Rhode Island Feeds

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sign up now before the classes fill up and you have to be put on the waiting list!
Details and registration

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.

Register

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.

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

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, 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.

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

MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español will debut a new design in summer 2010. Many of the changes are based on feedback we received from you.

To get a sneak peek at what’s coming, please take an online tour. There is a feedback form on the bottom of every page, and we welcome your comments.

A link to the redesign preview is on the MedlinePlus homepage.

For more information, contact:

Michelle Eberle
Consumer Health Information Coordinator
National Network of Libraries of Medicine - New England
University of Massachusetts Medical School
222 Maple Avenue - Shrewsbury - MA - 01545
508-856-2435 / 800-338-7657
michelle.eberle@umassmed.edu

Privacy in the Digital Age (posted on March 29, 2010) was part of the multi-year “Information Issues Forum” which is hosted through the URI University Libraries, Information Literacy course offerings. The program was rained out on the first date, but held on April 22  and attended by a big crowd.

The original post stated that the forum was sponsored by the URI GSLIS.

An Open Invitation from the Society of American Archivists’ Public Library Archives/Special Collections Roundtable!
[You DO NOT need to be a member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) to join.]

The Public Library Archives/Special Collections Roundtable (PLASC) serves to encourage advocacy for and education about archival, manuscript, local history, genealogy, and other historic and special collections within public libraries of all sizes. The Roundtable provides an arena for discussion and dissemination of best practices of the archival, library, museum and history fields; and works to support the informational, historical, and cultural interests which converge in public library archives and special collections.

This is your time to be heard and to listen to other advocates for public library archives and special collections. Join the online community and consider attending the first Roundtable meeting at SAA this August in Washington, D.C.

There is no cost involved to join the Roundtable and membership is open to all. Join from the SAA website. Click on “Join/Leave”; follow the prompts, and you are on your way to joining a community of similar institutions across the US as well international ones.

Consider becoming a part of this new SAA Roundtable from the start and lend your voice as an advocate for public libraries with manuscript collections, archives, and historical records. Help SAA develop its resources and information for our fellow members.

“Reading: Harvard Views of Reading, Readership and Reading History” is a collection of 1200 digitized books and manuscripts that explore reading from many view points. The home page of the website summarizes the raison d’être for the collections and its contents.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is offering grants of up to $250,000 for projects in its new Bridging Cultures program.

The NEH welcomes proposals to plan and implement a forum and workshop on one of two themes: “Civility and Democracy” or “The Muslim World and the Humanities.”

More information about Bridging Cultures

The Librarian Social Worker By Elizabeth Daigneau | March 18, 2010 Public libraries have long been a daytime sanctuary for the homeless. Now, they’re starting to see even more of the down-and-out among the bookshelves. As the economy languishes and cities shut down social programs, public libraries are increasingly functioning as drop-in centers for the homeless. The San Francisco Public Library, where hundreds of homeless people can be found every day, has taken a one-of-a-kind step to address the needs of its patrons in crisis. In partnership with the city’s Department of Public Health, the library has hired a social worker. On hand five days a week, the social worker handles referrals to social services for the newly and chronically homeless, mentally ill and those struggling with substance abuse. Since the position’s creation over a year ago, more than 150 people have been directed to social services. In addition to handling complaints from staff and patrons about people’s behavior, the social worker also trains library staff on what to do if they witness unpleasant behavior, and trains formerly homeless people to work at the library and guide others to services. An ongoing survey administered by the library has found that staff and patrons cite fewer incidents of negative behavior.     

Excerpted from Governing Management online.

News from the Cranston Public Library:

The Cranston Public Library is proud to announce a legislative grant from State Senator Hanna Gallo for $500 for a series of jobs programs to be held at the Central Library at 140 Sockanosset Cross Road.

“Our programs are designed to help put Rhode Islanders back to work. The library is excited and grateful to receive this grant from Senator Gallo. The funds will allow us do our part to help the many struggling citizens of Cranston who are looking for work”, said Library Director David Macksam.

The programs will be conducted by Andrea Eastman, Certified Career Counselor and will be held in April.

“Writing Rich Resumes and Catchy Cover Letters” will be held on Monday April 12 at 6:30pm in the Central Library meeting room. The resume and cover letter are key elements in a job search and must be letter-perfect.  Learn how to present your work experience most effectively and compose a smashing cover letter which highlights your assets. No registration is required.

“Interviewing and Networking 101” will be held on Saturday, April 17 at 10:00 am in the Central Library Meeting Room. Are you actively searching for a job?  Learn the basic techniques of effective interviewing and networking and boost your confidence. No pre-registration is required.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), together with HISTORYTM and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, invites libraries and students across the United States to flex their creative muscles and share their passion for American history by participating in HISTORYTM’s America: The Story of Us contests.  For libraries, the contest entails creating a special exhibit or media project about American history that will strengthen their communities’ interest in American history.  Students are asked to create a short video based on any topic related to American history and are encouraged to use the resources of local libraries, historical societies, and archives for information on their own local history or on the American history topic that interests them most.

These contests are exciting opportunities to promote learning about American history and explore our nation’s diverse heritage. We are delighted that HISTORYTM is reaching out to the nation’s libraries to encourage a community dialogue about America’s past.

Use the following links for flyers about the student contest and the library contest. You may refer to HISTORYTM’s website for more information.

Marsha Semmel
Acting Director, IMLS

Rhode Island has its own terrific resource for the deaf and hard of hearing, the RI Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Librarians can refer patrons to the Commission and librarians can contact the Commission for assistance with either information needs or to hire an interpreter. The Commission has a: “cool website, known as a one-stop Deaf and Hard of Hearing Resources Center in Rhode Island. There are a lot of interesting and valuable resources, events, updates, and more related to deafness. This website is a convenient way to find information that will meet your needs instantly.”
posted by Donna Longo DiMichele, OLIS

More information you can use, submitted by Alice L. Hagemeyer, Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action:

March 13 – April 15 is Deaf History Month (DHM)  It is not too late to observe it.  Library friends may help by encouraging the deaf community and the public as well to visit a local library this week. They may check out books and videos that are related to deaf history.  They may also search such information online. Bridging Deaf Cultures has some deaf history programs, click on Announcements Category

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and American Library American The American Library Association (ALA) and National Association of the Deaf endorsed Deaf History Month in 2004. (no action so far for the US president to proclaim it as we need to begin with the Congress) Bridging Deaf Cultures , click on FAQ category.

For more information about DHM and other annual deaf and library events, please visit Bridging Deaf Cultures, click on Annual Events category.

Submitted by Alice L. Hagemeyer, President
Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action
Creator of The I Made America Great Series

The Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) has received a grant of $138,182 from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the project “Building an Archives & Preservation Digital Curriculum Laboratory.”

GSLIS aims, through this NHPRC grant and an IMLS grant received in 2009, to build a digital curriculum laboratory for archives and preservation education. The Lab will enable graduate students students, educators and researchers to learn, instruct and experiment with digital materials in a digital environment, and to gain hands-on experience in a classroom context. Goals built into this grant include building the infrastructure of the lab and producing learning prototypes of electronic management modules. More