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Category Archives: General
DigitalLearn.org Launches Self-directed Tutorials: Basic Computer Skills
What a wonderful resource for library customers that want to learn basic computer skill through short, self-directed tutorials!
And what a great help to library staff when a computer skills class is not the answer.
DigitalLearn.org has just released a few learning modules and would like feedback from library staff and customers regarding how they work. Designed for folks that are new to computers, haven’t used them for a while, are a little unsure and uncomfortable, or just need a bit of a refresher, the tools should help library customers tackle technology at their own pace and gain the confidence theyneed to succeed.
Check out the first offerings from DigitalLearn.org. Ask your library customers to try these tutorials and let us know how they work.
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Friday Video: Chris Kimball “The Science of Good Cooking”
Published on Apr 29, 2013
Chris Kimball stopped by the Googleplex for a discussion of his latest book, “The Science of Good Cooking.”
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Nebraska State Poet Nominations Due July 26
Nebraska Arts Council (NAC), Humanities Nebraska (HN), and the Nebraska Library Commission (NLC) are seeking nominations for the next Nebraska State Poet, a designation that recognizes and honors a Nebraska poet of exceptional talent and accomplishment. Nominations must be submitted online no later than midnight, CST on July 26, 2013.
Nominations may be made by any organization or individual in the state of Nebraska. To be considered, nominees must indicate their consent to the nomination. All nominations will be reviewed by the State Poet Selection Committee, which is made up of five individuals who are established members of Nebraska’s literary, cultural, education, and academic communities. After the committee selects finalists, the governor will make the final selection. State Poet nominations will be collected and reviewed online using the NAC SlideRoom online application site: https://nebraska.slideroom.com. This site includes complete instructions for submitting application materials.
The Nebraska State Poet will be selected based on artistic excellence, exemplary professionalism demonstrated by significant publications and special honors, an established history of community service in the advancement of poetry in Nebraska, and the ability to present poetry and interact effectively with a public audience. In addition, the State Poet must be a legal, full-time resident for at least three years prior to the application deadline and must maintain Nebraska residency during the full term of office.
Once selected, the Nebraska State Poet will serve a five-year renewable term as an advocate for poetry, literacy, and literature in Nebraska. The duties of the State Poet include giving public presentations and readings, leading workshops and discussions, and providing other outreach in schools, libraries, literary festivals, and various venues in rural and urban communities throughout the state. To accomplish this, the State Poet will join the NAC’s Nebraska Touring Program and the HN Speakers Bureau.
The position of Nebraska Poet Laureate was established in 1921 when John G. Neihardt was appointed by the Legislature. In 1982, William Kloefkorn was appointed as Nebraska State Poet by Governor Charles Thone. Kloefkorn served as the State Poet for over 25 years, until his death in May 2011.
For more information, contact Erika Hamilton, Humanities Nebraska director of literary programs, at (402) 474-1213, extention 104, or at erika@humanitiesnebraska.org
Posted in Books & Reading, General, Public Relations
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Meet the Library Commission Reference and Interlibrary Loan Staff!
Front row left to right: Mary Geibel, Mary Sauers, and Lynda Clause
Back row – left to right: Lisa Kelly, Beth Goble, Bonnie Henzel and Susan Knisely
Meet the Library Commission Reference and Interlibrary Loan Staff!
In the past year and half, we’ve experienced several changes in personnel on our reference and interlibrary loan team. Here are the updates as to the whereabouts of our former staff in addition to our new arrivals:
Departures:
January 2012:
Julie Pinnell – leaves the Library Commission after nearly 17 years of service to become the director of the Doane College Library.
Summer 2012:
Beth Goble – becomes part time and is now our Historical Services Librarian. She still spends time at the reference desk answering email questions and will celebrate 20 years with the state this July. Beth and her husband Ron travel regularly to Michigan to visit their two granddaughters and also spend time at their other home in Alberta, Canada. Not to be left out are the family pets, Arwen, a Sheltie and Allie, a rescue cat.
December 2012:
Dave Eckmann leaves the reference team to return to working with the Talking Book and Braille Service.
