the DNA of Scholarly Publishing: The Impact of Born Digital Content on the Scholarly Community Today

2/6/2013:  Adding Social Media to Your Marketing Plan 

2/6/2013:  An Introduction to the LSSC Program

2/7/2013:  How To Add Subtitles to ANY Video Using Universal Subtitles 

2/7/2013:  Self-Directed Achievement: if you give library staff an hour

2/7/2013:  eGathering 2012: LYRASIS Annual Member Meeting

2/7/2013:  Social Media and Volunteer Engagement

2/7/2013:  Trustee Orientation

2/11/2013:  Preparing a Portfolio for the LSSC (Library Support Staff Certification) Program

2/12/2013:  Digitization 101

2/12/2013:  Basic PC Troubleshooting

2/12/2013:  What Executive Directors Desperately Need to Know About Fundraising 

2/12/2013:  Introduction to Finding Funders

2/13/2013:  Seed Saving for Libraries

2/13/2013:  Managing for People Who Hate Managing

2/13/2013:  Engaging Audiences with Data Visualization

2/13/2013:  How Libraries can meet the Evolving Needs of Patrons in the Digital Age

2/13/2013:  Building a Research Commons in a University Library

2/13/2013:  Crisis Communications for Nonprofits

2/13/2013:  What Your Tech Wants You to Know

2/13/2013:  Designing Interactive Library Spaces

2/13/2013:  Common Core Tools for Educators: Resources for Classroom Research Projects

2/14/2013:  American Libraries Live

2/14/2013:  Are We Reconfigured Yet? US Research Libraries – Priorities, Trends, Directions

2/14/2013:  Where Do I Go From Here? Evolving your Volunteer Program for More Involvement

2/14/2013:  Are Books Your Brand? How Libraries Can Stay Relevant to Readers

2/19/2013:  YA Announcements: Spring Sneak Peek

2/19/2013:  The Game is Afoot: Spring Mystery Announcements

2/20/2013:  Digital Preservation, Part 1: Inventory and Selection

2/20/2013:  Realize Your Mission: How to Use Employee Engagement to Reach Your Goals

2/20/2013:  How To Create A Newsletter That Donors Read and Respond To

2/20/2013:  Proposal Writing Basics

2/25/2013:  Commencing an Action in Superior Court

2/26/2013:  Balancing Collection Supply and Demand in Public Libraries: How Using Evidence Can Help Serve Patrons Better

2/26/2013:  Digital Preservation for the Rest of Us: What’s in it for Librarians and Library Users

2/26/2013:  Frankenbooks – Understanding the eBook Opportunity

2/26/2013:  The Next Major Challenge in Records Managment is Already Here: Social Media [MARA Guest Lecture]

2/27/2013: The Future of Online Learning: a changing landscape

2/27/2013: Social Change Anytime Everywhere: Best Practices to Build a Multichannel Campaign Plan

2/28/2013: Big Talk From Small Libraries 2013

**Please note that times and topics are subject to change and WSL is not responsible for non-WSL events. Please verify time and topic when registering. Also, new webinars are added to the training calendar throughout the month as time allows, so please check back. This is only a partial list of free CE Events available online.

Archived presentations:
Don’t have time to catch these courses live? Many are available later as an archived presentation. To view archives, visit the following sites:

Infopeople
Common Knowledge
School Library Journal
Booklist
TechSoup
Library Journal
SirsiDynix Institute
WebJunction
NCompass Live
Texas State Library
American Management Association
Carterette Series Webinars: Georgia Library Association

* WSL provides information about outside training events for your convenience only; please contact the event sponsor for the most up-to-date information and all questions about the event.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

From 1909 to 1921, give or take a few years, there was a woman who created a local news stir wherever she went, but somehow evaded the radar of national media. She criss-crossed the United States on foot and went under the name “Hiking” or “Hikin'” Nell. Nearly all the information sources I can find on Nell come from newspapers around the U.S. The following article is the earliest mention of Nell I have located, from The Pasco Express, March 4, 1909:

 WOMAN TRAMP IN COURT

 “Hiking Nell” Faces the August Majesty of the Law

 VARIED AND VIVID EXPERIENCES

 While Youth Has Played Havoc With “Nell” Her Pedestrian Qualities Remain Unimpaired.

