Rhodarian

Special Assignment: Education

Administrator — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:09:32 +0000

On Saturday, July 3 don’t miss the Channel 10 News Conference, Special Assignment: Education at 6:30 a.m. Channel 10 Newsanchor Patrice Wood’s guests include RI Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist and the Office of Library and Information Services Youth Services Specialist Cheryl Space. The focus of this edition is summer reading and summer learning. Not surprisingly, libraries play a key role.

Not up at 6:30 a.m. on the Fourth of July weekend? The segment will be posted on the turnto10 website after it airs.

What a difference a database makes

Donna DiM — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:52:21 +0000

It’s 1963 and the film, “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” is released. On the day the new housekeeper starts in Eddie’s New York City apartment, she arrives with a fairly large case. It looked like a medium size piece of luggage with the standard handle on the side. Eddie’s dad asks the housekeeper what the case is for. She pulls out a large book and says the case is for her Spanish language lessons. She’s planning a trip to South America. A few scenes later the case is open on the kitchen bench seat, a large disk is on the turntable and the viewers hear Spanish language playing.

Can you image this scene today - in a movie or anywhere else? Isn’t it terrific that Rhode Islanders can learn to speak Spanish, as well as many other languages, from the statewide databases? Check out AskRI’s Mango Languages databases to learn to speak the language of your choice.

Remember, Mango Languages can be used to learn English too; use the Mango ESL Language course.

Obrigado pela leitura Rhodarian.

Preservation in a Digital World

Donna DiM — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:56:38 +0000

We all are aware of the critical need for preservation in today’s digital world. Learn more about the concerns surrounding digital preservation at a free one day event.
Inception Technolgies and Kodak are offering a Preservation Summit on the topic of “Emerging Technologies and the Need for Preservation.” The day-long event is focused on preserving the past and protecting the present long into the future.

Speakers include:

Chris Wright, Eastman Kodak Company, Inc. on “The Critical Need for Preservation in Today’s Digital World”;

Raimund Wasner, Managing Director, Kollabria on “Emerging Technologies for Records and Information management”; and

Toya Dubin, Vice President, Hudson Microimaging, Inc. on “Sound Preservation Strategies.”

Date and Time: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Coffee served at 9:30 a.m.; lunch is included.

Place: Senator Inn, 284 Western Ave., Augusta, Me 04330

Questions/more info: email Don Haddad or Megan Wright
Registration required. Register now.

Public Forum on Disability Issues in the Library

Ann — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:12:23 +0000

Libraries who are actively pursuing service to individuals with disabilities may want to follow the public forum on disabilities hosted by the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities the week of July 26th. The Talking Books Plus web page has a link to the schedule and locations of the forums. The list of locations includes the libraries that are providing meeting space for this event.

free health and medical databases, free training

Donna DiM — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:13:51 +0000

Do you want free classes on how to mine popular health and medical databases? Would training and MLA credits be even more valuable?

Sign up now for free classes at UMass Medical School offered by the staff of the National Training Center and Clearinghouse.

PubMed - Full day session, Monday-September 13, 2010

PubMed® has seen many changes in this past year. This all day PubMed® class will cover the redesign and additional features as well as using MeSH and managing results. Participants will receive 7.5 MLA continuing education credits.

NLM Gateway & ClinicalTrials.gov - Half day session, Tuesday-September 14, 2010

The NLM Gateway allows users of NLM services to initiate searches from one Web interface, providing “one-stop searching” for many of NLM’s information resources or databases, including: PubMed®, MedlinePlus, TOXNET®, Meeting Abstracts, and many more. Participants will receive 3.5 MLA continuing education credits.

All sessions are FREE and intended for health sciences library staff, public librarians, health professionals, and anyone interested in using these free National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases.

Flip out at public programs

Donna DiM — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:44:32 +0000

Learn how you can get low cost FLIP video cameras and use them at your library’s public programs.

TechSoup’s product donation program for libraries and nonprofits includes easy-to-use Flip video cameras that allow you to share your library and community stories. Find out how public libraries are using this technology as a tool for making connections, recording library events, and sharing knowledge. Flip Video’s simple camcorders can be used by people with any level of video experience to create, edit, and share movies. Libraries use these camcorders to give their staff, volunteers, and constituents the ability to further their causes through digital storytelling.

Learn all about using FLIP video cameras at a free webinar scheduled for Thursday, June 17, 2010, 11:00 AM Pacific (Noon Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern)

Libraries to be showcased include:

The Tonganoxie Public Library in Kansas rocks the flip at their library. They use Flip cameras to produce videos of library events, to record staff training, and to share advocacy techniques.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library uses Flip cameras within their system for programming at their branches. The cameras are used to film anything from library advocacy and outreach to answering questions about current events. Join us to learn and share.

Originally posted by: Stephanie Gerding, TechSoup for Libraries
TechSoup Global is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit devoted to making technology and technology education available and affordable to nonprofits and libraries all over the world.

Digital Humanities unConference (huh?)

Donna DiM — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:14:56 +0000

Working in the confluence of the humanities and digital technology? Are you in so deep that you refer to your work as the field of “digital humanties?” Then THATCamp is the unconference for you!
THATCamp New England is an unconference that brings together scholars, librarians, archivists, museum professionals, and others with energy and an interest in humanities and technology.

When: November 13-14
Where: Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
Cost: free but a $20 donation will be appreciated

More information and application

Preservation funding

Donna DiM — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:36:59 +0000

Rare materials need special consideration for preservation and description. Many libraries rely on grant funding to complete projects in their rare material collections. Fortunately, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) supports projects that promote the preservation and use of America’s documentary heritage essential to understanding our democracy, history, and culture. Check out the latest grants available. Assistance in planning your grant proposal is available from the Northeast Document Conservation Center.

AS220 at the Library

Karen — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:25:55 +0000

AS220, a Providence based arts program, can bring its innovative arts programs to your library. At the library directors meeting on May 20, AS220 staff Cheryl Kaminsky and Krystal Grow showcased various programs the studio can provide to libraries, as well as partnering opportunities, including digitization of materials. Learn more about partnering with AS220 through this presentation [pdf] from the library directors meeting on May 20.

AS220 is a non-profit community arts space in downtown Providence with a mission of providing an unjuried and uncensored forum for the arts. AS220 is part Incubator and part Bazaar. They also build new audiences and infrastructure for artists. Learn more on the AS220 website.

Done something innovative? Write about it!

Donna DiM — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:07:41 +0000

The Editors of Journal of Library Innovation (JOLI) are now accepting submissions of research articles and articles about innovative practices in libraries on an ongoing basis. Information about the focus and scope of JOLI, along with the first issue, can be found on the journal’s website.

If you have tried out a new program, changed a work flow, connected with patrons in a way different from the way you have done so in the past, please consider sharing your experience by writing about it. If you aren’t sure if it was innovative, consider the following:

What was eye-opening?
What was unexpected?
What were the benefits?
What failed?
What risk did you take in trying something innovative?
You may have tried something done by many other libraries already, but your results are different from those documented in library literature.
You have tried something never done in a library setting before?

If you have any questions, please contact Pamela Jones, Managing Editor.

Journal of Library Innovation is a publication of the Western New York Library Resources Council, Buffalo, NY.

Sheryl L. Knab
Executive Director
Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC)
4455 Genesee Street
P.O. Box 400
Buffalo, New York 14225-0400
Phone: (716) 633-0705, ext. 121
Fax: (716) 633-1736