Digital Commonwealth 2nd Annual Digital Library Conference

Kate here. I spent the day today (10/25/07) at Holy Cross in Worcester learning about digitizing library resources (like the photographs, letters and maps in our local history collection) to make them available on the web.

The Digital Commonwealth promotes the creation of digital resources by libraries and other cultural organizations in Massachusetts. They just unveiled an online portal that provides public access to digital resources all over the state. Instead of having to contact dozens of different libraries, historical societies and museums in order to find all the images and other records about a Bay State place, person, or thing, we'll be able to look it up in one place.

The big message I got is that it may be easy to scan photos and documents, but there's a lot more to creating useful and lasting digital resources than just posting pictures online. Considerations include copyright, image quality, organization, risk of damaging originals during reproduction, longterm funding and staffing commitments, publicity and metadata quality (information about item - describing content, relating it to other items, describing the who, what, when, where and why of its creation).

At a program we had at the library in September, we had patrons begging us to put our local history collection online. I would like to work toward the creation of a Waltham digital collection, offering access to documents, images, recordings and information from as many Waltham organizations as possible. MBLC grants funds for such projects. Possible collaborators include the City Clerk's office, the Historical Society, Stonehurst, and the Cemetery Department, among others.

I went to 6 presentations - handouts etc online:

-May I Digitize This Photo?
Copyright considerations presented by Mary Minow, Library Law Consultant
Presented as clearly as possible, considering how complicated this can be. Handouts are very useful.

-Case Studies in Digital Collaboration: Sudbury's Goodnow Library and Town Organizations and the Topsfield Historical Society and Town Library
Bill Talentino, Laura Scott Lowell, Bill Whiting, Jackie White
Thought-provoking and inspiring examples of libraries working closely WITH other city departments and community organizations to provide access to important records that are otherwise hard to find.

-The Digital Commonwealth: the Bridge to Library 2.0
Marshall Keys is a wonderful, articulate, provocative speaker and writer - see/read him if you can.
Keys admonished us to go beyond doing what we've always done with different technology, and Do Different Things. Like organizing others to capture images, stories and information about our communities right now, and sharing/storing/improving these online. Keys advocates paying attention to and incorporating the current trend toward a preference for interactive media.

-Virtual Archives: Preparing to Create a Digital Collection
Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, Preservation Specialist at the Mass Board of Library Commissioners
Gregor gives a very sobering talk about the risks and benefits to consider before embarking on a digitization project. What are the goals? Who will do the work? Is there a commitment to maintaining the digital collection so it'll still be accessible when our cutting edge technology becomes the equivalent of a 3 1/2 inch floppy disk? Digitizing doesn't save space and may not minimize handling of originals, since it usually increases traffic at the owning site.

-Scanning 101
Scott Kehoe, Technology Consultant with NMRLS
As advertised, lots of practical information on the process of scanning. Oodles of helpful links on del.icio.us/massdc2!

-Backstage Library Works
A representative of this company talked about the advantages of outsourcing the scanning and processing of images, to take advantage of the great equipment and experience such a company can provide.

Librarian's Guide To Partnerships

There are some shining examples out there of town and gown partnerships which benefit the communities that they serve. The Keene Public Library has partnered successfully with Keene State College and reaped the rewards. They purchased the III System together and their users can benefit from both collections.

My interest in town and gown partnerships is more Waltham oriented, of course. The Minuteman Network has already got great collaboration between Academic and Public Libraries. My thought would be to partner more with Brandeis and Bentley our Academic neighbors.

Some collaborations which are working collectively now include: Middlebury College and the Middlebury Public Library. The Mountain Area Information Network in North Carolina provides free or low cost email and public chat rooms for their community. Virgo Public Library creates and maintains web sites for local non profits. They are an information portal for non profits.

Stay tuned for Waltham's increasing partnerships with the Academic community.

