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February 2010 | Vol. 1, No. 4 | ISSN: 2152- 8993
Patrick
Wilkinson
Chair, Americas
Regional
Council;
Library Director,
University of
Wisconsin–
Oshkosh
Translating the Needs
of Members in the Americas
I’d like to thank everyone who participated in our
first live ( and virtual) OCLC member meeting of the
Americas Regional Council at ALA Midwinter. Every
member’s voice is important in guiding the
cooperative. I look forward to learning more about
your library’s individual needs— and how the
cooperative can help meet those needs.
If you are new to the Americas Regional Council, I
would like to share some resources that I believe
will inform you about the activities of the Americas
Regional Council and help you connect with
members throughout our vibrant community:
View the first Americas Regional Council meeting at ALA
Midwinter, including comments from the general session and the
three breakout sessions on Values and Social Contract,
Emerging Technologies and Record Use. The three groups all
gave brief reports at the final, general session.
Save the date— upcoming Americas Regional Council meetings
OCLC Member Meet and Greet: Americas Region— at
PLA, Thursday, March 25, 2010, from 3: 30 – 5: 30 p. m., in
Suite # 1455 at the Doubletree Hotel Portland
Americas Regional Council Annual Meeting— at ALA,
June 24, 2010, from 1: 00 – 6: 00 p. m. and June 25, 2010,
from 8: 30 a. m. – 12: 00 noon in Washington, DC
Learn more about Global Council and the Americas Regional
Council.
Connect with members in an online community: visit the
Americas Regional Council Member- to- Member Web site
We have a social networking site to facilitate ongoing
conversations among members— so that your voice is always
heard. We are adding several topics based on feedback we’ve
received from members.
Contact the Americas Regional Council Executive Committee
directly to share your ideas and suggestions.
The Americas Regional Council’s goal is to represent your needs and
perspectives. It is a very exciting time in the history of the cooperative
and I encourage each one of you to get involved— attend member
meetings, run for an Americas Regional Council office or nominate
In this issue:
Library collaboration
supports job search skills
training
BotCamp teaches Web-savvy
students about
cataloging plants
View the latest report on
virtual reference: AskMN—
The Librarian Is In!
WebJunction provides
information on
e- government resources
Connect the dots between
WorldCat Registry and
WorldCat. org
Free webinar on Maximizing
the Value of Your OCLC
Cataloging Subscription
Missouri, North Carolina
and Pennsylvania state join
WebJunction community
meetings, run for an Americas Regional Council office or nominate
colleagues, participate in service group meetings— there are countless
opportunities to exercise your voice and impact the future direction of
the cooperative.
— Pat
Feature Story
Library collaboration expands and translates job search skills
training
Meet Beth Matthias- Loghry, Coordinator of Adult Services at Pima County Public Library
“ The steps in the Job
Help Toolkit are simple
and practical in theory,
but it’s important to
remember that it is a
huge adjustment for
many of these
individuals. Someone
who, let’s just say was
a potter in their
community— a
respected trade— is now
living in an environment
where the demands of
the marketplace in
terms of skills that are
valued are dramatically
different.”
— Beth Matthias- Loghry
Since the 1970s, Arizona has been one of many
resettlement destinations for refugees entering the U. S.
Over 52,000 refugees from more than 90 countries have
found respite in the state. For Pima County, this means
that today, 27 percent of its population speaks a language
other than English at home. In December 2009, Arizona’s
unemployment rate rose to just over 9 percent. And, the
state’s 65+ population is on the rise. In fact, it is currently
ranked third nationally for the largest projected growth
rate ( 255 percent). Many of these individuals over age 50
are looking to reenter the workforce.
These population and economic shifts led to the need for
new solutions for serving this community. In April 2009,
the Pima County Administrator challenged The Pima
County Public Library ( PCPL) and Pima County
ONESTOP Career Centers to work in partnership to
create programs and identify technology- based solutions
to meet the needs of the community’s growing displaced
worker population. PCPL and ONESTOP were asked to
pilot and launch a program. The result: Job Help.
The two groups compared the services each was already
providing to the community, and quickly identified how
they would jointly work to address the unique needs of
their community. PCPL agreed to purchase the same
résumé software that ONESTOP uses. PCPL presented
their program models, positions and the technology they
had available to Pima County ONESTOP. They also sent
library staff to observe ONESTOP’s employability skills
classes, repurposed the information and incorporated it
into computer classes offered through the library.
