E-book readers in libraries
By karen | February 14, 2013
E-book readers are increasingly available and some libraries have instituted e-book lending programs. However, not all e-book readers are accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision. E-book readers and emerging technologies should be accessible to users of all abilities. Providing technology that is inaccessible to individuals with disabilities is prohibited by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) unless those individuals are provided accommodations or modifications that permit them to receive all the benefits provided by the technology in an equally effective and equally integrated manner.
A recent advisory by the Institute of Museum and Library Services about e-book lending programs provides detailed information to help ensure that e-book readers and other emerging technologies are used in library settings in a manner that is permissible under Federal law.
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Library Legislative Awareness Day
By karen | February 8, 2013
RI librarians and library organizations participated in Library Legislative Awareness Day at the RI State House on February 6. The annual event, sponsored by the RI Library Association, helps raise awareness of libraries with state legislators. Read more about this exciting event on the RI Library Report.
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Coalition of Library Advocates Annual Meeting Feb 12
By admin | February 8, 2013
The Coalition of Library Advocates (COLA) Annual Meeting takes place on Tuesday, February 12 from 5-7 pm at the RI Statehouse. Please join COLA as they honor the COLA Sweethearts of the Year, Senator David Bates and Representative Joy Hearn. Dr. Renee Hobbs, Founding Director and Professor in the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island is the keynote speaker.
View the complete agenda.
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Digital Literacy, Libraries and Public Policy
By karen | January 29, 2013
The American Library Association’s Digital Literacy Task Force has released a comprehensive report on digital literacy and digital inclusion in the context of school, public and academic libraries. The report talks about how various libraries support digital literacy programs for their patrons and students.
Libraries play an increasingly important role in digital literacy efforts. A national three year Ad Council campaign in partnership with Connect2Compete will launch in March 2013. The campaign will promote the importance of digital literacy and aims to motivate individuals and families to access free community resources and training. View FCC chairman Julius Genachowski’s video about libraries, the digital divide, and how we can bridge it.
The Public Library Association will be launching a website in March to provide resources for libraries to support the Connect2Compete Ad Council campaign, which launches in major markets on 3/21. Watch for more details in the coming weeks.
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Library Services in the Digital Age
By karen | January 29, 2013
The Pew Internet & American Life Project has published a new report that surveys the role of libraries in people’s lives and communities. The results will not come as a surprise: free computers and internet access now rival book lending and reference service as a vital service of libraries. However, the report from the leading surveyor of American’s use of libraries and technology provides a rich data resource to support what librarians have long known. The report summary is a quick read that is well worth the effort.
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Get your passport @ the library
By admin | January 7, 2013
Do you need a passport? Well, there’s no better place to get one than at the library.
The Pawtucket Public Library, in partnership with the RI Family Literacy Initiative (RIFLI), is now an Official US Passport Acceptance Facility, the first library in RI to accept passport applications. The library will begin accepting passport applications starting on Monday, January 14th. The service is available on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-8:45pm. The library will also have an on-site photo machine so you can get your photo for $10.
The service is best for issuing new passports, as you can renew your existing passport yourself through the mail. For more information on passports and passport documentation, visit the US Department of State’s website.
For each passport issued, $25 will go directly to the Pawtucket Public Library’s Literacy Program. This is not an additional fee, all passport locations charge the same amount, but the money will go for a very good cause.
RIFLI extends their thanks to the Pawtucket Public Library, especially Susan Reed and Julie Fischer, the Providence Public Library, Social Venture Partners of Rhode Island, Julie DiBari, Silja Kallenbach, RIFLI staff and New Roots Providence for their support in helping to develop this project. In the future, RIFLI hopes to train and employ RIFLI alumni as Passport Agents.
Be one of the first to get your passport at the library. Email or call Karisa Tashjian with questions or contact Julie Fischer, RIFLI Teacher and Passport Manager, directly in Pawtucket at 401-725-9261.
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Grants for Preservation
By Donna DiMichele | January 7, 2013
Grants for Preservation of Historical Documents–Call for Proposals
The Rhode Island Foundation announced that applications are now being accepted for the
Joseph O’Neill Ott Fund
In a bequest to The Rhode Island Foundation in 1994, Joseph O’Neill Ott, a leader in the preservation and antiquities community in the state, established a permanent endowment dedicated to document preservation. He requested that the income generated be used to preserve historical manuscripts, documents, and municipal records dating from the 19th century and earlier for the smaller cities and towns in Rhode Island.
Grants generally range from $250 to $600 and support direct conservation efforts for paper-based documents, photographs, and other two-dimensional historical evidence (excluding artwork). This can include restoration, preservation (including the purchase of containers or housing for documents), or to defray the costs associated with the acquisition of documents. Proposals that demonstrate concern about long-term storage issues or have planned document storage will be looked upon most favorably. All historical and preservation societies from the smaller cities and towns of Rhode Island are eligible to apply for an Ott grant.
An advisory committee of preservation professionals will recommend documents suitable for consideration. Only documents created before 1900 will be considered. Awards will be announced in spring 2013. Please note: Applications will not be considered from organizations with overdue grant reports.
Deadline is February 4, 2013.
Questions? Contact Libby Monahan, Funds Administrator, at Lmonahan@rifoundation.org or (401) 427-4017.