 “After walking 1300 [i.e. 3100] miles on a wager of $5,000 and then to be arrested and forced to spend 60 days in the King county jail just a few miles from her coveted goal. This and even more is the grievance of Nellie Hale, alias ‘Hikin” Nell, who was arrested by officers Dent and Torrents Tuesday afternoon.”

“According to a statement made by Officer Dent in justice court ‘Nell’ was found in a small tie house constructed of old ties. In company with three tramps, she was busily engaged in preparing a mulligan stew. Without protest she accompanied the two officers to the city jail, and the following day was given a hearing before Justice McCarthy.”

“‘I don’t want no comment cast my way,’ said Nell, ‘for I am nothing but a tramp. I was just walkin’ my way on a bet from Pascolia, Florida, to the coast. What have you’s got against me? I never harmed nobody nohow.'”

“The woman says she is 35 years of age and has traveled extensively, but always walks. When she appeared in court she carried a large bundle of clothing consisting of shoes, skirts and waists. She answered the chief’s questions rapidly and seemed to take the whole matter as a joke until W.J. Davis appeared upon the scene with his camera and attempted to take a picture of the woman. As Mr. Davis was acting under instructions, Nell immediately protested and it was not until a collection was taken and promise given that the ‘whole bunch would be shot’ that she reluctantly consented to have her picture taken. The newspaper fraternity, together with the distinguished court and officers of the law lined up as per agreement and the heroine of many ‘hikes’ was for the first time, the victim of the camera.”

“‘Yes, judge, if you will let me go, I will hike mighty quick,’ said Nell. ‘It does seem a funny thing that I should start from Pascolia and wind up in Pasco. Ain’t that terrible luck?'”

It would be wonderful if someone could produce the photograph taken by Mr. Davis that day. Unfortunately it was not included in the news piece.

Nell’s story seemed to change from town to town. She gave different accounts of her past, but piecing together all the tales a rough portrait emerges. She was from St. Louis, Missouri, born around 1878, and called herself Nellie Hale, sometimes she said Nellie Hall. But as she told the Fort Worth Star Telegram in 1910, “I will never tell my right name because I don’t want to disgrace my folks, and because I do not want them to know where I am.”

Nell said she received a music education in Atchison, Kansas, then married. Her husband, who she said was very rich, became abusive and Nell decided to hit the road. For some reason she thought he decided she was dead, another explanation for her use of a fake name.

In the early years of her growing fame, Nell told the press she was walking across the country on a $5000 wager from Richard K. Fox of the Police Gazette, but she lost it due to missing the six month deadline by being detained so many times by law enforcement officers. She also claimed to know Della Fox, a prominent actress of the day (also from St. Louis), and Tammany Boss “Big Tim” Sullivan.

Nell frequently found shelter when she was placed in jails or a mental health facility. She also approached private homes. In the only non-newspaper account I found regarding Nell, Ida K. Maloy’s 1955 essay reprinted in The Cochise Quarterly (v. 11, no. 1 spring 1983) recalled a 1911 visit from the legendary traveler Nell near Manzora, Arizona.

Maloy wrote: “As I looked at her, I thought I had never seen such a sight. She had on a light tan coat made of about eighteen or twenty gores, as was the style in those days, a long black voile skirt with a train, a blouse, and men’s shoes. Her dutch bob of black hair fell in strings about her thin face. She wore a black scarf. As I waited for some sort of introduction, the traveler introduced herself, saying, ‘I’m Hiking Nell. Haven’t you ever heard of me?'”

The last record I can locate for Nell is an article in the Casa Grande Valley Dispatch (Arizona), June 24, 1921, which concludes with: “According to the tramper this is her last journey and she is Los Angeles bound where she will end her travels and contemplates writing the unusual story of her life.”

