Friday, January 23, 2004

Friday Notes 2.  An on-line resource for NEILSA Librarians DEADLINES & DATES:     County Meetings Scheduled: If your county meeting date is not on the schedule please contact Ken at NEILSA      Allamakee County Meeting -      Black Hawk County Meeting - When called - seldom      Bremer County Meeting - April 20, 2004 at 7:30 in Tripoli (?)      Buchanan County Meeting -      Butler County Meeting  - April 6, 2004 at 7:00 in Aplington      Chickasaw County Meeting -      Clayton County Meeting -      Delaware County Meeting - May 11, 2004 at 7:00 in Manchester      Dubuque County - DALINC - 2/12, 8:30 Hoffman House, 3/11, 8:30 Loras College (library)      Fayette County Meeting - Maynard PL 4/15/4 & Oelwein PL Oct 15, 2004      Grundy County Meeting - 1/26/2004 at 09:00 in Wellsburg ER      Howard County Meeting   - Riceville 7:00 April 6th 2004 (I think)     Winneshiek County Meeting - November 4, 2004 @ 7:00 in Fort A NEXT weeks meetings Your Sponsor reminds County Associations THAT: One & Two hour CE is available upon prior request from the NEILSA staff person in attendance, just call. NOTE: Tentative staff assignment KD = Ken (Consultant), ER = Eunice (Administrator) ANNOUNCEMENTS: Check the State Library's home page,  http://www.silo.lib.ia.us (top of the page) for information on the 2004 Enrich Iowa Reports and the Governor's FY05 budget proposal for libraries. MONDAY MORNING EYE OPENER [from NWILS] This time in Eye Opener: 1) Summer Library Program Workshops 2) Children & Young Adult Book Talks 3) Events and Meetings This Week - edited 1) Summer Library Program: "Discover New Trails @ Your Library" – If you haven't already done so, it's time to mark your calendars and register for the 2004 Summer Library Program workshop nearest you. Our workshop turnout has historically been so high that, once again, you have two Northwest dates sites to choose from: February 9th at the Everly Community Center and February 10th at Arthur Public Library. This year's presenter team will be Cathy Shaw from the Edgewood Public Library and Missy Mayfield-Cook from the Winthrop Public Library. They'll show you how to create an outstanding program for your community. Four hours of continuing education credit will be awarded. To register for either location, please print out, then complete the form found on the State Library's web site: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/cecat.htm Finally, please mail the completed form to: Northwest Iowa Library Services, P.O. Box 1319, Sioux City, Iowa 51102, or fax it to: 712-252-3171. 2) Children & Young Adult Book Talks – Again this year, on February 18th, Northwest Iowa Library Services is a co-sponsor for an ICN program, "New Children & Young Adult Literature Book Talks." Presenters will be Paula Brandt, Barbara Stein, Victoria Walton and Joel Shoemaker, media specialists for Iowa City schools. They'll share some of the best – and a few of the worst – books published in 2003 for preschool through young adult. ICN Sites include Hawarden, Spencer and Sac City Public Libraries, plus East High School in Sioux City. The presentation will air from 8:30AM – 12:00PM. Cost is $10.00 and includes cost of the printed bibliography. In order to receive your handout packet in time, you'll need to register by February 5th. For complete details and to register, please print out this flyer and return it to NWILS. (Sorry, but we cannot accept registrations from other Library Service Areas): http://www.nwils.lib.ia.us/booktalks.html 3) Events and Meetings This Week: Local events edited out - Ken C) All Iowa Reads 2004 - Discussing Niagara Falls All Over Again This ICN presentation of the Iowa Center for the Book airs on Wednesday, January 21, 2004, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. For full details and a list of ICN sites, please visit: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/cecat.htm Note: Registration is not required. Site hosts will have attendance sheets. D) A Technology Toolkit: Survival Skills for Everyone This College of DuPage teleconference will be broadcast on Friday, January 23rd from 11:00 AM till 1:00 PM. For full details and to register for an ICN site (lest it be canceled for lack of interest), please go to: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/cecat.htm#Technology -- Christine Rutherford Reference & Internet Services Northwest Iowa Library Services             New LINKS of interest: Happy Google Hacks Week 2004 #2: Search Sinker If you read Google Hacks you know that Google sorts results differently depending on an iteration of the same search word. You can try this for yourself. Search for baseball. Now search for baseball baseball. See? Search Sinker asks for two things: a query, and then a "sinker" -- a word that you want to emphasize as much as possible in the search. Check out the Search Sinker at http://www.researchbuzz.org/archives/001403.shtml  West Virginia University Libraries Create Online Asimov Exhibit An alumnus of West Virginia University donated his