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Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:23:00 +0000

Come one, come all!

A Town Hall meeting is coming to your area soon.

State Librarian - Gene Hainer, Martin Garnar of the Colorado Association of Libraries, and Valerie Horton from the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) are eager to meet you.

They also want to share with you

* How these organizations support the work of libraries
* The future of libraries in Colorado
* The future of the library profession

So grab a colleague, a friend, or a neighbor and head on over to one of the eleven Town Hall Meetings near you.

Refreshments will be served!

Please register in advance so we know how many cookies to bring. :)

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Priebe at 303-422-1150 or lpriebe@clicweb.org.

Thanks, see you soon!

Office Manager position

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie Horton) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:55:00 +0000

I hope you notice the position announcement for an office manager at CLiC. We’re looking for a smart, dedicated, and hard working person who wants to be involved in a dynamic consortium supporting over 450 member libraries. The office manager gets a chance to work with the Colorado Library Courier, continuing education events, cooperative purchases, and library consulting in Colorado. We have a lot of fun at CLiC; please consider being part of our team.

Valerie Horton

Technology Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon O'Grady) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:28:00 +0000

Need advice on technology issues? Want to share great technology ideas? Join the Tech Forum hosted on CLiC's Sharepoint site!

Or if you want to take a look at the information posted, just click above and start browsing.

About Tech Forum

The goal of Tech Forum is to provide a ‘top of mind’ resource for technology reference and discussion. The intent of the forum is to benefit all participants through:

minimizing the duplication of efforts

using RFPS, project plans, cost models, and research all ready compiled by others

sharing real life experience and results

example: how is RFID working at your organization, what pitfalls have you encountered with this product/vendor

aligning statewide technology efforts with the purpose of achieving leverage and cost savings through a larger purchasing base

example: what are the top tech needs for the year and are their opportunities to align efforts and work together

examples: ILS, RFID, client management

Tech Forum was established over a year ago as a central point for collaboration and information sharing. The forum currently has over 40 members and to date has conducted a number of online webinars and meetings in response to expressed subjects of interest as well as provided materials and information for specific member requests.

To browse Tech Forum visit the following link http://clicv3.sharepointspace.com/tech.

To request an account to participate in the group please email SOGrady@clicweb.org.

Cell Phones - Who would have guessed?

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:44:00 +0000

I just finished watching a webinar on how to get the most out of your cell phone. Mobile Phones: They’re Not Just for Talking Anymore!
(Trainer: Shelly Drum)

Wow! There are soooo many things you can do with a cell phone, especially if you have internet access and text messaging. Shelly does a fantastic job explaining the fun things you can do with your phone, and she actually has the audience break out their phones to join in. One participant from the Clark County Library District, in Las Vegas Nevada showed the group his new catalog interface which allows patrons to surf the library's catalog remotely from their phone.

Thanks to BCR's Free Friday Forums you can pop in for a live session, or watch at your leisure.

Have you found a clever use for your phone? Please share it with us through the comment button.

New Video by CLiC Staff and Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie Horton) — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:06:00 +0000

See Judy and Kieran latest HOT You-Tube Video.

Thank you, Barbara Kingsolver!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaHOy4l3P6Q

Valerie

2009 CLiC Greeley Spring Workshop planned for March 19-20

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon O'Grady) — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Save the date!! We're on our way to planning next year's Spring Workshop in Greeley.

The 2008 workshop was very successful. There were many wonderful and informative sessions to choose from. Some attendees said they had a difficult time deciding which session to attend.

CLiC offered scholarships to several attendees; I'm sure many of you saw my emails.

Click on the comments link to see what scholarship recipients had to say.

Summer Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie Horton) — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Looking for a summertime read! Check out the eclectic reading tastes of the CLiC staff. We're using Shelfari so you can see another web 2.0 tool in action as well.

http://www.shelfari.com/o1518306158/shelf

Valerie Horton

Brand New!

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:10:00 +0000

Not only is this library brand new, the district has a brand new name too! The High Plains Library District (formerly Weld Library District) opened the Carbon Valley Branch Library on March 15th 2008. Janine Reid, Library District Director and Colorado Public Library Association (CoPLA) President gave a special tour to CoPLA board members. What a treat! This spacious 35,000 sq. ft. library is very functional (Green!) and beautiful. One can tell how much effort was put into making this library a happy and fun place to visit. To see the entire tour of the new library click here.

ARLIS/ NA Conference in Denver

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon O'Grady) — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:25:00 +0000

I am attending the ARLIS/ NA, Art Libraries Society of North America, 36th Annual Conference in Denver. I wasn't familiar with this library society before my friend Tom Riedel, Distance Services Librarian at Regis University, advertised the conference on various email discussion lists. Tom and Peggy Keenan, are Local Arrangements Co-chairs. After chatting with Tom, I knew that I wouldn’t want to miss this chance to attend. I've met some fabulous librarians from all over the United States and Canada.

