Monday Morning Eye-Opener 12/7/09

Today in EYE-OPENER:

1) 3^rd Annual ISLOC Conference January

2) Adobe Days Orientations

3) Akron and Le Mars Receive Grant

4) Meetings / Events This Week

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1) 3^rd Annual ISLOC Conference January

Plans are well underway for the 3^rd annual ISLOC, which stands for the Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference. Protect January 21, 2010 for an all-day-online conference with the needs of small libraries at heart. With limited budgets and too few staff to allow long distance travel to far-flung conference cities, ISLOC fills an important niche for small libraries. And it all takes place in our new Adobe Classrooms.

The theme for 2010 follows the “libraries in tough times” theme that’s been behind many LSA workshops this year. The title follows suit: “From Lemons to Lemonade: Libraries Surviving and Thriving in Tough Times.” This year, we’re excited to announce Sara Houghton-Jan as the morning keynote speaker. Sarah is a popular conference speaker nationwide. She is the Digital Futures Manager with San Jose Public Library and the author of The Librarian in Black Blog.

There’s an evening program, too, this one aimed at library trustees. The evening keynoter is George Needham, a nationally known speaker, consultant, trainer, and guest author at WebJunction. “...George understands the many challenges we face in the profession these days: how to stay relevant in a 24/7 networked world? How to make the case for continued funding from public sources in tough economic times? How do we spark what makes us passionate library champions?...”

Sandwiched between the AM and PM keynote presentations are plenty of breakout sessions like

· Youth Services Emerging Trends

· Customer Service from Trump Entertainment

· Marketing via Social Networking

· Outreach to Youth

· Beyond the Book Club—More Adult Programming Ideas

· Teaching Adult Learners in Your Library

All this and more is described in the state c.e. catalog—registration is already open. The ISLOC website is being revamped for the 2010 event, where there will be more information on the various speakers and sessions, along with links to the various Adobe Classrooms. That’s coming—but in the meantime, mark your calendar for January 21, 2010. That day, why not stay in your jammies , make a big pot of coffee, and settle in to join a great online conference from the comfort of hearth and home!

2) Adobe Days Orientations

Join us at Northwest LSA next week for a tour of new Adobe Connect Pro Classrooms. We’ve set aside Dec. 17 and Dec. 18 at 10:00AM and 2:00PM each day.

Adobe Connect Pro is the virtual classroom product that the State Library and the LSA offices are now using since making the switch from Wimba last month. Our thanks to the State Library for extending a room license to the LSA offices!

From the audience side of things, Adobe is very cool. From the presenter’s side of things—even cooler! The Adobe Pro software serves up some really great features for real-time classes. And it offers great options for us to create our own tutorials as well. Not claiming to be power-users yet (I mean, it’s only been a month!) But we’re lovin’ what we’re learning and we’re anxious to show you around.

This orientation tour is wide open—and we’ve expanded the program with tips for successful online learning. Whether you’re a veteran or totally new to this experience, all are welcome to join us for Adobe Days Orientations. These kinds of introductions to the classroom have proven valuable time and time again. Orientations will help you feel more comfortable in the virtual space and better acquainted with the classroom features prior to taking a real class for real credits.

We’ll toss in a few more in January leading up to I SLOC, but until then why not stop by for a virtual tour of our new virtual classroom :-) Here’s the link when the time comes

http://iowaec.na4.acrobat.com/nwilsmeetingroom/

3) Akron and Le Mars Receive Grant

Happy news from Akron and Le Mars Public Libraries. In October, these 2 libraries in Plymouth County teamed up to write a grant to the Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County. Last week, library reps received notice that their teamwork paid off to the tune of $2,500.00. They’ll use the money to purchase new chairs for their meetings rooms.

This marks the second such grant awarded to Akron and Le Mars Libraries from the County Foundation group…strong evidence of what can be gained by coming together and working together for a common purpose. Thanks to Jeannie @ Akron and Sue @ Le Mars for sharing this story!

4) Meetings / Events This Week

Library 101 happens Thursday this week, December 10. 9:00AM—12:00noon online in Northwest LSA’s Adobe Classroom. It’s an orientation for newly hired staff and trustees. Newly appointed trustees are also welcome to hear about the services of the LSAs and the State Library, learn about public library service standards, with ample time to ask questions about statewide programs.

Advance registration in the c.e. catalog. Follow this link for the Lib101 class: http://iowaec.na4.acrobat.com/lib101/