The Pasco Express is an ancestor of the present-day Tri-City Herald.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This week’s random article comes from the Jan. 5, 1901 issue of The Ballard News, published at a time when Ballard was an independent incorporated city. But the news itself is actually about Seattle, and the almost total destruction of the Seattle Public Library by fire on the evening where 1900 turned into 1901.

According to John Douglas Marshall’s book, Place of Learning, Place of Dreams (2004), SPL had struggled in the early years to find funding and a permanent home. On Jan. 12, 1899 the Library opened in the posh quarters of the Yesler mansion, and patron usage soared. But City Librarian Charles Wesley Smith expressed concern the enormous Victorian wooden structure was a fire hazard. The memories of Seattle’s great 1889 inferno were still fresh.

Smith’s fears were well founded. Practically the whole collection went up in smoke on the cusp of 1900/1901. Andrew Carnegie came to the rescue and in short order a fine new library was constructed. The cause of the fire was never fully explained. There was some feeling it was sparked by someone who wanted to force the issue of finding a secure home for SPL. One prominent Seattle educator even declared, “All glory to the man who applied the torch.”

This article was apparently originally published in the Seattle Mail and Herald. It is interesting how many of the points made in promoting the local library in 1901 remain valid over a century later:

 $35,000 WORTH OF BOOKS

 That Was Seattle’s Loss in Tuesday Night’s Fire

 “Ever since Seattle’s great fire the city has been learning to turn apparent evil into good and to make the most of her calamities. The same spirit which prompted her to rise up in the ashes of 1889 and build on new foundations the basis of a greater city than could ever have sprung from the old, will not desert her now, as she stands and looks in the ashes of what was, a few days since, the pride of every man, woman and child on Puget Sound,– the Seattle Public Library.”

“All are by this time acquainted with the fact that on New Year’s night the library, consisting of $35,000 worth of books and  paraphernalia, was destroyed by fire.”

“Until this calamity few people had known in just what an exalted position they held this institution; but the calamity has appealed more directly to the people than would the destruction of any other institution, public or private, in the city, with the possible exception of the University.”

“A public library such as this, is of incalculable value to any city in which it is located. A public library operated in such a satisfactory way as was this one is, we believe, of as much value to the city as the churches combined.”

“The Seattle Library had 8,200 patrons, and it may be safely calculated on the basis of five readers for every card– more than 40,000 readers.”

“It had an average of 2,500 visitors daily. The number going in and out of the library building on last Thanksgiving day, aggregated 3,000.”

“There is another fact– and it is important– that hundreds and even thousands of men and girls, who had not decent rooms or apartments, spent all their leisure time in the library. Now that the establishment is destroyed and temporarily inaccessible, they are seen walking listlessly about the streets or lounging in clubs or saloons– for they are out of a home. These, and the further fact that education and high ideals are the acknowledged solution to the problem of crime, are some of the reasons urged why the Seattle Public Library was of such vital importance to the city. Outside of all other argument there is the fact that no other city of Seattle’s size could afford to be without a well equipped complete library.”

“We desire to commend the Library committee of the city council upon their prompt and decisive action. It seems that they have no other thought in mind than that the city must at once proceed, not only to place the library back in even a better state than before, but more important than all else, to purchase a site, forthwith, and construct a fireproof library building that will answer for all time.”

“This is as it should be. Seattle is not a city of ephemeral hopes and iridescent booms. She is building for all time. Mr. Smith, the man who has conducted to such perfect satisfaction, the affairs of the City Library for so many years, has been working for two years past to this one end– a permanent library building for Seattle. The city can afford to take up the matter at once,– rather, it can not afford not to, and we are glad to be able to inform our readers that the committee will report to this effect to the city council.”

“The locations being considered as most desirable are, we are informed, the present site and the old University grounds. It is not known that either of these is available at reasonable figures, but they, together with others, are under contemplation of the committee.”

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The random reel for this week contained the following article from the Dec. 17, 1920 issue of the South Bend Journal:

 “COFFEE-O”, ONCE A RESIDENT, RETURNS AGAIN TO SOUTH BEND

 Had Troubled Career — Is Sure He Can Make Gold — Fears Government Will Stop Him — Has Improved His Coffee Substitute.