April 2013:
Evelyn Kubert retires after 13 years of doing ILL for the Library Commission and just received happy news of grandchild number 6.
Arrivals:
January 2013:
Mary Sauers comes to us by way of Lincoln City Libraries where she worked at the Anderson and Bethany Branches in public services. Prior to moving to Nebraska in 2009 she worked at BCR, the former OCLC regional network located in Denver. It was there that she met her husband, Michael Sauers, who you may recognize as another employee of the Library Commission. Mary has two daughters (Diana and Sara), three dogs, and spends many hours in her greenhouse.
Mary Geibel is already recognizable to many of you since she’s been answering and routing incoming calls to the Nebraska Library Commission for many years as a member of the Administrative Services team. Since the reference desk recently took over “switchboard” duties it’s a particularly fitting time for Mary to transition to our team, where she will be one of several team members answering the phones. Mary will also now be your first contact for book group reservations and questions. Mary and her husband John have two sons (Sean and Nikolas) and two dogs. Mary cares for her mother in her home and also enjoys regular meetings with her scrapbook friends.
April 2013:
Lynda Clause is our most recent team member and also comes to us by way of Lincoln City Libraries. Lynda will be working primarily with Interlibrary Loan and helping and guiding us in our change to WorldShare. Lynda will also be at the reference desk and will be corresponding with you all by email. Lynda is planning to return to school this fall to study Digital Humanities, but she will still be here at NLC full time. Lynda and her partner Eric enjoy hiking and live music, and are planning to adopt a dog from the Humane Society this summer and we are all eager to see who will join their home.
Still here:
Bonnie Henzel continues helping the team on Friday mornings. Bonnie works with Nebraska State Publications and is the proud mom of a son Alex and twin high school graduates (Alaina and Kayla) who will matriculate at Peru State College this fall. Bonnie is married to Vince and together they are active in coaching basketball and volleyball. Last but not least in their home is Bonnie’s Golden Retriever Chloe.
Susan Knisely is a part of the Technology and Access Services Team but also spend time at the reference desk on Mondays. Susan is the person you speak to for overdrive and database subscription questions in addition to many other topics. Susan and her husband Will share their home with their son Ian and 4 rabbits.
Lisa Kelly remains at the reference desk after 20 years and has learned many new tasks as people have come and gone. Lisa lives with her rescue cat named Moon in the historical Stuart Building where she organized a book group that has been meeting for 12 years. Susan and Lisa are a month apart in age and have planned their joint retirement party for the year 2035.
Posted in General, Information Resources
Tagged Nebraska Library Commission Staff, NLC Staff, Staff
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NEH America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations – applications due Aug. 4, 2013
National Endowment for the Humanities America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grants (AHCO) grants provide support for museums, libraries, historic places, and other organizations that produce public programs in the humanities.
Grants support the following formats:
- exhibitions at museums, libraries, and other venues;
- interpretations of historic places, sites, or regions;
- book/film discussion programs; living history presentations; other face-to-face programs at libraries, community centers, and other public venues; and
- interpretive websites and other digital formats.
Types of America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations awards:
- Planning grants support the early stages of project development, including consultation with scholars, refinement of humanities themes, preliminary design, testing, and audience evaluation.
- Implementation grants support final scholarly research and consultation, design development, production, and installation of a project for presentation to the public.
Closing date for applications: August 14, 2013
For more information, visit http://www.neh.gov/grants/ahco.
Over $3.2 M in E-rate Funding Awarded to Nebraska schools and libraries
Last week, USAC released Funding Year (FY) 2013 Waves 1 and 2 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs). These waves include commitments for approved Priority 1 (Telecommunications Services and Internet Access) requests at all discount levels.
Together these waves represent over $3.2 million in funding commitments for 259 Nebraska school and library applicants.
You can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.
If you are on the list, keep your eyes open for your Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL). When you receive that, you can go on to the next step in the E-rate process, filing your Form 486. Information and instructions on how to do that can be found on the USAC website.
If you are not on the list, don’t panic! There are many more weekly Waves to come as USAC processes more applications. This is just the start of Funding Year 2013, more approvals are coming.
