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!

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/