 “After over two years absence Albert Cornell, better known as ‘Coffee-O’ after a coffee substitute he invented, arrived in the city looking prosperous and more confident than ever that he had discovered the method of making gold by the combination of certain gases. It may be remembered that he came here first and opened a dyeing establishment and then left town and in about a year returned with a preparation in which peanuts and grains had a large part which made a very good substitute for coffee. It became locally popular and the local merchants pushed it. It bade fair to be a success but Cornell was more interested in making gold directly than in making it indirectly through profits on ‘Coffee-O.’ Then also the prices of the materials rose as the war progressed and the manufacture of the substitute was not so profitable. He carried on his experiments for making gold mostly at night and produced so much foul smelling smoke and so got on the nerves of his neighbors with his frequent explosions that the city authorities twice made him move and he finally made his last stand just outside the city limits in Alta Vista with the Hummel family.”

“As Cornell is an Austrian by birth and was not naturalized the impression became widespread that he was making bombs, or trying to, and then mysterious bundles were taken to his place by night and a German friend of his was caught coming from there with a gunny sack containing bottles and then there was a new theory that he was making moonshine when Cornell declares that all he was doing was giving his friend some medicine of his own concoction. Cornell was watched by the county and city authorities and he decided to leave town and go to Seattle, where he consulted the then District Attorney, Clay Allen, who advised him to go to Washington City. He went there not knowing that, as a citizen of an enemy country, like Austria, his presence in the District of Columbia was forbidden. Fortunately for him he reported at the Washington police station, showing that he was acting in good faith. He was promptly arrested and jailed but through the efforts of Congressman Johnson and Senator Chamberlain he was released and he returned to Puget Sound and located in Tacoma where he experimented with his ‘Coffee-O’ and later resumed his explosive attempts to make gold and he declares that he was never molested by his neighbors in Tacoma as their nerves were evidently not so easily jarred by violent eruptions and vile smelling smoke.”

 Afraid of Government

 “Cornell is just as positive as ever that he can make gold and declares that he is now awaiting an assayer’s report on some of his last batch of artificial ‘ore’ and that he has on hand a large quantity of the ore, or material which he has made from which he can easily extract gold. His only anxiety is that the government won’t let him make gold after he has demonstrated that he can make it cheaply, presumably because it will revolutionize the monetary system of the world because it is based on gold. He declares that other investors and discoverers have been discredited and hooted at before they made good on their discoveries and he says that he is in that class.”

Coffee-O Extract Good

 “Leaving his gold experiments aside he has really greatly improved his coffee substitute and has a good thing in that. He has interested Tacoma capital and it is being given a thorough trial. He now makes a liquid extract from the original ‘Coffee-O’ so that all that has to be done is to put a teaspoon of the extract into a cup of hot water and you have a very good coffee substitute. He says that he has changed his formula too somewhat and now makes four by products which will sell for enough to more than make the extract pure velvet. After making the extract he says that he can make from the residue ‘mapleine’ which is used to make an excellent imitation of maple sugar and syrup, a breakfast cereal and a salad oil, all of superior quality. He is apparently amply supplied with funds. He is here visiting the Hummel family.”

With the help of Robert Bailey’s North Pacific County Newspaper Index, 1889-1981 I was able to track down a bit more information on “Coffee-O” Cornell.

He was born Albert Kornelius, July 1, 1887 in the Bukovina region of the Austrian Empire to German parents. He arrived in the United States on Dec. 15, 1905 and within a short time unofficially changed his name to Albert Cornell. By 1910 he was living in Aberdeen, but then made his way to South Bend, where he set up a laboratory.

His “Coffee-O” product was patented in 1915 and apparently enjoyed some initial economic and critical success, buying him time to experiment with creating artificial gold.