Asimov collection -- which totaled about 600 items including books, games, audio recordings, wall charts, etc. -- to WVU, and the WVU Libraries have put a lot of it into a digital collection you can browse at http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/exhibits/asimov/ . The site is broken up into several sections. There's a biography about Asimov and a description of the donation and the collection. There are scans and descriptions of each part of the collection, the audio/misc (William Shatner reads Foundation?) Children's books (these are available in the library and contain less online information), scans of rare and first edition Asimov covers (and for some reason Cliff Notes for the Foundation Series.) Finally there's "Visions of Science Fiction Art from the Library Stacks" an unannotated gallery of art from Asimov paperbacks in the library. Pulpy stuff. The site wraps up with a brief list of links at the bottom of the page. And you think you got problems - 1899 style http://www.libr.org/rory/wbm14.html The Telegraph in the Library [Richard Garnett]     CHANGES: New Director at New Albin - Collette Kasten     YOU WROTE: WANTED: We are looking for a older cataloging/card production program that a library can use to make a card catalog/shelf list.  IF you have such stashed away please let Ken know. CONSORTIA (1): Technology Plan - The State Library has informed me that our revised plan has been approved for all NE libraries.  Libraries in the Consortia are covered, libraries applying on their own MUST submit a plan and have it approved for everything except voice* services.  It is best to have an approved plan for any service but not required. Consortia libraries who wish a copy of the approval form may get one by sending me an e-mail. The copy will be sent via van service only, unless the library is not on the van service. * A dedicated fax line or dial-up Internet line are "basic telephone service" and do not need a tech. plan. The Internet will but the line used does not need a plan. CE: Reread the hints from Bob Smith, Robert Smith & Associates that Sandy Dixon sent out, appended at the end of the blog.  Some other hints: > Set up a "in the way" display table in front of the door - right in the path, change the book load on the table at least once a week make it attractive use props, be silly, anticipant seasons. > After you WEED, WEEd, WEed, Weed, weed you will have lots more space use it creatively; NO books on the bottom/floor level shelves, NO books on the top of the range or on the top shelves, the shelf next to the bottom shelf should have face up large (oversize) books, no shelf should be more than 75% full, do face out displays & everything does not need to be on the right end of a shelf. > When you are out and about really look at how retailers market to you and figure out how to use the same method to "sell" materials at the library. E.g. when you go to the mall look at how a high end shoe store displays shoes, in your mind replace shoes with books, VCR's, CD/DVD's et. al. Make a book mobile, a CD tree, a VCR "gingerbread" house with computer disk roof, think of other things make a display to illustrate the following: >Our library has so many books they had to put it in a multi-story building >A criminal wrote a book that explained how he couldn't have committed the crime.     It was his alibiography. >An author did all his writing from a study beneath his house. It was a very cryptic book, but it was at a bargain-basement price, so he ended up with a best cellar. >A doberman pincer is telling his puppy a bedtime story. The story goes "Once upon a Time. The End." The puppy says "Daddy, why such a short tale?" For Summer Reading Program - New Trails Pointing The Way    Things were getting desperate for the members of the jungle expedition. They had been traveling in ever narrower circles for three days, their supplies were running low and the helpers they hired insisted on returning to their homes. Everyone thought that they would be lost for ever. Happily, one of the natives offered a solution. He held up for all to see a large jungle insect which looked like some sort of mantis. "The insect always points North," he said. "I will leave you now but if you follow the pointing insect, you can find your way out without me." The explorers were happy to follow the insect. Indeed, it maintained a steady heading at first and they seemed to be making progress. Then a day passed. Then another one passed. The huge insect began to twitch and shake ever more erratically. They knew that they were lost. "Forget it!" one of them shouted in frustration. "This insect is mad! It's insane I tell you! It points every which way and we're lost. This is hopeless!" "How can you tell that?" the others asked. "How can the insect be mad?" "Can't you all see?" he cried...... "It's non-compass-mantis." You thought that was bad: Long Lived Dolphins In deepest Africa an explorer discovered a lake in which there lived a race of intelligent porpoise. He learned to communicate with these