New England Library Association Annual Conference
Just wanted to remind everyone that the New England Library Association (NELA) Annual Conference is coming up. This years theme is “Taking Charge of Change” and the programs look terrific. The conference is being held October 19-21 in Manchester, NH at the Raddison Hotel and Conference Center.
I’ve created a wiki for people to coordinate carpooling/roommates for events, this one being the first one. It’s called the VLA Travel Wiki and it is hosted at PBwiki. For everyone’s privacy, I have made the wiki for the VLA membership by invitation only. Please email me (celestihel[at]gmail.com) if you are interested in trying/checking it out and I’ll shoot you an invite just as quick as I can.
If wiki’s are new to you and you want to check them out generally before you try out the travel wiki, try popping over to the Vermont 23 Things site. Thing 17 and Thing 18 are about wikis and include some helpful tutorials, tips, and a sandbox to play around with, and there is a good deal of information about PBwiki specifically.
Helen Linda
Understanding Human Information Interaction talk at Simmons
Join NE ASIS&T colleagues and Simmons students for a thought provoking talk by Gary Marchionini: “Understanding Human Information Interaction” on September 15th at 5:30.
Understanding how people interact with information is a fundamental problem of information science. Interaction includes finding information in libraries and the WWW, consuming and evaluating what is found, and using this information to transform personal and global knowledge. Today, most human information interaction (HII) is mediated by technologies and much of the research is informed by principles and techniques that evolved in the field of human-computer interaction. This talk will focus on empirical techniques used to study HII, particularly user studies in laboratories. Investigations of personal health record usability, video retrieval, and exploratory search will be used to illustrate these techniques.
Jane Austen Society Vermont Chapter Gathering
I am appending information on the next JASNA-Vermont gathering on Sunday, September 14 in Montpelier. (Here is the info in plain text without graphics; if you would like a copy of the flyer to post in your library, please email me directly at bygone.books@verizon.net and I will email you a copy)…if you need any more information, please email me, and of course, we would welcome any and all of you if you are out and about in Montpelier that weekend!The Chapter has also started a blog (a work in progress!), so please check it out for any updates, Austen news, etc, and please post a comment if you are so inclined… http://janeausteninvermont.
Thank you!
Best regards,
Deb Barnum and Kelly MacDonald
Regional Co-Coordinators Vermont Chapter
email: bygone.books@verizon.net
Interested in Teaching Online? Register Now for Simmons GSLIS Online Instructional Design Workshop
Instructional Design: Creating Materials for an Online Course
Online — August 29 – October 3, 2008
What is the difference between preparing to teach an online course and preparing to teach in a face-to-face setting? A lot! Many who are new to online teaching are surprised at how much planning and writing is involved. This workshop orients participants to the ins and outs of online course design and authorship. This workshop is non-technical and software agnostic; we will not focus on the technical process of posting materials within a learning management system. Instead, we will concentrate on instructional design and materials preparation. By the end of the workshop, you will have developed (1) a sample syllabus and other orienting materials; (2) an online community-building warm-up activity; (3) the text for one online “session,†including an activity/assignment; and (4) a strategy for assessing student learning.
Preview at: http://gailonline.org/GSLIS_
Faculty: Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Ph.D., Associate Director of Academic Technology, Simmons College; gmdenatale@simmons.edu
To register or for more information see http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/
NISO Webinar at Holy Cross
ITIG has purchased access to the NISO Webinar on Open Url’s.
Cost: FREE!!
Date and Time: August 21, 2008 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Location: College of Holy Cross, Scalia Electronic Classroom on the second floor of the library
Please RSVP to: Bob Scheier, rcheier@holycross.edu
Description: “OpenURL Implementation: Link Resolution That Users Will Love.” This follow-up to to introductory webinar on “Demystifying Standards” will take a look at implementing the NISO standard for link resolvers, OpenURL (ANSI/NISO Z39.88), from an end user perspective. You do not need to have attended the previous webinar to participate, however the slides and Q&A from that webinar are available online(http://www.niso.org/
Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award Announced
Nominations for public librarians open August 15
Carnegie Corporation of New York has awarded the American Library Association $489,000 to support the new Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.
Administered by the ALA’s Public Information Office and Campaign for America’s Libraries, the award will launch this year and will continue annually through 2013. Â The award encourages library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community.
Article: Economy gets people out of the house, into libraries: Study shows more checkouts in hard times
By TERRY OBLANDER Newhouse News Service, Aug. 2, 2008
Article available from chron.com
Libraries adapt to Internet age (Burlington Free Press-July 25, 2008)
The Internet was supposed to send America’s public libraries the way of eight-track tapes and pay phones. It turns out, they’re busier than ever.
Libraries have transformed from staid, sleepy institutions into hip community centers offering Internet service, classes for kids and seniors, and even coffee and video gaming nights. Some have classes on citizenship for recent immigrants or provide sessions on improving computer skills. Most offer wireless Internet service, and many consult teen advisory councils for guidance on how to attract young people.
At most libraries, traffic is up — in some cases, way up — fueled in part by the lure of free computer use, according to experts and a Gannett News Service analysis of state and federal data.
When law enforcement comes a’knocking
Dear colleagues,
“It will never happen here!â€
Isn’t it human nature to believe that tragedies happen “out there,†in the world, and not in our own communities? Sadly, many communities have cause to know that tragedies do indeed happen at home. My own community, Randolph and neighboring Braintree, has just suffered the agony of the disappearance and murder of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett.
I am writing this because “It will never happen here!†also happened at my library.
When law enforcement comes a'knocking
Dear colleagues,
“It will never happen here!â€
Isn’t it human nature to believe that tragedies happen “out there,†in the world, and not in our own communities? Sadly, many communities have cause to know that tragedies do indeed happen at home. My own community, Randolph and neighboring Braintree, has just suffered the agony of the disappearance and murder of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett.
I am writing this because “It will never happen here!†also happened at my library.
Read more→