I've attended a variety of activities but I’d like to mention a couple.

Patricia Limerick, Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West and Professor of History at the University of Colorado spoke at the Convocation and Awards Ceremony Friday night. Her talk was charming and funny. If you have an opportunity to hear her speak, don't miss it.

The “New Voices in the Profession” session was a showcase of exceptional academic work by students and new professionals (under 5 years post MLS.) The speakers and their topics:

Tracy Bergstrom, Notre Dame University
A Content Analysis of Visual Resources Collection Websites

Patrick Tomlin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Art Library 2.0: What Does it Mean to Be a New Art Librarian in the Digital Age?

Jenica Baty, Tiffany Chao, Jill Zawacki, University of Michigan Assessment of an Archive: Photographs from Taipei

Go to CLiC’s Flickr site to see more conference photos.

Tonight is the “ARLIS/NA at Altitude: A Big DAM Party” at the Denver Art Museum!

Librarians Rock!

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:00:00 +0000

If you missed the Pueblo Spring workshop or you forgot to bring your camera, you can get a taste of what the event was like through these pics on Flickr. I must say we had a great time with over 300 librarians gathering to chat, learn, and break bread together (heck, even play Guitar Hero!). CLiC has received numerous emails saying that this event was the best one yet! Kudos to all the presenters, volunteers, and the librarians who attended! It was a blast!

Continue Your Education on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:20:00 +0000

Yep, you heard right- YouTube is educational. Want a short three minute overview on how a Wiki works? Click on the video below. Want to figure out how podcasting works - try this . Can’t figure out why one would want to keep photos online? Watch this. If you have dutifully clicked on all of these links, then congratulate yourself if you see a pattern. Commoncraft makes short videos for the web, and the most enticing part is that they use video and paper to make topics easily understood. Really. Try it, you’ll like it.

Clever librarians at DePauw Libraries have come up with their own dressed up Commoncraftlibrary commercial on YouTube.

Long Live PowerPoint!

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:15:00 +0000

What you say? Haven’t we all sat through those long dull PowerPoints slides dotted with one bulleted point after another wishing we could quietly slip away unnoticed? I am here to say that it doesn’t have to be that way. A month ago I read the book Presentation Zen*, which changed the way I will forever look at or create Powerpoints. Then recently I read Karen Shneider’s Free Range Librarian blog about Pecha Kucha (PowerPoint tournaments) events being held at various places around the globe. Contestants have 20 slides (no bulleted points!) with twenty seconds per slide. So, that is 6 minutes and 40 seconds to get their message across. I have watched a few of them online. What surprised me was the fact that most of the PowerPoints are told in storybook format and the slides are like pictures in a book. At the end you totally “get it”. The dullest topics can be enhanced by this method. For instance, I watched a presentation on signage, and not only was it NOT boring, I actually learned how to create signage that will make people stand up and listen. So click on a few of these links and let us know what you think- should PowerPoint presentations live or die?
*Presentation Zen can be interlibrary loaned from the CLiC office.

CLiC Denver office move complete

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Callender) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:22:00 +0000

Thanks for all your patience. The Denver office has been moved and Valerie, Lisa, Shannon, Erin, and Robin are all settling in. Remember the phone number for the office is still the same, 303-422-1150 and the new address is 7400 E. Arapahoe Rd. Suite 105, Cenntenial, CO 80112. Special Kudos to Erin for organizing the move and making everything go smoothly.

ebrary Honors National Library Week

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Walchak) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:42:00 +0000

In support of National Library Week, April 13 to 19, 2008, ebrary®, a leading provider of e-content services and technology, today announced that it will provide librarians as well as students and faculty in library science and related programs with complimentary access to its Library Center for one year.

Subsidized by ebrary, the Library Center includes more than 85 full-text e-books covering topics such as digital library development, general collection development, and the history of libraries and librarianship, as well as illustrated guides from the Library of Congress. Contributing publishers include Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Idea Group, Inc., Greenwood Publishing Group, Library of Congress, and MIT Press.

To receive complimentary access, students, faculty, and librarians may register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=iLchAc260S528_2botn4tcig_3d_3d.
“ebrary is dedicated to serving the needs of the library community, including the next generation of librarians,” said Christopher Warnock, CEO of ebrary. “We are pleased to participate in National Library Week by providing access to a selection of relevant e-books that we hope will provide additional knowledge that students, faculty, and librarians can use today as well as in the future.”

