This session will be recorded and posted a few days after the webinar at  http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/dismeetings.html and at: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/services/updates/spotlightresources.html.   Captioning will be provided

REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR THIS SESSION AT: http://tinyurl.com/mcrclasses .  Equipment: connection to the Internet and a phone,  Login: as a guest with your name.  Instructions to connect to the audio will show up once you’ve logged in.  Questions to mmagee@unmc.edu. (mm)

In this Union College game from 1911-1912, the player sliding into base wears a uniform, while the player stretching a mitt to catch the ball looks to be wearing street clothes. Other college photos in Nebraska Memories show the teams lined up in uniform, sometimes with coaches and ball boys. Towns, big and small, also had their teams and fans showed up to the games.

Younger boys may have played in a league or, as in this picture, in a pick-up game on a lot or playground. These boys don’t seem to have had a home plate or bags for the bases, but there seem to be plenty of bats and mitts as the pitcher winds up for a pitch. And there wouldn’t have been a problem of spiking, as more than one of the boys appears to be barefoot.

Baseball even made an appearance on-stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse with a production of Damn Yankees. These unnamed Omaha crooners may or may not have played baseball at some time in real life, but I’m sure they were crowd pleasers.

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 Projects Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Join us for the next NCompass Live: “eBooks – The Changing Landscape in South Dakota Schools”, on Wednesday, June 19, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.

25% of schools nationally have access to downloadable eBooks and audiobooks. What’s the scene at your school? Attend this session to hear more about your options and learn where to look to bring eBooks into your student’s lives. Content covered will include popular eBook models, platform choices and things to consider when looking at adding eBooks to your library’s options. Speakers: Joan Upell, School Library Coordinator and Julie Erickson, Electronic Resources Coordinator, South Dakota State Library.

Upcoming NCompass Live events:

• June 26 – Technology in Libraries: What’s Next?
• July 10 – Learning in the Learning Commons: How UNK Moved Out of the Silos and into a Dance Hall

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.

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.

Published on Apr 29, 2013
Chris Kimball stopped by the Googleplex for a discussion of his latest book, “The Science of Good Cooking.”

The Commission and the regional Library Systems have put together  materials to help libraries in this effort.  These resources include:

• Six print worksheets  related to steps in the planning process to fill out in order to create a plan — Plan to Plan; Community Profile; Community Needs; Take Stock; Develop Goals & Objectives; and Evaluate Programs & Services
• Explanatory videos to be used with the worksheets to review and help get the discussion going for the planning process

In addition each System area will be scheduling planning workshops in their regions. So far the following two have been scheduled:

• Northeast Library System (Wed., June 19, 2013) – Norfolk Public Library: Sarah Warneke and Richard Miller will present at this 6 to 8 PM workshop. See the calendar for registration information.
• Panhandle Library System (Wed., June 26, 2013) – Western Nebraska Community College — Sidney: Eric Green and Richard Miller will present at this 9 AM to 3 PM workshop. Contact Panhandle Library System for more details.
• Watch the Commission’s calendar for details from other Systems for upcoming planning workshops.

For questions about these workshops contact Richard Miller or Laura Johnson at the Commission, or your regional System Administrator.

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

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.

Grant applications are due by July 3, and we’ll let you know by July 12 if you’ve received a grant, so you’ll have plenty of time to plan.  Apply as soon as you can at:  http://nlc.nebraska.gov/grants/ce/.

If you have any questions, please contact  Laura Johnson 800-307-2665, 402-471-2694.

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.

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.

Join us for the next NCompass Live: “Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Working with Wikipedia“, on Wednesday, June 12, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.

Next to Google, Wikipedia is the major source of information used by people today. But libraries also own much content that isn’t available on Wikipedia, so how should we make sure users don’t stop there? In this session, Aaron Tay, Senior Librarian & eServices Facilitator at National University of Singapore, will cover ideas on how to link resources from Wikipedia to library resources using various tools including John Mark Ockerbloom’s Forward to Libraries service. In the opposite direction, libraries can also move in and use Wikipedia entries to enhance findability of their collections.

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 19 – eBooks – The Changing Landscape in South Dakota Schools
• July 10 – Learning in the Learning Commons: How UNK Moved Out of the Silos and into a Dance Hall

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.