But his activities frightened the neighbors. They complained about the toxic fumes, the noises, the explosions. Finally, in 1917, he was arrested and his operations shut down as a public nuisance. When he appeared before the City Council to argue his case, the debate became so heated one councilman invited Cornell to step outside where they could settle the matter with fists, but Coffee-O didn’t take the bait.

He lived in Tacoma throughout the 1920s. In Feb. 1928 he landed in the hospital as the result of a powerful explosion, a blast that destroyed his home and disfigured his person to some degree. He refused to divulge the purpose of his experiment.

Coffee-O Cornell appears in the Tacoma City Directory up to 1930 and then vanishes only to resurface in the 1940 census as a patient in Western State Hospital. He was an intriguing character who left us with a long trail of little mysteries.

Secretary of State Sam Reed is leaving his Office in January, but he won’t be leaving the Washington State Library.  Washington State Library’s online catalog will continue to preserve Sam’s career in public service as an author, co-author, and through subject headings.

Sam Reed is listed as an author or co-author in 17 entries in the online catalog.  The authority heading as an author is Reed, Sam, 1941-.  There is a “See” reference for Reed, Sam Sumner, 1941 which points to Reed, Sam 1941.  The 17 entries include Washington State Publications in both print and electronic formats.

The oldest title listed was published in 1968:

An analysis of the factional power struggle in the Republican Party of Washington State from 1962 to 1967  [Pullman] Dept. of Political Science, Washington State University, c1968

Perhaps this was the beginning of Sam’s interest in civility in government?

Sam Reed’s new book, A Survival Guide for Life in the Public Arena,  shares his views and experiences on leadership and how to succeed in government service.  This book will soon be available through the Washington State Library’ s catalog.

Searching for Sam Reed as a title brings up two entries.  One is a work in which Sam is featured in a case study.  The other is an electronic publication of the Office of the Secretary of State.

As a subject, Sam has two subject headings:  Reed, Sam, 1941- and Reed, Sam, 1941- — Correspondence.  There are two entries for Reed, Sam, 1941 and one entry for Reed, Sam –Correspondence.  Recently, a book detailing Sam Reed’s political history and accomplishments as Secretary of State was published.  The book, Sam Reed Secretary of State:  A Dozen Years of Service & Civility, will also soon be available in the Washington State Library catalog.

Sam can also be found in the Washington State Library’s Select Index to The Olympian and other regional publications.  This online index contains citations to articles in The Olympian and other newspapers throughout Washington.  Dates covered are 1993-2009, inclusive.  Searching for Sam Reed will bring up 515 results which include citations to articles when Sam was Thurston County Auditor and during his tenure as Secretary of State.

As long as there is a Washington State Library, Sam will remain in its stacks and catalog.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The town of Sidney, Washington once had a newspaper with the unusual title of People’s Broadax. The first issue, dated Oct. 27, 1889,  was published just before statehood, and the final issue appears to be June 6, 1891. The Washington State Library has a complete run on microfilm.

It was in the very last issue I found this interesting bit of news we can add to Washington State cat lore. It took place in Chico, which is north of Bremerton. Those of you who live with and love felines might say the term “strange freak” is redundant when used with “cat,” but this story does stand out a bit from most other kitty tales.

Strange Freak of a Cat

“G.C. Sutherland of Chico was in Sidney last Thursday and gave the Broadax a call. While here he related a strange freak of his black cat, which for novelty eclipses anything of the kind we have heard for a long time. He stated that she had kittens in a duck’s nest, and about the time the kittens were born three young ducks appeared. Soon afterward the old cat, to avoid the annoyance of the children, removed the kittens and ducks to a spare chamber up stairs. She regards the ducks with the same paternal care and solicitude that she does her own offspring, licking them all over at times and carrying them around the same as she does her kittens, and even stealing food for them. Mr. Sutherland says if you don’t believe it, call at his house and be convinced.”

Now if you are scrambling to try and find Sidney on a modern map, don’t bother. Today the town is called Port Orchard. According to James W. Phillips in Washington State Place Names, “The town was platted as Sidney by developer Sidney Stephens, but in 1903, at the request of residents, the state legislature renamed it and shortly afterward made it the county seat.”

