Are you interested in obtaining new, electronic resources for your library but are unsure about what to purchase when looking for the best fit for your organization?
Do you prefer to test a product before you buy it?
Or would you like to window shop and gather ideas to add to your wish list?
Minitex is offering free trials now through April 30th.
Here is the link to find out more about the specific resources offered and the passwords you will need to enter the sites as a guest user.
If you are interested in honing your reference skills to adapt to the world wide web, here is a free (60 minute) webinar sponsored by Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM). Join the discussion on Tuesday, April 2nd (2 pm-central) or Thursday, April 11th (noon-central).
For additional information or to register, click here.
This update is from Elaine Keefe, MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Lobbyist
Data Privacy: Under current law, records linking public library users to library materials they have searched for or borrowed that are owned by the library are private. HF 695, our bill extending the same protection to electronic data owned by a private vendor and licensed by a public library (e.g., e-books) was introduced last Monday by Rep. Steve Simon (DFL – Hopkins), chair of the House Data Practices Subcommittee. The companion bill, SF 745, will be introduced on Monday, February 25 by Senator Kari Dzeidzic (DFL – Minneapolis). Senator Ron Latz (DFL – St. Louis Park), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a co-author.
Homework Help: Our bill to fund a statewide contract to make a free online homework help service available statewide will be introduced as SF 781 on Monday, February 25. The chief author is Senator John Hoffman (DFL – Champlin). Co-authors are Sen. Alice Johnson (DFL – Spring Lake Park), Sen. LeRoy Stumpf (DFL – Plummer), Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL – Owatonna) and Sen. Carla Nelson (R – Rochester). The House version will be introduced soon. Rep. Kathy Brynaert (DFL – Mankato) has signed on as the chief author. If any of these legislators represent you, please write to thank them.
Minitex and MnLINK: We have secured chief authors in both bodies for our bill to increase funding for Minitex and MnLINK. Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL – Golden Valley) will carry our bill in the House and Senator Kent Eken (DFL – Twin Valley) will carry our bill in the Senate. I am currently recruiting co-authors, with the goal of getting the bills introduced no later than Monday, March 4.
Legacy: Last Wednesday Mark Ranum made a presentation before the House Legacy Committee about what regional public libraries have done with Legacy funding received to date and about our request for funding for the upcoming biennium (FY 14-15). It was very well received by the committee, resulting in extended remarks by committee members about the benefits of Legacy programs provided by public libraries and of libraries in general. Reps. Mary Murphy (DFL – Hermantown), Leon Lillie (DFL – N. St. Paul) and John Ward (DFL – Brainerd) were especially effusive.
State Economic Forecast: The next forecast will be released on Thursday February 28. It is widely expected that the forecast will show improvement from the forecast released in December that projected a $1.1 million deficit at the conclusion of the FY 14-15 biennium. It may also show an increase in the forecasted surplus for the current biennium, which would result in a further repayment of the education funding shift. Governor Dayton will release his revised budget recommendations about two weeks after the forecast is released.
Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
office 651-293-0229
fax 651-293-1709
cell 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com
Please take a look at the new ELM offerings for January – April 2013, and get creative! You could use some of these free webinars to help raise awareness and help teachers/librarians/paras get their feet wet in using the databases. Then, when they start using them for specific needs, and have more in-depth questions, you can be the in-house expert! You could also consider hosting a viewing party for some of these webinars! Maybe you need a refresher or want to learn something new; that works well too with this free, accessible content! The link at the bottom will get you to more in depth descriptions and registration information!
• Employment Research with ELM
• Intro to ELM for Teachers (all 5 sessions)
• Intro to ELM for Teachers: Elementary School (session 1)
• Intro to ELM for Teachers: Social Studies (session 2)
• Intro to ELM for Teachers: Science (session 3)
• Intro to ELM for Teachers: English Language Arts (session 4)
• Intro to ELM for Teachers: Education Professional Development (session 5)
• Educational Games in Britannica for Elementary Students
• The History of Minnesota – Digitized for Your Convenience
• Multimedia in ELM
• After School Homework Help with ELM
• Online Information Literacy and ELM
• ELM Over Lunch Series (all 3 sessions)
• ELM Over Lunch: Consumer Health Complete (session 1)
• ELM Over Lunch: MasterFILE Premier (session 2)
• ELM Over Lunch: ProQuest Newsstand Complete (session 3)
• Perspectives on Current Events
• Primary Sources in ELM
• Accessing Your ELM Usage Statistics
• Personalize (and Share!) Your News Experience with ProQuest Newsstand Complete
• Best Practices in Virtual Reference
Register now for our upcoming ELM webinar offerings, January-April 2013, and remember that most of these offerings will be available in archived format too!
This beautiful post was created by staff in our “sister multitype” in the Twin Cites (Metronet) in their Metro Briefs publication. Written by Ann Walker Smalley. I couldn’t have said any of it better. Bill was quietly excellent, a master of his craft, and instrumental in helping MN libraries rise to where they are today. He will be dearly missed.
The library community mourns the loss of Bill DeJohn, retired Director of Minitex. Bill died Dec 31 at his home in Northfield after a brief illness.
Bill retired in Jan 2011 after leading Minitex for 27 years. He was a champion of all types of libraries & made sure that all had access to the Minitex resources, staff, & training. He was a leader in library advocacy efforts in Minnesota & conceived and supported new initiatives that expanded resource sharing.
Bill was a “mover & shaker” in the library world. It is easy to forget the leadership required to develop & implement the services & programs we now take for granted. Bill was instrumental in creating many library resource-sharing programs that have an impact on all Minnesota libraries & their users including ELM, MnLink, MDL, the Research Project Calculator, MLAC, bibliographic control & cataloging, automated library systems, training on products & services, & much more. Minnesota libraries are known for their collaboration in good part because of Bill’s leadership. As libraries continue to move forward, we can remember how Bill would ask questions, bring people together to talk, advocate for new ideas, continue the discussions, & keep working until library services are improved for all.
Bill graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Russian civilization. He earned a Master of Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to Minitex, Bill was the Head of Resource Sharing, University of Washington, Seattle, serving the Pacific Northwest libraries & before that was the Director of the Pacific Northwest Bibliographic Center (PNBC). He also worked at both the Illinois State Library & the Missouri State Library.
Barbara Fister (a librarian at the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library, Gustavus Adolphus College) wrote this remembrance Bill DeJohn and the Value of Sharing at Inside Higher Ed, Jan 3.
You can learn more about Bill’s legacy in his own words:
• Minitex 40th Anniversary Oral History interview with Bill DeJohn
• Bill’s retirement speech
• His departing thanks & well wishes for the future to Minitex participating libraries staff on Feb 14, 2012
Donations may be made in Bill’s memory to the American Library Association or the Newfoundland Club of America.
Images: Minitex