Nebraska Library Commission Blog

Busting Sod

Beth Goble — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:32:42 +0000

This week marks the 151^st 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 Kingley 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.

NCompass Live: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Free Technology for Teachers

Christa Burns — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:24:22 +0000

Join us for the next NCompass Live: “Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Free Technology for Teachers”, on Wednesday, May 29, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.

In this month’s Tech Talk, Michael will be talking to Richard Byrne, author of the Free Technology for Teachers blog: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ Richard will be sharing some of his best tips and tools for teachers and letting us know what it takes to be a Google Certified Teacher.

In this monthly feature of NCompass Live, the NLC’s Technology Innovation Librarian, Michael Sauers, will discuss the tech news of the month and share new and exciting tech for your library. There will also be plenty of time in each episode for you to ask your tech questions. So, bring your questions with you, or send them in ahead of time, and Michael will have your answers.

Upcoming NCompass Live events:

June 5 – 2013 One Book One Nebraska: O Pioneers!
June 12 – Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Working with WIkipedia

For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.

Broadband Availability Improves in U.S.

John Felton — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:21:02 +0000

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.

Join the Nebraska CatExpress Group: A Fast, Easy, and Affordable Cataloging Solution for Your Library

Christa Burns — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:01:07 +0000

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.

2012 Nebraska Public Libraries Survey Data Available

John Felton — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:38:17 +0000

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.

Spring 2013 State Publications List Available

Bonnie Henzel — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:02 +0000

For those wanting to add records to their catalogs for Nebraska state documents, the Spring 2013 list of Nebraska E-Docs is now available at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/govDocs/ShippingLists/edocsalerts.aspx.

Compare Libraries with Wolfram Alpha

John Felton — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:43:52 +0000

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.

National Day of Civic Hacking June 1 & 2

John Felton — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:06:13 +0000

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.

Two new eBook/eReader workshops scheduled

Michael Sauers — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:55:13 +0000

eBooks and eReaders are coming into your library even if your library doesn’t officially support them. In this full-day workshop, Commission trainers Michael Sauers and Susan Knisely will walk you through the ins and outs of today’s eBook technology including hands-on time with a Barnes & Noble Nook Color, Amazon Kindle 3, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Apple iPad along with the OverDrive eBook lending service. By the end of this day you’ll feel more comfortable with these devices and be more confident in your ability to give your patrons the help they need. (This workshop does focus on public libraries but school and academic librarians will also benefit by attending.)

June 4, 2013 Norfolk Public Library
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12230

June 7, 2013 Hastings Public Library
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12231

Registration is limited to twelve attendees per workshop so please sign up soon.

What’s Sally Reading?

Sally Snyder — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:14:50 +0000

“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.)

NCompass Live: Library Planning: A Customized Program for Success

Christa Burns — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:30:48 +0000

Join us for the next NCompass Live: “Library Planning: A Customized Program for Success”, on Wednesday, May 22, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.

Planning gives a library greater depth of understanding of the community it serves, goals to work toward, and a path to follow. Since libraries and their communities are all unique, every library’s plan is custom designed. Eric Green, Denise Harders, Sharon Osenga, and Sarah Warneke, Nebraska Regional Library System directors, and Laura Johnson from the Nebraska Library Commission will discuss the importance of planning and introduce a new program they will be offering to libraries to make the vital activity of planning simpler and more immediate.

Upcoming NCompass Live events:

May 29 – Tech Talk with Michael Sauers
June 5 – 2013 One Book One Nebraska: O Pioneers!

For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

Loving Lovecraft: Nebraska Teens Host Life-Size ‘Arkham Horror’ Game

Michael Sauers — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:02:53 +0000

Three cheers for Miskatonic University! That’s the rallying cry of the La Vista Public Library (NE)’s teen advisory board—who, under the exuberant guidance of youth librarian and advisor Lindsey Tomsu, a 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shaker—turned its 2012 Teen Read Week into a massive celebration of the works of H. P. Lovecraft, complete with crafts, workshops, and a life-sized version of the complex, cooperative Arkham Horror board game based on the Cthulhu Mythos. The event was so successful and engaging that the teens hope to repeat it every year.