porpoises and they quickly learned to speak and to read and write. They told him that they had live in the lake for thousands of years and they were essentially immortal. When the explorer told the world about the wisdom of these porpoise, people from all over the world began to write letters to them asking for help and advice. There was no postal service to this remote lake so the mail just collected at the post office and the postal service refused to deliver it without special delivery postage. But because of the international prestige the government at last agreed to deliver the mail for free. Because the lake was so remote there was no road and the postal service had to send a postman with bearers carrying the mail in sacks. As they approached the lake they came upon a large lion sleeping directly across the narrow path. After some deliberation, the postman told the bearers to just step over lion very carefully so as not to wake him. They were just starting to do so; when a policeman sprang from the brush and said, "You're all under arrest! Don't you know it's illegal carry free mail across a sedate lion for immortal porpoises!" FROM: http://www.badpuns.com/     SPECIAL WORKSHOPS:                         CLASSES in NEILSA: Summer Library Project workshop dates and locations  Feb 4 - Methodist Church - Mount Pleasant, Feb 5 - Coralville Public Library,  Feb 6 - Fayette Public Library,  Feb 9 - Everly Community Center, Feb 10 - Arthur Public Librarym Feb 11 - Elliott Public Library, Feb 12 - Urbandale Public Library, Feb 13 - Fisher Community Center - Marshalltown, Feb 19 - Music Man Square - Mason City, Feb 20 - Fort Dodge Public Library TIME: 9:am am - 1:00 pm For more information: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/cecat.htm#February New Children's & Young Adult Literature Presented over the ICN 8:30a.m. - 12:00 Noon Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Public Library attendees must register with NEILSA to receive handouts and CE credit. http://neilsa.org/classes/current.html http://neilsa.org/classes/kidsyabooktalk04.pdf for details     OTHER CE: You must register with the listed provider. "Learning Activity Written Summery" may be found at: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/online-learningactivitywrittensummary.htm Complete details about re-certification are available at http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/for-ia-libraries/continuing-ed/recertification.html Self-Directed Learning Opportunities: http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/Certification/alternate.htm END PLATE: Previously run & Long Announcements, Supporting Documents, & other "stuff" Other blogs:     SWILSA House blog at: http://www.swilsa.blogspot.com     Blogs for Libraries [WebJunction]     http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=1432 On line Newsletters:     Regional Rag. http://www.sls.lib.ia.us/rag.htm GRANTS: Applications are available for The Human Rights Video Project, a new initiative that will award grants to 300 public libraries across the country. To obtain a grant application, please visit http://www.ala.org/publicprograms . Applications must be received by March 1, 2004. The Human Rights Video Project will provide two types of grants. The first, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, will provide packages of 12 videos and supporting materials on human rights topics to 250 public libraries in the U.S. The second grant, supported by the Ford Foundation, will award an additional 50 libraries the sets of videos plus $750 to present public programs on human rights topics in partnership with a non-profit community activist organization. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are accepting applications from public and school (K-12) libraries for We The People Bookshelf grants. Part of NEH's We The People initiative, the Bookshelf project will award the sets of 15 books for young readers to 500 libraries across the country. Selected libraries are required to present programs that highlight the theme of courage and encourage young readers to explore these works. Libraries interested in receiving the We The People Bookshelf grant can view the application and guidelines at http://www.ala.org/wethepeople or http://www.wethepeople.gov. Applications are being accepted online until February 15, 2004. The fine print stuff blog - Friday Notes 2 AT -  http://radio.weblogs.com/0108327/ EDITORS NOTES: "x" & "xx" are catalogers shorthand for:  x = See &  xx = See also NOTICE   DISCLAIMER - pick one, any one will do. MY disclaimer: Basically my opinions are my own, shared by no one else (sometimes), and are not the opinions of my agency, my board, my co-workers, my parents, siblings, relatives, my dogs or most any other know life form.  Except, of course, those very bright concerned, sensitive, perceptive &, in general, well educated, widely read and cultured individuals who wish to share this peculiar road to ruin, as well as a couple of down & out drugged out beatniks from the good old days. OK?  