Description: Resource Description and Access (RDA) is the new cataloging code, which has replaced AACR2. Now that the Library of Congress has implemented the new rules, other libraries are making decisions about how RDA will work in their organizations. Attend this workshop to learn the basics of RDA. The class will involve hands-on practice with the RDA Toolkit, the creation of RDA records for a variety of resources, and discussion of planning for the implementation of RDA at your library.

This workshop is approved for the NLC Cataloging Certificate Program.

Audience: Library staff with some knowledge of cataloging.

Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Time: 9:30 AM-4:30 PM (Central Time)

Location: Kearney Public Library

Cost: No Charge

Capacity: 15 participants

To register, go to the Nebraska Library Commission Training and Events Calendar.

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 .

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!

Join us for the next NCompass Live: “2013 One Book One Nebraska: O Pioneers!“, on Wednesday, June 5, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.

We are very pleased that Andy Jewell, editor of the Willa Cather Archive and co-editor of the new Selected Letters of Willa Cather, will join us on NCompass Live on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. He will discuss the story behind the writing and publishing of O Pioneers!, the 2013 “One Book, One Nebraska” selection that is also celebrating its 100th anniversary. The book, which Cather called her second “first novel,” emerged at a critical period in Cather’s life. In 1912, she had just left her job at McClure’s Magazine and ventured to Arizona to visit her brother. Her experiences there–and the confidence she regained–made her feel that her “mind had been freshly washed and ironed, and were ready for a new life.” With O Pioneers! she attempted a new kind of writing, something far afield from the Boston and London environs of her first novel, Alexander’s Bridge. With this new style, as she told her friend, she “hit the home pasture.” Jewell’s talk will draw heavily on Cather’s biography and, especially, her letters of the period to provide a behind-the-scenes look into the creation of O Pioneers!.

In this ninth year of One Book One Nebraska, Nebraska libraries and other literary and cultural organizations continue to plan activities and events to encourage all Nebraskans to read and discuss the same book. Join us to hear more about this statewide reading promotion activity, sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission and the Nebraska Center for the Book.

Upcoming NCompass Live events:

• June 12 – Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Working with Wikipedia
• June 19 – eBooks – The Changing Landscape in South Dakota Schools

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.

The Guidelines have many new features.
• Accreditation and levels of accreditation are based on a point system. Instead of having to meet each requirement in a list, a library simply needs to accrue points. A total of 275 points may be earned.
• Instead of Essential, Enhanced, and Excellent levels, the three levels of accreditation are Bronze (175 points), Silver (200 points), and Gold (250 points).
• The new guidelines are community-based, so that each library determines its own priorities based on community needs. This requires each library to have or to create a strategic plan that addresses the unique needs of its community. A separate set of planning templates and guides has been developed to aid libraries in planning, if they wish to use them.
• Statistics that have been reported by the library in the Public Library Statistical Report will be automatically filled in on the online accreditation application form, so the library will not have to double-report statistical measures. Each library will have a password to access its own application form.
• Peer comparisons will be used for nine of the guidelines. Each library will be compared with libraries of similar size rather than being slotted into a predetermined population group as in past guidelines.
• A library seeking accreditation for the first time or one that is up for reaccreditation in 2013 will first need to meet the 12 minimum qualifications before it can seek accreditation. These include: having a governing or advisory library board, a certified board, certified library director, local funding; annually submitting statistics to the Commission; active use of an e-mail address by the library director; and presenting an annual report to the local governing body.
• The guidelines are organized into five categories:
o Governance/Planning;
o Resources;
o Services;
o Cooperation/Collaboration; and
o Communications.

A group of eleven librarians worked for more than two years to revamp the guidelines. The group was co-chaired by Stan Schulz from York and Joan Birnie from Broken Bow.

The text of the guidelines is now available on the Nebraska Library Commission Website. The interactive accreditation application—available in July–will include text prepopulated with statistics unique to each library applying. It will have “radio buttons” for those questions requiring a “yes” or “no” answer; it will have space for notes where required; and it will require a library to list which part of its strategic plan relates to each guideline listed.

For questions, contact Richard Miller at 800.307.2665, or richard.miller@nebraska.gov

I was quite impressed by this tutorial and thought that many libraries in Nebraska would be able to use this technique to keep track of usage data, especially those activities that are not collected by an automated library system. And, once these statistics are collected and compiled into reports, think how easy it would be to complete the annual Public Libraries Survey!

July 9, 2013  Alliance Public Library
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12301

July 10, 2013  Mid-Plains Community College – North Platte
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12308

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