A map of Sidney was published in the same issue of People’s Broadax as the cat story.

As for Mr. Sutherland, who apparently built the first hotel in Chico, the book Kitsap County History (1981) gives a brief biography: “Captain George C. and Christina Sutherland arrived from Port Arthur, Canada, in 1889 with their children Horatio, Elizabeth (Donovan), John and Jessie (Green). He operated a salmon saltery on the beach and was the area’s first photographer, calling his firm Sutherland Brothers or Olympic View Company.” I wonder if he ever took a picture of that cat with the ducks?

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.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The irony of hermits is that the more they desire to be alone, the more attention they garner. The hermit becomes an object of curiosity. For example, a character by the name of “Buckskin Joe” certainly got my interest when I randomly found the following short article on the front page of The Concrete Herald, Feb. 21, 1914:

HERMIT OF UPPER SKAGIT IS FOUND DEAD IN CABIN

“Quincy A. Eaton, a recluse who has lived alone in a small cabin on Bacon creek, above Marblemount, for the past fifteen years, was found dead in his cabin by a neighbor last week. Indications were that he had been dead for several days before he was discovered. Burial was made near the cabin he had occupied for so many years.”

“Nothing definite is known of Eaton prior to his coming to Skagit valley. He was apparently well educated and was said to have relatives prominent in public life. He lived a primitive life in his little cabin and refused to have any intercourse with travelers or neighbors, never speaking when it was possible to avoid it. He was generally known as ‘Buckskin Joe’ because of the garb he adopted after his arrival.”

Thanks to the Chronicling America project, I was able to locate one article about Buckskin Joe during his lifetime. It came from the June 30, 1897 issue of the San Francisco Call. It was headlined: WILD MAN OF SKAGIT COUNTY.

Identified simply as Buckskin Joe, farmers and miners in the area testified in the article that this wild hermit had set up a couple primitive structures on Bacon Creek. One of them was a strange convoluted tree house, from which Joe watched any visitor. “He absolutely refuses to associate with any one and always carries a rifle, a revolver, and a big knife. His cartridge belt holds an immense amount of ammunition and is always around his neck. He is nearly asleep until some one comes within hearing distance, when his frightful-looking head appears and the visitor looks into the barrel of his rifle.”

The nearest big city newspaper to cover Joe’s demise was the Bellingham Herald. The headline read HERMIT LEAVES NO TRACE OF IDENTITY IN DEATH in the Feb. 18, 1914 issue.

This article included: “For nine years the government has permitted him to live within the forest under sufferance. He had been dead in his bed for probably two weeks when his cabin was entered last week. A traveler’s dog howling at the door of the cabin attracted attention to the place and a resident investigated when he received no response to his calls for the hermit. The body was interred in the rear yard of the cabin, under the potato patch which the hermit cared for studiously during past years.”

“Despite several attempts to make him sociable, the hermit remained ‘the silent man of the mountain.’ He would pass wayfarers with his head down, refusing to acknowledge salutation or greeting. Where he came from or what his connections were is not known further than at one time he tersely informed residents that his brother was a United States senator.”

Except for a brief mention in JoAnn Roe’s 1997 book North Cascades Highway : Washington’s Popular and Scenic Pass, a superficial survey of Skagit County historical material didn’t turn up any information on Buckskin Joe.

However, there is one document that serves as a stepping stone in uncovering Buckskin Joe’s past: The U.S. Census. He is in there for 1910. It is so strange a hermit like Buckskin Joe would be so cooperative in providing information, but perhaps the Feds told him that if he wanted them to continue turning a blind eye to his presence on public property, he better play along.

With the help of our online genealogical resources at WSL I was able to locate more documents and eventually came into contact with Cheryl Eaton, one of the historians for that family. She was able to fill in several gaps.

Quincy Adams Eaton was born Oct. 5, 1849 in Lanawee County, Mich. He was the 7th of the 11 children of Christopher Columbus Eaton (1810-1877) and Eleanor (Lamberson) Eaton (1817-1893). Quincy was apparently known as “Tuney.”