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Free, Online Collections Care Courses
By Donna DiMichele | December 17, 2012
Caring for Yesterday’s Treasures—Today, is a new series of free, online courses about the preservation of archival and historical collections. Offered by Heritage Preservation and tailored to meet the needs and schedules of staff and volunteers at libraries and archives, each course includes four to six 90-minute, interactive webinars presented by preservation experts.
Libraries and archives shoulder an immense responsibility to protect and preserve America’s treasures. According to A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections, libraries and archives hold 63%—or about 3 billion—of the 4.8 billion collection items in the United States. Archives hold another 360 million artifacts. The survey also revealed:
- 78% of libraries and 70% of archives have no emergency plan to protect collections with staff trained to carry it out.
- Almost half of public libraries with rare or archival collections have no staff assigned to preservation tasks.
- Archives and libraries have significant photograph and audio-visual collections and, increasingly, digital materials.
- Tuition and travel costs can be an obstacle for professional development.
The courses for Caring for Yesterday’s Treasures—Today will address these issues and more. Participants are encouraged to submit specific questions about collections care to ensure that the courses are directly relevant to their needs.
The series will be conducted via the Connecting to Collections Online Community. Each course will have its own Web page with handouts and links to additional resources. When each course concludes, participants will be able to continue the conversation with instructors and classmates via the Connecting to Collections Online Community.
Participants will earn a certificate of completion if they attend all the webinars in a course and submit simple homework assignments. Although registration is free of charge, to enable participants to adjust their work schedules and to indicate an institutional commitment to improve collections care, we ask that participants submit a permission form signed by their supervisor to attend these courses.
Course Schedule:
- Collections Care Basics: Where Do I Begin? – January 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, and 23, 2013 (all webinars at 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern)
- Risk Evaluation: First Step in Disaster Planning – February 5, 7, 12, and 14, 2013 (all webinars at 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern)
- Protecting Your Collections: Writing a Disaster Response Plan – March 5, 7, 12, and 14, 2013 (all webinars at 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern)
- Caring for Digital Materials: Preventing a Digital Dark Age – five 90-minute webinars in April 2013 (dates and times TBA)
- Caring for Photographic Materials – five 90-minute webinars in May 2013 (dates and times TBA)
Courses on caring for audiovisual materials, fundraising for collections care, and outreach activities for collections care are planned for fall 2013.
Caring for Yesterday’s Treasures—Today is made possible through an Institute of Museum and Library Services Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Continuing Education grant to Heritage Preservation. The website and webinars are produced by LearningTimes.
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State Data Coordinator Conference- Day 3
By admin | December 17, 2012
On the last day of my conference, we learned about some new tools the Census has been developing to better use the data we send them.
The Census puts all of the national data collected into a complex system they call DataWeb. From there, we can extract the data using a system they have been developing for the past few years called DataFerrett. DataFerrett allows the information collected by the Census and available through the American Community Survey to be overlaid onto maps and charts. This tool is very useful if you are profiling your city or town. However, it is very detailed and can be difficult to navigate if you are not familiar with federal abbreviations and codes.
A simpler tool recently unveiled is called HotReports. HotReports creates an interactive web page for your state or city with maps, charts, and tabs for different kinds of information. The best feature of this tool is a tab for library services in which you can include attendance, circulation, population served, or collection. Although you cannot overlay, for instance, the number of children attending children’s programming in a city with the number of children receiving free or reduced lunch yet, the Census is working to integrate data and present it in a clear way for us to use.
I hope that with these new tools I can distribute information to all of the libraries so that you can better serve your populations and also find how your library fits into the national library scene.
If there is anything you would like to know more about, or if you have questions, please call or email me. I’d be happy to speak with you.
~Lauren
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State Data Coordinator Conference- Day Two
By admin | December 13, 2012
Day two at the conference was full of presentations and discussions about using national data. I’d like to share some information I learned about IMLS from Carlos Manjarrez, Director of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. As you may know, at one time libraries and museums were under the Department of Education. Now that it is a stand-alone agency, it focuses on the unique needs of libraries and museums and how those institutions serve our communities. While data is still extremely important, not only to justify programs but also to provide financial accountability, the agency is moving towards a model of using positive crowd-sourced feedback and evidence-based evaluation. As we have heard before, telling your library’s story is more important than ever
Recently, IMSL has begun to use the data gathered from libraries to identify gaps in service and potential partnerships. What do libraries do well that nobody else is working on? One area libraries are filling in is early childhood learning. Although many children are eligible for the Head Start program, many others do not quite qualify, or may not have access to a program. When children are not in places that help them develop skills before kindergarten, they tend to lag behind and stay behind for the rest of their school careers. IMLS started the Campaign for Grade Level Reading. This program follows students through third grade to make sure they can read through their grade level by the time they begin fourth grade. Libraries are in a position to partner with state education agencies and schools to fill this need. IMLS was instrumental in discovering the need and offering a solution. At the local level, if there is an area you find in your city or town that you are changing for the better, with or without a partnership, IMLS (and OLIS!) wants to hear your success stories.
If you would like to explore more of the projects IMLS is working on, you can visit www.imls.gov.
I’ll be wrapping up my conference soon, but I’ll be writing again on the last day’s activities.
Thanks!
Lauren
I’m staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which is incredibly beautiful. It’s currently all decorated with over 2 million lights for the holiday season.
Nighttime at the hotel
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