Both PCPL and the Pima County ONESTOP Career
Centers recruited additional computer instructors as well
as computer- savvy youth between the ages of 16– 21 to
assist job- seekers on a one- on- one basis at library
branches. These new staff members were trained on the
résumé software. In June 2009, the Job Help pilot
program launched and library staff began delivering
portions of the employability curriculum of ONESTOP
eight hours each week at eight library branches.
This Job Help session was
conducted in Arabic, one of many
languages spoken by populations
residing in
Pima County.
eight hours each week at eight library branches.
Read the entire article ››
News and Events
BotCamp teaches Web- savvy students
about cataloging plants
Innovative use of Kilgour grant introduces students to
metadata
Professor Jane Greenberg, Director of the Metadata
Research Center at the University of North Carolina ( UNC),
is passionate about the wonders of proper classification
and description.
That might sound boring to most people, especially today’s
Web- savvy, Web- surfing students— until they experience
UNC’s BotCamp, an innovative summer program designed
to recruit students from underrepresented populations to
the field of botany. The program also introduces students
to library science.
BotCamp 2009 participants and team members.
Photo by Stephen McIntyre.
BotCamp features a curriculum that weaves together botany, environmental conservation, the use
of social technologies and metadata literacy. Camp participants visit the North Carolina Botanical
Garden, Mason Farm Biological Reserve and local natural surroundings to learn about plants,
technology and a range of naming systems. They use digital cameras, cell phones and notepads to
capture their thoughts and log their activities.
They post their pictures and notes on Facebook and Flickr and ask each other online for help in
describing and identifying their specimens. Along the way, they learn about metadata and controlled
vocabularies and the role these systems play in enhancing discovery, particularly for digital
resources. And at the end of their two- day experience, they think differently about nature and
classification.
A Frederick G. Kilgour Award, which Jane received in 2008, helped make it possible for 32 college
students to participate in BotCamp 2008 and 2009. BotCamp also was supported by a grant from
the National Science Foundation, for which Jane is the principal investigator working with co-principal
investigator, Alan Weakley, Curator of the UNC Herbarium.
Did the students know what metadata was?
“ They knew what tagging was because they had tagged photographs on Facebook and Flickr,”
says Jane. “ We had to teach them about metadata.”
The BotCamp approach was clever. Jane, Alan and other BotCamp organizers took students out in
the field and they experienced firsthand how botanists pursue plant indentification— beginning with
folksonomies and tagging and moving to the more structured botany taxonomy.
Read the entire article ››
View the new report on AskMN— The Librarian Is In!
The Minitex 24/ 7 Virtual Reference Program
Minitex has released its FY08 – 09 report on AskMN: The
Librarian Is In! , Minnesota’s statewide digital reference service.
AskMN is funded by Minitex with appropriations from the
Minnesota legislature and is staffed by participating libraries and
Minitex.
The report provides profiles of the people who are asking
questions and those answering them. It also provides an
overview of the time of day questions are being asked, the reach
of libraries to Minnesota residents, and how satisfied patrons
were with AskMN: The Librarian Is In!
Read the full report ››
Patrons seek e- government resources more
than ever
Communities rely on your public library to provide access to government resources, and to help
patrons find and use the information there. According to a recent study on Public Library Funding &
Technology Access, 80 percent of libraries help their patrons connect with government information
and services online. With growing demands for e- government information, how do your library staff
keep current with federal, state and local government agency Web sites? For starters, check out
WebJunction’s collection on Government Information in the 21st Century, which provides guidance
and hundreds of links to federal e- government resources. WebJunction will add more content
throughout the month as we continue our focus on this topic, so stay tuned.
Get the scoop from ALA Midwinter
View the recordings from these exciting OCLC signature
events and more:
OCLC Americas Regional Council meeting
OCLC Symposium— On the radar: how libraries
and other nonprofits can increase their influence
OCLC Update Breakfast
Sessions on products and services
Going to CIL? Save over $ 200
OCLC members receive over $ 200 off the full, three- day
registration fee. Computers in Libraries ( CIL) will take place April
12– 14, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington,
Virginia.
Virginia.