According to Cheryl, Christopher Columbus Eaton “was a forward thinking man and most of his children graduated from the State Normal School in Ypsilanti, MI or the Michigan Agricultural College.” By the early 1870s, many members of the Eaton family had migrated to Colorado Territory to join the Union Colony at Greeley.

For some reason Quincy’s application for a deed at Union Colony was refused, Mar. 21, 1871. He migrated to the area of present-day Merino, Colo., where he taught school, ran a stagecoach line and mail route (soon made obsolete when the railroad arrived), and possibly raised cattle. He apparently never married. After 1882 he vanishes from the record until he shows up as “Buckskin Joe” in Skagit County, Wash. over a dozen years later.

By the time he was discovered up here, most of his family had passed on. One brother had been killed in the Civil War, and another, George Washington Eaton, was killed by Ute Indians in the Meeker Massacre, Sept. 1879. Although Quincy was not related to any U.S. Senators, his brother Oscar Eaton (1847-1895) was a banker and prominent Ohio Republican, having attended the 1892 National Convention as a delegate.

So where was Buckskin Joe 1882-1896? What drove him into the woods to lead a life of militant solitude? If you have any additional information on this intriguing character in Washington State history, we would love to hear from you.

Kim Wyman, who will be sworn in as Washington’s 15^th Secretary of State, announced her choices for her executive team Friday December 7.  In making her appointments, Wyman consulted with outgoing Secretary of State Sam Reed, senior managers and others both inside and outside of government.  In her email, she described the team as “a mix of people from within and outside the office, with a wide variety of experience and perspectives.”

Rand Simmons was chosen as Washington State Librarian effective January 16, 2013 when Wyman takes office. Simmons has been Acting State Librarian since September 2010. Kim and her Executive Team visited the Washington State Library to make the announcement to library staff.

See this link for a full story detailing Ms. Wyman’s choices for her Executive Leadership Team and Division Directors.

Discover free and inexpensive trainings available online and around the state; compiled by Jennifer Fenton, CE/Training Coordinator, Washington State Library

Featured Free Trainings:

Registration information for the below trainings and webinars is available at: http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/libraries/training/trainingCalendar.aspx

 Washington State Library is pleased to offer the following FREE online training in December:

 First Tuesdays: Exploring Washington Rural Heritage Digital Collections

December 4, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT

Join us as Washington State Library’s Evan Robb and Ross Fuqua provide an introduction to searching, browsing, and exploring Washington Rural Heritage, a digital repository for Washington’s public libraries. The presentation will demonstrate advanced search functionality, website navigation, and integration of social media and collection visualization components. Presented by Evan Robb and Ross Fuqua, Washington State Library.

For these and many more free and low-cost trainings, visit the Washington State Library Training calendar which is constantly being updated, so check back frequently.

WebJunction Washington Courses (must be logged into WJ WA to view courses):

WebJunction has launched the new site; here is some information to help you understand the new WebJunction Washington. There are now two sites, the portal page which does not require a log-in and the course catalog which requires affiliation with Washington to access free courses. Courses are unlimited.

New portal website: http://www.webjunction.org/partners/washington.html

*Please note that the content has not yet been added, so it is a skeleton website at this time.

New Learning Management System for courses:

• New members: https://www.webjunction.org/find-training/request-access/ 

• Existing WJ WA members: To sign in, go https://oclc.plateau.com/plateau/user/login.jsp

User ID: USERID; Password: WebJunction

Early registration for January WebJunction webinars is now open:

The Impact of an Ice Cream Sundae

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 ♦ 11 am Pacific ♦ 60 min

Early Registration: http://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/The_Impact_of_an_Ice_Cream_Sundae.html

What does an ice cream sundae have to do with library partnerships? Let’s pretend that your community organizations (school, academic, public and special libraries, and other local organizations) are your favorite kind of ice cream. Now let’s ladle your favorite toppings over the ice cream to represent  the organizations’ resources, programs, personnel and funding.  How can the ice cream “mix” with the toppings to be the most luscious dessert possible for the most people?  When community organizations collaborate to share their resources with one another, they make the biggest possible impact on the most lives. Learn easy, understandable and powerful strategies that will give you renewed energy to create bold and imaginative collaborations among all types of community organizations.

