Working Digital Assets- September 24 - San Francisco MOMA
Learn from 14 experts and futurists at this day-long symposium exploring the current state of managing,
sharing, and preserving digital assets. Details
Free, but you must register.
Reservation deadline - Friday, September 21, 2007
RSVP to collections - AT - sfmoma - DOT - org
TBR and PLF Budgets Decreased
State-level funding of public libraries was one of the areas cut by Governor Schwarzenegger to reduce California's budget by $700 million. The California Library Association's August 24 blog posting recaps the mixed messages and budget battles and summarizes the numbers.
Transaction Based Reimbursement (TBR) reimburses local libraries for some of the cost of lending beyond their normal clientele. The two service components authorized in the California Libraries Services Act (CLSA) for TBR are inter-library loan and "direct loan," which includes universal borrowing. Details.
Public Library Fund (PLF) supports local libraries for services to supplement public education, serve the information needs of all peoples, and provide some resources for life-long learning. Details.
The Legislature uses a formula to calculate PLF each year. For 2007-2008, the funding would be $94.2 million. However, the Legislature has never funded PLF the entire calculated amount, but just a percentage of that amount. The percentage for 2007-2008 is just 15%, or $14.9 million, the lowest percentage ever.
Multicultural Performers Showcase - October 13, 2007 - Santa Clara
The Multicultural Entertainment Extravaganza, sponsored by the Multicultural Services Committees of PLS/SVLS, will be on Saturday, October 13, 2007, at the Mission City Center for Performing Arts. The all-day event features dance groups, artists, storytellers and musicians - 30 performers in all.
Sign up online. Advance registration: $10. Onsite: $15.
For more information:
Kathy Krause at 650.349.5538 X3037 or krause - AT - plsinfo - DOT - org.
Gale Training Resources and Tips
Gale's Kurt Stovall impressed many of the 100 librarians attending this year's training with tips on searching Gale databases. For example, the full functionality of a database is lost when it's cross-searched with other databases, e.g. the "curriculum standards" tab is suppressed in Student Resource Center-Gold and Opposing Viewpoints when PowerSearched with other databases.
Since Gale can publish citations without a publisher's permission, you may be able to find citations to older articles. If you can't find articles on your own, you can always send the citation to us as a second-level reference question for us to get the article to you.
Here are training materials for you and your staff:
Gale has posted staff navigation guides and and patron handouts in PDF on its support.gale.com site under Technical and Training Resources, Material Type, Inservice Guides and Navigation Guides. This link on the right side of support.gale.com telescopes with several clicks for these various resources. Time spent browsing these resources may save you time in preparing training handouts.
Here are the navigation guides for two databases that some of you especially wanted Kurt to cover:
top
Shaping Outcomes - How to Evaluate Your Project - Early 2008 Online
Although many projects, outreach campaigns, programs, and trainings sound like good ideas, how do you know if your efforts met the intended goal or achieved the desired outcome? Shaping Outcomes, an online course from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), is designed to teach you how to how to conduct outcome evaluation so that you write more effective grant proposals and more successfully manage projects.
The IMLS, the federal agency that dispenses funds for Library Service and Technology Act (LSTA) grants, piloted an online course, Shaping Outcomes, to train librarians and museum curators in the discipline of evaluating outcomes earlier this year.
Although IMLS is again offering the course in early 2008 and has not yet posted an announcement, it is already collecting names of those who are interested, perhaps giving inquirers an edge in the possible competition for attendee slots. Although IMLS charges $150 for the course, the IMLS has scholarships. If you are interested, send an inquiry to Bethany Fales at outcomes - AT - iupui - DOT - edu, who will either phone or email you to answer your question and include you on the interest list. Although the announcement has not yet been posted, now is the time to send your inquiry and plan for this course.
top
Reference Picks
Evaluating Outcomes
Here are other resources on outcome-based measurement, which demystify the concept and help you shape your proposals and project plans:
American Library Association (ALA) - Outcomes-Based Evaluation Interface Volume 24, Winter, 2002. - * "Outcomes-Based Evaluation: Find out More about It" This link gives a brief overview, followed by a list of resources: web links, articles, and books. * Link changed at publication deadline. Corrected link with cached information posted 9/19/07
Free Management Library, at the URL ManagementHelp.org, is the first site on ALA's resource list and is a particularly content-rich site. The Evaluations page is just one page of many topics related to non-profit organization management. The site encourages peer-to-peer sharing and is a service of Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Library Services Evaluation Resources contains links and workbooks in Word  , collected by the Planning, Evaluation, and Statistics Unit of the State Library and Archives of Florida.
