The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
Volume 26 Number 9 September 2006
Gold
of a ripe oat straw, gold of a southwest moon,
Why do you keep wishes on your faces all day long,
Wishes like women with half-forgotten lovers going to new cities?
What is there for you in the birds, the birds, the birds, crying down on
the north wind in September, acres of birds spotting the air going south?
Is there something finished? And some new beginning on the way?
—Carl
Sandburg (1878–1967) "Cornhuskers," Falltime (1918)
Click here for the Fall 2006 Bookmobile Schedule
Book & Movie Discussions at Saukville
The Oscar Grady Public Library in Saukville has had several recent programs where participants view a movie based on a book and then discuss the movie and the book.
The library partners with the Saukville Cinema, as well as their local Friends of the Library group and the Friends of the Niederkorn Library in Port Washington. The movies are shown on Tuesday evenings when the theater offers a discounted ticket price and lower prices for popcorn and drinks. The theater manager gives the library box office posters for a drawing that people can enter when they check out library materials. Staff at the library creates bibliographies of books related to the movies and the theater manager puts them out in the lobby.
Thus far, they have read, seen, and discussed Zathura; Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Da Vinci Code; Curious George; and How to Eat Fried Worms. Library Director Linda Pierschalla, Niederkorn Children's Librarian Kelly Allen, and Jodi McMahon, Chairperson of the Oscar Grady Friends have been the discussion leaders. Attendance for the children's movies has ranged from 20 - 50. They had 85 people attend the Da Vinci Code program.
Easy-to-Read Booklets on Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Loss
from the September 2006 Lamplighter (Wisconsin Valley Library Service)
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is now offering two free booklets designed to help people with limited literacy skills learn about Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and memory loss. In these easy-to-read booklets, the medical and technical language has been replaced by plain language, stories, photographs, and other features to help readers understand the content.
According to Richard J. Hodes, director of the NIA, "[The] goal was to produce strong, clear materials to make information about AD and memory loss accessible to everyone, including those with limited literacy skills. These booklets also are excellent starting points for anyone who needs basic information about AD and memory problems, regardless of reading capability."
Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease includes:
*
Signs of AD
* The importance of seeing a doctor early
* Treatment for AD
* Help for caregivers
Understanding Memory Loss covers such topics as:
*
Differences between mild forgetfulness and serious memory
problems
* Causes of memory problems and how they can be treated
* What a person should do when worried about memory
* How family members can help
To order and/or read/download/print copies of these booklets, visit the NIH’s Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center web site at http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publications/UnderstandingAD/ or call 1-800-438-4380. Bulk orders are welcome. For general information about ADEAR, visit http://www.alzheimers.nia.nih.gov.
Children's
Librarians Corner
After School Book Club
Cindy Franke, Oscar Grady Public Library, Saukville
This will be the third year our library will offer an "After School Book Club" and we are looking forward to another fun year!
After various attempts at what works with the crowd, the following proved to be a fun success for all!
Book Club meets one afternoon a month, six months out of the school year. We have two different groups and choose the same two days each month. Book Club is open to anyone interested and there is no fee or registration required.
Children were divided into two grade level groups: Kindergarten through 2nd Grade and 3rd and 4th Grade. We allow the children in 2nd Grade to decide which group they wish to join.
Kindergarten--Grade 2 featured "Meet the Author." Light refreshments were enjoyed while the children listened to a story by our featured author. We briefly discussed the story and shared some fun or unusual facts about the author. We ended with a simple art project that we displayed in the library until the next meeting. The author's book collection was displayed and eagerly checked out every time.
2nd--4th Grade featured Magic Tree House, American Girls, and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. We used our laptop and projector to pull up the author's web sites and learn about the books and author. The kids loved seeing the visuals of the author. We also served light refreshments. Again, the children eagerly checked out books by the author that we put on display.
Both groups created posters for the library and school to advertise their club. We were also able to submit the information to the school newsletter.