Congratulations to all Nebraska schools and libraries funded in Waves 1 and 2 for funding year 2013!
If you have any questions or need any assistance with your E-rate forms, please contact Christa Burns, 800-307-2665, 402-471-3107.
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NEH Digital Humanities Start-up Grants – Applications due Sept. 12, 2013
Closing Date for Applications: September 12, 2013
Award Amount: Up to $60,000
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites applications to the Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants program. This program is designed to encourage innovations in the digital humanities. By awarding relatively small grants to support the planning stages, NEH aims to encourage the development of innovative projects that promise to benefit the humanities. Proposals should be for the planning or initial stages of digital initiatives in any area of the humanities:
- planning and developing prototypes of new digital tools for preserving, analyzing, and making accessible digital resources, including libraries’ and museums’ digital assets;
- scholarship that focuses on the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture and its impact on society;
- scholarship or studies that examine the philosophical or practical implications and impact of the use of emerging technologies in specific fields or disciplines of the humanities, or in interdisciplinary collaborations involving several fields or disciplines;
- innovative uses of technology for public programming and education utilizing both traditional and new media; and
- new digital modes of publication that facilitate the dissemination of humanities scholarship in advanced academic as well as informal or formal educational settings at all academic levels.
Details are available at http://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/digital-humanities-start-grants .
Future Summer Reading Program Slogans Selected
I know you are all busy with this year’s summer reading program but I wanted to announce the upcoming program slogans while it is still fresh in my mind. The annual meeting of the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) was held in April of 2013. The slogans for the 2015 program and the topic or concept for the 2016 program were selected. They are:
2015, the topic is heroes:
Children: Every Hero Has a Story
Teen: Unmask!
Adult: Escape the Ordinary
The topic or concept for 2016 is: “Wellness/Fitness/Sports.” I know there will be plenty of fun ideas in the manual when 2016 approaches. I hope your readers are enjoying this year’s program (whatever their ages) and will be eager to get going next year too! Happy Summer!
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Time is running out to nominate a book for One Book One Nebraska 2014
Time is running out to nominate a book for One Book One Nebraska 2014. The Nebraska Center for the Book will accept nominations for One Book One Nebraska 2014 until June 15, 2013. To nominate a book, send an e-mail to nlc.ask@nebraska.gov or a note to Nebraska Center for the Book, One Book One Nebraska 2014, % Nebraska Library Commission Reference Services, 1200 N Street, Ste. 120, Lincoln NE 68508-2023. Books must be currently in print and either be written by a Nebraska author or have a Nebraska theme or setting.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
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Busting sod
This week marks the 151st anniversary of the passage of the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. Homesteaders were allotted 160 acres of land. They had to live on their land and make improvements within six months, including building a home. After 5 years on the land, the original filer was entitled to the property after paying a small registration fee. On January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman met some local Land Office officials and convinced a clerk to open the office shortly after midnight in order to file a land claim. Freeman became one of the first to file a claim. 160 acres proved to be too small for the arid parts of Nebraska. The Kinkaid Act of 1904, authored by Nebraska Congressman Moses P. Kinkaid, increased the allotment to 640 acres in western and central portions of Nebraska, primarily in the Sandhills.
Trees were in short supply , and the tough sod
being “busted” for crop production became 
building blocks for homes, barns, and even schools.
Several Nebraska Memories participants have
contributed photos depicting homesteaders.
The house in this photo of the Mundshaw’s Sod House from the Cheyenne County Historical Society collection looks quite substantial, with a durable roof and glass windows. It probably had a wood floor as well. 
Cheyenne county also boasted a Sod School in District #68 . It actually had a stone foundation. Eight of the children in this 1904-05 picture are named Olsen, with photographer Otto Olsen using a string to snap the photo so that he could be in it.
Other parts of Nebraska had trees for lumber. 
Mr. and Mrs. James Cornell and their children
stand in front of a wood frame house in Butler County
in this photograph from the Boston Studio Project
collection, taken in the late 1890s.