Overview of Outcome-Based Project Evaluation-OBE is an easy-to-read summary, with a glossary and tables of examples of better ways to express concepts, such as measurement indicators, from the Utah State Library.
Outcome Measures contains a resource page and a page with project managers' presentations, reports and toolkits from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
top
News from our Members
School-Library Liaison in Palo Alto - A Profile
In 2005 an upcoming retirement in Palo Alto provided the opportunity to re-think the role of a librarian-coordinator. The library identified the need for more school district/library/city cooperation and, significantly, garnered the support of the City Council to approve a budget re-allocation to commit staff to design and implement a program. According to Melinda Wing, Supervising Librarian, Youth Services, "we did some juggling to create this new assignment." The redesigned position, now called Coordinator of Library Programs, allows Maya Spector to spend half time in her liaison role and half in children's services.
According to Melinda, "Maya’s been building great relationships with the PTA and PTA Council and the library has co-sponsored a number of programs with them, including our city-wide Palo Alto Reads program (the first city-wide read program ever) and one with nationally-known children’s reading specialist, Jim Trelease. She’s also made some wonderful relations with teachers and school media librarians at all three school levels. This last year (2005-2006,) Maya did tons of school visits, promoting our databases, summer reading, library card campaign, you name it. Teachers and parents were especially glad to know about the databases. The kids loved the programs and the book discussion groups." As part of this year's "Palo Alto Reads," Maya hopes to expand the book discussion groups into the high schools.
In the summer of 2006, Maya set up for teachers a "homework alert line" on the library's web site, which included IM so that the teachers could immediately get her help. When asked about the audience for the "homework alert line," Maya said, "I haven’t promoted it to kids, and I doubt many of them would find their way to my webpage. It’s an experiment, for sure. We’ll have to see whether I get any response. My hope was that young teachers who are used to using IM would take advantage of it. I have been working pretty closely with the school library media teachers, but have found it more difficult to get in with classroom teachers. This is one way I thought I might get to them."
Although the teachers do not use the "homework alert line" much, there are about 350 newsletter subscribers. On the Library's home page, there is an IM link to Maya and tabs at the top for Schools, Kids, and Teens. On the Schools page, there are links for the assignment alert, class visit requests, newsletter archive and sign-up, IM, and email, and more.
This fall Maya will inaugurate Pajama Party nights, for which an elementary school can reserve one evening in the school year at the thoroughly renovated and expanded Children's Library, scheduled to be re-opened September 29. On the Schools page this month, Maya starts a monthly drawing for teachers to win prizes, e.g. a book store gift certificate and class pizza parties, as an incentive for teachers to see the page with the library's services, e.g. "homework alert line" and book clubs. Maya plans to visit the the winners to personally present the prizes, establishing a relationship.
San Jose Reads for the Record - September 20 - The Story of Ferdinand
San Jose Public Library joins JumpStart's Read for the Record day at the King Library and two branches, with readings every half-hour. The goal of this nationwide event is to create awareness about the education gap that exists between socioeconomic levels in the U.S.
AmeriCorps volunteers assigned to the library's literacy programs, Tiffany Hayes and Carol Schwarzwaelder, lead the coordination of the library's participation, involving library's Early Care and Education Services, which include Smart Start San José and Books for Little Hands and the library's adult literacy program, Partners in Reading.
If your library has interesting statistics or press releases, please share them with your staff, post them on committee listservs, and send them to Mary Beth Train for inclusion in Search. One good idea begets another!
top
BALIS/PLS/SVLS System Reference Center
www.systemref.org
| • |
For libraries to submit an article for Search or a suggestion, email Mary Beth Train at train-AT-plsinfo- DOT - org. |
| • |
Find Search archives at Search Newsletters. |
| • |
We're part of the Library!
|
| • |
To send a Second Level reference request:
- Web form
- Email us at info -AT-plsinfo- DOT -org
- Fax: (650) 349-5089 or (800) 505-5583
- Phone: (650) 349-5538 or (800) 644-6244
|
| • |
System Reference Center Flyer Use for staff orientation and training. |
| |
|
Who we are: |
| • |
Linda Crowe -
|
Executive Director,
BALIS/MOBAC/PLS/SVLS |
| • |
Gail McPartland -
|
Assistant Director, Services,
BALIS/MOBAC/PLS/SVLS |
| • |
Mary Beth Train -
|
Search Editor |
| • |
Angel Kao - |
Program Assistant |
|