A Warm Welcome in Minnesota (PLA)

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:14:00 +0000

It’s going to be a whirlwind four days at PLA, but my first stop had to be the Minneapolis Central Library. I wandered around gawking at the immensity of the place in typical tourist style. Since 7,000 librarians are descending upon the city, the library wisely decided to showcase an Altered Books Exhibit. It may be a bit chilly in Minnesota in March, but I received a warm welcome from everyone I spoke with at the library. The Archival Librarian gave me a bit of the history behind the public library. The entrance to her department is the original wooden doors of the first official public library in Minneapolis. Very grand. The Children’s area (see above) is bright, colorful, and chocked full of fun and interesting things to do. According to the Children’s Librarian, they want children to discover something different each time they visit. From what I hear, the library's fifth floor is designed to accommodate a new Planetarium & Space Discovery Center. It is scheduled to open in 2010.

Paying it Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Judy Van Acker) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Westcliffe Colorado is THE most beautiful place in Colorado! Not only it is gorgeous, it has an outstanding school and public library. The librarians, Marty Frick (West Custer County Library) and Westcliffe School librarian, Gretchen Villers, planned their own unique Alex Project . It was a huge success (of course the pizza helped too)!

While I touring the library, Gretchen described their yarn project. Here is how Gretchen explained the project. "This past fall, when we lost our student in the homecoming parade accident, Platte Canyon HS in Bailey sent us scarves for all of our high school students. They were "paying forward" to us what members of their community had done for them after their school shooting. Our knitting club is now knitting for LaVeta HS who lost a student in a car accident in January. We are trying to "pay forward" what Bailey did for us." Wow, how inspiring! Isn’t this truly the essence of what education is all about?

It's Read Across America Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Walchak) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:58:00 +0000

Read Across America is an initiative created by the National Education Association.
One part of the project is National Read Across America Day, an observance in the United States held this year on March 3rd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. I was fortunate to be invited by Janet Oliver, Teacher Librarian, to a celebration at the Animas Valley Elementary School in Durango this year where the superintendent of schools, Mary Barter, the county manager, the new city manager, and several other Durango folks were involved. Who can ever turn down reading a Dr. Seuss book to a child?

CLiC Spring Workshops in Greeley and Pueblo

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon O'Grady) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Registration is now closed for CLiC's Spring Workshop in Grand Junction BUT there is still time to sign up for Greeley and Pueblo!

Workshops will have a minimum of 4 concurrent sessions and each time slot will address information for school, public and academic library staff.

Please note that at each location, on the first day, an entire track will be devoted to "Essential Learning for School Librarians." ANYONE may join these sessions recognizing there will be a School emphasis. School librarians are encouraged to also attend the second day.

Scholarships are available to attend.

Please click here for more information and the application form.

10 Ways to Collaborate in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (CLiC) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:11:00 +0000

WebJunction is a great place to find anything library related. The 10 Ways to Collaborate in 2008 webinar caught my eye so I signed up. What fun! Gathering people and their ideas from various geographic areas is a certainly a smart idea. It was inspiring to hear what other libraries are doing by collaborating with each other.
The presenter was a huge fan of wikis, another collaboration tool Wikipedia is a fine example. She firmly believes that librarians should be using wikis as a way to archive good ideas as well as collaborate with each other. For instance, one idea is to get a bunch of librarians to share their great programming ideas (presenter info. too) and put it on a wiki. That way other librarians don’t have to reinvent the wheel; they can use what someone has done and tweak it to their liking. Check out what some Florida librarians are doing at their libraries.
Another suggestion is to take 15 minutes out of your day to discover something new and share it with a colleague. The entire theme of the webinar was SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. All of us have something to share, so, I am starting off by sharing the web address to WebJunction’s calendar of webinars.
Maybe a title will catch your eye, and just maybe you will be inspired to share your adventure with a friend or a colleague.
Top Five Best Ideas I gleaned from the Webinar

Tap into local talent - keep that info. on file or on web site (wiki)
Create joint grants for projects or programming
Get directors together every couple of months. Cut to the chase - put those things up on a wiki (forgo round robin info). Focus on collaboration instead.
Instant message colleagues for quick communication
Take 15 minutes out of your day to discover something and then share it.

The Librarian Song

noreply@blogger.com (CLiC) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Colorado Cooperative Purchasing Agreement - 2008 Vendor Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Priebe) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:07:00 +0000

The Vendor Awards documents were distributed in December to all public, academic, and special libraries. All school buildings will receive a copy in the January State Library mailing. This year we worked with the vendors to make sure discounts were better than what a library could normally receive ordering on their own. Some vendors will add a flag to your record indicating you are a CLiC member and can receive the discounts others do not. It's always wise to check when placing your order to make sure you receive the best discount possible.

