Monday Morning Eye-Opener 12/14/09

Good Morning! Today in Eye-Opener:

1) Trustee Trouble DVDs

2) Merrill Library Receives Grant

3) Tips for Online Learning

4) Meetings / Events This Week

1) Trustee Trouble DVDs

By now, your library should have received an early Christmas present to last throughout the year—a DVD training package containing 12 video clips called “Trustee Troubles.” The Library Service Areas, thanks to a generous grant from the Iowa Library Trustees Association, have arranged for each library in the state to receive this package to use in local board meetings.

The content of “Trustee Troubles” was created and produced by the Wyoming State Library. Additional footage, created by Iowa LSA staff, introduces each topic and includes information relevant to library boards in Iowa.

In these videos, you’ll meet “Trustee Dan,” a newly appointed board member still learning all that’s involved in public library trusteeship. These are lighthearted clips, most run about 10 minutes, and are intended to provide a context for discussing library board responsibilities.

We encourage your board to watch and discuss one video segment each month at regularly scheduled board meetings. To help prompt your discussion, questions follow at the end of each segment. And plenty of reminders will come your way, too! Every month, libraries will receive an electronic newsletter that will highlight the board topic of the month, along with extra resources and background reading.

Again, special thanks to the Iowa Library Trustees Association for generously supporting this project!

2) Merrill Library Receives Grant

Last week, you read that Akron and Le Mars Libraries received a grant for $2,500.00 from the Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County. Thanks to Norma Phillips for letting me know that Merrill Public Library, also in Plymouth County, received a grant of $1,000.00. Merrill Library will put the money toward the cost of a small copy machine and children’s books. Congrats all around—thanks for sharing your good news!

3) Tips for Online Learning

Under this week’s “Meetings & Events,” you’ll see that NWILS is offering an introduction to the new Adobe classroom Thursday and Friday this week—find details below. Combine that with a plentiful showing of online classes this winter and it all makes for a good time to share tips for online learning.

· With Adobe, we can set up multiple rooms with unique URLs. For instance, “Library101” has its own classroom, “Career Reading Roundtable” has its own room, etc. Once assigned, the links themselves are persistent and unique to the room where a meeting or class is held. So you’ll need to look to the c.e. catalog to verify the right link to the right room; find the links in the catalog description, in the registration confirmation, and in email reminders.

· As always, we urge you to buy a headset with microphone so you can join the voice conversation. While the text chat feature is a dependable mainstay, hearing many voices during an online class makes for a richer experience. Headsets/mic combos are plentiful and inexpensive: check Target, WalMart, Staples, Best Buy, and Amazon. The Logitech brand is our favorite here…

· Protect your cyberself :-) Whether watching a webinar or joining an online class, take care to protect yourself from interruptions. Deliberately adjust the work schedule so you’ll have quality time away from the circ desk and away from the phone. Eliminate distractions by indulging yourself in “do not disturb time.” Shutting your door (well-placed signs work wonders!) turning off IM and email help us in the “boomer” generation to stay focused. Anything less is just not an effective way to learn.

That’s our short list for now! In light of the new Adobe classrooms, we’re revising our Tips for Online Learning brochure and will post that back on our website very soon. We hope we hope you’ll take these tips to heart as you do more with online learning!

4) Meetings/Events This Week

As you know, Adobe Connect Pro is the virtual classroom product that the LSAs and State Library are using since making the switch from Wimba last month. Northwest LSA is offering 4 Adobe Room orientations this week— December 17^th and 18^th at 10:00AM and 2:00PM both days. (note the room will be open ½ hour before start time…) This kind of informal introduction to the classroom has proven valuable time and again. It helps people feel more comfortable in the virtual space and more acquainted with classroom features before taking a real class for real credit.

This tour is open to directors, staff, and trustees—here’s the link:

http://iowaec.na4.acrobat.com/nwilsmeetingroom/ Whether you’re a pro or totally new to this, all are welcome—plus we’ve expanded the program with tips for successful online learning. No set-up wizard required; from the link above, just type your name in the GUEST box. As always, we do urge you to use a headset with microphone so your voice can be heard—more voices make for a richer experience.

Hope to see you either Dec.17 or Dec.18 (choose from 10:00AM or 2:00PM either day) No pre-registration required either, just login using the link above. If questions, let us know. And thanks to the State Library for extending Adobe room licenses to the LSA offices!