All posts by Mary Jordan

Academic, Communication, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Services

Preserve your past; Think about the future!

Internet Archive logo and wordmark
As library people, we think about making our information and materials available to our communities every day.  Part of that work is a responsibility to think about making it all available to people in the future. The Web is like a living thing – it changes, grows, and pieces can die; thinking about preserving information needs to take into account those potential changes.

The Digital Preservation Network is already thinking about this, and helping to establish a safe system as well as best practices for you to preserve information. Their audience is academic environments, potentially producing unique material that may not be available elsewhere. As we have seen in the recent news, turbulent political changes can cause information to disappear or to be suppressed; the DPN can help libraries to preserve and share their information. Likewise, natural disasters can destroy buildings holding both paper materials and servers holding backups, ransomware attacks can happen, institutions can change or fall, and just bad luck and bad planning can destroy years of work. Having information available through something like the DPN will help to ensure its survival. Continue reading Preserve your past; Think about the future! →

CMLE, Communication, Visits

Vote! Let’s have another social event!

The first one was so fun, we are already looking forward to the next one!

Members have requested that we move this around, to be sure everyone gets a chance to easily attend and enjoy dinner together. So we are setting up a vote, to let people give their ideas on a place you would like to visit for our March gathering. This will be the week of March 13, maybe Wednesday night (depending on the reservations available).

We have picked out a few places, all with good Yelp ratings and comments. Vote for the one that sounds tastiest to you, or that you have been meaning to try, or that you already love, or just sounds like a fun place to chat with your colleagues! (In some  smaller places, now and in the future, we might have to spread our group out. No problem for us! We can have fun chatting in smaller groups, and get to know each other in person as well as online!)

And if you have other thoughts, share them in the comment section, add them to the contact form, or email them to us at Headquarters.

Restaurant Choices(required)

CMLE, Communication, Tech, Training

Save the Date: ELM Expo, Sat March 11

 

Several of our CMLE members are using ELM, and we could really increase that number! Sign up for this mini expo today! (And remember: we have scholarship money to give you!)

We have information on our website about the Electronic Library for Minnesota. “ELM (Electronic Library for Minnesota) gives Minnesota residents online access to magazine, journal, newspaper, and encyclopedia articles, eBooks (online books), and other information resources.

ELM provides information on a vast array of topics, including consumer information, arts and humanities, current events, health, science, social science, politics, business, and more.”

Continue reading Save the Date: ELM Expo, Sat March 11 →

Communication, General

Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement – Call for Input by March 31

Even if you do not spend a lot of time cataloging, or working with the LOC standards, the catalog and this format for information organization is the foundation of our profession. So you are encouraged to dive in here and share your ideas about LOC formats that will affect us all!

From LOC:

The Library of Congress is once again calling for input as it looks forward to the upcoming review and revision of the Recommended Formats Statement (http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/rfs/).  In April, the teams of experts charged with maintaining, improving and ensuring the accuracy of the Statement will begin the annual process of examining the Statement and the creative works represented in it, to ensure that it reflects correctly the technical characteristics which best encourage preservation and long-term access.  Given the interest and the feedback received over the past few years since the Statement was first issued in 2014, we at the Library of Congress feel that the Statement could benefit this time around by focusing the review and revision process on a few key areas. Continue reading Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement – Call for Input by March 31 →

School Media Specialist

Share your ideas on ESSA in Minnesota!

Save the date! Public Conversation on Well-Rounded Education Please join us Saturday, February 25 at 10 a.m. at Brooklyn Center High School for a public conversation on well-rounded education with Commissioner Cassellius.

Ensuring all students have access to a well-rounded education is a core principle of the Every Student Succeeds Act. While the law gives us a starting point, we look forward to continuing to engage with parents, educators and students as we shape a vision for what a well-rounded education means in Minnesota. In order to understand what Minnesotans want to see in our schools, we need to hear from you.

Join Commissioner Cassellius for a conversation around these three questions:

1. Thinking about a well-rounded education, what do I want to see change about the student experience of school?

2. Based on that answer, what do I want to see change about the actions of adults closest to the student?

3. Based on both previous answers, what do I want to see change about system actions and policies that affect student experiences and adult actions?

Please register and find more information on the ESSA page of the MDE website: education.state.mn.us/MDE/ESSA

Continue reading Share your ideas on ESSA in Minnesota! →