Louise

New England Library Association

The weather was fine as I drove to the Sturbridge Host Hotel. My first program was the New England Library Leadership Symposium: NELLS. I was a graduate of the 2003 NELLS program. This involved five days at Canonicus, a rural setting in Rhode Island. Maureen Sullivan was our teacher, and we had librarian mentors. During this time, Librarians from Academic, Public and Special Libraries gathered together to learn and share. (We also went swimming in the lake and watched adorable rabbits hop by).

With me on the panel were graduates of other NELLS sessions which were held after mine. We all agreed that it was an enriching experience. I was happy to encourage other library leaders to apply for this rewarding program. If anyone on our staff wants to know more about this terrific opportunity, please contact me.

An interesting point was made during this session. Leadership can occur at all levels of librarianship. For example, a Reference Librarian can add interesting and exciting new additions to a web site. A library staff member may take the lead and make sure that his or her shelfreading is done to perfection. There are so many ways to enrich one's library and to take pride in one's work accomplishments. This, too, is an example of leadership!

Marketing to Seniors Lecture Info!

Dear Co-Workers,

In addition to the exhibits (which Pat and I have already reporting on), I attended a two-part lecture called "Aged to Perfection: Marketing to Seniors". As the title states, they were sessions on seniors and how to Market to them. So here goes...

Both lectures were conducted by Nancy Davis of the Ivy Group, www.ivygroup.com

The Ivy Group is an independent market consulting firm. Nancy began session one by discussing who seniors are and how important this demographic is. Seniors are the fastest growing age group. The 65+ population in Massachusetts is 13%. They are healthier, living longer and are financially in control. There is no single "mature market". They experience live-changing events such as retirement, loss of spouse, relocation and dependent parents. Senior market is female-dominated as they tend to outlive spouses. Nancy discussed the "mindset" of older adults. As well as what they are interested in. She also remarked that research states that we need to be careful what we call them. They do not like being referred to as "elderly, older person or retired person". But much prefer to be called "experienced, wise, teacher, master or seasoned citizen".

Session Two focused on how we market to them. She talked in great legnth about communicating with seniors. How our own marketing materials need to be clear and easy to read. They are brand loyal -- and will stick with their library. She mentioned that many seniors are care-givers themselves and we need to cater to their needs as caregivers. They like the telephone, and that patience and good phone manners are key when speaking to them on the phone.

So, what can we do? Nancy said the first order of business is to start with data -- specifically the census for Waltham, find out about the seniors in our own community. Next find out what others are doing in the community for seniors. What are other organizations in the area providing? What is the library best positioned to do? Can the library do any events jointly with the other organizations in the city?

Here are some of Nancy's idea's that she says work:
Summer Reading Program for Adults - don't call it "for seniors" have programs during the week-day, seniors will come!
Form a senior advisory committee. Have them walk thru the library to determine what is lacking.
Shopping Baskets
1/2 off fines/fees on Senior Days
Day-time program suggesions:
Oral History Program, program for Grandparent's Week, creative writing classses, lunch with a book for seniors.
Have programs during the day since many seniors do not like to drive at night.

Here are some programs that work that those in attendence shared:
Use library to host a learning exchange. One library does this charging $5.00. Provide cookies and coffee -- they will come!
One library offers Travel Talks once/month. They said it was a "huge draw" People who have travelled in the community come to one library where they share travel stores, pictures.

I gathered a lot more information, so if you are interested in finding out more, just let me know.

Regards,
Doreen B.

Expo Info from Pat and Doreen!

Hello Co-Workers,

We would like to share with you our experience at the NELA Conference expo. In addition to the beautiful foliage, we enjoyed seeing all the vendors and would like to share with you our WISH LIST based on what we saw:

Eventkeeper Online Event Registration
For an additional $125/year, we could create a form for every event, instead of writing it down, patrons can then sign up for programs themselves from their home computers, or on a library computer. You can set a max for an event, send emails to registrants, and integrate an optional waiting list! For those who are not computer savy, we can still - dare we say, write in for someone requesting to sign up.

Self Check System
We were impressed with the self-checkout stations. At the check out station, a patron can check out, check in, (one in particular can check in several at a time!), access their record and pay fines with a credit card. BUT, no paper or plastic requests please!

