Author Archives: Laura Johnson

I couldn’t resist the title of this posting, even if it does date me.
By now, you’ve heard that our Basic Skills program is changing. Online technologies have evolved, and costs have increased, and well, it seemed that it was time to offer the Basic Skills classes online. Online delivery means that we can offer greater flexibility to program participants–to have shorter, more focussed classes, and more of them–and to offer you some choices in planning your program, so that it fits with your circumstances and needs. Starting in 2011, there will be 6 requisite learning modules, and 7 electives required to fulfill the Basic Skills requirements. These modules are described in the Basic Skills for Nebraska Librarians Courses. A Schedule of modules offered in 2011 and an FAQ are also available to help answer questions.
Registration for the first 2011 module, Customer Service, starts Monday. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to talk about it.

Some of December’s Webinars come in packages. WebJunction is offering an online conference next week on Wednesday and Thursday, the first and second, with seven Webinars over the 2 days. And remember the Trustee Academy–five great programs for public library boards. See the list with program descriptions and links to registration info at Free Webinars.
Here are the titles of the Webinars. There’s something for everyone!

• Top Tech Trends for the Non-Technical (Infopeople)
• Fall Conference Roundup (NCompass Live)
• Facebook Features Update (Common Knowledge)
• Museums, Libraries, and 21st-Century Skills (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• Staying Committed to Great Customer Service When Your Library is in Chaos (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• 21 Ideas for 21st-Century Libraries (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• 2-1-1 and Library Partnerships (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• Changing Reference Services to Meet Patron Expectations (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• TechSoup for Libraries: Sustaining Technology to Serve your Patrons (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• Morale Issues in your Library (WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron)
• Public Outreach and Collections Care (IMLS)
• Re-energizing Your Preschool Storytime: New Ideas for Busy Children’s Staff (Infopeople)
• Public Outreach and Collections Care (IMLS)
• Building Community Partnerships (Texas State Library)
• Beads, Bulbs, and Books: Bringing Home and Garden into the Library (Booklist)
• Using Video Book Trailers to Reel in Readers (Infopeople)
• A Clever Title With a Pun Involving the Word Graphic (NCompass Live)
• Turning Customers into Champions: Marketing as a Team Sport (Infopeople)
• Wham! Bang! Pow! The Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List (Texas State Library)
• Tech Tools With Tine: 1 Hour of Jing (Texas State Library)
• User Experience Design for Web Services (Infopeople)
• Leading From Any Position: Influencing Library Effectiveness and Responsiveness (Infopeople)
• FRBR: Cataloging’s New Frontier (NCompass Live)
• E-Rate, CIPA, and Library Filters: What You Need to Know (Infopeople)
• Tech Tools With Tine: 1 Hour of Twitter (Texas State Library)
• Scholarship and Internship Grant Opportunities through the New IMLS Grant Program (NCompass Live)
• Tech Talk with Michael Sauers (NCompass Live)

TechSoup is offering a continuing education opportunity on Grant Writing–and they’re offering it via a blog. In their words, “Our new grant series, Successful Grants in One Hour a Week, will provide you with small steps that cover the entire grant process. Weekly blog posts will outline your steps for the week so you’ll be prepared to apply for a basic grant before the end of the year.” Each week, they say to plan on spending about an hour working on the project. If you participate and finish all the steps, you will earn C.E. credit in the Nebraska Librarian Certification Program.

There’s a whole flock of free webinars in November–and not a turkey in the bunch! Free Webinars are listed on the “Free Webinars” page on the Nebraska Library Commission Website. Check back frequently, because new programs are added to the page as they are announced. The Webinars are from many different providers–click on the title link to find more info about a particular program. And remember that webinars are almost always archived for later viewing.

We’ve had several late additions to the list of this month’s Free Webinars. To find additions on the list, look for the red asterisks.

Webinars coming up this week are:
Tuesday:

• Reaching Reluctant Readers: Using High-Interest Fiction to Engage and Inspire (Booklist)

Wednesday:

• r u game? Game Night @ Perkins Library (Nebraska Library Commission)
• Grant Writing 101 with Stephanie Gerding (State Library & Archives of Florida )

Thursday

• Cool New Legal Sources Online (Infopeople)
• Developing the 21st-Century Leader (Webex)
• The Story of an Open Source Library (TechSoup Talks)

And the following week brings:
Tuesday

• LIFE in the Library: Events to Build Community (Texas State Library & Archives)

Wednesday

• Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Live from Internet Librarian! (Nebraska Library Commission)

Thursday

• Telling the Story of Your Collections to the Press (IMLS)
• Using Social Media to tell Your Collections’ Stories (IMLS)

Friday

• Frontline Advocacy (American Library Association)

There are 20 different webinars listed (so far) on the October list. October is a busy month for everyone—and I’m looking forward to seeing you at NLA/NEMA–but I hope you have a quiet hour sometime to view one of the programs. If you’re participating in the Nebraska Librarian Certification program, be sure to let us know you’ve viewed a webinar, so we can record the C.E. credit you’ve earned!