We'd like to know your thoughts about the program and are always looking for ways to improve. I'd like to thank the 108 people who have completed the short survey and thank everyone else in advance to completing it before February 1st. Click on this link to acccess the survey, http://tinyurl.com/2ochxu.

JCPL Intellectual Freedom Tutorial Available

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Callender) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Beth Jones at Jefferson County Public Library has allowed us to post a tutorial that they created concerning the historical background on Intellectual Freedom and libraries. This is a great tutorial for beginners that references the Bill of Rights, the creation of ALA, various Supreme Court Decisions, the US Patriot Act, and various Colorado State Laws. Kudos to Beth and the staff at JCPL for creating this and sharing with all of us! Click on the title to visit the tutorials page.

Welcome to Colorado’s Newest Library!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Priebe) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:55:00 +0000

On January 5th, Weld Library District opened its newest branch, the Erie Community Library. They opened the library with a big splash including fireworks and great food. Janine Reid, the District’s Executive Director, lead tours explaining the building’s amazing features.

Fireworks and good food aside, the star of the evening was the building itself. As you walk through the doors, you enter an inviting teen area and media collection on one side, and a single service point and children’s collections immediately on the other. The design welcomes you into the library and charms you with their breezy, colorful kite motifs. A kite decorates the attractive store-front stacks, and a HUGE kite makes up the roof of the children’s storytime room, while its tail snakes through ceiling creating a great place for banners and colorful displays.

This is a green building in the best sense of the word. The District spent $145,000 making sure that mechanical, electrical, and water systems perform 33% above the ASHRAE Standard, saving $10,000 in operations per year! A smart investment in the future for Erie’s citizens. The building’s unique features include:

• An under floor air distribution system. The picture below shows a see-through tile revealing the under floor workings
• Day-lighting with photo-sensors
• R30 insulation
• Xeriscape landscaping and drip systems
• Low water plumbing and solar faucets
• Low-emitting materials in paint, carpet, etc.

Janine Reid, Executive Director, spent the last three years working to open this amazing new building. She wrote a time capsule letter. Here’s a brief excerpt: “I hope people find this to be a place of discovery and imagination, as well as life-long learning. I hope this place turns out to be a great equalizer, providing access to everyone. No matter what form the library takes in 50 years, I hope this library remains indispensable and relevant and continues to provide tools for learning, understanding and progress. With love and gratitude, I celebrate the future."

Janine didn’t do it all alone; she had ample help from the District’s top notch staff, including Jody Hungenberg, Erie’s manger. Jody hopes that “the Erie Community Library will become a destination for everyone in the community.” Make Erie your destination and see Colorado’s new, green library!

Erie Community Library Facts and Figures
• Capacity is over 80,000 items
• Opening day collection will be over 50,000 items
• 20,000 square feet
• 1000 sq ft living room with fireplace
• Drive up book drop
• Children’s activity area and storytime kite
• Outdoor features include a Peace Garden and patio area
• Multi-purpose room to accommodate larger groups
• Mobile laptops
• Express Check machines
• Study room
• Express book collection
• Area designed especially for teens

Valerie Horton, Executive Director, CLIC

CLiC hires two new employees

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie Horton) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:03:00 +0000

I’m pleased to announce that CLiC has hired two new regional consultants: Judy Van Acker in the southeast, and Shannon O’Grady in the northeast.

Both will start on January 2nd. They each bring a wealth of knowledge to CLiC; including experience in public libraries and community colleges, first hand knowledge of trustees and friends groups, experience working with vendors, knowledge of databases and creating policies, and implementing new technologies.

Please welcome them both to CLiC as they help us support and connect our 423 member libraries!

Valerie Horton
Executive Director
Colorado Library Consortium

LEO - Turns 1 and adds new features

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Priebe) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:18:00 +0000

LEO - Library Education Opportunity calendar turned one year old last weekend at CAL. Some new features were unveiled that make LEO an even more valuable tool.

- For RSS users, LEO has an RSS Feed. No need to remember to check LEO, just watch for changes through the feed.
- Thirty-four organizations add event to LEO and all those sponsoring organization acronyms can be confusing. The new Acronym List link on the Browse page will help you decipher all those codes!
- Drop down lists are available from the Advanced Search page for searches by topic and/or Target Audience.
- Events can now list multiple sponsoring organizations - great for collaborative events!
- Multiple day events may have different beginning and ending times by day.

LEO had some impressive first year statistics.
- 3888 unique visits
- 188 events
- 2442 keyword searches
- 12,355 browses by calendar month, organization or topic

LEO's continued growth is up to all of us. It's a great place to find continuing education events, determine what is already scheduled if your organization is choosing dates for an event, and a great place to advertise events to the library community.

LEO bookmarks are now available from CLiC. Just send me an email, lpriebe@clicweb.org with your name, library, and number of bookmarks you'd like.