There was no Kingsley Dam or Tri-County irrigation canal holding and diverting water from the Platte River into parched fields in Phelps County in those early days. It’s hard to imagine how the family in the 1880’s photo of their Dry land farm, Phelps County, Nebraska survived. The rows of corn look dried up. Perhaps the windmill behind the house provided enough water for the crop.
Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
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Broadband Availability Improves in U.S.
I just read a blog post from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that summarizes their report on broadband availability between 2010 and 2012. The report determined that basic broadband service is almost universal in urban areas and that while rural areas still lag behind, 91 percent of rural residents have access to broadband service as of June 2012.
NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which funded Nebraska’s three-year grant to improve library broadband service, has played a big part in expanding the availability of high-speed internet access for all citizens. The libraries participating in Nebraska’s BTOP program that received broadband access saw their average speed increase from 4.6Mbps to 24.4Mbps as of May 2013 and all 147 libraries in the program now offer wireless access for their customers.
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Join the Nebraska CatExpress Group: A Fast, Easy, and Affordable Cataloging Solution for Your Library
If your library needs basic copy cataloging and MARC record delivery for up to 7,000 titles per year, OCLC CatExpress may be right for you. CatExpress provides web-based copy cataloging, with limited editing capabilities, at a low, flat-fee subscription price. And, when you join the Nebraska Group, you will receive discounted pricing on your CatExpress Subscription.
OCLC CatExpress is an annual subscription based on the maximum number of titles your library may catalog in a year. The annual subscription fee covers the cost of access to OCLC, plus searching, cataloging, deleting, and downloading of MARC records. Subscriptions run from July 1 to June 30 each year. But you can join the group at any time, as subscriptions and pricing can be prorated.
The 2013-2014 group subscription cost is $1.03 per title.
Even if you have little or no cataloging experience, you’ll be amazed at how simple it is to use CatExpress with minimal training. And since it’s a Web-based product, there is no special software to install or maintain.
CatExpress accesses records in WorldCat, the OCLC Online Catalog, which contains over 290 million bibliographic records. By accessing WorldCat through CatExpress, you have available to you records for all formats, including sound recordings (spoken and music), videos, electronic resources, journals, maps, and microforms. You can achieve hit rates of over 98 percent for English-language materials – all through an easy-to-use Web interface. You also may expand your resource sharing capabilities by adding your own holdings information to bibliographic records.
CatExpress Features:
• Full search capabilities in WorldCat
• The ability to set or delete holdings in WorldCat
• Delivery of OCLC-MARC records for you to load into your local system
• Basic editing of your MARC records and printing of labels for your items.
• Affordable, predictable pricing options for all sizes of libraries
To learn more about CatExpress, and to join the Nebraska CatExpress Group, go to the NLC’s CatExpress webpage.
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2012 Nebraska Public Libraries Survey Data Available
The results of the 2011/2012 Public Libraries Survey for Nebraska are now available for downloading on the Library Commission website. The full statistics are provided in Excel format or as a comma-delimited file. There is also a summary document of total figures that can be downloaded either in Excel or Adobe Acrobat format.
Compare Libraries with Wolfram Alpha
If you haven’t investigated the Wolfram Alpha application, here’s something that might make it worth road-testing. The Wolfram Alpha team calls their tool a “computational knowledge engine,” and that is probably the best description of the application. This morning I discovered a blog post of theirs about using the app to compare libraries. I was both impressed and annoyed that I hadn’t already thought of using it this way.
So, I tried comparing two Nebraska public libraries serving similar-sized populations by just entering the names of both libraries in the search box. The result was comparative data from the latest published IMLS survey (2010) using elements like collection size, circulations, expenditures, staff size, etc. What a quick way to compare two institutions! When you have a few minutes, give this tool a try. You can even try it on such mobile devices as the iPhone, iPad, Andoid smart phones, the nook, or the kindle fire.
Posted in General, Library Management, Technology
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National Day of Civic Hacking June 1 & 2
All you techies get ready for the first National Day of Civic Hacking that will occur on June 1 and 2, 2013. The goal is to bring together citizens, government agencies, and private sector organizations to use technology for the purpose of improving our communities. The challenge is to create tools using publicly-released data that will make innovative use of that data for practical purposes.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is participating in this effort by encouraging citizens to create tools that will allow people to use public library data in new and useful ways. Read the IMLS press release at http://bit.ly/13HRQuT.