“I like complex board games for teens because they teach a variety of different skills in a fun setting,” Tomsu tells School Library Journal. “Arkham involves teamwork (since it is players versus the board), lots of reading, mathematical skills, and critical thinking.”

In Arkham Horror, up to eight players take on the roles of investigators in 1920s Prohibition-era Arkham, MA, the fictional town where Lovecraft set many of his stories, Tomsu explains. Each investigator has a special occupation—such as chef, archeologist, explorer, and librarian—and his or her own special abilities and talents. “The goal of the game,” Tomsu says, “is for the players to work together to kill monsters and stop gates to other dimensions from opening. If they fail, the Ancient One (a super tough monster) will awaken and attempt to take over the world.”

Says teen advisory board member Keyahna Wood, “I like that we work as a team to win,” while Mary Bragg says, “It is more complex than most normal board games and a lot more challenging.” Huyen-Yen Hoang agrees: “It’s awesome. It is fun and complex but in an easy-to-understand way.”

Read the full article (especially to check out the foul Hounds of Tindalos,) @ SchoolLibraryJournal.

Scholarships Available to Attend the 2013 ARSL Annual Conference

Christa Burns — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:47:41 +0000

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.

Friday Video: BIG DATA: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think

Michael Sauers — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:00:03 +0000

“BIG DATA: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think,” is a revelatory exploration of the hottest trend in technology and the dramatic impact it will have on the economy, science, and society at large. Which paint color is most likely to tell you that a used car is in good shape? How can Con Edison catch the most dangerous New York City manholes before they explode? And how did YOU (well, Google) predict the spread of the H1N1 flu outbreak? The key to answering these questions, and many more, is big data, our newfound ability to crunch vast collections of information, analyze it instantly, and draw sometimes profoundly surprising conclusions from it. This emerging science can translate myriad phenomena—from the price of airline tickets to the text of millions of books—into searchable form, and uses our newfound computing power to unearth revelations that we never could have seen before.

A revolution on par with the Internet or perhaps even the printing press, big data will change the way we think about business, health, politics, education, and innovation in the years to come. It also poses fresh threats, especially the prospect of being penalized by for things we haven’t even done yet, based on big data’s ability to predict our future behavior.

Celebrate National Nurses Week

Emily Nimsakont — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:16:20 +0000

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.

TBBS Advisory Committee Meeting

Jennifer Wrampe — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:31:46 +0000

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

NCompass Live: University of Nebraska in Your Neighborhood

Christa Burns — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:21:10 +0000

Join us for the next NCompass Live: “University of Nebraska in Your Neighborhood”, on Wednesday, May 15, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.

Get a peek into how UNL Extension is meeting the needs of Nebraskans and people throughout the world. Learn what you can grab for clientele off the web and how you can work with your local UNL Extension office.

Upcoming NCompass Live events:

May 22 – Library Planning: A Customized Program for Success
May 29 – Tech Talk with Michael Sauers
June 5 – 2013 One Book One Nebraska: O Pioneers!

For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

Most Social Media Friendly State Libraries for 2013

Michael Sauers — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:23:44 +0000

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.

WorldCat Reaches 2 Billion

Laura Johnson — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:36:31 +0000

WorldCat, the OCLC database of library holdings, has received its 2 billionth entry. The bouncing baby record was added by the University of Alberta in Edmonton last Saturday.

“Saturday’s child works hard for a living” according to the old poem, and WorldCat’s records work hard to provide information about the contents of libraries world wide. Nebraska libraries can search WorldCat through FirstSearch in NebraskAccess.

OCLC Launches Library Spotlight

John Felton — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:38:49 +0000

I just read about an interesting and Free service to help promote your library. OCLC has launched Library Spotlight, a service that uses data about your library from the WorldCat Registry to make it easier for people to find your location and contact … Continue reading →