Complete this form and return it attention to Nancy
Ellor at Information Today ››
Coming up— Conferences and events
Join OCLC and our Partners at these upcoming conferences and events throughout the next few
months:
Alaska Library Association – March 4– 7
PLA Conference 2010 – March 23– 27
Geek the Library: Putting Theory into Practice ( sponsored by OCLC and supported by
a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)— Thursday, March 25, 2010, from
8: 30 – 9: 45 a. m., at the Doubletree Hotel Portland, in the Oregon Room
OCLC Member Meet and Greet: Americas Region— Thursday, March 25, 2010, from
3: 30 – 5: 30 p. m., in Suite # 1455 at the Doubletree Hotel Portland
OCLC Update Breakfast— Friday, March 26, 2010, from 7: 30 – 8: 30 a. m., at the
Doubletree Hotel Portland, in the Hawthorne, Cellwood and Ross Island Rooms
ILLiad International Conference – March 24– 26, 2010
View all upcoming conferences and events ››
Visit our Presentation Center to view past presentation slides and video recordings ››
Support and Training
Reason # 10: Make your library visible in
Web searches by updating your
institution’s data in the WorldCat
Registry.
View all 25 Reasons to Choose WorldCat ››
Monthly Member Q& A: Connect the dots between WorldCat Registry
and WorldCat. org
Your Member Services team would like to share the following question from the community with all
Cooperative eNews readers.
Question: How does WorldCat Registry relate to Find in a Library links that you see on search
engines and other commercial Web sites?
engines and other commercial Web sites?
The WorldCat Registry is a Web- based directory for your library or library consortium to maintain
information that defines your library’s identity, services, relationships, contacts and other key data that
feeds many of the search engines that partner with OCLC. The WorldCat Registry allows you to:
Create and manage a profile that centralizes and automates information sharing with vendors
and others— no need to maintain multiple identities, and data is always up- to- date
Get greater Internet visibility for collections and services through syndication of your data over a
variety of Web services, including WorldCat. org.
What does this mean to my library?
It is important to remember that if your library’s information is not up- to- date in the WorldCat
Registry, then your library will not appear correctly in users’ search results when they click on ' Find in
Library links.' For example, if someone clicks on a ' Find This Book in a Library' link that appears when
users search Google Books, the search results display all of the libraries listed in WorldCat. org that
have that item, starting with the locations that are closest to the user.
Learn more about how it all comes together in the WorldCat Registry ››
Featured February resource sharing
courses
Learn more about how you can optimize your resource
sharing efforts with these online courses throughout
the month. From mastering the basics of WorldCat
Resource Sharing to webinars on holdings and tips
and tricks, OCLC’s Training Partners offer a variety of
professional development opportunities that will help
you take your skills to the next level.
Upcoming courses include:
Local Holdings Maintenance - part 3
( Minitex) – 2/ 23/ 10
WorldCat Resource Sharing Tricks ( WiLS) –
2/ 23 and 2/ 25/ 10
WorldCat Resource Sharing Borrowing
( OCLC) – 3/ 11/ 10
WorldCat Resource Sharing Lending
( OCLC) – 3/ 16/ 10
Making Sense of OCLC Resource Sharing
Usage Statistics ( Nylink) – 3/ 18/ 10
OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing Basics
( Lyrasis) – 3/ 30 through 4/ 1/ 10
View all online resource sharing courses ››
The OCLC Training Portal
is packed with
opportunities!
OCLC's Training Portal allows you to
view and register for courses on the
following topics:
Cataloging and Metadata
Digital Collection Management
Resource Sharing and Delivery
Reference and Discovery
Content and Collections
Management Services and Systems
Free webinar on Maximizing the Value of Your OCLC Cataloging
Subscription
Join us for our new webinar designed to help cataloging and technical services managers contain
costs, improve efficiency and use staff resources most effectively. This free session, Maximizing the
Value of Your OCLC Cataloging Subscription, will talk about the many options for cataloging with
OCLC, activities and services that are included in the OCLC cataloging subscription. You will also
receive a checklist of next steps to help you select and implement services included in your cataloging
subscription. We are currently offering this webinar on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, from 4: 00 – 5: 00 p. m.
( ET).
Register now for Maximizing the Value of Your OCLC Cataloging Subscription ››
OCLC Partner Updates
Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania
state sites added to WebJunction
community
WebJunction, the leader in online learning for library staff, is working with the State Library of North
Carolina, the Missouri State Library, and HSLC/ Access PA to launch three new state sites,
WebJunction– North Carolina, WebJunction– Missouri and WebJunction– Pennsylvania. Library staff in
these states now have access to courses, articles, discussions and a professional network that will
keep their skills up- to- date and help their libraries stay relevant to current user needs.
As part of these online learning communities, members will connect with people from across the
library community using social and professional networking tools; create and publish their own
content; participate in discussions and form interest groups; take courses on a wide range of
technology and library skill subjects; and engage in an online community experience that makes
learning fun.
Read the entire news release ››
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