A Get to Know Me Meme from TIFT

I contribute regularly to the T is for Training podcast (note widget in sidebar). Our fearless leader, Maurice Coleman, has challenged us to answer the following 27 questions in ONE SENTENCE. If you know me, then you KNOW this is a huge challenge for me. I mean, c'mon!? One sentence? Here goes (answers in bold)...

1) Your One Sentence Bio
A surrendering to something greater than myself mother and wife who likes to sing and is a training coordinator for a public library system.

2) Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?
Yes. I always warn the library-types I train that I am NOT a creative-type; I'm more of a math/science-type, and I don't come up with very original stuff; hence, the name of this blog...

3) What is your professional background?
I have a BA in Social Work with a minor in Spanish and I almost finished a tech degree in Computer Information Systems. See question 21 for more details.

4) What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?
Strictly staff/volunteers. Millennium ILS, Microsoft Office, Social Media, and anything else staff/volunteers need to use a computer for in our libraries.

5) What training do you think is most important to libraries right now
How to do advocacy well - something I know nothing about but can see is desperately needed.

6) Where do you get your training?
I LOVE webinars, especially the free variety as that works well with my current budget.

7) How do you keep up?
If only I could! I do my best through RSS (just made the switch from Bloglines to Google Reader last week and LOVE it), tweets, Facebook, Friendfeed, podcasts, video, flickr, etc.

8) What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing right now?
Funding, funding, oh, and funding!

9) What are biggest challenges for trainers?
For underfunded and understaffed libraries to see the value of time/cost needed for training.

10) What exciting things are you doing training wise?
Currently working on being able to offer some e-learning Microsoft tutorials through CustomGuide.

11) What do you wish were you doing?
Wish I were home with my 2 beautiful girls. For a more work-related answer, I wish I could be training the public; the patrons, on all things technology with a focus on social media.

12) What would you do with a badger?
Stand at least twenty feet away from it. Wait, make that thirty feet.

13) What's your favorite food?
Teff, an amazing Ethiopian grain. I gave up all forms of sugar, wheat and flour over 9 years ago and have discovered so many amazing foods.

14) If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you want to have with you?
My family.

15) Do you know what happens when a grasshopper kicks all the seeds out of a pickle?
It's left with a seedless pickle.

16) Post it notes or the back of your hand?
Post it notes - everywhere...

17) Windows or Mac?
Windows, but wish I weren't.

18) Talk about one training moment you'd like to forget?
I had a training while working in private industry where we were shoved in a room big enough to hold a small round table and I had to train the president, vp and 2 other high ranking people (usually the hardest types to train as they usually have other people do everything for them) for 2 straight days; agony!

19) What's your take on handshakes?
They are a necessary evil.

20) Global warming: yes or no
I'm afraid the answer is... yes.

21) How did you get into this line of work?
Feel free to read the twisted tale here.

22) What is the best part of your job?
Watching someones eyes grow big and hear them let out an "oooh" or an "ahhh" when they learn how to do something really cool or something that will save them TONS of time on a computer.

23) Why should someone else follow in your shoes?
I have to agree with Peter here and suggest people find their own pair of shoes.

24) Sushi or hamburger?
Neither thank you. Refer to question 13.

25) LSW or ALA?
LSW, it's hip, it's what I can afford, and it allows me to wear a cape when I'm in the mood.

26) What one person in the world do you want to have lunch with and why?
Mary, the mother of God, to ask her how she survived motherhood and how to cultivate unconditional love and acceptance.

27) What cell phone do you have and why?
A Motorola E815 I got over 5 years ago because it still works, I only use it for telephone calls, and I'm too broke to afford a data plan.

Library Advocacy Day Promotion Video

Here's a video created by the ALA Washington Office for promotion of Library Advocacy Day (6/29/10). Take a look...

Library Advocacy Day from ALA Washington on Vimeo.

Claiming My Seat on Technorati

To have my blog listed on Technorati, I need to prove I am who I am. By posting this super secret code, E5QK2GXQWY3W, I am on the verge of legitimacy!!

Transliteracy

I learned a new word today from Bobbi Newman aka Librarian by Day. Transliteracy. Please check out her wonderful post that offers great resources for any of you who want to jump on this bandwagon with me. Transliteracy.com defines transliteracy as "the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks."

This slideshow from her post sums it up quickly:

Libraries and Transliteracy

View more presentations from Bobbi Newman.

If this interests you, be sure to become a fan of the Facebook Page too. Thanks Bobbi!

Feral Learning

Be sure to go and check out my latest post on ALA Learning about Feral Learning. Come on, with a title like that you HAVE to be curious...

Great Way to Tell Your Patrons About Holds

Allen County Public Library puts out the best videos for patron education. Be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel. This one explains the holds process beautifully. Works pretty much the same way here at the Library System of Lancaster County! No email notification... YET - but patrons do get a phone call or letter. LOVE the self service Hold Shelf. A lot of places do that now.

GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle

Yes, I do love Google, but the purpose of the title is to direct you to http://www.googlegooglegooglegoogle.com/ You may find this helpful when you're doing extensive research and need to see 4 results at once. Plus, if you click the W, you can do a Wikipedia search and if you click the Green Arrow, you can type in any Website address. So you can use this really to see any 4 sites on one screen if you ever need it. If you're as sick as I am with multi-tasking, your mouth will also drool...
Thanks Tekzilla!

POWER Library is about to take a HIT!

This just in from the PA District Library Centers Listserv - are you ready Pennsylvania?! This is going to hurt a lot of people...

December 22, 2009

Dear Library Community:

I am writing to update you on the status of the POWER Library.

The contracts for the POWER Library databases will expire December 31, 2009. The Pennsylvania Department of Education issued an RFP for POWER Library Databases, and the proposals are currently being evaluated by agency staff. Our goal is to complete the selection process in time for the POWER Library continues into 2010 without interruption.

Because of the reduction to the Library Access line item in the 2009-2010 budget, the scope of the RFP was limited to the following categories:

• General full-text periodical database
• Newspaper index
• Business Reference
• Combination of the above databases

Within the current the economic conditions, we are hoping to continue to provide high quality databases of general interest to the public at large and to our K-12 students in particular. However, it is reasonable to expect most subject specific databases will no longer be available after December 31, 2009.

We have heard from all types of libraries about the importance and value of the scope of POWER Library offerings. We will seek to make additional databases available as options and opportunities present themselves.

Thank you for your input and your support of the POWER Library.

Susan Pannebaker

Susan Pannebaker Director
Bureau of Library Development
Office of Commonwealth Libraries
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market St. Harrisburg, PA 17126-1745
Phone: 717-214-4047 Fax: 717-787-2117
spannebake@state.pa.us http://www.education.state.pa.us/

Social Media ROI: Socialnomics

Yep, still singing the same song here, BUT are you listening?

LSLC is on Facebook!

Library System of Lancaster County

Promote Your Page Too

FINALLY!! I've been waiting for the day when we would get a Facebook page together for the Library System. Well, it has finally happened. This was surprisingly more work and more difficult than I thought it would be to set up. I'm so grateful to my wonderful Library Trainers network out there that gave me great advice. Our Community Relation Coordinator, Mary Ann Heltshe-Steinhauer and myself put it together and she will be in charge of it. I'm also grateful for the wonderful video tutorials found at John Haydon's blog (you can subscribe to his video podcast there).

Go on, check it out and PLEASE become a fan. I'm anxiously awaiting our fan count to hit 25 so we can get a vanity URL and make life easier for linking.