Four great programs from the College of DuPage are being underwritten by the Nebraska Library Commission this year so that every librarian in Nebraska can participate for no cost. The first program in the series will be on September 24, and
[obsolete link removed] registration is available now.
Each program is on Friday, and runs from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. [CT]. The programs are:

• Libraries & the Mobile Technology Landscape – September 24, 2010
• Redesigning Today’s Public Services: Focus on Reference – November 12, 2010
• Free Content for Library Collections – February 4, 2011
• Cataloging: New Perspectives” – April 8, 2011

The programs are available via Webcast or Satellite downlink. For more info see College of DuPage Continuing Education Teleconference Series 2010-2011.

There’s sure to be a Webinar for everyone this September, because the list is long and varied. I’ve put up the September Free Webinars page a few days early because there are several programs on the first, and I wanted everyone to see them in time. Check the list every week or so to catch any of the “in between” programs that get added.
This month’s program titles include:

Introduction to Searching HeritageQuest Online through NebraskAccess

Coming to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors

Creating A Virtual Orientation for New Staff

Context, Focus and Quality in the Library Discovery Experience

Graphic Novels: A Gateway for Reluctant Readers

Get out and REACH! Outreach Projects and Health Information

Creating Accessible Videos for Your Website

How To Make An Effective Presentation In 99 Seconds

Love and Magic: Trends in Romance Fiction

Designing Customized Library Services: Book-a-Librarian and BookMatch

The Rural Library Trustee: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships

SLJTeen Fall Announcements 2010

Gear Up to Game!

Communicate Effectively Using Persuasive Powerpoint Visuals

Improving Your Online Presentation Skills

Using Technology to Move your Small/Rural Library Forward

The Scoop on Series Nonfiction: What’s New for Fall

Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Circulating E-book Readers at UNO

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team can Transform an Entire Organization

The Manager’s Toolkit, Part One: Listening and Feedback

SLJ Nonfiction Book Buzz 2010

Libraries & the Mobile Technology Landscape

Defending the Right to Read: Celebrating Banned Books Week

Management? It’s Not What You Think!

mySkills, myFuture: A New Tool for Job Seekers

Virtual Facilitation: Making captivating, informative and fun

Check out all the Webinars in the August “Free Webinars” listing. We’re welcoming another new producer this month–The Georgia Public Library Service! Additional programs do get added to the list, so you might want to look back at the listing every week or so.
Titles of Webinars this month inlcude:

• Advocating for Your Library
• Prepare and Respond: Partnering with Local Emergency Management
• Social Networking for Fundraisers
• The Best of ALA 2010
• Selecting and recommending Inspirational Fiction
• Best Practices in Library Fundraising
• RSS: Feed Me
• Helping Job Seekers: Using Electronic Tools and Federal Resources
• Tour GrantStation: Your Fast Track to Fundraising Resources
• How to Make Your Library Entrepreneur-Friendly
• Fantasy Football, Flash Mobs, and Fanfiction: Pop Culture Programming in Your Library
• Free Learning: Developing No Cost, Online Learning for Patrons and Staff
• Tech Tips Training Series
• Advocacy for Libraries: In our Own Interest
• Teen Book Buzz Fall 2010
• Fantastic Fall Fiction for Youth
• Turning Your Databases into Business for Your Customers
• Tech Talk with Michael Sauers
• Digitization & Preservation Symposium
• Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign
• Going to Your Customer–Outreach and Strategic Partnerships

“TechTrends: ALA Annual 2010 Webinar” is archived on the ALA TechSource blog. The slides from the presenters and from the couple of people who were originally meant to be presenters but couldn’t make it for the rescheduled events are also there. I thought it was a pretty interesting hour with something for everyone. We’d be very interested to know what you think, so leave us a comment here if you like.

Two classes are being taught online this Fall: LIBR 2250 Leadership & Management in Library & Information Agencies and LIBR 2210 Cataloging and Classification.
Leadership & Management will be taught by Joyce Sharon Neujahr. It “includes the theories, concepts and activities integral to leading and managing 21st Century libraries and information agencies.” Cataloging, taught by Ruth Carlock, covers “theories, concepts and activities for cataloging and classifying materials in the 21st Century.”
Contact Mary Young, Admissions/Recruiting Director, myoung@cccneb.edu or (402) 562-1296 for further info.