Presented by: Kathy Jacobs, Director, Yankton (SD) Community Library

Creating a Culture of Innovation in your Library and Community

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 ♦ 10 am Pacific ♦ 60 min

Early Registration:  http://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/Creating_a_Culture_of_Innovation.html

We hear about libraries that are leaders in innovation, implementing ideas that keep the library growing and vital. Perhaps you have watched from the sidelines and wished you could kickstart some innovation at your library, but you’re not sure where to start. Come to this webinar for an active and lively discussion on how to find innovative ideas, how to connect with the people to help make them happen, and how to get buy-in and support for your ideas. There is a lot to be learned from other libraries’ examples and experiences.

Presented by: Heather Braum, Digital & Technical Services Librarian at the Northeast Kansas Library System, blogger at www.heatherbraum.info, and 2010 Kansas Library Association’s New Professional of the Year.

 For many more free and low-cost trainings, visit the Washington State Library Training calendar which is constantly being updated, so check back frequently.

 For more information on these and many more CE events, continue reading….

 Training Opportunities in December 2012

For full information, please click on the link or visit http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/libraries/training/trainingCalendar.aspx

*Please note that all times are listed in PT on this list, some webinar registrations will reflect other time zones

12/3/2012: Makerspaces: A New Wave of Library Service
12/3/2012: Open Mic Night with Dr. Joyce Valenza!
12/4/2012: First Tuesdays
12/4/2012: Tech-Savvy Staff: Better Service for Library Users
12/4/2012: Create a Story and Tell it Too: Engaging Supporters with Online Video
12/4/2012: Reading is a Superpower! Comic Books, Graphic Novels, & Literacy
12/5/2012: Applying the 70:20:10 Enterprise Learning Model
12/5/2012: Branding yourself and your library career on LinkedIn
12/5/2012: It’s Not Just for Kids Anymore: Adult Summer Reading Programs
12/6/2012: How to Create Your Own Library (or Personal!) Knowledge Base.
12/6/2012: Assessing the Cloud for Nonprofits and Libraries
12/6/2012: Outreach Programs in Rural Communities: Simple Steps for Surprising Results
12/6/2012: Lerner Publishing Group Spring 2013 Librarian Preview Webinar
12/7/2012: Tech Tools With Tine: 1 Hour of Evernote
12/7/2012: Accessibility Handbook: Making 508-Compliant Websites
12/10/2012: Bozarthzone! Nuts and Bolts of Social Media
12/11/2012: Better Together: Tech Trainers Sharing Expertise
12/11/2012: Creating a Comprehensive and Engaging Volunteer Training Program
12/11/2012: Mobile Accessibility – The Status of Accessibility in Mobile Devices
12/12/2012: What Would Walt Do?: Quality Customer Service for Libraries
12/12/2012: Polite Debate Society
12/12/2012: Basic Graphic Design for Library Staff: Quick and Easy Solutions
12/12/2012: Perfect Phrases for Fundraising
12/13/2012: Making the Choice: Mobile Solutions for Your Library

 **Please note that times and topics are subject to change and WSL is not responsible for non-WSL events. Please verify time and topic when registering. Also, new webinars are added to the training calendar throughout the month as time allows, so please check back. This is only a partial list of free CE Events available online.

 Archived presentations:

Don’t have time to catch these courses live? Many are available later as an archived presentation. To view archives, visit the following sites:

Infopeople

Common Knowledge

School Library Journal

Booklist

Tech Soup

Library Journal

SirsiDynix Institute

WebJunction

NCompass Live

Texas State Library

American Management Association

Carterette Series Webinars Archive: Georgia Library Association

* WSL provides information about outside training events for your convenience only; please contact the event sponsor for the most up-to-date information and all questions about the event.