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What’s Sally Reading?
“Guys Listen” website by Jon Scieszka.
A companion website to his “Guys Read” site, author and reading advocate Jon Scieszka now has added a “Guys Listen” site. Take a bit of time to explore both sites (if you haven’t had a change to look at “Guys Read” yet). I found a list of suggested reading for professionals that I will need to read my way through, I especially like the term “literacy differences” used by Elaine Millard in her title Differently Literate: Boys, Girls, and the Schooling of Literacy, which the Commission does not own so I need Interlibrary Loan for that title.
One title the Commission owns that he recommends is Connecting Boys with Books: What Libraries Can Do by Michael Sullivan. We also own his Connecting Boys with Books 2: Closing the Reading Gap. Michael Sullivan visited Nebraska in the spring of 2011 and gave wonderful presentations in four locations on how librarians can connect with the group of boys who have trouble with reading. Maybe we will be able to have him visit us again.
Puss in Boots by Jerry Pinkney is the latest in his interpretations of fairy tales. Lavish illustrations add to his straightforward retelling. Puss is given to the youngest son and soon has provided well for him and his older brothers. “A Note from the Artist” at the back of the book tells of his research both into other retellings and into the clothing styles and countryside of France for the time period he chose. Perhaps young participants at your library would like to try a retelling of their own.
(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)
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Scholarships Available to Attend the 2013 ARSL Annual Conference
The Association for Rural & Small Libraries is now accepting applications for three scholarships to attend the 2013 ARSL Annual Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, to be held September 26-28, 2013. 
The Dr. Bernard Vavrek Scholarship will go to a current LIS student. It includes conference registration, hotel, $500 stipend and a free one-year membership in ARSL.
The Founders Scholarship and the Ken Davenport scholarship will go to a current library professional. They include conference registration, hotel, a $500 stipend and a free one-year membership in ARSL. The definition of a “Library Professional” is a library staff member working in a small and/or rural library. A degree or certification is not required.
Candidates do not need to be members of ARSL; however membership is encouraged.
Visit the ARSL Scholarship webpage for more information and the scholarship application.
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Celebrate National Nurses Week
National Nurses Week is celebrated every year from May 6, which is National Nurses Day, to May 12, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale. After taking a moment to thank the nurses that you know, explore these images of nurses in Nebraska Memories.
For a look at nursing uniforms of the past, check out these portraits of Emily Anderson, taken in 1920, and this unknown nurse, taken in the late 1890s or early 1900s. Their outfits are a far cry from the scrubs and comfortable shoes worn by nurses today.
Many of the images of nurses in Nebraska Memories are part of the 
Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center collection. They depict many different aspects of life for students at the Immanuel Deaconess Institute School of Nursing. Images in this collection include a posed shot of a group of freshman students, a team photo of the School of Nursing’s women’s basketball team and a view of a capping ceremony, in which students 
received their nursing caps after their first year probation.
Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
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TBBS Advisory Committee Meeting
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service will be held 9:30 a.m. to noon, on Friday, June 7, 2013, at the Nebraska Library Commission, The Atrium, 1200 “N” Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, Nebraska which meeting will be open to the public. If special accommodations are needed for you to attend this meeting (including interpreters for the hearing impaired) contact Sue Biltoft (402) 471-4007 or (800) 307-2665.
An agenda for such meeting, kept continuously current, is available for public inspection at the Nebraska Library Commission, The Atrium, 1200 “N” Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, Nebraska and the Nebraska Library Commission Home Page, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/tbbs/agendas/.
David Oertli, Director
Talking Book and Braille Service
Most Social Media Friendly State Libraries for 2013
The folks over at LibraryScientist.com have ranked all 50 state libraries on their social media presence. According to them, the Nebraska Library’s Commission’s social media presence ranks 6th! So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank both the staff that help in posting such wonderful content to so many services and to all of you who follow us on platforms from Twitter to YouTube.
Read the full list and all the details @ LibraryScientist.com.