A good web resource is www.kidsreads.com
Book sources:
The
Kids' Book Club: Lively Reading and Activities for Grades 1 - 3 by
Desiree Webber and Sandy Shropshire
Talk
About Books!: a Guide for Book Clubs, Literature Circles, and Discussion
Groups, Grades 4-8 by Elizabeth Knowles and Martha Smith
Cool
Story Programs for the School-Age Crowd by Rob Reid
New WISCAT is Coming
Channel Weekly - August 31, 2006
The Department of Public Instruction has notified Auto-Graphics, Inc. of its intent to negotiate the award of a contract for the Wisconsin Resource Sharing and Information Access project. The Department plans to negotiate for a hybrid union/virtual catalog containing Wisconsin library holdings and an interlibrary loan management system. This new system will replace the existing WISCAT union catalog, ZPORTAL virtual catalog, and VDX interlibrary loan management system that the state has been using since 2002.
The vendor negotiation process will likely take into September 2006. In the meantime, WISCAT staff is already working on implementation and training plans. While the details have not all been settled, the current plan is to have moved to the new system and discontinue use of the current VDX and ZPORTAL systems on or before January 1, 2007.
The new resource sharing system will allow library staffs and patrons to enjoy a number of exciting new features. To see a more detailed list of features available with the new system, go to: http://www.wiscat.lib.wi.us/pdf/New_features.pdf
Unlike the current system, the new product will use a single integrated user interface for the hybrid union/virtual catalog as well as for the interlibrary loan management system. Search results can be deduplicated and resorted so that records from multiple catalogs are displayed together. In addition the seamless search interface between the union and virtual catalogs is expected to reduce the need to batch upload records to the union catalog for those local catalogs that are Z39.50 compliant.
The new product is extremely customizable. It allows customization and "branding" down to the regional or local library level. Each library or region can easily create its own customized splash page for the catalog if they wish.
While the look and feel of the WISCAT search environment (including creation of interlibrary loan requests), will remain much the same as the current product with which most users are familiar, the look and feel of the new interlibrary loan management system will change quite a bit for the better. Interlibrary loan screens and terminology are much simpler in the new system.
The product can be configured so that it will require library users to borrow from their own library or region prior to requesting materials from other libraries outside their region and will display an alert to the patron if a requested item is locally owned. A long sought after feature in the new system allows it to check the shelf status of a potential lender's Z39.50 catalog prior to sending a request to that lender, and then skip the location if the item is checked out or otherwise not available; it can also check the policy statement of a potential lender prior to sending a request, and can skip the location if their policy indicates that the library does not lend the type of media requested (e.g. does not lend DVDs).
The product facilitates many of the ILL clearinghouse functions that have traditionally been handled by some Wisconsin public library systems. In addition, it allows us to continue email functions we had previously instituted, in an effort to be as inclusive of as many small libraries as possible in the resource sharing system, such as email alerts to low volume responding libraries; email notifications to a library's patron; and automatically sending requests via email protocol to libraries that do not use the system directly.
The department has had a very good experience and relationship with the Auto-Graphics company over the past few years, and we look forward to continuing that relationship.
Use Event Calendars for Publicity
from The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week
When publicizing your events, don't overlook the event calendars. A tiny little three-line mention in the entertainment section of your local newspaper could mean the difference between drawing a huge crowd and hosting an event that's an embarrassment.
Many people don't have time to read big feature stories, but do grab the event calendar to plan their weekend.
Event calendars are everywhere--in daily and weekly newspapers, city magazines, free shoppers, local special interest publications, local TV and radio stations websites, and even church bulletins.
Be sure to check the deadline dates before you submit your information to the calendar.
Friends of Wisconsin Libraries Join Forces with WLA
At their annual meeting April 29, members of the Friends of Wisconsin Libraries voted to dissolve FOWL and join forces with the Wisconsin Library Association. Despite concerns about getting lost in WLA, the leaders of FOWL felt that the support of a larger association with paid staff would benefit Friends throughout the state. The move allows Friends to focus on supporting libraries through their local organizations, rather than managing the activities of a statewide organization.