We also entered several raffles, collected an array of pens, rulers and the ever-popular Troll pens! We also got to Trick Or Trick at many booths! After the Expo we attended the luncheon/talk with Gregory McGuire, author of Wicked. His quirky imaginative personality was entertaining.

Regards,
Pat O. and Doreen B.

Pat O'Leary and Doreen Buchinski

Links

I put a page of some of the relevant websites from what I went to at NELA, today

http://del.icio.us/laurabnela

Leading in a Multigenerational Organization -- Laura

This was yet another very interesting workshop. Maureen Sullivan, an organizational consultant, led a discussion about the presence of four different generations in the workplaces (more specifically, the library). The generations discussed were traditionals (born pre-1946), Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980. I guess, being born in 1975, that's me. I always thought I was younger than Generation X), and Millenials (1981-2000). Maureen asked the group to ponder the following: What are some of the challenges of the many generations working together?; What are the perceptions of each generation; What are the assets and liabilities of each generation? We talked in small groups for a few minutes, which was interesting. My group consisted of myself, a reference librarian who is a Millenial (I'm getting old!) and a baby boomer. I had the most trouble identifying the assets and liabilities of my own generation, since I live in it. It was interesting to hear other perspectives on my generation. As a large group, we then talked about what each thought of each generation. We then talked about being careful not to stereotype based on generation, however, it is helpful to view what we see as characteristics of the generation. Maureen then asked us to read what experts say about each generation and whether or not we fit the characteristics. I didn't relate to many of the characteristics for my generation, for instance. There was some talk of technology and how we can learn from the generation coming into the workforce, such as not watching the clock, recognizing that respect is earned, and that work constantly changing is not necessarily a bad thing. Some also mentioned that no one should view age as a disability. Maureen also talked about the sandwich generation, which is the generation who is in the position of caring for their children and their parents.
This was a very interesting topic that could have easily been an all day seminar instead of an hour and fifteen minute program.

New England Centers for the Book: Enquiring Minds Want to Know -- Laura

This was the first real workshop I have been, today, and it is one of the best I have been to in a long time. It was the first program I have been to from the last three conferences I have attended which focused predominantly on books and it was wonderful. One of my goals, for this coming year, was working more on readers' advisory, and this workshop has given me much food for thought. The panel consisted of representatives from five New England states. (Vermont had a last minute commitment). Each of these women represented her respective state's Center for the Book. The Center for the Book (http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/) was started in 1977 and, according to its website, was established "to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy." In 1984, states began to create their own Centers for the Book, with the 50th state joining in 2003. Each state's Center for the Book is unique in many respects, including their affiliation level. In some cases, the Center for the Book is directly affiliated with the state library, or a large public library. In other cases, the Center for the Book is affiliated with the Maine Humanities Council. Also, each Center runs a variety of programs, some of which are distinctive to its own center.

• Kat Lyons from the Connecticut Center for the Book

The CT Center for the Book does a variety of programs, including the Connecticut Book Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award. One of its most notable programs is "World of Words" (WOW) in which public libraries choose a country to focus on for a month, and do cultural programming and read books related to that particular country. There are usually 14 public libraries across the state who do this program. There is an opening program at the state capital, in which consulates from the chosen countries participate. They also are involved in a book exchange with the libraries, giving books about their respective countries to the libraries.

• Lizz Sinclair from the Maine Humanities Council

The Maine Center for the Book is actually part of the Maine Humanities Council. Elizabeth Sinclair who works for the Maine Humanities Council, talked about a variety of the programs that the Center for the Book has to offer, including "Let's Talk About It", which are book discussion groups focused on one specific topic. The groups meet about five times. Some of the themes and their accompanying books have included American Poetry of the Second Half of the 20th Century; Across Cultures, South Asia (Passage to India, Midnight's Children); Japanese Fiction (The Waiting Years, The Setting Sun); The Gilded Age (The Devil and the White City, The Age of Innocence); Refreshing the Whodunit, Beyond Christie and Doyle (Dance Hall of the Dead); Making a Difference, How Love and Duty Change Lives (Plainsong, Mountains Beyond Mountains). The Center for the Book has also introduced a Middle East discussion group.
The Maine Center for the Book has also created a web resource for towns wanting to participate in One Book: One Community. (http://mainehumanities.org/onebook/index.html)

• Sharon Shaloo, Massachusetts Center for the Book

The MA Center for the Book is supported by a variety of private and public organizations, including the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and Simmons College. The MA Center for the Book just published a Literary Map of Massachusetts which is a road map that details literary landmarks across Massachusetts. I am sorry to say that Waltham is not on there, but my hometown of North Andover had two points of interest. The MA Center for the Book also gives out the Massachusetts Book Awards, which give awards in multiple categories (fiction, nonfiction, children/YA, and poetry) to recent books that feature Massachusetts.
Sharon Shaloo also talked about a lot of the programs that the multiple Centers for the Book do for youth programming. One is the Letters about Literature Program, in which kids in grades 4-12 write letters to authors. Massachusetts is one of the top three states that participates in this program, and every year, there is a ceremony with about 50 kids at the state house. When she found out I was from Waltham, Sharon gave me several fliers about the Letters about Literature Program. Sharon also talked about the Mother Goose Asks Why program, which is also done by the Vermont Center for the Book, and mixes math and science with reading.

• Mary Russell, New Hampshire Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library

The New Hampshire Center for the Book serves as an umbrella organization to a variety of state organizations, such as the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. Some of the center's notable programs include the Ladybug Awards, in which children can vote on best picture from a list nominated by librarians, and as a site for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, which is the largest literary cash prize and nominated by librarians all over the world. One program that the New Hampshire Center for the Book does that I really like is the Granite State Readers' Recommend. Residents of each town in New Hampshire go to the website and click on his or her town to see what visitors to the site recommend to read. New Hampshire residents can also post their own recommendations. What I really liked about the site is that it shows that enthusiasm about books and enthusiasm about technology do not have to be mutually exclusive.

• Debbie Barchi, Rhode Island Center for the Book

The Rhode Island Center for the Book is very much affiliated with libraries. The Center is hosted by the Providence Public Library, and the director is actually a director of a public library. The Center for the Book participates in the Read Across the Rhode Island program, which is very similar to One Book: One Community, except the entire state reads one book. (Debbie joked that if this could work in one state, it would be Rhode Island, since it's so small). There are meetings about the book, as well as appearances by the author. In addition to The Secret Life of Bees and The Kite Runner, Rhode Island also read The Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty. McLarty is a Rhode Island native who was very excited to be involved in this program. In order to involve young adults in the program, the Center for the Book conducts video conferencing in several high schools across the state.

Introduction -- Laura

Hello to WPL staff from Sturbridge. I was able to make it out of bed in time, despite staying up much too late, watching Trot Nixon hit a go ahead RBI against his former team, my beloved Red Sox. (Trot, thou have forsaken me). Deb and I, getting to Sturbridge before the start of the actual NELA conference, met up at Friendly's for some energy boosting Fribbles.
First order of business after registering was attending the NELA orientation. Attendees were encouraged to participate in Limber Librarians and take a long refreshing walk at 7 AM, every morning of the conference. They were also encouraged to join in on Monday night games, an annual tradition at the NELA Conference. One year, in Vermont, there was apparently a cheese block carving contest, and a cow milking contest. This year, there will be a mini-golf tournament. Carlo Cantamessa, representing the vendors, discussed the exhibit hall, encouraged the librarians to visit the vendors, assuring them that most of them are not there to sell anything during this three day period, instead just to establish contacts. Last, attendees were encouraged to visit the NELA conference blog (modeled after the blog used at this year's MLA conference). The blog will alow anyone who misses any workshop or wants to follow up to read about the program. The URL is nelib.wordpress.com
NELA will also be posting all handouts from the workshops on their website at www.nelib.org
Now, I'm off to a presentation on the Massachusetts Centers for the Book.