The "Prime Directive" applies. Edited by: Ken Davenport - NEILSA Consultant davenport@neilsa.org COPYLEFT NOTICE 2002: THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://dsl.org/copyleft/dsl.txt   COPYRIGHT Please note: material found on the web should be assumed to be under copyright and is presented here for purposes of education and research only. NOTE: If credited [via ???] or [from so & so] it is their material and not covered by my "Copyleft" notice.  Ken SOURCE: {Consultant}D:Data File MiscFriday Notes 20123a.wpd BOILER PLATE FOOTNOTES: 1. WARNING: I will be able to give you about a 5 working day warning on deadlines (by e-mail, less otherwise) I have 10 days to reply, if I miss the deadline, well I won't miss, if you miss  ... I'll send it in late but .... These ideas were provided by Bob Smith, Robert Smith & Associates, Medina, Ohio. You too can increase your circulation! 1. WEED. Get rid of those titles that haven't moved off you shelves for 2 -3 years. You can pick your own number of years, but WEED! Use the CREW manual. [The CREW manual is available from the State Library of Iowa through SILO Interlibrary Loan.] Then WEED again. 2. Buy multiple copies of the titles that your customers would like to read, view, listen to - BUY NOW. Yes, people don't like to have to wait. What a surprise if they came into the library and are able to find that bestseller on the shelf, the one they just heard about. Yes, you may have to buy more copies than you ever did. They will go out many times over and over. When the "rush' is over, just stack them up at the circulation desk and they will go out again. Then have the Friends sell them for $5.00. 3. Develop a ratio of reserves to number of copies that you own. So for every 4 reserves have 1 copy. 4. Buy lots of paperbacks. 5. Develop a "browsing area" where you display and merchandise materials. They can be even over a year old. Display them with the covers face out. Or stack up the multiple copies on a shelf. It's a lot easier to read the spines this way. 6. Purchase display shelving, develop marketing areas. Some of this furniture can be very inexpensive. 7. Buy the titles (in whatever format) that the customers want, not what librarians think they should take out. 8. Adopt policies and procedures that are "customer friendly". All items circulate for the same loan period. Easy to remember? Let customers return items in the bookdrop when the library is open. Evaluate your policies and procedures. 9. Train staff to be Reader Advisors, and get them out where the customers are, to SELL books. "Have you read this?" or "If you liked that, you will like this." "Can I help you find a good book?" Can't do this sitting behind a desk! 10. Share new titles with the circulation staff. They too can "push" titles. Everyone talks to them. 11. People like suggestions. Have a "librarian's recommend" section (you could even have it by the individual's name). Print it in your newsletter, put it in the local paper, have a display, put it on your website. My wine store sells wine this way. 12. Allocate at least 20% of your budget for materials. 13. Put slatwall on the ends of all of your shelving units, on walls and display books on them. 14. Develop collections that are organized for the "Oh, look at this" by the customer, rather that for the librarian. 15. "Refresh" the display area on a regular basis. Even paint it a different color. 16. Have a staff member responsible for putting books on the shelf -face out. In fact, they may have to go around at least every hour to "refresh" the display shelves. 17. Purchase multiple copies of current magazines, the ones that people always want to check out. Why do they have to wait until the current copy comes in? Magazines don't cost as much as books. 18. Have summer reading programs for all ages, children, young adults and adults. 19. Offer lots of programs for children. Make using the library fun, not a chore. 20. Develop fun areas for children. Have display type shelving for picture books. Don't place them on shelves, spine out. 21. If you have branches, develop rotating collections of popular subjects, e.g.. cooking, crafts. Customers want "new to them" titles to take out. 22. Have fun and do zany things to "alert" customers to what you have in the library. Push the old titles. 23. Immediately set up displays of materials that relate to something that happened in the news, last night. 24. Get out into the community. Partner with other groups that may like to have library materials in their facilities. 25. Hire staff that is committed to people and customer services. 26. Be creative and have fun! 27. Hire a consultant to help you design your library for customer services. Bob Smith Robert Smith & Associates 140 W. Lafayette #10 Medina, Oh 44245 330-723-6544 Smith@apk.net <mailto:Smith@apk.net>; " Creative Solutions for Libraries" Sandy Dixon Consultant State Library of Iowa 11:48:39 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 Ken Davenport. Last update: 2/6/2004; 12:02:21 PM.