WLA’s immediate Past President Terry Dawson had met with FOWL leadership twice in 2005 to discuss how such a transition might take place. Also in 2005, the Wisconsin Library Trustees Association, a division of WLA, voted to change their name to Wisconsin Library Trustees & Advocates, in order to make it clearer that all library supporters were welcome to participate in their activities and leadership positions.
In 2006, WLA President David Weinhold communicated with FOWL leadership about opportunities in WLA after the WLA Board approved new membership rates for Friends. Specifically, in 2006, all existing FOWL members will receive a full year of WLA membership at no charge and reduced 2006 WLA Conference registration fees. They will also receive discounted renewal rates for their second year of membership.
In addition, new members who join in 2006 will qualify for special rates. Library-based Friends groups will be able to join WLA at the nonprofit membership rate of $50, rather than the current rate of $75. Individuals will be able to join for $20 for a full year of membership, rather than the regular rate of $32. New members will also qualify for discounted 2006 WLA Conference registration fees.
As part of WLA, Friends will be represented on the board of the WLTA. As members, Friends will be supporting WLA’s legislative agenda to improve funding to libraries of all types and pass important library legislation in the next biennium. They will also qualify for current institutional and individual membership benefits, such as free membership in up to 3 units; a subscription to the WLA Newsletter, and reduced fees on spring conferences.
WLA will be promoting the new membership to current FOWL members and to prospective Friends of the Library groups throughout the state via emails to library directors and direct mailings to Friends’ Presidents. If you would like more information about Friends’ membership in WLA, please contact Brigitte Vacha, Membership Services, at vacha@scls.lib.wi.us or 608-245-3640.
New Badgerlink Home Page
Channel Weekly - August 31, 2006
Reference and Loan Library staff has redesigned the BadgerLink home page. The new page was released in late August, 2006. James Leaver, BadgerLink coordinator, was the primary designer.
The purpose of the BadgerLink home page is:
* To provide a web site that brings together all information about BadgerLink access, promotion, training and resources.
* To provide a point of access for Wisconsin residents and library staff who do not have easy to use or complete alternative access through their local library or library system.
* To provide a web site that provides value added access to state contracted commercial vendor sites as well as government, library, digital, and other specialized Wisconsin resources.
The redesigned page makes it easier to access specialized resources within various vendor sites and across vendor sites. NewspaperArchive Elite has been added with its own logo and is no longer associated with EBSCO. Besides being presented by vendor name, full text resources are broken out by subject areas: Health and medical, business and corporate, and newspapers. Resources are also highlighted by audience: Kids, middle school students, and teachers and librarians.
In addition, new resources have been added to the general resource section of the web page. The Reference and Loan Library has for many years developed an in-house index to songbooks owned by the library. This has been redesigned so that it can be put on the web and is made available on the BadgerLink homepage. Other new resources include OCLC's new public version of WorldCat, Reference and Loan Library's list of digital library collections, and the Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO) website.
Those users that do not have access to Ask?Away through a local library may use the BadgerLink page to gain access.
Please visit the new home page at http://www.badgerlink.net
New Book About Wisconsin
Wisconsin Impressions, a new book about Wisconsin has been published by Farcountry Press in Helena, Montana. The book is an 80-page, full-color, softbound, photographic portrait of Wisconsin. The August issue of Midwest Book Review states: "The book is a compendium of wonderful 'pictures in time' surveying the diversity and beauty of Wisconsin, its habitat, and its people."
Helping Military Families
ESLS Board Member Jackie Burmesch, who visits the bookmobile at its Fredonia stop with her family, recently suggested a resource that she believed would be a valuable addition to public library collections. Jackie's husband has been deployed to Iraq for several months.
She suggested that we check the web site www.militaryonesource.com and learn about the free video "Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment." We ordered a copy of the bilingual kit for each library. The kit includes a DVD featuring the Muppets from Sesame Street, and a parent/caregiver magazine and poster. The material was created through a partnership with Sesame Workshop and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., with additional support from the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH) and the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC).
The Sesame Street video and parent/caregiver materials are also available for download at www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc
