MD Tech Connect Workshop

December 8, 2015

Miller Branch, Ellicott City, MD

The goal of the Tech Connect workshop was to “mark a new beginning for a library technology group in Maryland” that includes all library staff, not just IT staff.  In attendance were “technologists” and “technology enthusiasts” from public and academic libraries

Greg Arig, software and game developer, gave a presentation about the development of Virtual Reality (VR).  One of the questions was “How can libraries use this new tool to meet the ever growing customer demand for technology?”

Tech Expo gave participants opportunities to experiment Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays such as Samsung Oculus, Augmented Reality, and other devices. I noted a few programs that can be easily replicated and implemented to offer STEM and STEAM programs for children.

·        CRATE (Create/Reinvent/Apply/Teach/Explore)

Carroll County Public Library will be launching CRATEs in 2016. This is a program that features a different activity (or CRATE) each month for 4 months for self-exploration.

CRATE 1 - Building with straws: http://www.strawbees.com/

                                    Also see Instruction Pamphlet

CRATE 2 – Robotics using cublets: http://www.modrobotics.com/cubelets/cubelets-six/

                                    using ozobots: http://ozobot.com/play

CRATE 3 – Makey Makey: http://www.makeymakey.com/

CRATE 4 – LittleBits to create sounds and music: http://littlebits.cc/kits/synth-kit

               LittleBits can be used in many kinds of projects: http://littlebits.cc/projects

·         Low Tech Intro to Coding, presented by Lori Conforti from Glenwood Branch, HCLS.

She had a set up where participants were able to make bracelets using colored beads to code their own initials. More ideas at: https://code.org/files/CSEDbinary.pdf, or email Lori Conforti at: lori.conforti@hclibrary.org 

·         Cubetto to introduce three to seven year-olds to coding. FutureMakers, represented by Matt Barinholtz, can provide libraries with the board and the cubic robot. It is a fun and simple way to introduce children to coding without using any screen. Click on http://www.primotoys.com/index, then click on “Show me!” to see it in action.

Click on https://mdtechconnect.slack.com/messages/about_event/ to see what came out of small group discussions about library trends, newest technologies, new services that libraries are offering, and the challenges ahead.

S. Merlier-Rowen

Children's Department, Central

February Application Deadlines for ALA and MLA

Here are the application deadlines for the annual ALA and MLA conferences.

MLA - Friday, February 5, 2016
Registration materials will be available online in January mdlib.org

ALA - Friday, February 12
Registration opens January 19 http://2016.alaannual.org/

Obviously there is limited information available about sessions and presenters at this early stage, but if you are thinking of requesting funds to attend you should start thinking about why you want to go and having a conversation with your supervisor about your interest.

"How to Respond to a Security Incident in Your Library" Webinar 12/9/15

We had a good turnout for the ALA webinar yesterday, with 61 staff members in attendance.  We've already received some great feedback from attendees.  Extra thanks to Bruce Hall for leading the Q&A session after the presentation, and for his helpful answers to staff questions and concerns.

Here is the link for the video mentioned in the webinar, "Run, Hide, Fight"

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0

Also, here is the link for the FEMA video Bruce mentioned in his email on 12/8/15, which is eligible for CEU credit:

https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-907

This was a great start to what will be an ongoing discussion about safety and security in the library, and we hope to have more programs on this and related topics coming soon.

Young Adult Services Symposium (YALSA) 2015

This month I had the exceptional opportunity to attend the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Annual Symposium in Portland, Oregon. It was my first time attending the conference and I was blown away by the experience. All of the programs I was able to attend were incredibly useful and inspiring and the camaraderie amongst the all the attendees was invigorating. I have only been a YA library associate for a little over two months but this experience affirmed that I am in a profession where my colleagues are by and large a wonderfully supportive and passionate group of people.

It’s difficult to pick a highlight of the conference since so much of the experience was positive. Some of the programs I attended that I particularly enjoyed were on the subjects of: starting teen theatre groups at the library, creating welcoming physical space for teens in the library, helping LGBTQ teens transition out of high school, using graphic novels to teach about race relations, and how to introduce middle school students to more advanced YA literature.  I learned so much from these sessions about why YA library services are meaningful and about what fellow YA librarians are doing to meet the ever-changing needs of their adolescent patrons. One phrase in particular that I heard used over and over again which really stuck with me as a simple yet all-encompassing objective for the YA librarian was “buy-in.” Like stake holders in a business, the goal of “buy-in” is to get teens to be supporters of library services by making them feel like active and significant participants in the endeavor. This principle has been particularly helpful to me as I start new teen programming at Waverly. My services will be most effective if I can get the teens and young adults who use this branch to feel invested in their library and rewarded for their commitment. I feel that after attending the YALSA Symposium this year I am much more confident and prepared to make the teen services at Waverly the best they can be!

Isabelle Briggs

Library Associate

Waverly Branch

Learning 2015 Sal Kahn and useful notes

I attended the Masie conference in Orlando, FL this year also known as Learning 2015. This was my first time attending the conference and I was very excited to learn about some of the practices the business world puts into place for staff training, learning and teaching, as well as any nuggets of wisdom from speakers and presenters that I could bring back home and use at the Library.

In one of the general sessions, Sal Khan—founded of Khan Academy—talked about a flipped classroom and stressed that lecture style learning could be done individually, outside of the classroom or at home on a learner’s own time. He spoke about how traditional education can be seen as an accumulation of gaps—if you did not learn the material the first time, or only learned it 80% then it becomes rather difficult to ever achieve the other 20% to make it 100% if you move on to the next subject, phase, or set of learning right away. Thus, your education as a whole can be considered an accumulation of gaps. One easy way to alleviate this is to spend more time outside of a learning classroom, environment, or training session by grappling with the material on your own and coming to the face-to-face session with deeper questions about what you learned, which makes the learning that much more valuable.

Khan’s discussion and presentation was probably the best part of the conference for me. I was also able to jot down various quotes I gathered from other sessions and speakers throughout the conference that I find very useful and enlightening which are listed below.

Some words of wisdom that I collected from the conference:

·         “if you’re not learning and growing—you are not keeping up”

·         “you do not stop learning and growing just because you hit a certain age”

·         “when talking about training with staff you want to stress versatility not vulnerability”

·         “it’s about knowledge flow, not knowledge store”

·         “when teaching do not start with an objective, start with a challenge for learning”

·         “failure is important—you do not learn or get good at anything unless you fail a number of times before”

·         “the larger the prize the less focus on learning” (about incentives)

·         “group competition works better than individual competition”

·         “tie gamification to intrinsic motivation, not extrinsic—otherwise it goes stale after a month”

·         “sometimes you can’t learn until you know what you don’t know”

·         “when asking someone about themselves and their learning, ask why they fail, not why they succeed—most often people are not sure why they succeed and do not fully understand how they learn, but they sure remember failing and why they failed.”

Ryan O’Grady
SLRC Office

No classes booklet for Fall 2015

Due to the uncertainties of the off-site moves and the limited availability of training spaces associated with the renovation of Central, we will not be producing the "booklet" of classes that we usually send out at this time.

There will be classes scheduled during the next few months, we will be sending out email notices and posting to the blog when these are scheduled, and of course you can always check the SD&T calendar to see what's available.  We just won't be producing the booklet with the photos and the 3-month schedule.

We apologize for this and hope to have things back to normal by the Winter/Spring class schedule.

SD&T

23 Mobile Things is Here (almost)!

23 Mobile Things is a self-paced learning program that will identify 23 types of apps for mobile devices.  These include many of the most popular apps like Pinterest or Instagram, but also apps that are related to our work at the library and apps to help our customers.  We hope this will be an informative and fun introduction to using mobile devices and they possibilities they present. 

All EPFL staff members are welcome to participate in this program, although it is strongly recommended for public service staff.   Each session of the program will be limited to 25 participants.  Participants are strongly encouraged to BYOD (bring your own device) although we will be focusing on using iPads and tablets rather than phones.  Staff can also use the iPad that was provided for their location/branch or borrow an iPad from Systems.  You also need to know how to find, download, and install an app on your device from whatever source you use. 

We will provide you with a list of the 23 things and suggestions for using them, but it is really up to you to explore the options and see what works for you.  We will be sharing a variety of app types, including social media, curation, e-books, and even music.  We’ll also be looking at apps which you can use daily, like checking email on your device and even setting up a mobile meeting.   There are a lot of options for exploration and experimentation, with the goal of determining which will work best for you professionally and personally.  You may use many of these apps already, but we hope you’ll find new ways to use them, especially for your job and as customer service tools.

You must complete 15 of the 23 things to receive credit for the program, so it is a commitment.  However,  it is (roughly)  one hour a week and you can earn up to 24 hours of CEU credit if you complete the entire program.

If you are interested, you MUST complete the initial "thing" which will be an overview of the program and a discussion about online identity and privacy.

There will be two sessions of this first class, and you will need access to a computer because we are presenting the class via Blackboard  to get you into the right "techie" mood (and so you don't have to come downtown).  When you register we'll give you more information about how to access the Blackboard for your session.

Thing 1 - Online Identity

Thursday, September 10 
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.  

Tuesday, September 15
1:30 - 2:30 p.m


If you are interested, but cannot attend either session let us know and if there is enough interest we may run a third section of the class.

To register for Thing 1 and the 23 Mobile Things program, send an email to SD&T.

Coming Soon - 23 Mobile Things

23 Mobile Things

23 Mobile Things is a self-paced learning program that will identify 23 types of apps for mobile devices.  These include many of the most popular apps like Pinterest or Instagram, but also apps that are related to our work at the library and apps to help our customers.  We hope this will be an informative and fun introduction to using mobile devices and they possibilities they present. 

Who Can Participate?

All EPFL staff members are welcome to participate in this program, although it is strongly recommended for public service staff.   Each session of the program will be limited to 25 participants.

What Do I Need?

Participants are strongly encouraged to BYOD (bring your own device) although we will be focusing on using iPads and tablets rather than phones.  Staff can also use the iPad that was provided for their location/branch or borrow an iPad from Systems.  You also need to know how to find, download, and install an app on your device from whatever source you use. 

HOW WILL THIS WORK?

We will provide you with a list of the 23 things and suggestions for using them, but it is really up to you to explore the options and see what works for you.  We will be sharing a variety of app types, including social media, curation, e-books, and even music.  We’ll also be looking at apps which you can use daily, like checking email on your device and even setting up a mobile meeting. 

There are a lot of options for exploration and experimentation, with the goal of determining which will work best for you professionally and personally.  You may use many of these apps already, but we hope you’ll find new ways to use them, especially for your job and as customer service tools.

IS THIS ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT HOURS?

Yes, you can earn up to 24 hours.

Check back soon for more details!

Some humor

http://www.howtogeek.com/130302/geek-comic-for-december-6th-social-media-reading-trends/

ALA 2015 No Sugar Coating Allowed: Four Honest Perspectives on Change Management

No Sugar Coating Allowed: Four Honest Perspectives on Change Management

This session was presented by Skoie Public Library located in Skoie, IL.  It was presented by 4 staff member of Stokie public: Deputy Director, Community Engagement Manager, Adult Services Manager, and a Young Adult Librarian.

Their plan was to focus on:

 1. Providing Access

 2. Fostering Learning

 3. Building Community

From the perspective of the Deputy Director, change meant: to reach out and be human ( be more personable and approachable), to choose positive and think critically (zoom out and not focus on negativity), to listen and communicate (reality vs their perception).

From the perspective of the Community Engagement Manager, tasks included: building a new department, making community engagement division operational and managing staff transition. 

Three transitional phases were identified:

1. Ending and losses- loss of office space, bathrooms, some job responsibilities, etc.

2. Wandering in the wilderness- time between old identity and new, conversation about what was and what will be, high anxiety, low energy and lower productivity, difficulty getting things done, resignations/ retirements, and reduces sense of competence

3. New beginning- emotional commitment to a new way (staff begin to consider the office as "cozy"), positive community reaction, new services

During all these phases manager were encourage to:

a. Provide a safe place for staff to talk about concerns, questions, etc...

b. Listen, listen and listen some more

c. State, when appropriate, the purpose of realignment

d. Help facilitate the change by painting a picture of what's to come

e. Facilitate connections to answer to questions the manager can not answers

From the perspective of the Adult Services Manager, learning to stop worrying and love the realignment

A personal account of how the changes affected her and how she changed her perspective. Initially she dreaded going to meetings and hearing about the upcoming changes and experienced a roller coaster of feelings but over a period of time and through conversations with her manager, forums about the changes and presentation about the library's new direction, she began to change to her perspective.  Suggestion to help cope with the change:

a. Recognize that the things you lost matter, grieve them and move-on

b. For feelings of being left behind and not feeling important- get involved in the new role, start to change your mindset by beginning to say yes!

From the perspective of the Young Adult Librarian, new kid on the block

A personal account of how the change affects a new staff member. She experienced: resentment from seasoned staff because of her positive outlook on the change and how embracing the change didn't protect her from the negativity.  She overcame the negativity and found her stride by continuing to express excitement and enthusiasm when working with others and her positive attitude be infectious.

Excellent program that can be easily applied to a renovation.

More from MLA/DLA Annual - Documenting the Lives of Veterans

MLA/DLA Annual Conference

May 6-8, 2015

Documenting the Lives of Maryland Veterans: How to Provide Access

Mary Mannix - Maryland Room Manager, Frederick County Public Libraries, Melissa VanSchaick and
Kathryn Ryberg - Practicum Students, Jill Craig - Digitization Librarian, Western MD Regional Library

The librarians of Western Maryland presented nontraditional resources to use with researchers. 1) Local smaller newspapers published information about local people. The articles are much more detailed than national newspapers. 2) Scrapbooks as a resource. These are archival (usually) and held by local libraries or genealogical societies. 3) Local Oral History Projects: The Oral history project in Western Maryland has been partnered with Library of Congress’s Veterans history project. For the oral history project, interviews were recorded on DVD. The information in the DVDs needed to be more ‘discoverable’. 

The FCPL’s interns created subject rich summaries of each interview (Full transcripts would take too long to create). The summaries in turn were added to the catalog with an original cataloging record. Subject headings (650 fields) and full text searching will make it easier for researchers to find information by name and by topic. The oral histories included local ‘Rosie the Riverter’ as well. Women working in the Fairchild plant in Hagerstown were interviewed for an oral history project in 2004. The interviews, photographs and memorabilia are available at Western Maryland’s Historical Library (WHILBR).   Excellent presentation and very useful information.

Sarah Kuperman

Collection Management

More from Computers in Libraries 2015

Computers in Libraries 2016

March 8-March 10, 2016 Washington DC

Year after year this conference has keynote speakers who hit the highpoints of library issues. Mary Augusta Thomas’ keynote “Technology & Libraries: Now & Into the Future” connects the past with the future. Librarians provide researchers access to resources format doesn’t matter. The Smithsonian’s mission statement includes the statement that “our expert staff and extensive collections are a crucial resource for research and education communities at the Smithsonian, within the United States, and around the world.”

The Smithsonian library’s diverse collections prove that statement.  The Super Searcher Workshop always offers exciting new resources from the web. The multi-tracked days full of workshops provides the opportunity to hear new ideas from libraries who are enthusiastically sharing their experiences.  My favorite take-away?  Library customers need librarians more than ever, as evidenced by multiple presentations which included a discussion of “one on one” appointments  to help customers with resumes, job hunting skills, business plan development, learning a new device, and writing a research paper.  It expands the reference interview into a learning session that helps library customers build skills in using library resources.

Sarah Kuperman

Collection Management

MLA/DLA 2015 Data Mining Craft

Maryland Library Association/Delaware Library Association 2015 Conference

May 6-8, 2015

Data Mining Craft

The session on data mining at the 2015 Maryland Library Association Conference explored the legal, ethical and privacy issues related to the collection of data, and challenged the audience to consider the library’s role in its collection and dissemination. The presenter, Carrie Gardner, stated that when it comes to the use of electronics, the amount of freedom you enjoy is inversely proportional to how much time you are willing to expend. An example is having an online vendor make recommendations based on your purchasing habits rather than performing multiple searches. She also pointed out that individuals are covered by different laws depending on the country or state they reside in.

Issues that directly involve libraries include keeping track of what people read and library computer usage. Even if the library does not collect this information, security cameras are recording much of this activity. Librarians have been asked by some patrons to collect this information so they can keep track of what they have read while others do not want this information retained. Libraries need to be aware that they are not required to collect Personally Identifiable Information (PPI), but if they do they are subject to subpoena. Even libraries that say they do not retain this information are being approached by vendors, and consider subscribing to, products that collect data for the purpose of making better purchasing recommendations. 

It is very difficult to completely go off the grid. Even if you use only cash, and do not use the Internet, a cell phone or EZ Pass, you are still being recorded by cameras. Facial recognition software has become more sophisticated and has been touted as helping to identify the Boston Marathon bombers. Medical information is shared by health organizations, and friends and associates often post your picture online without your knowledge.

Carrie presented the subject in a way that was engaging and challenging while managing to be balanced and fair about the myriad of issues. After going over my notes, I’m considering posting this anonymously.

MLA/DLA Annual Conference - More Great Sessions

Maryland Library Association/Delaware Library Association 2015 Conference

May 6-8, 2015

 “Now More Than Ever: Offender Workforce was an especially useful workshop.  At Enoch Pratt we work with ex-offenders fairly often, and particularly in the Job and Career Information Center.  We heard about the Offender Workforce Development Training from the National Institute of Corrections.  The workshop addressed the question: What can libraries do to assist ex-offenders?  Some answers:  book discussions, educate and encourage lifelong learning, provide career/job centers, create specific programs for them, and provide links to various community services.

Some useful tools included:

Maryland Community Service Locator:  http://www.mdcsl.org/search.html

A jobseeker site: http://www.americasjobexchange.com

“MLA Legislative Update Plus Engage Software taught me about the legislative process at the state level, particularly the budget. We learned about advocating for libraries at the state and federal level. The Engage software makes it easy for people to support their libraries. There is a link on the Maryland Library Association website under “Engage and Advocacy Resources” or at:  http://cqrcengage.com/alamd/

 An important point one of the presenters made was that we should encourage customers, family, friends, neighbors and any citizens who support libraries to speak up. They can call, go online, or write to tell their elected officials the importance of libraries and their services.

Career Development in the Libraries was directly applicable with our library customers in the Job & Career Information Center, and the information can be shared with the branch staff also.  Tips included:        

•  When uploading a resume to an online application, a PLAIN TEXT document is best.
• O*NET is good for language to use on resumes (The career counselor mentioned this too, and we already had it on the Jobseekers Toolkit website)
• LinkedIn is a good tool for networking when job searching. (Which we know but sometimes forget to mention to customers.)
• The importance of listening before giving information (Librarians tend want to find and offer information and sometimes skip the first step of really listening.)
• If using Indeed to search, try to go directly to the company’s website to apply.

Mindful Leadership  with Patty Sundberg  and James Kelly provided useful information for all employees, even those who  aren’t supervisors.

The benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace are numerous: better task performance and fewer cognitive failures, less emotional exhaustion , and  greater job satisfaction. The RAIN  technique can be used before the amygdala in the brain hijacks us:   Recognize what’s going on, Allow experience to be just what it is, Investigate with kindness, and Natural awareness which comes from not identifying with the experience (keeping it at arm’s length).   Focused attend and open monitoring are important for self-regulation.   We practiced active listening without speaking.

Recommended books:

Flow : the psychology of optimal experience  by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Drive by Dan Pink

Finding the Space to Lead: a practical guide to mindful leadership by Janice Marturano.

Emotional intelligence  Daniel Goleman.

Jeanne Lauber

Workforce Development Librarian

Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center

ATD International Conference and Expo

Association for Talent Development International Conference and Exposition

May 17-20, 2015

The ATD conference is for training and development practitioners at all levels.  Attendees come from all over the world to share best practices, learn about current and future trends, and listen to industry leaders.  This year there were 9600 participants from 92 countries.  Since the discussions were focused on training, I thought I'd share some random ideas that I picked up at the conference, either in sessions or in discussions.  

• The day after an employee attends a training program the manager should ask “what did you learn” to boost retention of information and thwart the forgetting curve.

• There is a difference between being productive and being busy (or, if you like, between being busy and being productive).

• Communicate your value to your supervisor and leadership.  Up to 93% of the messages you are sending are non-verbal (dress, posture, attitude) verses what you actually say and do.

• Dressing for work?  Consider this -- if the CEO came in and invited you to a lunch meeting with a potential partner/board member could you go as you are?

• There is a great shift to video in our culture; people now go to YouTube for repair information rather than looking in a handbook.

• Most organizations experience at least 3 major changes per year.

• Communication is different from connecting, message sent does not equal message received.

• The richest form of communication is face-to-face; if it’s important have a meeting, don’t call or email.
• Just because an email is sent doesn’t mean it was read. (Especially if it comes from SD&T)

• Email is not an instant messaging tool!

• Employee engagement (emotionally connected and psychologically committed) leads to employees who are productive and provide better service.

• Organizational diversity generates more profits/better service, and diverse teams perform better.

• False consensus is the belief that other people know what you know.

• Everything we learn in the first four years of our life we learn by playing.

• Training is a process not an event.

If you are interested, check out the Twitter feed for the conference -- you don't need a Twitter account to view the feed, just go to the website and enter the hashtag #ATD2015.

Lisa R. Kenyon
Staff Development and Training Coordinator

MLA/DLA Annual Conference - Boldly Go Where No Libraries Have Gone Before

MLA/DLA Annual Conference

May 6-8, 2015

The Place to Find What’s Free, Online, Collaborative, and Shared (aka Crowdsourcing)

Joyce Valenza presented the “Hack Library” during Friday’s lunch and reception.  A school librarian and professor at Rutgers, Joyce explained that when we hack libraries, we are doing “…playful problem solving of a problem by understanding it as part of the system.”  A motto to librarians that hack is, “Nothing is ever complete.” 

When we think the best answers are only from scholars and databases, we learn from Joyce that there are free, online resources built in collaboration with several people and are meant to be shared.  “Crowdsourcing” resources have credible and insightful information from and about us.  Yelp:  http://www.yelp.com/ and Yahoo! Answers:  https://answers.yahoo.com/ are crowdsourcing mainstays.  Two unique crowdsourcing resources to try out are:

Ask.fm:  http://ask.fm/

Whisper:  https://whisper.sh/

Even Tom Croft, the graphic designer at the Frederick County Public Library, shared great resources during his program that he uses on the job:  some are free, and some come at a low-cost that also happen to be crowdsourced:

Dafont:  http://www.dafont.com/

Dafont has freeware, shareware, demo versions, and public domain fonts that get submitted in by “font authors.” 

Videvo:  http://www.videvo.net/

Videvo has free photo stock and motion graphics.  You can make a free account, find graphics by subject, and download for fair use.

Joyce Valenza’s presentation is available at http://www.slideshare.net/joycevalenza/hacking-libraries.  Joyce’s blog is the “NeverEndingSearch:” http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/.

Who’s ready to crowdsource?  

Paul Chasen, Statewide Coordinator, Maryland AskUsNow!

ATD Conference Orlando

I'll be at the Association for Talent Development Conference Sunday-Tuesday of next week.  You can follow the action on Twitter #ATD2015 if you are interested, or follow me @LisaRKenyon.

Lisa

Computers in Libraries Conference 2015

Computers in Libraries 2015: Cool Tools to Use Today

by Rebecca Starr

Computers in Libraries 2015, held in Washington, D.C. at the end of April, was abuzz with the latest technology, fun new apps, and innovative strategies to bring both to your community. While the total list is quite exhausting, here are some of my favorite tools that can be used on-the-job or shared with your patrons.

Educational

Mary Ellen Bates introduced these websites in her presentation, “Super Searcher Tips and Tools”:

●     Microsoft Academic: When Mary Ellen is tackling a search about which she knows very little, she will type it into this search engine to find dominant keywords, authors, and authoritative websites.

●     Instya: This cool search tool scours multiple search engines and social media sites at once.

●     Google Trends: This site is great for those obscure “Most Popular Searches” questions. It also houses great data visualizations of searches from around the world.

Finally, for those of you who answer technology questions or teach classes, be sure to visit NYPL TechConnect’s website. They host all of their presentation handouts and tutorial videos here!

Creative

In her presentation “A Thousand Voices: The Power of Storytelling”, Diane Cordell offered these digital tools to help patrons of all ages tell stories of their own:

●     Zooburst: This application let you create digital 3D pop-up books! (If you closed this post now in favor of playing with this tool, I wouldn’t blame you.)

●     Shadow Puppet: Upload images, add text, and set them to narration to create your own video story. One classroom used this application to create a listening center.

●     Thematic: Create a narrative using your images and text...think Medium, but for photos. Here’s a cute example.

●     Storybird: Users of this social media-esque site can create stories using illustrator-developed work and share them within the Storybird community.

Just For Fun

Gary Price, the co-founder of INFODocket, shared some of his favorite apps, both old and new:

●     TinEye: This app allows you to upload an image and conduct a reverse image search. It may be handy with those “What is this?” questions where someone just has a photo.

●     AudioNow: Users can listen to radio stations from around the world on their phone for free. This site lists all of the phone number for different radio stations.

●     PhotoMath: Take a picture of a math problem and this app will solve it and show its work.

●     Office Lens: This scanner for smartphones “clears up” images that are otherwise hard to read (such as receipts and whiteboards).

To view additional presentations, head over to the Computers in Libraries website. I highly recommend this conference for all librarians and IT professionals.

Maryland Library Association Conference and Twitter

The Maryland Library Association and Delaware Library Association Joint Conference is May 6 - 8 (this week).  This year's them is Boldly Go . . .  where no libraries have gone before.

You can follow the action on Twitter #mladla15.

The following staff will be tweeting from the conference:

     Sarah Kuperman  @librnatconf.

     Jessica Brown @wearingsunlight

     MarylandAskUsNow @askusnow

Computers in Libraries Tweets

Sarah Kuperman will be tweeting from the Computers in Libraries Conference through Wednesday.  If you are interested, you can follow her on Twitter @librnatconf.  

The hashtag for the conference is #cildc 

SLRC Roving Reference Pilot and Cross Training

The first stage of the roving reference service Central is almost over, and the rovers will be sending their final recommendations to the Reference Model and Technology Committee for review.  As this first stage nears the end, the first floor cross-training is beginning.  The staff participating in the roving reference program will be visiting each of the first floor Central departments for a short introduction/orientation to the departments and their collections.  Each of the rovers will visit BST, SSH, Fiction/YA, HUM, the Information Desk, Sights and Sounds, and Periodicals.  Other interested staff can participate in the cross-training programs and although the current cross-training classes will run in the morning before the library opens we will add additional classes that meet later in the day to accommodate interested staff who don't work in the mornings.

Keep Calm

Understanding and Working with Patrons from Poverty

The "Framework for Understanding and Working with Patrons from Poverty" class on 3/16/15 was a huge success. If you did not attend the class, you missed a great workshop on understanding class differences and discussions about how to provide better services and relationships with our communities.  Bethanie Tucker led the class through the hidden rules and language that separates economic classes and helped the attendees to recognize their own biases.

Reactions from the attendees were overwhelmingly positive, and many were interested in immediately trying some of the strategies that were discussed in class.  One attendee left "tired but saturated" with helpful information and another was disappointed that there wasn't time to cover all the materials in the handout.  There was a request for the followup program and a suggestion that all supervisors should attend this training.  Most attendees learned to be wary of assumptions and expectations and saw this as the start of an ongoing project to connect customers with resources.

The book that was mentioned in class is owned by the library and is "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Ruby K. Payne (SSH Department  HV4045 .P39 1998Q).

DLDS website link

I've added the Division of Library Development and Services (DLDS) website link to the list on the right.  This page will give you access to copies of the forms and other information relevant to librarians and library associates.  They also posted updated versions of the certification guides for both librarians and LAs, which no longer have the outdated CEU conversions (.01 credits etc.) but mention the learning portfolios.

Lisa

Class today -- Packing Healthy, Easy, and Low-Cost Lunches

The first of 4 sessions of the Packing Healthy, Easy, and Low-Cost Lunches classes was held this morning.  The participants joined instructor Ana M. Negrón, M.D. for a discussion of healthy eating and good food on a budget.

After the discussion the cooking started.  The class munched on tasty baked cauliflower; a stew with carrots, kale and tomatoes; and cabbage salad with everything but the kitchen sink including carrots, beans, mushrooms, almonds, and oranges.  Everything was fresh and yummy.  There was enough that even the SD&T staff could grab a plateful.  The participants had high praise for the instructor and the nibbles.

There are three more sections of this class on the calendar for 3/11, 3/24, and 4/22 and there are a few seats available for each date.  Register now to ensure a spot and bring a container so you can take home a snack.  If you can't make one of the sessions, you can check out recipes on Ana's website which is greensonabudget.org.

Kids are Customers, Too

Kids Are Customers, Too

October 26, 2014

Future Makers made a very interesting presentation with hands-on activities during the General Session. Matt Barinholtz, founder of Future Makers, presented clearly the makers’ end goal which is to boost creative learning, especially among families. Based on the MIT research about learning in a family context, he stressed out the positive aspects of developing family workshops, and offering them at the library. These workshops give parents and children opportunities to support each other, give feedback, ask questions, and persevere in a safe environment. They also help families build connections with other families. He described the makers’ role as “facilitators of relationship building”.

Given the fact that computers and electronic devices are contributing to less face-to-face interactions, this presentation made me realize that the maker movement has a vision that goes well beyond making things. It is about bringing people together, and giving them the tools to enjoy creative learning with each other. Matt Barinholtz believes that libraries are great places where this kind of connecting can happen. So, he encouraged us, librarians, to conceive of an activity that would engage our customers, and would result in a showcase of their creations. Good questions to keep in mind while designing a challenge for that activity are:

·         What would families be learning?

·         How will they create?

·         How will they connect?

A good place where to start is to check what subjects are popular among our customers, and what is their level of engagement, meaning how much time do they spend exploring the subject?

I noted two resources that will be helpful in getting ideas and advice to create workshops:

·         MIT Facilitator Guide, and

·         FutureCraft, a website created by Future Makers to help parents, educators, librarians, and other caregivers, to learn about Minecraft.

In addition to these resources, it is also possible to contact Matt Barinholtz at matt@kidsmakethingsbetter.com

The highlight of the day was to hear Greg Pizzoli talking about the art in his picture books, and David A. Kelly telling us how he became the writer that he is today.

Finally, I want to mention the poster session that presented wonderful ideas for interactive book displays. Here are some pictures of the posters. Enjoy!

Sylvie Merlier-Rowen
Children's Department Central

Library Lessons Learned at a Non-Library Conference

Library Lessons Learned at a Non-Library Conference

National Training Institute’s Zero to Three Conference

December 2014

Aside from a few trainings hosted by MSDE or City Schools, I’ll admit I’ve never attended a non-library sponsored conference. The National Training Institute’s Zero to Three Conference wasn’t focused on libraries and librarians, but rather on providing services of all kinds to children ages birth to three and their caregivers. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in a room with my colleagues who are equally dedicated to libraries and kids, but there is something very eye-opening and reaffirming about sharing a passion with folks outside of libraries.

And hey, going to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in December doesn’t hurt either, right? (Those of you who go to ALA midwinter and annual can feel my pain, right? Chicago in January?!)

By and large, those who attend the Zero to Three Conference are social workers, Early Head Start teachers, daycare providers, and psychologists. I’m fairly certain that I was the only librarian there. I was able to meet people who spoke highly of their local relationships with their public library, like one Head Start teacher from Brooklyn, NY, while others were really surprised by the type of work and rich service the Pratt Library provides to young children and their families, like another woman who is a social worker from Miami, Florida. Conferences like this provide a chance to help colleagues in related careers and fields see the opportunities and advantages of partnering with their local library, no matter where they are. As many of you know, not only are we ambassadors of the library’s good work to our own patrons, but also to our people in Baltimore, Maryland, and around the country.

While some of the sessions had components that were a bit over my head--like the one on epigenetics which was fascinating--I found all of them to have implications for work in libraries. Issues like the proven influence of fathers on very young boys and in particular, boys of color, equity versus equality of services and opportunities for children in our society (and no, they’re not the same thing!), and how various early interventions can positively affect a child’s well being and eventual success in life.

In addition to having a chance to attend some great sessions, I was also co-presenting a poster on the Pratt Library’s partnership with the Baltimore Infants and Toddlers Program to positively affect their families’ relationship with the library and participation in our Summer Reading Program. You can see a photo of me and my co-presenter, Tody Hairston-Fuller with our poster below!

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a conference that’s not library focused, take it! I had such a great time getting to know folks in related, but very different fields, as well as share my own passion and enthusiasm for the incredible work the Pratt Library and public libraries are doing in their communities around the country.

Jessica Hoptay-Brown
Children's Services Coordinator