All posts by admincmle

The Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange (CMLE) is one of seven regional multitype library systems established to meet the needs of and share the resources of all types of libraries. We love libraries, and are here to support them!
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Pilot Shadowing Program

CMLE provides support services to 319 libraries/media centers in twelve counties of Central Minnesota. We work with college librarians, special librarians (hospital, prison, historical socities) and public librarians. It is probably no surprise that the  largest group are our 265 media centers. All libraries have a variety of services and focus areas, but it is within the media center  group that we see the most variety. Some schools have district level media directors in addition to  media specialists in each school. Some schools have no media specialists. And, in some schools, the media specialist has a tight focus within the media center only, in other schools, the media specialist is taking the lead on moving the district into the one-to-one (1:1) computing world! And, as you can imagine, we have everything in between too!

CMLE is in a perfect position to understand these variations and identify meaningful relationships and partnerships between our different library types. And we strongly believe that all types of librarians have similar goals, yet different ways of going about the work they do. This academic year, we will be piloting a shadowing program. We believe that there is power in walking in someone elses shoes for a day; shadowing them to see what is entailed in a typical day. We will help arrange opportunities for librarians to spend a day with a different type of libraian. We believe these shadowing experiences will help us understand what we all have in common, and enable us all to speak about  libraries using one voice. We believe it is possible that all librarians may very well have the same goals; falling along the lines of education! Are you interested in a shadowing experience? Let me know at papost@stcloudstate.edu

Academic, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

October Library Events/Webinars

Free Library Webinars–October2012, http://webjunctionworks.org/mn/blog/?p=1075
Through the efforts of colleagues around the country, here is a compilation of free or low-cost online webinars relevant to libraries and staff at all levels from various sources.  Many of the webinars will be archived, so check the relevant site later if you can’t attend the live online event. If you have additions to the list of free webinars or the Minnesota calendar of events, add them to the comments field or let me know!
                ***38 free webinar opportunities in the list for this month!
 
 
 
Additional Learning Opportunities for the Minnesota Library Community:
·         For Minnesota-sponsored events, live and online, visit the Minnesota Library Community Calendar of Events (format change underway–stayed tuned), the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Event Calendar, and the Minitex Event Calendar.
·         For lists of past “Free Library Webinars”, visit this search link at BlogJunction Minnesota,
·         For free, self-paced courses, sign in on the WebJunction Courses page, or Request WebJunction Course Accessto obtain an account, and then select from the course catalog. Without signing in, anyone can glance at the course catalog preview.
 
 
 
Special Events & Conferences:
·         Minnesota Library Association Conference, St. Paul (October 3-5), http://mnlibraryassociation.org/mlaconference2012/
·         Midwest Chapter, Medical Library Association, Rochester (October 6-8), http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lmcguire/hslm/2012/08/dont_miss_the_deadline_to_regi.html
·         Use your influence! Crafting your message to achieve awareness & support (October 9)
·         MEMO Conference, St. Cloud (October 11-13), http://memotech.ning.com/page/2012-fall-conference
·         Libraries and Access to Justice Webinar Series (September 13, 27; October 11; November 1) http://www.probono.net/librarywebinars/
·         LawHelpMN offers free, live, on-site legal information training sessions (Fall 2012),
·         MCCLL Annual Conference for Public Library & County Law Library Staff, St. Paul (October 26), http://webjunction.org/news/minnesota/article3.html
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mary Ann Van Cura
Library Development & Continuing Education Coordinator
State Library Services – D36
1500 Highway 36 West
Roseville, MN 55113
651-582-8632 voice   651-582-8752 fax
General, School Media Specialist

Schools Use Online Fundraising Methods

Is your entire school district in tight financial straits? Is everyone weary of cookie dough,  wrapping paper and magazine sales? Read about some new tools to assist your school in online fundraising. Four specific tools are mentioned to help your school get set up, and one, Adopt-A-Classroom, even allows fundraising for specific areas of the school, like the media center! The article is in Education Week and is available at http://tinyurl.com/9zazujd. Has your school already tried this? We would love to write up and share your story….comment on this post to flag us on your success or lessons learned.

Public, School Media Specialist

Help With History Day Projects

 
Our friends at Minitex have been hard at work to create more History Day assistance. Check it out….
 
 
September 28, 2012
New Site to Support History Day Research in Minnesota
A growing number of middle and high school teachers across the state are leading their students through National History Day projects. National History Day is an extended student research project based around a yearly theme. Students choose a topic of interest to them related to the theme and conduct detailed research on that topic throughout the semester or school year. It’s a wonderful program that teaches students how to be good researchers and imparts important skills they will use in school, college, and throughout their lives.
Minitex Reference Outreach & Instruction has just created a new tool to support and guide students (and their teachers) throughout the History Day research process. Find the History Day Research in Minnesota website at https://z.umn.edu/historydayresearch.
History Day Research in Minnesota will walk students through the process of researching History Day projects. It provides guidance for the research process and recommends research sources available to Minnesota residents, including the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM).
The site is divided into six sections which can be viewed in chronological order or individually.
·         Understanding the Theme
·         Choosing & Narrowing a Topic
·         Background & Context
·         Gathering Sources
·         Bibliography
Use this site to help History Day students that you work with or share it with your teacher colleagues. History Day provides an opportunity to showcase the excitement of research, the importance of information literacy, and all that Minnesota libraries have to offer.
 
©2012 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota, University Libraries. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Academic, Check this out:, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Needed: Your Favorite 1:1 Links/Resources!

Is your school talking about or moving into a one-to-one computing (1:1) movement in your school? Or, are you still trying to figure out how to best grab hold of or understand this shift in education? CMLE staff are compiling a list of best practice sites, articles, and other key resources (some of you are in the current list),  and we value your opinions on this subject! We invite you to take a moment to nominate your favorite 1:1 resources (could be yours)  in the comments area following this blog post. Too many to share in the comments area? Send an email containing your favorites to cmle@stcloudstate.edu with a subject line of “1:1”. Our staff will compile the list and produce a subject guide for our 319 libraries in our twelve county region. Thanks in advance for working with us and sharing with your colleagues in Central Minnesota. We are stronger by working together!